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1 PAYMENTS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY
A reservation may be made by telephone. This can
either be confirmed by card payment at that time, or
will be held for one week, pending receipt of your
deposit per person of
• £50 for Wessex Weekend
• £100 for tours costing under £1000
• £200 for tours costing under £2500
• £250 for tours costing £2500 and
over
The contract between us comes into existence when we
send out our confirmation invoice which confirms your
booking. You have undertaken to pay for the holiday
you have booked and we have undertaken to provide you
with the holiday we describe in the brochure.
If you make a booking on behalf of others as well as
yourself, we shall take it that you have the
authority of each of those other people to enter into
that contract and that you and they have agreed to be
jointly and severally liable to us. If we are unable
to accept your booking, we will of course return your
payment to you immediately. The balance payment is
due 8 weeks (56 days) before departure. We will send
you a reminder 9 to 10 weeks prior to departure. If
you are making your booking within this period, full
payment will be necessary immediately. Post-dated
cheques are not acceptable. Andante Travels reserves
the right to cancel any booking for which full
payment has not been received 8 weeks before
departure, and to levy cancellation charges as set
out in clause 5 below.
2 INSURANCE
It is a condition of booking that all travellers be
covered by comprehensive travel insurance and do not
travel against medical advice. You should organise it
immediately you book so as to be covered in case of
the ill health of yourself, a close relative or your
travelling companion. If you do
not wish to take out our insurance we must be
provided with details of your comparable or greater
cover and policy by, at the latest, one month prior
to departure.
3 IF YOU WISH TO
make any changes to your
holiday arrangements, we will do our best to
accommodate you. Any change is subject to
availability and also to payment of an administration
fee of £30 per person and any associated costs
of the change imposed by our suppliers. You should
note that an airline in particular may treat a change
to a booking as a cancellation and new booking, and
therefore charge a 100% cancellation fee.
4 IF WE HAVE TO ALTER
your itinerary, travel or
holiday arrangements, any change will be either major
or minor. Although it is unlikely that we will have
to make any changes to your travel arrangements, we
do plan the arrangements many months in advance and
as a result we may have to make
changes and we reserve the
right to do so. Where a change is a minor change, we
will, if practical, advise you before departure,
but we are not obliged to
do so or to pay you compensation. A minor change is
any change apart from a major change as defined here.
When a change is a major change (and a major change
is either an alteration to your flight time by more
than 12 hours, or a change in standard of
accommodation), we will advise you as soon as is
reasonably possible. You will then have the choice of
accepting the change, taking an alternative holiday
(and where this is of a different price, you or we
will refund the difference as appropriate), or
withdrawing from the contract and accepting a full
refund of all monies paid. In addition, in
appropriate cases, we will pay compensation
commensurate with the
inconvenience suffered (on the assumption that the
full balance has been paid). In the unlikely event
that we become unable to provide a significant
proportion of your trip after you depart, we will
make alternative arrangements for you to continue the
trip at no extra charge, or, if this is impossible,
or you do not accept these alternative arrangements
for a good reason, we will provide you with transport
back to your point of departure. In addition, if
appropriate, we will pay you compensation of an
amount
which is reasonable taking
into account all the circumstances. Compensation will
not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases
where a major change has to be made as a result of
force majeure.
5 IF YOU HAVE TO CANCEL
your booking, or if any member of your party on
whose behalf you have booked has to cancel their
booking, we must be informed in a letter/fax/email
from the person who made the booking. The
cancellation only takes
effect from the date at
which the notification reaches our office. In this
case, whatever the reason for cancellation, your
deposit
and any insurance premium
paid to Andante Travels would be forfeit. A charge
will be made which varies with the amount of time
between Andante Travels receiving your written
cancellation and the tour departure date. The charges
made are as follows:
Up to 56 days prior to departure:
Deposit
55 - 29 days prior to departure:
35%
of tour cost
28 - 8 days prior to departure:
75%
of tour cost
7 - 3 days prior to
departure:
90% of tour cost
48 hours prior to
departure:
100% of tour cost
(If the reasons for your cancellation are covered
by your insurance policy, you will of course be able
to claim under it.)
