Sovereign PDF Full - Flipbook - Page 272
Terms and Conditions
Please read these booking conditions, and the additional information on our
website carefully, they form an important part of the contract for your holiday.
All holidays are advertised in our brochures and on our website are operated by Specialist
Holidays (Travel) Limited trading as Sovereign, registered number 446617 (hereinafter called ‘the
Company’, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’), a member of the Travelopia Group of Companies, of Origin One,
108 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1BD, and are sold subject to the following conditions:
Insurance:
Please Note: Adequate and valid travel insurance is compulsory for all our travellers and it is a
condition of accepting your booking that you agree you will have obtained adequate and valid
travel insurance. We recommend you take out insurance as soon as your booking is confirmed.
1. Your Financial Protection
The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to
provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked from us and for
your repatriation in the event of our insolvency.
We will provide you with financial protection for any ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive
holiday that you buy from us by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 0285,
administered by the Civil Aviation Authority (‘CAA’). When you buy an ATOL protected flight or
flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially
protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if
things go wrong.
We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed
on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the
supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you
with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree
to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations
and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that
alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to
appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the
ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).
If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, are unable to provide the services
listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of
insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on)
you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign
absolutely to those Trustees any claim which you have or may have arising out of or relating
to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your
credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to
another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.
The price of your holiday includes the amount of £2.50 per person as part of the ATOL Protection
Contribution (APC) we pay to the CAA. This charge is included in our advertised prices.
When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday, all money accepted from you
by a travel agent acting as our agent is held by that agent on behalf of and for the benefit of the
Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times, but subject to the agent’s obligation to pay it to us for
so long as we do not fail. If we do fail, any money held at that time by the agent, or subsequently
accepted from you by the agent, is and continues to be held by that agent on behalf of and for
the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust without any obligation to pay that money to us.
When you buy arrangements other than an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday, all
money accepted from you by a travel agent acting as our agent is held by that agent on our
behalf at all times.
We will provide you with financial protection for any package holidays you buy from us that do
not include travel by air by way of a bond held by ABTA. For further information, visit the ABTA
website at www.abta.com.
If you book arrangements other than an ATOL protected flight or a package holiday, the
financial protection referred to above does not apply.
We are a Member of ABTA, membership number V4068. We are obliged to maintain a high
standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct.
2. How to Book
To make a booking you can contact us in several ways; directly over the telephone, via our
website at www.sovereign.com or through an approved Travel Agent. The person making the
booking (the ‘lead name’) must be 18 years old or over and possess the legal capacity and
authority to make the booking and accepts these booking conditions on behalf of everyone in
their party. Whether you book alone or as a group, we will only deal with the lead name in all
subsequent correspondence, including changes, amendments and cancellations. The lead
name is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the personal details or any other information
supplied in respect of yourself and any other person travelling on the booking and for passing
on any information regarding the booking or any changes made in relation thereto, to all
persons travelling on such booking, including but not limited to information on schedule changes
or copies of booking confirmations. You will need to pay a deposit at the time of booking in
the amount notified to you at the time of booking. You may also be required to pay for any
non-transferable and non-refundable items such as special air fares, theatre tickets, attraction
tickets or entry permits and any other applicable supplements due at the time of booking, for
example, including without limitation “Accommodation Only”, “Late Bookings” and “Weddings”.
Some airfares are booked at especially competitive rates to which airlines may attach severe
restrictions. You may be asked to pay for these in full at the time of booking and they may be
non-refundable in the event of cancellation. Details will be given at the time of booking. Please
note that cheques require 5 working days to clear. Cheques that will not clear by the balance
due date cannot be accepted. We only accept card payments from passengers travelling on the
booking. We will then invoice you for the remainder of the cost due before you travel, which you
must pay not later than 69 days before departure for bookings made via an agent, or no later
than 83 days before departure for bookings made directly with us. To pay your final balance,
amend your booking or discuss any other aspect of your holiday booked directly with us, call
our Customer Services team. When you book your holiday through an approved travel agent, all
communication between you and us will be made through that agent, as such please contact
your agent in the first instance, as no changes can be made to your booking unless they are
done through your agent.
