Terms and Conditions
BOOKING CONDITIONS
YOUR CONTRACT is with Chalfont Holidays, a member of ABTA 27465 and ATOL 2824
Your Holiday Contract
When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions which are governed by English Law and we both agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the English Courts at all times.
Many of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed on this website. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. Please see our booking conditions for information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLCertificate
Your Financial Protection
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 claims 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 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 Chalfont Holidays and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. Where we act as principle and your contract is with Chalfont Holidays, we provide the security by way of an ATOL (number 2824) administrated by the Civil Aviation Authority and bond held by ABTA. If you book arrangements other than an air package holiday from Chalfont Holiday, your monies are protected by way of a bond held by ABTA. When you buy ATOL protected air holiday package from Chalfont holidays you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us (or via our authorised agent through whom you booked) confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 2824. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money that you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk. The price of our air holiday packages include 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 prices.
ABTA
We are a member of ABTA, membership number 27465. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract. Further information on the Code and arbitration can be found at www.abta.com.
Your Holiday Price
We reserve the right to alter the prices of any holiday’s sold by Chalfont Holidays. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed. When you make your booking you must pay a 50% deposit per person and possibly more where holidays include instant purchase flights and certain ancillary services you purchase – we will advise you of any increased deposit before you confirm your booking. The balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid at least ten weeks before your departure date. If the balance is not paid in time, we reserve the right to cancel the travel arrangements, retain any deposit(s) and apply the cancellation charges set out in our booking conditions. We reserve the right to rectify any errors or omissions.
Once you have booked, the price of your holiday travel arrangements may be varied due to changes in transportation costs such as fuel, other airline cost changes which are part of the contract between airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator or organiser, and also in respect of government action such as changes in VAT or any other government imposed 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 and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person. In the unlikely event that these changes mean that you have to pay an increase of more than 8% of the price of your holiday travel arrangements, you may cancel your booking and receive a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 10 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. 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.
If You Change Your Booking
If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £15.00 per person, and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date any changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. For date changes within ten weeks of the original departure date, cancellation charges apply as detailed in the section If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday. PLEASE NOTE that certain travel arrangements such as instant purchase flights, discounted airfares cannot be changed after a reservation has been made and any alteration request may incur a 100% cancellation charge.
If You Cancel Your Holiday
You, or any member of your party, may cancel their travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum as detailed in the section If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday. PLEASE NOTE if the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to claim these charges.
If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 10 weeks before your departure date except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available. If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay you compensation as set out in this clause. In accordance with EU regulations, we are required to advise of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by advising you of the operation carrier at the time of booking. Any changes to the actual airline after you have received your tickets will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding gate. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other example of minor changes include alternation of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes of aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same standard.
If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements from us if available or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of force majeure, we will pay compensation as detailed in this section. FORCE MAJEURE means that we will not pay your compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or other circumstances that may amount to force majeure.
Major Change and Cancellation Compensation – Per Person
Time before departure within which notice of cancellation or major change is received by us or notified to you: |
If we make a major change to your holiday the amount you will receive from us will be: |
If we cancel your holiday the amount you will receive from us will be: |
If you cancel your holiday the cancellation charge will be: |
| More than 70 days | NIL | Deposit Only | Deposit Only |
| More than 28 days | £20 | 100% of holiday cost + £20 | 70% of holiday cost |
| More than 21 days | £30 | 100% of holiday cost + £30 | 80% of holiday cost |
| More than 7 days | £35 | 100% of holiday cost + £35 | 90% of holiday cost |
| 7 days or less | £40 | 100% of holiday cost + £40 | 100% of holiday cost |
If You Have a Complaint
If you have a problem during your holiday, PLEASE INFORM THE RELEVANT SUPPLIER (e.g. your hotelier), and/or our resort representation (where available) and/or contact our Head Office IMMEDIATELY who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to us at Chalfont Holidays, 104-105 High Street, Eton, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 6AF, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point as this will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you. It is strongly suggested that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question as well as to our local representative (where available) or to us without delay and write a report WHILST IN RESORT; this should be agreed by the supplier and/or our representative. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract.
What Happens To Complaints
It is unlikely that you will have a complaint that cannot be settled amicably between us. However, disputes to do with this contract which cannot be settled amicably, may be taken to a Small Claims Court or referred to Arbitration under a special scheme which is arranged by ABTA. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details are available from the ABTA website. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000.00 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000.00 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The scheme can however deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,500.00 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. The application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by ABTA within eighteen months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this time limit arbitration under the scheme may still be available if we agree, but the ABTA Code does not require such agreement. For injury and illness claims, you may like to use the ABTA Mediation Procedure. This is a voluntary scheme and requires us to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolve your dispute in a quick and cost effective way. Further information on the Code and ABTA’s assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com.
Our Liability to You
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to you or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury, shall be limited to a maximum of three times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to (a) the contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and (b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefits 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. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have the right in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However reimbursement is such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in this contract. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted from this amount. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users’ Council at www.auc.org.uk.
Prompt Assistance in Resort
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements
Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.
Insurance Requirements
Chalfont Holidays strongly suggest that you have adequate travel insurance in place before travelling with us. The EHIC, whilst useful does not provide the same benefits as a travel insurance policy. If you have not purchased travel insurance Chalfont Holidays accepts no responsibly/liability of any kind for any circumstances which may arise.
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