Terms & Conditions - Fair trade Charter
The following Booking Conditions apply to clients travelling on inclusive package holidays, tours and excursions operated by Southern Holidays Limited. Your holiday will only be accepted by our company upon the express condition that all clients accept the following terms.
A. YOUR DEPOSIT
Your completed booking form, including all passengers names, must be signed and accompanied by a deposit of £25 per person plus your insurance premium. This is your only commitment until 4 weeks before your departure.
B. YOU PAY THE BALANCE
All balances must be paid at least 4 weeks before departure. The date for payment will be confirmed on your invoice. Payment must be made by this date to avoid cancellation. If you have any difficulties you must notify us immediately to safeguard your reservation. No further invoice will be sent.
C. CHANGES BY YOU
If after your booking has been accepted, you wish to make any alterations we shall do our best to satisfy your requirements, however, an alteration fee of £10 per person will be charged unless this is to increase the booking. A change of holiday or departure date within 4 weeks of departure will incur a cancellation charge as set out in section D, unless the new holiday departs on or before the original departure date, the normal charge of £10 per person will be made.
D. CANCELLATION
Expenditure is incurred from the time we receive your booking form. The deposit you pay is a sign of your willingness to use the travel accommodation that we have reserved on your behalf. If you wish to cancel you must do so in writing. The charges you incur will depend on the date we receive your cancellation it is in your own interest to give as much notice as possible as the following scale of charges will apply. Prior to
42 days of departure Deposit 42-29 days of departure 40%
28-15 days of departure 60%
14-7 days of departure 90% within 7 days of departure 100%
Percentages are the total cost of your holiday. Insurance premiums are not refundable - however your insurance policy covers cancellation for various reasons. You may be able to claim for any cancellation charges incurred.
E. PASSPORTS AND VISAS
All passengers must be in possession of a valid passport/VISAS. The latter are nor required by by holders of EU or British Passports. Holders of other passports must be in possession of a valid visa before departure. We cannot be held responsible for any delay or expenses incurred as a result of passengers' travel documents not being in order.
F. HOTELS AND RESORTS
Whilst we make every effort to provide quality accommodation, we must point out that in most hotels, single rooms may seem inferior to other rooms and sometimes the private facilities are not en-suite. When booking a triple or family room, please bear in mind that this may be a twin room with extra beds added. In early or late season or on certain continental Bank Holidays not all of the facilities in the hotels and resorts may be available, swimming pools may not be in use, the resorts may be quieter and fewer shops and facilities open, bus and ferry services may not be as frequent as in the high season.
G. WE RESERVE YOUR HOLIDAY
On receipt of your booking form, deposit and insurance premium, we will allocate your chosen hotel to you. We will then send you a confirmation of the details. This also acts as an acceptance of the booking conditions in accordance with the terms of this agreement.
H. SPECIAL REQUESTS
Requests for adjoining rooms, high/low floors etc, are subject to availability in the resort and whilst we will obviously do everything in our power to ensure clients receive their requests, please remember as we do not have direct control over actual accommodation allocations we cannot guarantee these requests. Alleged verbal confirmation of these requests at the "Time of Booking" etc, will be classified null and void without a confirmation guarantee in writing and signed by the company. All bookings /reservations are accepted on this understanding.
I. COACHES PROVIDED
Whilst every effort is made to provide a coach with on board facilities we are obviously at the mercy of manufacturers, delivery dates, breakdown and acts of god, we must, therefore, reserve the right to provide you with a coach that does not have facilities for the journey. We trust that you understand the necessity for this clause and trust in all sincerity that we never have to implement it.
No compensation will be given for lack of facilities, nor for coach facilities which may be out of order. Please accept that coaches do occasionally breakdown and require replacing as do certain on board facilities, and remember if you do travel for business or pleasure, by land, sea or air, delays can occur for any reason whatsoever and should be anticipated.
J. COACH SEATS, SMOKING AND ALCOHOL
During your journey, frequent comfort stops will be made. Last minute bookings are subject to availability. Your allocated seat numbers will be confirmed to you on your final travel documents, however if circumstances arise e.g. last minute substitution of a coach with a different seating configuration we therefore reserve the right to amend your seat number this will obviously be kept to an absolute minimum. No alcohol is to be brought on board the coaches.
K. SPECIAL CARE FOR DISABLED PASSENGERS
The holidays in this brochure have been carefully planed to include as much of interest but inevitably some of the holidays include lengthy periods of travel and some walking on excursions. Additionally many of the hotels will have steps to contend with. It is important that such passengers enter the word disabled in block capitals in the Special Requirements on the booking form, together with a brief description of their disability.
L. IF WE CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
It is necessary for there to be a minimum number of passengers in order to operate, therefore we may have to cancel your holiday and if this should occur we will return to you all the money you have paid to us, or offer you a suitable alternative. However unless you have failed to pay your holiday in full by the agreed date we guarantee not to cancel your holiday without giving notice as shown. Holiday involving 3 or more nights with overnight accommodation - 14 days notice. Holiday involving 1 or 2 nights with overnight accommodation - 7 days notice.
