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Terms And Conditions

 

The Company refers to Cultural Tours Ltd. The Client refers to every person whose name appears on the Booking Form. The confirmation of the booking is subject to the following conditions;

1.   A deposit of £200 per person or 15% of your total holiday cost (whichever is the greater) is required and must be enclosed together with a signed and completed Booking Form.

2.   Balance of payment must be received by the Company no less than 60 days prior to departure.

3.   Payment should be made to Cultural Tours Ltd. or your travel agent.

4.   If full payment is not received in time as described above, the Company reserves the right to levy cancellation charges or cancel the booking.

5.   Once the booking is confirmed any subsequent changes to the booking which are requested by the Client must be requested in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. If it is possible to make the changes, they will be subject to an alteration fee of £35 per person and any further costs we incur in making this alternation. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Certain travel arrangements (e.g. Apex Tickets) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangement.

6.   In the event of the Client cancelling a confirmed booking the following cancellation charges will apply:-

29 - 60 days before:                                           40% of the final invoice
15 - 28 days before:                                           60% of the final invoice
8 - 14 days before:                                             75% of the final invoice
1 - 7 days before departure date or later:      100% of the final invoice

Up to 60 days prior to departure, the deposit only will be forfeited. Cancellations are effective from the date on which written notification is received at our office.

Different charges apply for ticket only bookings. Please check at the time of booking.

7.   The Company strongly recommends our Clients to take out travel insurance. Details of the insurance cover the Company offers are printed inside the brochure. Premiums should be paid at the time of making the booking and are non-refundable.

8.   Any modification or abandonment of the travel arrangements by the Client after departure will not be accepted as any basis for claim against the Company.

9.   All prices quoted in this brochure are based on the exchange rate of US$1.5683 to £1.00 sterling, published in the Financial Times on 22nd October 2010. Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates means the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However, there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. 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 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 will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (If this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of a lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price) or, cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges.

10.   Any unused services or tour arrangements are neither refundable nor exchangeable.

11.   If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) and our local representative immediately who will endeavor to put things right. 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. Should there be any dispute between the Company and the Client arising out of the contract which fails to be resolved amicable, such a dispute may be referred to arbitration under a scheme arranged by ABTA and administered independently by IDRS, part of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from http://www.abta.com/. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person/ £25,000 per booking form.

12.   Anybody wishing to pay by credit card should be aware that we have to pass on the charge levied to us by the    credit card company or our bank for processing such a payment.

13.   The air holidays and flights in this brochure are ATOL protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 2906. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not 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

14.   Cultural Tours tries never to cancel a client’s holiday but, must reserve the right to do so. We also reserve our right to make any changes to the tour at any time. Minor changes such as alteration of airline/aircraft type/flight time, change of accommodation (including hotel and cruiser) to another of the same standard and change of tour sequence/daily itineraries are considered normal and minor for tours to the Far East and Latin America. Time permitting, any alterations that are known to us will be advised to you at the earliest opportunity prior to departure. If Cultural Tours cancels your holiday, or makes a major change to it, it will inform you or your travel agent as soon practicable and you will have the option of choosing an alternative holiday of a comparable standard or receiving a prompt refund of all monies paid to Cultural Tours for your holiday. We will not be liable to pay any compensation if we are forced to cancel or in any way change your holiday as a result of situations outside our control which neither we nor our supplier could foresee or forestall even with all due care. For example, unavoidable technical problems with transport, war or threat of war, civil strife, industrial disputes, disease outbreak, natural disaster, bad weather and terrorist activity.

15.   Should the Company find it necessary to cancel a tour before payment of balance is due the Client will be entitled to full refund of all monies paid or an alternative comparable holiday if available. If cancellation should occur after the balance due date, the Company will offer compensation to the Client in the same scale as in Clause 14.

16.   If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our supplier we will pay you an 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 the client, a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements, where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable, 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 or illness, 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 provided 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 and delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. 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.

17.   We accept responsibility for ensuring the holiday which you book with us is supplied as described in this brochure and the services offered reached a reasonable standard. We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers save where they lead to death, injury or illness except as provided in Clause 18 below. In respect of the services provided by air or sea carriers, our liability in all cases shall be limited in the manner provided by international conventions.

We will not be liable to pay any compensation if we are forced to cancel or in any way change your holiday as a result of situations outside our control which neither we nor our suppliers could foresee or forestall even with all due care. For example;  technical problems with transport, changes imposed by rescheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline or cruise company, the alteration of the airline or aircraft type, war or threat of war, civil strife, industrial disputes, disease outbreak, natural disaster, bad weather and terrorist activity.

We reserve our right to make any changes to the tour at any time. Minor changes such as alteration of airline/aircraft type/flight time, change of accommodation (including hotel and cruiser) to another of the same standard and change of tour sequence/daily itineraries are considered normal and minor for tours to the Far East and Latin America. Time permitting, any alterations that are known to us will be advised to you at the earliest opportunity prior to departure.

18.   We accept responsibility for death or illness caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of our agents together with suppliers and sub-contractors (other than air and sea carriers performing any domestic, internal or international carriage of whatsoever kind), or injury caused by the negligence as accepted under English Law, whilst acting within the scope of our employees agents or suppliers contracted or sub-contracted by us to provide any part of the arrangements of your holiday.

19.   If any client suffers death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of the foreign inclusive holiday arrangement or an excursion arranged through us we shall, at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance to help the Client in resolving any claim the Client may have against a third party, provided that the Company is advised of the incident within 90 days of the occurrence. Where legal action is contemplated our authority must be obtained prior to commencement of proceeding and be subject to the Client's undertaking to assign any costs recovered or any benefits received under an appropriate insurance policy to ourselves. Our costs in respect of the above on behalf of the Client and party shall not exceed £5,000 in total.

20.   It is the Client's responsibility to ensure that the client has a valid passport, all necessary visas and is in possession of any required medical certificates. We accept no responsibility for the Client's failure to comply with passport, visa and health regulations.

21.   At the time of booking, the Company is unable to confirm all the airlines type of aircraft used. However, the Company will inform the Client as soon as possible.

22.   Any money paid by the Client to a Travel Agent is held by that agent as agent for the Company, Cultural Tours Ltd.

23.  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.

In accordance with ATOL Regulations 23 the CAA publishes a notice of the failure of an ATOL holder in its Register of Failed ATOL holders, which can be viewed at www.atol.org.uk