Booking Terms and Conditions
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Your Contract With Us We act as agent for the transport providers whose transport arrangements we offer. When making your holiday arrangements, we do so as agents for these transport providers with whom you will have a contract. However, once your holiday has been confirmed, we will accept responsibility for it in accordance with these Booking Conditions as an "organiser" under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
UK Connection is the trading name of STS School Travel Service Limited [company registration number: 3323339] of One Jubilee Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1GE. Company VAT number: 911022683. STS is a tour operator member of ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents - Membership Number W0798). We will do our utmost to act at all times in accordance with the ABTA Code of Conduct.
When you make your booking the Party Leader must complete and sign a Booking Form, indicating that all members of your party have read, understood and accepted the terms of this Fair Trading Agreement and the tour information provided in this brochure. A first deposit (see below) (or full payment if booking within ten weeks of departure) must also be paid at the time of booking. A full Passenger Names List is also required at the time of booking for submission to the Insurance Company and airline (for airline tours).
Second deposits: payable no later than eight weeks after your 1st deposit.
Final balance due no less than 10 weeks before departure. Any monies paid to a Party Leader in respect of an UK Connection tour are held by the Party Leader on behalf of party members until such times as we have dispatched written confirmation of your booking. Thereafter any money held by the Party Leader is held on our behalf. A Final Numbers Form for final details of your group will be sent out with your UK Connection Information Pack. You must return this to us so that it reaches us no later than 16 weeks prior to your departure date. If the party size falls below the agreed number of persons you may still keep your booking subject to the payment of any applicable supplements. Please see clause 6. Coach Tours: Following receipt of final numbers forms 16 weeks before departure, any notification of a name change must be accompanied by a payment of £7 to cover the new Insurance premium. Any name change alterations made by you within 4 weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to cancellation charges set out in section 6. Air Tours European and Worldwide: We will request name details at the time of securing your flight seats. This is often at an early stage of the booking. Once the airline have received and processed the names, any subsequent amendments or name changes will carry a minimum charge of £100 plus the insurance premium of £25. This charge will be passed to the group and must be paid for prior to the issue of the amended tickets. Most airlines do not allow name changes after tickets have been issued or in the case of some carriers (Easyjet or Ryanair etc;) once names have been received. In this instance the charge is usually the full cost of the flight. Any name change alterations made by you within 4 weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to cancellation charges set out in section 6.
If, after our confirmation has been issued, you wish to change your tour or your departure date, we will do our utmost to make the changes, provided that notification is received at our offices from the Party Leader at least 12 weeks before departure. We cannot guarantee however that such changes can be made. Where they can, an amendment fee of £20 per person per amendment is payable to cover our administration costs. For all changes, all other costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers as a result must also be paid before the change can be effected. Any alteration by you (other than name changes - see Section 4 above) within 12 weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out below. You, or any member of your party, may cancel your booking at any time provided that cancellation is made by the person signing the Booking Form, and is communicated to us in writing at Head Office. A cancellation is effective only when received by us in writing from the party leader. As we incur costs from the time your booking is confirmed the cancellation charges up to the maximum amounts shown below will be payable. Where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges. Insurance premiums and amendment charges are not refundable.
Please note: You may be able to reclaim these charges if the reason for cancellation is covered under the terms of your holiday insurance policy. Where any cancellation reduces the number of full paying party members below the number on which the price, number of free places and/ or any concessions agreed for your booking were based, we will recalculate these items and re-invoice you accordingly. If any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person may transfer their place to someone else (introduced by you), please see Section 4 regarding Name Changes for terms and conditions. If you have a complaint about any service provided by us, this must be reported immediately to both our local representative (if available), or to our UK head office, and also the supplier(s) of the service in question, so that action can be taken to resolve the matter. If the matter cannot be put right on the spot, you must follow it up by writing to us within 28 days of the date on which the tour ended. We normally expect to agree an amicable settlement of the few complaints received. This brochure is issued subject to applicable Acts of Parliament and Government Regulations and the company reserves the right to modify itineraries to conform with requests from competent authorities in the United Kingdom and any other sovereign state through which the tour runs. Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions (see clause 6(4) of Our Promise to You). Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned. When you book with us, the Party Leader accepts responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss must be paid direct at the time to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you fail to do so, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us (together with our own and the other party's full legal costs) as a result of your actions. In signing the Booking Form the Party Leader also accepts responsibility for the good conduct of all participants during the tour and warrants that at least one responsible adult will be on active duty at all times to ensure that all participants behave well. Furthermore, it is the Party Leader's responsibility specifically to ensure that: Responsibilities of Group Organisers and Leaders
All British Citizens require a full British passport to travel. If you or any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds a non British passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through which you are intending to travel. Where visas are required for British Citizens for destinations featured in this brochure, information is given on the relevant brochure page. Requirements may change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure.
