BONDED TOUR OPERATOR
Pall Mall Safe Deposit Travel Bureau Limited is a bonded Tour Operator and meets with the licensing requirements of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
YOUR CONTRACT WITH PALL MALL TRAVEL
A booking form must be filled in to book a holiday. By signing the booking form, that person accepts the terms of these booking conditions for everyone who is named on the booking form. They are referred to in these booking conditions as ‘you’. Your contract with us and our responsibility for your travel arrangements only start when we issue a confirmation invoice. We are fully bonded with ABTA (membership number 4712X) and the CAA (licence number ATOL 2972).
PAYING FOR YOUR HOLIDAY
If you book your holiday more than eight weeks before your departure date, you will have to pay a deposit of £100 for each person except for those passengers travelling and staying free of charge, plus any insurance premium for each person, when you book. You must then pay for the rest of your holiday at least eight weeks before your scheduled departure date. If you do not, we have the right to treat your holiday as if you had cancelled it and apply the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 5 below. If you book your holiday within eight weeks of your departure date, you must pay the whole cost when you book.
IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING
We will do our best to help you if you want to change you departure date, hotel or anything else about your holiday after we have sent your confirmation invoice, subject to availability. We must receive a letter setting out these changes from the person who signed the booking form. This letter must reach us at least six weeks before your scheduled departure date. You should also send us a payment of £25 for each person on the booking form to cover our administration costs. If you want to change your booking within the last six weeks before your scheduled departure date, we may charge you anything between £25 and the total holiday cost, depending on the circumstances at the time of your request. This request must also be made in writing by you.
Note: Certain travel arrangements cannot be changed after a reservation has been made and any alteration request will incur a 100% cancellation charge.
IF YOU CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
To cancel your holiday, the person who signed the booking form must write to us. We will cancel your holiday on the day we receive your letter. To cover our administration costs in cancelling the holiday, we will ask you to pay cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below. We do not refund insurance premiums.
Period before departure within which written cancellation is received Cancellation charge as a percentage of the holiday cost (plus insurance premiums)
More than 8 weeks
Between 29 and 56 days
Between 15 and 28 days
Between 8 and 14 days
Day of departure - 7 days Deposit
30%
45%
75%
100%
Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.
INSURANCE
We insist that you take out suitable insurance cover before you travel. If you choose to arrange your own insurance, you must state the name of your insurance on the booking form. Your policy must provide at least the same benefits as the policy we provide. It is your responsibility to check that the insurance policy you take out is adequate for your particular needs and to take out additional cover if required.
IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
It is unlikely that we will have to make any change to your holiday. However, we do plan the arrangements many months in advance, so we sometimes need to make changes. We have the right to do this at any time. Most changes are minor, for example, if we can no longer offer a facility, or if we have to change your hotel to another one of the same category, an alternative to a flight/sailing time of less than 12 hours, or a change of routing/carrier. We will let you know about this kind of change as soon as possible.
We may also make a significant change to the holiday before you go. If we make a significant change, we will tell you immediately and will offer you the following choice:
• accepting a different holiday of a similar standard (if one is available);
• booking another holiday with us – if it is more expensive you will have to pay the difference but if it is cheaper we will refund the difference to you;
• cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund.
We will also pay you compensation unless the change or cancellation is caused by circumstances of force majeure which we or the suppliers of the service could not reasonably foresee or avoid, for example: war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial action, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, technical difficulties with transport or other circumstances amounting to force majeure. In these circumstances we are not liable and we will not pay any resulting expenses or additional costs.
Period before the scheduled departure date that we tell you about a significant change Compensation for each adult
More than 56 days
29 to 56 days
15 to 28 days
1 to 14 days None
£10
£20
£25
Important Note
• We will not pay you more than the compensation set out above for significant changes and cancellations.
• We will not pay any compensation for minor changes.
• We will not be responsible for any costs or expenses you have to pay as a result of any change.
• We will not pay you compensation if you have not paid the full amount for your booking eight weeks before your scheduled departure date.
We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday, for example if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached. However, in no case will we cancel your holiday less than 8 weeks before the scheduled departure date, except for reasons of force majeure as defined above, or failure on your part to pay the final balance in accordance with section 3 above. In circumstances where we are unable to provide the holiday booked, we will return to you all monies paid or offer an alternative holiday of comparable standard and if a cancellation occurs within 8 weeks of departure, compensation on a similar scale to that shown above will be payable.
PRICES
Before you make your booking, we can increase or decrease the price quoted to you. When you have booked your holiday and paid your deposit, there may be surcharges for increases in transportation costs such as fuel, scheduled airfares and any other airline surcharges which are part of the contract between airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator or organiser or the following items: Government action such as increases in VAT or any other Government imposed increases; currency in relation to adverse exchange rate variations.
If these costs go up, we will cover the cost up to an amount which equals 2% of your holiday price (not including insurance premiums or amendment charges). You will only have to pay the amount which is more than 2% of the holiday price. If this increases the price of your holiday by more than 10%, you will be able to cancel your holiday and claim a full refund except for insurance premiums and amendment charges. If you decide to cancel because of this, you must do so within 14 days of the date printed on the invoice we send you.