6 TRANSFER OF BOOKINGS
If you are unavoidably prevented from taking your
holiday you may, provided that this is not less than
30 days before departure, find another person to take
your place. This right of transfer is subject to a
fee of £30 per person (plus appropriate holiday
insurance premium, if applicable). You, as transferor
of the holiday, and the transferee shall be jointly
and separately liable to Andante Travels for the
payment of the balance due, together with all
additional charges of whatever sort imposed by the
suppliers providing the component parts of your
holiday.
7 IF ANDANTE TRAVELS HAS TO CANCEL
your holiday before the date of departure, you will
have the choice of taking an alternative holiday (and
where this is of a different price you or we will
refund the difference as appropriate) or accepting
the full refund of all monies paid. In addition, in
appropriate cases, and where such cancellation is not
due to underbooking or
force majeure as defined
below, we will pay you compensation commensurate with
your inconvenience. Underbooking is the situation
in which the minimum number of bookings required to
run a tour is not met. Force majeure is unusual and
unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control,
the consequences of which neither we nor our
suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or
threat of war, riots, civil
strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes,
natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather
conditions, level of water in rivers
or other similar events
beyond Andante Travels’ control.
8 PASSPORTS AND VISAS.
All travellers are
responsible for ensuring that they have a valid
passport (NB some countries require a passport valid
for 3-6 months after travel). We will advise British
citizens if a visa is required. A visa might not be
issued if the passport is valid for less than four
months after the date of your return. It is therefore
very important to check and renew your passport in
good time. Please note that visas are not always
included in the tour cost. If you are not a British
citizen you are requested to make sure that you have
the relevant documentation. Please contact the
embassy concerned. All passports, visas, travel
insurance and health certificate requirements are
your responsibility. Andante Travels accept no
responsibility for any delay or expense incurred
through any
irregularity in your
documents.
9 COMPLAINTS
in respect of matters arising during the holiday
must be reported to staff immediately so that any
problem may be remedied on the spot. Our priority is
to give you an enjoyable holiday, and we strive very
hard to do so. However, if our staff are unable to help, and
you still have a complaint, you should put it in
writing at the time. Then send it to the company
within 30 days of your return. If you are ill whilst
on holiday, you must, in addition to reporting your
illness to our representative, consult a local doctor
and also consult your GP on return to the UK. Should
you then wish to make a claim against us as a result
of that illness you must provide us with details of
both the local doctor whom you saw, and your GP, together with written
authority for us to obtain a medical report from both
those doctors.
10 ARBITRATION
If you have a dispute with Andante Travels which you
are unable to resolve, you may call upon the low-cost
AITO Independent Dispute Settlement Service (details
on request). Claims which exceed £2,500 per
person or £10,000 per booking or claims which
apply principally or exclusively in respect of (or as
a consequence of) illness or physical injury are not
admissible for settlement under the service. However,
the costs under this scheme, should the award go
against you, are minimal compared with those in a
court of law. Details of the scheme are available
upon request.
11 SPECIAL REQUESTS
If you have any special requests, you should inform
us of these at the time of booking. We will advise
the relevant supplier of such requests but cannot
guarantee that they will be met. Furthermore, Andante
Travels has no liability to you if such requirements
are not met.
12 CLIENT
BEHAVIOUR.
When you book a holiday with Andante Travels you
accept responsibility for the proper conduct of
yourself and your party. Andante Travels reserves the
right in its reasonable discretion to terminate your
holiday or that of any member of your party whose
conduct is disruptive or detrimental to the enjoyment
of other clients, or whose conduct may prejudice the
reputation of Andante Travels with our suppliers or
hotel owners and as such, Andante Travels shall have
no further responsibility or liability to you.
13 YOU MUST BE FIT AND WELL
to take part on one of our
tours. Many of our programmes involve a great deal
of walking in cities or scrambling over rough terrain
on archaeological sites which can be difficult to
negotiate and physically tiring. If you have any
reservations regarding your fitness for a trip,
please ring. Under no circumstances should you travel
if your doctor has or would advise against it. If you
are infirm, disabled or unfit in any way it is
imperative that you inform Andante Travels so that we
may give you advice as some of the tours would be
very unsuitable or even dangerous for you.