We cannot accept responsibility for any cost or fines incurred due to non-compliance with the above nor can we accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation.
Before confirming your booking you must advise us, in writing, of any medical condition which may effect your holiday. If we consider that we are unable to accommodate for the particular needs of the person concerned we reserve the right to decline the booking or cancel if details are not given at the time of booking. We recommend that all party members should read the Department of Health leaflet T6 (Health Advice for Travellers) and DHSS leaflet SA40/41 and consult their doctor regarding any medical requirements in the country to be visited. For European holidays each group member should obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) (this is the planned replacement for the E111 to be introduced during 2005).
Clients are advised to check with their GP for updated health recommendation two months prior to travel. Our Promise To You
2.1 Our tour prices are valid for students under 18 years on the day of departure (unless stated otherwise). If you have a party of students over 18 years please request a quotation. The prices printed in this brochure are to the best of our knowledge valid at the time of publication however we reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices at any time before your holiday is confirmed. We will advise you of any error of which we are aware and of the then applicable price at the time of booking.
Once the price of your chosen tour has been confirmed at the time of booking then, subject to the correction of errors, we will only increase the price in the following circumstances. Price increases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge.
The price of your travel arrangements is subject to surcharges in the following circumstances: increases in transportation costs e.g. fuel, aircraft insurance tax, scheduled air fares and any other airline surcharges which are part of the contract between airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator/ organiser, Government action such as increases in VAT or any other Government imposed increases, adverse fluctuations in the exchange rates which have been used to calculate the cost of your holidays which result in our costs increasing.
We start planning the tours we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in brochure and other details both before and after bookings have been confirmed. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. However, we promise we will only cancel your confirmed booking 10 weeks or less before departure where you have failed to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or where we are forced to do so as a result of "force majeure" as defined in clause 4 below. We will not cancel after this date for any other reason.
Please note, the above options are not available where any change made is a minor one.
In all cases, our liability for significant changes and cancellations is limited to offering you the above mentioned options and, where applicable, compensation payments. We regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation. No compensation is payable for minor changes. Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (see clause 4 below) to change or terminate your holiday after departure but before the scheduled end of your time away. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result. Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 6(1) below) as a result of "force majeure". In these Booking Conditions, "force majeure" means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. We undertake to acknowledge any written complaint within 14 days of receipt and to write to you in full within 28 days or to explain any delay. In any event you will receive a full reply within a maximum of 56 days. Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration if you so wish under a special scheme arranged by the Association of British Travel Agents and administered independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com). This scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £15,000 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 £1000 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 the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators within 9 months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this time limit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if we agree, although the ABTA Code does not require such agreement. (1) We promise to make sure that all parts of the holiday we have agreed to arrange, perform or provide as part of our contract with you are arranged, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. We will accept responsibility if any death, personal injury, failure or deficiency of your holiday arrangements is caused by any failure by ourselves or our employees (providing they were at the time acting within the course of their employment) or our agents or suppliers (as applicable) to use reasonable skill and care in performing or providing the service in question. Please note it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim.
In addition, we will not be responsible where you do not enjoy your holiday or suffer any problems because of a reason you did not tell us about when you booked your holiday or where any problems you suffer did not result from any breach of our contract or other fault of ourselves or, where we were responsible for them, our suppliers or agents or where any losses, expenses, costs or other sum you have suffered relate to any business.
