TourKits Booking Conditions
Please read these booking conditions carefully. If you have accessed them via the Internet, we suggest that you print and keep them for future reference. Any contract with TourKits Ltd., Abbey House, 1650 Arlington Business Park, Theale, Reading, RG7 4SA, United Kingdom (“us”) will be subject to these terms and conditions. Each of those listed on the booking form, on whose behalf any party leader is acting, is referred to in these conditions as “you”.
TourKits Ltd. is a member of the Travel Trust Association, membership no. R9435
HOW TO BOOK
Once you have selected your preferred travel arrangements and submitted a booking or booking request, we will make the requested reservations with our suppliers and then send you an invoice. If any part of your preferred travel arrangements is unavailable, we will offer you a suitable alternative. If there is no suitable alternative, or you do not wish to accept the alternative(s) offered, the booking or booking request will be cancelled and any payments already made will be refunded. The contract between us and you (the “contract”) is made on the date that we post, fax or e-mail confirmation of booking or invoice to you, whichever the earlier. The contract can only be cancelled on these booking conditions.
Where you have special requests, we are happy to pass them on to our suppliers, but cannot (Unless specifically agreed in writing on or before the contract) guarantee that they will be met.
If your booking is made either by telephone or via the Internet and you are unable to submit a signed booking form, we shall assume that you accept our terms and conditions and that you also accept responsibility for communicating those terms and conditions to any other members of your party.
PAYMENT
A deposit of £50 per person is payable at the time of booking, together with any insurance premiums due. The balance of your total invoice is payable not less than eight weeks before departure.
For bookings made less than eight weeks before departure, full payment is due at the time of booking.
If the full holiday cost is not paid on time, we have the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you.
All cheques should be made payable to TourKits Ltd. (Client Account).
Please read the FINANCIAL SECURITY section below for information about the protection of your money.
PRICE AND PRICE GUARANTEE
The total price of your travel arrangements is confirmed at the time of booking. We make it clear in our brochures and/or on our web site what is included in the price and if there are any compulsory taxes, which are not included.
Once your booking has been confirmed and the deposit paid, we will not impose any surcharges related to foreign currency exchange rates. You may however be asked to meet increased costs caused by Government action, increases in embarkation or disembarkation charges, or increases in transportation costs. We will cover any surcharges up to the first 2% of your total price. You will be liable for any additional increases. However, if the total price increases by more than 10%, you may cancel your travel arrangements and receive a full refund. We will not in any case increase the price of your travel arrangements after you have paid the full balance due.
FINANCIAL SECURITY
TourKits Ltd. is a member of the Travel Trust Association (membership no.R9435). All payments made by you will be deposited in the TourKits client a/c and only released by the independent trustee when either (a) you have completed your travel arrangements; or (b) they are passed to a supplier who is a holder of an ATOL (Air Tour Organisers Licence). This means that if we are unable to provide your contracted travel arrangements due to our insolvency, your money will be refunded or your repatriation assured if already abroad.
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
We take every care to ensure the accuracy of information and descriptions published in our brochures and on our web site. All information is given in good faith and believed to be correct at the time of publication. Regrettably, errors do sometimes occur and it is important that you check all reservation details at the time of booking.
If your enjoyment of your travel arrangements is dependent on being able to visit specific attractions or attend specific events, you should check that such visits are compatible with your chosen itinerary.
AMENDMENT OR CANCELLATION BY YOU
If you wish to amend any details of your travel arrangements, we will try to help, but will levy an administration charge of £20 per booking. You shall additionally be responsible for any charges made by our suppliers in respect of the amendment request.
If you wish to cancel your travel arrangements, the party leader must advise us in writing immediately. If you cancel, you will be liable to pay the cancellation charges set out below, and which are calculated on the date that your notice of cancellation is received at our office.
Notification Period Cancellation Charge (% of total price)
Before departure
29 days + 25%
8-28 days 50%
0-7 days 100%
Under no circumstances can refunds be made for services booked but not used once your travel arrangements have commenced.
Where we are acting as an agent for the supplier of a single element of transport, accommodation, entertainment or a third party travel package,
that particular supplier’s reservation amendment and cancellation conditions will apply.
AMENDMENT OR CANCELLATION BY US
In the unlikely event that we have to amend your travel arrangements, the conditions, which apply, depend on whether we are making either a “major” or a “minor” amendment.
A “major” amendment is one which materially affects your confirmed travel arrangements, such as a change of your place of departure by more than 50 miles, a change of departure time by more than twelve hours or a change of accommodation to a lower standard.
All other amendments will be considered “minor”.
We reserve the right to make minor amendments at any time, although we will try to notify you of any such amendment before you leave. We are not obliged to notify you in advance of a minor amendment, nor are we obliged to pay you compensation. Minor amendments do not entitle you to cancel or change to another holiday.