Please consider whether your presence might affect
the party so as to impair the enjoyment of other
guests. If you know that you need help, you should
bring a helper with you. Andante Travels reserves the
right to refuse to take participants who have not
revealed their infirmities or disabilities in
advance. Clients’ bookings are accepted on the
understanding that they appreciate the possible risk
inherent in archaeological travel and that they
undertake the tours, walks or expeditions featured in
our brochure, on that basis.
It should also be noted that as we travel very often
to remote destinations, the general levels of comfort
and services are lower than would be found in the UK
and the EU. Andante Travels therefore believe that it
is essential that you understand exactly the nature
of the trips we offer and that you are able to
participate in all the activities included in your
chosen itinerary. If you have any doubts as to your
own physical limitations then this is not the holiday
experience for you!
14 BROCHURE
ACCURACY.
Andante Travels reserves the right to change any of
the prices, services or other particulars contained
in this brochure at any time before we enter into a
contract with you. If there is any change, we will
notify you before you enter into such contract. All
information is given in good faith and believed
correct at the time of printing. Whilst every effort
is made to ensure accuracy, occasional errors do
occur and you must therefore check your holiday
details carefully.
15 THE PRICE OF THE TOUR
We reserve the right to vary the price of your
holiday in relation to changes in transportation
costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or
fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or
embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or
airports, or the exchange rates applied to the
particular package. We will not vary the price of
your holiday less than 30 days prior to your
departure date, but if variations occur before that
time, we will absorb or retain an amount up to the
first 2% (excluding insurance premiums and any
amendment charges) of your invoiced holiday cost. For
variations greater than 2%, we will still absorb the
first 2% in the case of increases, but will not
retain it from refunds. Where a surcharge or refund
is payable, there will be an administration fee of
£30 per person. If we impose a surcharge, which
means paying more than 10% of your holiday price, you
will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full
refund of all moneys paid to us except for insurance
premium and amendment charges. Should you decide to
cancel because of this, you must exercise your right
to do so within 14 days of the date of our surcharge
invoice. (NB Andante Travels has never asked
customers for such a surcharge).
16 FLIGHTS & TRAINS.
There is no guarantee that flights or trains will
depart at the time specified, and Andante Travels
does not have any liability to you for any delay
which may arise. Where such delay does arise, we will
use our best endeavours
to arrange for the air carrier to provide appropriate
meals etc, but we ourselves are not obliged to make
any such provision. All passengers using our flight
arrangements must use the outbound flight. In some
cases a return flight at a later date can be
arranged, if this is requested at the time of booking
(see para. 3 for
administration charge for any such changes). The
majority of flights are scheduled and at the time of
going to press these are
not confirmed, and
consequently, the type of aircraft is not yet known.
In accordance with EU regulations we are required to
advise you of the actual carrier operating your
flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by
listing carriers to be used or likely to
be used as follows:
Alitalia, Air Malta,
Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Buraq Air, EgyptAir, GB Airways, Iberia,
KLM, Middle Eastern Airlines, Olympic Airways, Royal
Jordanian, Mexicana,
Syrian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Sri Lanka
Airlines, Tunisair.
Customers booking their own flights should not do so
until Andante has confirmed the holiday (at the
latest two months before departure) and are
responsible for transport to / from the airport.
17 SUPPLIERS’ CONDITIONS
Transport and other suppliers have their own booking
conditions or conditions of carriage, and you will be
bound by these as far as the relevant transport
provider is concerned. Some of these conditions may
limit or exclude liability on the part of the
relevant provider and they are often also subject to
international conventions.
18 MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
Although we will of course advise you about medical
requirements for travellers, you should check
with your doctor which inoculations or vaccinations
they recommend for the country you are visiting and
how long in advance you should have them. If you are
a national of an EC country, you should take your
EHIC available from main Post Offices or online.
19 LIABILITY
(i) Our
obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any
service or facility included in your holiday, are to
provide them with reasonable skill and care. You must
show that reasonable skill and care has not been used
if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for
example, safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout
the transport and destinations that your holiday may
involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than
those which would be expected to be found in the UK.
The services and facilities included in your holiday
will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill
and care if they comply with any local regulations
which apply (such as, for
example, those of the
Civil Aviation Authority) or, if there are no
applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable
when compared to the local standards and customs.