(2) The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract - and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred - will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided. If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied had those services been provided in the UK. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the holiday in question. (3) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any and all claims or parts of claims which do not involve personal injury, illness or death. Except where loss of and/or damage to luggage or personal possessions is concerned or a lower limitation of liability applies to your claim, the maximum amount we will have to pay you for such non personal injury claims if we are found liable to you on any basis is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday. Where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions (including money), the maximum amount we will have to pay you is £40 per person affected as you are assumed to have taken out adequate insurance at the time of booking. Please also see clause 6(4) below. (4) Where any claim or part of a claim concerns or is based on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting on and/or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question (for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, the EU Regulation on Air Carrier Liability for national and international travel by air, the Athens convention for international travel by sea). When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question. (5) This clause 6 is intended to set out our obligations to you as a tour operator/organiser in the light of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. Please note, we regret we cannot make any payment to you or any member of your party if the person concerned is not entitled to one from us under these Regulations. (6) You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 7 of "Your contract with us". If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred. (7) In accordance with the terms of the STS insurance policy all members of the group have medical expenses cover, a medical emergency service and legal expenses cover. If any costs incurred by STS are for insured risks STS would be entitled to recover costs from the group member concerned. If you or any member of your party suffers illness, injury or death, through misadventure, as a result of an activity which does not form part of your contracted holiday arrangements, we will provide you with all reasonable assistance. This assistance may include our making a contribution towards your initial legal costs in taking action against the person(s) responsible providing you request this within 90 days of the incident in question. All assistance (financial or otherwise) is subject to our reasonable discretion and a maximum total cost to ourselves of £5,000 per booking form. If you are entitled to have any costs and expenses arising from such an incident met by or from any insurance policy or if you obtain a costs order against anyone in relation to the incident, you must repay to us the costs and expenses we spend in assisting you. We would draw your attention to the following circumstances which fall outside our direct control and where we are not prepared to accept liability. Note that some amenities (e.g. hotel lifts, swimming pools, etc.) require servicing and cleaning and may therefore not be available at all times. Some services are also affected by weather conditions (e.g. availability of outdoor swimming pools, etc.) and their availability is at the discretion of the provider of the service. Entertainment (particularly live entertainment) provided by hotels is frequently subject to demand and its nature and frequency may be varied if there is a lack of demand or insufficient numbers in the hotel. UK Connection have arranged an inclusive holiday insurance scheme which is underwritten by Union Reiseversicherung AG on behalf of a consortium of UK Insurers. Our comprehensive insurance cover is included in the featured price of all STS School Tours for each party member. The following is a summary of the cover provided, full details will be sent to you with your booking information. Our policy includes an emergency assistance service provided by Fogg Assistance, Important Note: Claims are excluded where the Insured is aware of any medical conditions or set of circumstances which could reasonably have been expected to give rise to a claim. Please refer to the Certificate of Insurance for the full terms and conditions, a full copy is available on request.
Important Note: Your travel insurers have to bring to your attention some of the important features of your travel insurance policy. Insurance Policy: this contains full details of the cover provided plus the conditions and exclusions which apply to it.
UK Law allows the parties to choose the law applicable to the contract. The contract will be subject to English Law unless otherwise agreed.
Special requests must be clearly detailed on your booking form. Whilst we will make every effort to fulfil these requests we regret we cannot guarantee they will be met unless we have specifically confirmed this. For your own protection, you should obtain confirmation in writing from us that your request will be complied with (where it is possible for us to give this) if your request is important to you. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Unless and until specifically confirmed, all special requests are subject to availability. We regret we cannot accept any conditional bookings, i.e. any booking which is specified to be conditional on the fulfilment of a particular request. All such bookings will be treated as "standard" bookings subject to the above provisions on special requests.
In certain resorts where we feature more than one hotel or centre groups will be allocated to a specific accommodation on receipt of final numbers forms. Please advise us of your preferred accommodation on your booking form. Please note that some properties may not be available on all advertised dates and are booked on request by us. We occasionally use accommodation in specific resorts which is not featured in our brochure. In such cases the accommodation will be of a comparable standard to that featured. We cannot guarantee the provision of towels and soap in all of our hotels/centres and group members should provide their own. The general numbers of students allocated to each room is indicated in our brochure description. Bunks beds are sometimes used and some French and Belgian hotels also use double beds to accommodate school groups. In Austria twin beds are used with 2 single mattresses on a twin frame. Separate bed linen is used.
• Single rooms: Single rooms for accompanying adults are strictly subject to availability and always carry a supplement. Flights: The flight timing given on booking and detailed on your confirmation invoice are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timing will be shown on your tickets which will be dispatched to you approximately two weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been dispatched - we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.
Coaches: The Company reserves the right to utilise any empty coach seats for our clients or staff. Ferries: The standard channel crossings for each tour are detailed on the relevant brochure page. Whilst we will make every effort to secure the ferry route of your choice this cannot be guaranteed. An increasing number of hotels/centres require a damage deposit. This is payable in resort on arrival and is refunded provided no damage is incurred. We will advise this at the time of booking or as soon as this is made known to STS. Please note, it is the requirements and standards of the country in which any services which make up your holiday are provided which apply to those services and not those of the UK. As a general rule, these requirements and standards will not be the same as the UK and may sometimes be lower. We regret we are not in a position to offer you any assistance in the event of delay at your outward or homeward point of departure. Any airline concerned may however provide refreshments etc. Please note, the information and prices shown in this website may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the brochure and prices at the time of printing, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking.
We are a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA number W0798). We also hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 5259). This means the air holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk. If your holiday does not include flights, ABTA will financially protect your holiday in the same way. We also hold IATA license no 9127495. This Fair Trading Agreement has been produced in conjunction with our 2009/10 programme and is valid until 31st December 2009 unless previously withdrawn or superseded. Back to top ^ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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