If you book less than 69 days before departure for bookings made via an agent, or less than 83
days before departure for bookings made directly with us, full payment (less any payment which
must be paid locally) must be made on booking by credit or debit card. If you do not pay the
balance by the due date your booking will be cancelled and you will forfeit your deposit plus
any other relevant charges. If you do not pay the local payment on the due date your booking
will be cancelled (and we shall have no further liability to you) and cancellation charges will
be levied as appropriate.
If we accept your booking, we will issue a Booking Confirmation and Invoice. A contract will exist
between us from the date we issue the Booking Confirmation and Invoice or if you book within
7 days of departure the contract will exist when we accept your deposit payment. When you
receive the Booking Confirmation and Invoice and your Departure Documents please check the
details carefully and inform us immediately if anything is incorrect. Names on travel documents
must exactly match those in your passports. Unless we are responsible for the mistake, we will
not accept liability if an airline or other supplier refuses boarding because the name(s) shown
in your passport differ from those on your ticket. If there is an obvious error on the Confirmation
Invoice, we reserve the right to correct it as soon as we become aware of it, but will do this
within 7 days of issuing the Confirmation Invoice or, if your departure is within 7 days, no later
than 24 hours before you go. If any of these changes are not acceptable then you will be entitled
to a full refund. Travel documents will be sent or emailed to you (to the address given to us by the
lead name at the time of booking) approximately 2 weeks before your departure, and will not be
issued unless payment of the due balance has been received and any cheques have cleared.
Bookings made 14 days or less before departure incur a £15 per person administration charge
and tickets will not be sent out by post but will more than likely have to be collected at the
airport on the day of departure. It is essential that you ascertain whether or not you can obtain
relevant visas and inoculations before making your booking. We cannot accept any liability for
tickets lost in the post. Departure Documents may be in paper or email form depending on your
chosen holiday. If requested in the Departure Documents or locally provided holiday information,
you must reconfirm the reservations, timings and check-in details of your flight with the airline
concerned at least 72 hours before departure. This applies to your outward flight and to your
return flight. If you miss a flight or suffer any disruption as a result of not following our instructions
as to reconfirmation we will have no liability to you.
For those holidays where an additional local payment is required this will be confirmed to
you. A local payment is a portion of the holiday cost which must be paid directly to the local
representative as instructed. If the price of your holiday includes a local payment this must be
paid in the currency specified. Please note that your tour price will not be considered to have
been paid in full until the local payment has been made.
Tourist taxes, resort fees or similar that are charged locally may be implemented or changed
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without prior warning. We do not accept responsibility for these costs, which must be paid by you
and are not included within your holiday price.
Your personal safety is of paramount importance to us and therefore it is imperative that you
advise us at the time of booking of any condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect your or
other people’s enjoyment of the trip.
It is a condition of your booking that you and all members of your party provide certain
information that may be sent to governmental authorities and border control and security
agencies for the purpose of security and counter terrorism. This is known as Passenger Name
Records (PNR) or Advanced Passenger Information, sometimes known as APIS. For the United
Kingdom, it may be referred to as ‘E-Borders’. The information you must provide will include,
but not be limited to, full name – as shown in your passport or travel document, gender, date
of birth, travel document type, number, country of issue and expiry date, and for travel to the
U.S., your country of residence and the address for your first night’s stay. You must provide this
information to the airline between 6 months and 24 hours before departure.
We may transfer your booking to another company within our group, but this will have no effect
on your holiday arrangements.
3. Prices, Surcharging, and Air Passenger Duty
All guide prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to
change any of those prices from time to time. Prices include a cost for fuel that was estimated
at the date of this publication. Prices on our website are updated regularly. In the unlikely event
of an administrative error leading to an incorrect price being displayed, we reserve the right
to correct it. Offers are not combinable unless expressly stated and may be withdrawn at any
time. All quotations are provisional until confirmed in writing on your Booking Confirmation
and Invoice. Before you make a booking, we will give you the up-to-date price of your chosen
holiday including the cost of any supplements, upgrades or additional facilities which you
have requested.