M. IF WE CHANGE YOUR HOLIDAY
It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your holiday, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance, sometimes we may need to make changes, most of these are very minor and we will let you know about them wherever possible prior to departure. Some Spanish hotels occasionally close earlier than the published date. Should this occur you will be transferred to alternative, equivalent accomodation.
N. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
1) Southern Holidays Limited accept responsibility for making sure that all of the component parts of your holiday are as stated in this brochure and supplied to you at the star rating as defined by the Spanish Tourist Authority. If any part is not provided as per the brochure description, Southern Holidays will pay you appropriate compensation like that stated in paragraph M, unless it is due to circumstances beyond our control. This would include but is not limited to, force majeure, war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activities, industrial dispute, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside of our control.
2) It is a condition of the acceptance of liability under these Booking Conditions that you notify us of any claim you and/or and
member(s) of your party has in writing within 14 days of return from that holiday. If you have a complaint or claim - any person(s)
to whom a payment is made (and their parent or guardian if that person is under 18 years of age) must assign to ourselves or our
insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party in connection with the complaint or claim. You must also provide
ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.
3) We trade in connection with Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. 4) In all cases, our liabilities in respect of sea and road carriers are
limited within the applicable International Conventions (eg Athens Convention for travel by sea). 5) Please remember that some
hotel amenities (eg, hotel lifts, swimming pools etc) require services and cleaning and may not therefore be available at all times.
Some services may be affected by weather conditions and their availability is entirely at the discretion of the provider of the
services. Entertainment (particularly live entertainment) provided by the hotel is frequently subject to demand and its nature and/or
frequency may be varied if there is lack of demand or insufficient numbers staying in the hotel. Some excursion itineraries include
the use
of ferries and other forms of transport which can be affected by inclement weather and may have to be cancelled or changed as a
result. Whenever possible, a suitable alternative excursion will be offered. The published running times of services are estimates
only and we will not be liable for any loss (however caused) arising from delay or failure to operate in accordance with published
figures.
O. UNREASONABLE BEHAVIOUR
We reserve the right in the interests of all passengers to refuse admission or readmission to coaches and accommodation, if, in the
opinion of our staff, hoteliers or contractors, a passengers behaviour, health, illegal smuggling, is likely to disturb the safety,
comfort, well being or cause delay to other passengers. Southern Holidays Limited will not be held responsible for any expenses
incurred by the client doing so.
P. COMPLAINTS
Should you have any reason for dissatisfaction during your holiday, the following procedure must be adopted. Apartments/Hotels
Comments must be made to our Representative /Courier at the time and therefore enable the Hotelier/Agent to resolve your
problem during the stay.
Travel/Excursions
Comments should be made to our Courier, Driver or Representative who will endeavour to be of assistance. If you should have
reason to be dissatisfied at the end of your holiday, you should forward comments to the Managing Director, Southern Holidays
Limited, within 14 days, who will not enter into correspondence outside this period, or if the above procedure has not been followed.
Q. SUPPLEMENTS
Southern Holidays Limited guarantee that the price of your holiday will not be subject to any surcharge except for those resulting
from governmental action, including VAT.
Even in this case, Southern Holidays Limited will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% which excludes any insurance premium. This
clause only applies through devaluation of the pound or increase in VAT or fuel oils. (The pound at time of publication is set at 1.07
euros = £1). Southern Holidays guarantee not to increase any price 30 days prior to departure date of your holidays. For further
information please ask for
details.
R. FINANCIAL SECURITY FULLY BONDED BY "BOND PLUS"
In accordance with the E.C. Directive on package holidays all clients booking with us are fully protected for the initial deposit and subsequently the balance of any monies paid to us, including repatriation if required, arising from cancellation or curtailment of their travel arrangements due to our insolvency. Due to changes in underwritting practices no bonding certificates will be issued but qualifying customers will be registered.
S. SPECIAL DIETS
If you require a special diet you must inform us at the time of booking with a copy of the diet. We will then check with the hotel(s)
concerned to ascertain if they are able to comply with your requirements and this will be confirmed on your confirmation invoice if it
is possible to comply with your requirements. Some hotels may make an additional charge for such a special diet in which case any
extra costs incurred must be paid direct to the hotel(s) concerned by yourself before departure from the hotel.
T. OFFICIAL HOTEL STAR RATINGS
The star ratings shown are the official ratings of the country concerned, and may differ from normal British standards.
U. PASSENGERS' RESPONSIBILITIES
Southern Holidays cannot be held responsible for leaving behind.
V. COMFORT STOPS
Whilst we endeavour to make comfort stops en-route every 2-3 hours, circumstances beyond our control may prohibit us from meeting these intervals.
W. MEDICATION
Please ensure that all medication is kept with you and not placed in your suitcase, as access to main luggage will not always be available.
X. INTERCHANGES
To reduce travelling time we sometimes use feeder coaches, minibusses and taxis to meet the main coach at other points (usually at Thurrock or Dover).