(ii) For claims which do not involve death or
personal injury, we accept, and will only have,
liability, subject to paragraphs (iv) and (v) below,
should we or our suppliers fail to satisfy the
obligations detailed in paragraph (i) above. If we have liability,
we will, subject to paragraphs (v) and (vi) below pay
you compensation of an amount which could be
reasonably and properly expected, taking into account
all relevant circumstances. Any sums received by you
from suppliers such as from airlines due to the
Denied Boarding Regulations 1992 will be deducted
from any sum paid to you as compensation by us.
(iii) For claims which involve death or
personal injury as a result of an activity forming
part of your holiday, we accept, and will only have,
liability subject to paragraphs (iv) and (v) below
should we or our suppliers fail to satisfy the
obligations detailed in paragraph (i) above. If we have liability,
we will, subject to paragraphs (v) and (vi) below,
pay you reasonable compensation.
(iv) We have liability in accordance with
paragraphs (ii) and (iii) above and subject to
paragraphs (v) and (vi) below except where the loss
or damage you suffer is either attributable to you,
or attributable to someone unconnected with your
holiday and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or is
due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond
our control, the consequences of which could not have
been avoided even if all due care had been exercised.
(v) If any international convention applies to
or governs any of the services or facilities included
in your holiday arranged or provided by us, or
provided by any of our suppliers, and you make a
claim against us of any nature arising out of death,
injury, loss or damage suffered during or as a result
of the provision of those services or facilities, our
liability to pay you compensation and/or the amount
(if any) of compensation payable will be limited in
accordance with that provided for by the
international convention concerned. International
Conventions which may apply include: in respect of
international air travel, the Warsaw Convention 1929
(including as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955
and by any of the additional Montreal Protocol of
1975) or the Montreal Convention of 1999; in respect
of rail travel, the Berne Convention 1961; in respect
of carriage by sea, the Athens Convention 1974; in
respect of carriage by road, the Geneva Convention
1973; and in respect of hotels, the Paris Convention
1962. This means that we are to be regarded as having
all benefit of any limitations of compensation
contained in any of these Conventions or any other
international convention applicable to your holiday.
If your luggage is lost, damaged or destroyed in any
circumstance not subject to an international
convention the maximum amount of compensation we will
pay you will be £500. This sum will be assessed
with reference particularly to your loss and the
extent to which this has required you to purchase
replacements.
(vi) If you choose to issue court proceedings
in respect of a claim against us, you must do so
within 2 years of your return from holiday or within
2 years of first discovering the matters giving rise
to the claim, if this is later. If you do not, then
our liability to you will be limited in all cases to
a sum of £100.
(vii) You must, if we are adjudged to have, or
if we accept, liability for a claim that you make,
assign to us any rights that you may have against any
of our servants, agents or suppliers which is in any
way responsible for the failure of your holiday or
any death or personal injury you may suffer. You must
also co-operate with us in any claim we choose to
bring against any third party which we, in our
discretion, deem to be so responsible.
(viii) Other than as set out above, and as is
detailed elsewhere in these booking conditions, we
shall have no legal liability whatsoever to you for
any loss, damage, personal injury or death which you
suffer arising directly or indirectly from any aspect
of your holiday.
20 EXCURSIONS
Our local contacts may, at your request, make
arrangements for excursion locally on your behalf.
However, please note that if they do, the contract
for the provision of the excursion, will be between
you and the supplier of the excursion and not between
you and us.
We have no liability whatsoever for anything which
may go wrong on the excursion.
21 DATA PROTECTION
Except where expressly permitted by the Data
Protection Act, we will only deal with the personal
details you give us in respect of your holiday
arrangements, unless you agree otherwise. For
example, if we wish to use any of your personal
details for marketing purposes, we will tell you this
when we ask for your details and give you the
opportunity to say no if you do not wish us to do so.
If you make special requests, which include, but are
not limited to special dietary, religious or
disability-related requirements which constitute
sensitive information, the relevant data will be
passed to the relevant suppliers and carriers to
enable provision of the services requested by you.
22 YOUR CONTRACT
with us and any matters arising from it shall be
subject to English law and to the jurisdiction of the
Court of England and Wales. If you are resident in
Scotland or Northern Ireland, the Courts of Scotland
or Northern Ireland can deal with any disputes.
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