Changes in transportation costs, including without limitation the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or
fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at
ports and airports mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have
booked. However, there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. Any changes in
taxes, entry fees and/or charges that we collect at net cost on behalf of local and government
bodies will be passed on to you in full or refunded to you in full (Net Cost Charges). We will
absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel
arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums, Net Cost Charges and any amendment
charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge
of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission. If this means that you
have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you may
either accept a replacement holiday from us of equivalent or similar standard and price (at the
date of the change) if we are able to offer you one or you may cancel your holiday booking and
receive a full refund, except for any amendment charges.
Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days
from the issue date printed on your final invoice. If any change in our costs would cause a
reduction in your holiday price, we will not make refunds of amounts less than 2% of the price
of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums, Net Cost Charges and any
amendment charges, but we will refund in full amounts exceeding such 2%, after deducting an
administration charge of £1.00 per person. However, please note that travel arrangements are
not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the
price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
In all cases, we will only consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can
show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
Dates and itineraries shown for tours are indicative only and subject to change.
Air Passenger Duty “APD”, which is payable by all passengers departing from UK airports,
is included in the price of your holiday/flight ticket. Children under 12 on the date of travel
(under 16 from March 2016) are exempt from APD when travelling in economy class. The price
of your holiday will include APD for an economy seat. If you upgrade to a premium cabin this
will be included in the upgrade cost. In view of the current volatility of world oil prices, a fuel
supplement may be added to the price of your holiday at the time of booking.
4. Insurance
Adequate and valid travel insurance for your chosen itinerary is compulsory for all travellers
and it is a condition of accepting your booking that you agree you will have obtained adequate
and valid travel insurance. We recommend you take out insurance as soon as your booking is
confirmed. You are strongly advised to insure yourself against any possible risk that may occur
and in particular to ensure that you have sufficient insurance in respect of dependent relatives
and force majeure events. You are required to carry proof of insurance with you and produce it if
reasonably requested by Company employees or suppliers.
You must ensure that there are no exclusion clauses which limit cover for the type of activities
included, or the altitudes attained, in your holiday. Furthermore, you must advise us of the
details of your own insurance including the name of the insurer and the policy number as soon
as possible. Our representative abroad has the right to see the policy so that appropriate
advice and assistance can be given. Clients in breach of this condition will be deemed to have
indemnified the Company for any loss incurred by the Company as a result of such breach and
such costs will be redeemable from them.
5. If You Change or Cancel Your Holiday
5.1 If, after our Booking Confirmation has been issued, you (i) make a change to your existing
booking, we will charge an amendment fee of £35 per change (ii) or wish to change to another
holiday or change departure date, we will try to make the changes subject to availability,
provided that notification is received in writing at our offices from the lead name at least 69
days before departure for bookings made via an agent, or at least 83 days before departure for
bookings made directly with us and you pay £35 per person to cover our administration costs.
5.2 In addition to the fee we charge, any alteration, whether a change to an existing booking
or a change to another holiday or departure date, will also be subject to payment by you of
any costs imposed by any of the suppliers providing the component parts of the booking. If the
holiday to which you transfer is more expensive than the one you originally booked, a further
deposit will also be payable. Any alteration by you within 69 days of departure for bookings
made via an agent, or within 83 days of departure for bookings made directly with us will be
treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to cancellation charges.
5.3 Subject to section 5.4, where you are unable to travel you can transfer your booking to
another person, providing the following conditions are met:
a) you must notify us in writing at least 69 days before departure for bookings made via an
agent, or at least 83 days before departure for bookings made directly with us and give us
authority to make the transfer; and
b) your request is accompanied by all original travel documents which you have received and
the full name and address of the person to whom you wish to transfer your holiday booking
(“transferee”); and
c) the transferee is acceptable to us, accepts the transfer and these Booking Conditions and
fulfils any conditions that apply to the booking; and
d) payment is made by you of an administrative charge of a minimum of £35 per person plus
payment of all costs charged or levied by those supplying your travel arrangements.
Both the transferor and transferee will be jointly and severally liable for payment of the holiday
price and other associated expenses.