If we make a major amendment, we will notify you as soon as practicable, and you will have three options. You may accept our proposed amendment, change to alternative travel arrangements which are available through us (with any relevant amendment to the total price), or cancel your travel arrangements altogether and receive a full refund of all monies paid. If we make a major amendment to, or cancel your travel arrangements other than for reason of “force majeure” (see below), we will also pay you compensation based on the following scale.
Notification period prior to departure Compensation per person
56 days + nil
43-56 days £20
29-42 days £45
15-28 days £60
15 days- £75
In the event of cancellation or amendment due to “force majeure” we cannot accept any liability or pay any compensation. “Force majeure” means unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, for example, war, threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, outbreak of disease or famine, level of water in rivers or similar events beyond our control.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
Where we are supplying you with a combination of any two or more elements of transportation, accommodation or entertainment, we are responsible to you for ensuring that all arrangements and services are as described in our brochures and / or on our web site, and we accept liability for any loss you may suffer if these are not as described and not of a reasonable standard, commensurate with the description given and the price charged. Other than claims for death, illness or personal injury, any compensation you may be entitled to is limited to the price you paid for your travel arrangements. The calculation of any compensation due shall have regard to the extent to which it can be shown that your enjoyment of the travel arrangements was affected. Compensation will not be payable as a result of unrealistic expectations where the travel arrangements have been as described.
We shall not be liable to pay compensation where any failure to perform or improper performance of the whole or any part of the contract is due to:
(a) Any act and / or omission by the person affected or
(b) Those of a third party not connected with the provision of your travel arrangements and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or
(c) An event which neither we, nor the supplier of the service in question could have foreseen or avoided even with all due care.
Where any claim or part of a claim concerns or is based on any transport services (including the process of getting on or off the transport) provided by any air, rail, sea or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum compensation payable in respect of that claim is the maximum that would be payable by the carrier or hotel keeper concerned under the applicable international convention (e.g. Athens Convention for international travel by sea, Warsaw Convention as amended on air carrier liability and Paris Convention for hotel keepers) in that situation.
Where we are supplying you with a single element of transportation, accommodation, entertainment or a travel package from a third party supplier, we are acting as agent for that service or package supplier and you shall be bound by their terms and conditions of booking, a copy of which will be supplied on request.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO US
You are expected to check any tickets, vouchers or other documents supplied by us to you on receipt of such documents and to notify us immediately of any apparent errors or discrepancies against the travel arrangements that you have booked with us.
While travelling on arrangements booked through us, you must behave with courtesy and avoid causing damage, distress, danger or annoyance to our other clients, our suppliers or to third parties. If you cause any loss to third parties or damage property, you will be liable for the cost of repairing or replacing it.
The party leader is responsible for advising these booking conditions to all the people named on the booking.
PASSPORTS & VISAS
A full 10 Year British Passport is required for all holidays and it is a requirement of some countries that passports have a minimum length of validity beyond your arrival date.
Holders of non-British Passports issued overseas should check with the relevant consulate whether they require any special permits or Visas for countries they are visiting or just passing through.
We cannot accept liability, or consider refunds for clients who cannot travel because of insufficient or incorrect documentation.
For further up to date information on Passports & Visas visit The Foreign & Commonwealth Office on www.fco.gov.uk.
INSURANCE
We offer optional travel insurance and vehicle breakdown insurance policies. It is your responsibility to ensure that the cover provided is adequate for your particular needs. If you decide not to purchase travel insurance and, in the case of self-drive travel arrangements vehicle breakdown insurance, from us, you are required to show evidence that you have alternative cover, which at least matches the policy that we offer.
COMPLAINTS
If you consider any aspect of the travel arrangements booked by us for you to be unsatisfactory, you should, in the first instance, raise the matter with our supplier or their representative on the spot, so that they may have an opportunity to rectify matters. If matters are not then rectified to your satisfaction, you should notify us by phone, fax or e-mail within 48 hours. Failure to take either of these actions may limit or even extinguish your eligibility for compensation.
Our phone number is +44 (0) 8712 30 20 60 (Calls cost 10p per minute. International call costs and calls from mobile phones may vary.) Our fax number is +44 (0) 870 730 1449
If your complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved prior to your return, you should write to us within 28 days of the end of your travel arrangements. No claims, other than those relating to death, illness or personal injury, can be dealt with unless they are received within this period.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may refer your complaint to arbitration under a special scheme devised for the travel industry by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with a restriction on your liability in respect of costs. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £1,500 per person or £7,500 per booking form or to claims, which are solely, or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness or the consequences of such injury or illness.
LAW & JURISDICTION
Your contract with us is governed by and construed in accordance with English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales, which you and we both agree to submit to.