5.4 Some airline carriers and other transport providers treat name and departure detail
changes, such as date and time changes, as a cancellation. If you miss a portion of your flight
journey, some airline carriers and other transport providers treat this as a cancellation and may
cancel the rest of your flights. It is your responsibility to check with the relevant airline to ensure
the subsequent journeys have not been cancelled, as if this does happen, you may be charged
again for the missed flight and any subsequent journeys. Accordingly you may have to pay for
the cancelled ticket and be required to pay for the full cost of a new ticket. Once airline tickets
have been issued, all changes are likely to incur the cost of a new ticket.
5.5 When the price per person is dependent on the number of people in the accommodation
and the number of people changes, the price will be recosted based on the new party size. Any
increase in price payable is not a cancellation charge. A separate cancellation charge will be
levied in respect of bookings cancelled. A new confirmation invoice will be issued as appropriate
on which the cancellation charge will be shown.
5.6 You, or any member of your party, may cancel your booking at any time providing that the
cancellation is made by the lead name in writing. Notice of cancellation will be effective upon
receipt by us of your written communication. As we start to incur costs from the time the contract
is confirmed we will retain your deposit and in addition will apply other cancellation charges
as shown below. These charges are based on how many days before your booked departure
we received your cancellation notice. These charges are a percentage of the total cost of your
booking, not including your insurance premium. If you want to cancel one or more passengers on
the booking you will have to pay a proportion of the applicable cancellation charge based on
the number of passengers you wish to cancel from the booking:
*Cancellation charge as a % of total holiday
Period before departure when written
cost (excluding any insurance premiums and any
notice of cancellation is received by us
amendment fees already paid to us)
Bookings made via Agent
Direct Bookings
More than 69 days
More than 83 days
Loss of deposit
56-69 days (inclusive)
56-83 days (inclusive)
30%
36-55 days (inclusive)
36-55 days (inclusive)
50%
22-35 days (inclusive)
22-35 days (inclusive)
70%
11-21 days (inclusive)
11-21 days (inclusive)
90%
0-10 days (inclusive)
0-10 days (inclusive)
100%
* Please note that for certain travel arrangements e.g. many scheduled transport providers,
the cancellation charge may be higher than those shown. In certain cases a 100% cancellation
fee applies as soon as the booking is made and the ticket is issued. Please ask for full details of
cancellation charges at time of booking. We strongly recommend you to take out insurance that
includes cover against irrecoverable cancellation costs. Additionally, you will remain responsible
for the full amount of your insurance premium and this will not be refunded in the event of your
cancellation. You may however be able to transfer this cover to another holiday. If you are
travelling on a scheduled flight, we cannot give you any refund until we have received your old
travel documents, including tickets.
5.7 All communications relating to this contract (in particular any requests to cancel or amend
your holiday arrangements) must be from the Lead Name in writing and in English and delivered
by hand or email sovcustomer.services@sovereign.com (please call also to ensure your email
has been received) or sent by recorded delivery post to Specialist Holidays (Travel) Limited, The
Atrium, London Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9SR.
6. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
We reserve the right to cancel your booking or change any of the facilities, services or prices
described in our brochures or website. We will endeavour to advise you of any changes known
at the time of booking.
We plan the arrangements for your holiday many months in advance and may occasionally
have to cancel your holiday or make changes, most of which are minor. Flight timings and
carriers shown in the brochure are for guidance only and are subject to change. Your Booking
Confirmation will show the latest planned timings. Your actual flight timings will be shown on
your ticket (including any e-ticket itinerary) which you should check carefully as soon as you
receive it. A change of carrier or type of aircraft will not be considered a major change. If a
major change becomes necessary, we will advise you of the change as soon as reasonably
possible. Whether a change is ‘major’ depends on the nature of the holiday and may include:
a significant change of destination, a change in accommodation to that of a lower category;
a change in time of your scheduled departure or return flight by more than 12 hours (but not a
flight delay); or a change of UK departure airport (excluding changes between London airports,
London, Ebbsfleet and Ashford stations and between Dover/Folkestone ports). A delay to your
flight that we need to make within 24 hours before you are due to depart will not be considered
a major change unless the change is for more than 24 hours. These changes are only examples
and there may be other significant changes which constitute major changes. When a major
change occurs, you will have the choice of either:
• accepting the change, or
• accepting a replacement holiday from us of equivalent or similar standard and price (at the
date of the change), if we are able to offer you one, or
• cancelling your holiday, in which case you shall receive a full refund of all monies paid.
We may also have to cancel your travel arrangements. Operation of some holidays are
dependent on a minimum number of persons booking the holiday. If that number is not achieved,
we reserve the right to cancel the holiday. However we will not cancel your booking less than
4 weeks before the scheduled departure date except for reasons of force majeure (as defined
below), or failure on your part to pay the deposit and/or final balance, or any other reason
beyond our control. If we are forced to cancel your holiday after departure we will, wherever
possible, make suitable alternative arrangements. If we are unable to make such alternative
arrangements, or you reject these for good reason then we will return you to your point of
departure and refund you for any unused services, if appropriate.
Where we make a major change to or cancel your holiday, except where a major change
or cancellation arises from circumstances amounting to force majeure, consolidation due to
minimum numbers not being attained, flight schedule changes, third party resort development,
failure on your part to pay the deposit and/or final balance or for any other reason beyond our
control, we will pay you, as a minimum, compensation as detailed below. Any compensation
payable will be on these scales, based on how many days before your booked holiday
departure we tell you of a major change:
Period before departure when we notify
Compensation
you of a major change
payable per person*
Before balance due date
Nil
Between balance due date and 29 days (inclusive) before departure
£10.00
Between 28 and 15 days (inclusive) before departure
£20.00
Between 14 and 8 days (inclusive) before departure
£30.00
7 days or less before departure
£40.00
This standard compensation payment will not affect your statutory or other legal rights. *We will
only make one compensation payment for each full-fare-paying adult in the holiday booking.
Any children not paying the full adult fare will receive compensation on a pro rata basis of
the adult fare. Children using a free child place will not receive any standard compensation
payment.
We strongly recommend that you make no travel arrangements to your point of departure,
make any connecting travel that is non-refundable or non-changeable or incurs penalties or
incur any costs in respect of visas or vaccinations until such time as your travel itinerary has
been confirmed on your Departure Documents. If you make such arrangements, which you are
then unable to use due to a change in your itinerary, we shall not be liable to you for the cost
of those arrangements.
Circumstances amounting to “force majeure” include any event which we or the supplier of the
service(s) in question could not even with all due care, foresee or forestall such as (by way of
example and not by way of limitation) war, threat of war, riots, civil disturbances, industrial
disputes, actual or threatened terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear
disasters, fire, acts of God, unavoidable and unforeseeable technical problems with transport
for reasons beyond our control or that of our suppliers, closed or congested airports or ports,
hurricanes and other actual or potential adverse weather conditions, flood, epidemics, health
risks or pandemics illness and any other similar events.
In the unlikely event that there are any changes made to other holiday arrangements, we
will try to tell you before you go, although we are not obliged to do so, nor are we obliged to
compensate you. If your booking for other holiday arrangement are cancelled we will do our
utmost to ensure you receive a full and prompt refund of the price of these arrangements.
Tour, Safari and Excursions: Some are dependent on minimum numbers, others will operate with
one booking. In the case of insufficient demand we reserve the right to consolidate or cancel.
If this is required you will be offered a full refund. We will not make any such changes within 69
days (for agent bookings) and 83 days (for direct bookings) of departure. We reserve the right to
make changes such as dates, itineraries (those shown are indicative only, are subject to change
and may be affected by local conditions), accommodation, cruise ship, boat. Changes to that
of a similar standard will not be considered a major change. Should there be a discrepancy
between the itinerary or additional information in the brochure or website and the Departure
Documents, the latter information will be considered the most up-to-date and accurate.
7. Our Liability, Conditions of Carriage and Limitations
Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your
holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and
facilities. 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 in the UK. The suppliers of the services and facilities included in
your holiday should comply with local standards where they are provided.
Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of 3
times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability in all cases will be limited in accordance
with and/or in an identical manner to the contractual terms of the companies that provide the
transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and
any relevant international convention as detailed below. We are to be regarded as having all
benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions. You can ask for
copies of the transport companies’ contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our
offices at Specialist Holidays (Travel) Limited, Legal Department, Origin One, 108 High Street,
Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1BD.
We shall have no liability where the cause of the failure to provide, or failure in, your holiday
or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on our part or that of
our agents or suppliers, because it is either attributable to you, or attributable to someone