In future, the Government may introduce charges to provide extra financial protection for holiday bookings. If they do, they will be shown as a separate item on your invoice and we will not pay any part of these charges.
The price of your travel arrangements is calculated using actual exchange rates on the day booking form is signed.
TRANSPORT
If there are any changes to the airlines, ferry companies or destination airports or ports to be used, we will try to tell you before you travel. If we reschedule your transport or make minor changes to it (see section 7), this will not give you the right to cancel your booking without incurring our normal cancellation charges. When you travel with a carrier, their conditions of carriage will apply, some of which may limit liability. Our liability is limited in accordance with these conditions. You may ask for copies of the relevant conditions of carriage from our offices. Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation Orders, children must be under 2 years of age on the date of their return flight to qualify for infant fares.
OUR RESPONSIBILITES
a) We are responsible for making sure the holiday that you book with us is supplied as described and that the services offered reach a reasonable standard. We are also responsible for the actions and failures of our employees, agents, suppliers and subcontractors as long as they were working for us at the time. If any part of your holiday is not as promised, and this stops you enjoying your holiday, we will pay you appropriate compensation subject to section 11 and the Important Note under section 7. However, we will not pay more than twice the cost of your holiday (not including insurance premiums).
b) We are responsible if you are killed, fall ill, or are injured because one of our employees, agents, suppliers or subcontractors negligently fails to perform their duties. This does not apply if your death, injury or illness is caused by an event which is brought about by someone not connected with our holiday arrangements, or which is unforeseeable or unavoidable.
c) If you are killed, injured or fall ill as a result of an activity which does not form part of the holiday arrangements we have made, we may offer to help you sort out any claim you want to make against the person responsible. We will only do this if you tell us about the incident giving rise to your claim within 90 days of it happening. We may also help you with the initial costs of taking legal action against the person responsible if you write and ask us within 90 days of the event. We will only pay reasonable costs and will not pay more than £5000 (inclusive of VAT & taxes) for the whole booking.
d) Our responsibility for accommodation and air, sea and rail transport will be limited in accordance with the international convention which applies. You can ask for copies of these international conventions from our offices.
IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT
If you are not satisfied with the accommodation or any of the services we have agreed to provide, you must tell the owner or manager of the property immediately. If they do not put things right and your enjoyment of your holiday is affected, you must report the matter to us by phone or fax within 48 hours, so we can try to solve the problem whilst you are still in our accommodation. If you do not give us the chance to put things right, we will not be responsible for the problem. You can phone us on +44 (0)20 8905 5005 Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 5:30pm, excluding bank holidays. Our staff will asses how urgent your problem is and take action if they think it is necessary. Any complaints must be made in writing within 28 days of your return. We will not be responsible for complaints made to us more than 28 days after your holiday, or if you have not followed the procedure set out above.
DISPUTES
If you disagree with us over something, you can take the matter to The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators by contacting ABTA. This is a cheap and simple way of sorting out disagreements over the contract and there are limits on the costs you might have to pay. The scheme does not apply to claims for more than £1500 for each person, or £7500 for each booking form. It does not cover claims involving physical injury or illness. To qualify for the scheme, you must apply within 9 months of returning from your holiday. Full details of the scheme are available from ABTA.
UNREASONABLE BEHAVIOUR
If someone in authority such as the captain or pilot believes that you are not fit to travel, he or she may refuse to allow you onto the aircraft or ship. This will normally happen if they think you are likely to disturb or harm other passengers. In this case, your contract with us will end immediately and we will no longer be responsible for you.
Additionally, if your behaviour is such that the hotelier feels unable to accommodate you, you may be asked to leave the hotel. In this instance, no refund for lost nights accommodation will be made and the cost of any other accommodation or travel expenses will be entirely your responsibility. In addition, we will hold members of the party jointly and individually liable for any damage to the holiday property or any part of it, together with legal costs incurred in pursuing the claim.
CONDITIONS
Your contract with us is based on these booking conditions, which are governed by English law and English courts. All bookings are accepted by Pall Mall Safe Deposit Travel Bureau Limited subject to these conditions and there are also separate conditions, bylaws and regulations that apply to the transport, accommodation, and other parts of the holiday. For more details of these please ask the companies responsible for providing those parts of your holiday.
Booking Conditions for Package Holidays
THE CONTRACT
Bookings are made with Pall Mall Safe Deposit Travel Bureau Limited of 116, Golders Green Road, London NW11 8HB (the Company) subject to these booking conditions. Please read them carefully before you book. You agree that the person who signs the booking form does so on behalf of all the persons included on the booking form – (the Client). No person may alter these conditions on the Company’s behalf.
YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION
We hold ATOL license 2972 issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, which provides for your financial protection. The air holidays and flights on our websites or in our brochures are ATOL protected. 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. Full details can be obtained from the ATOL website (www.atol.org.uk).
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.
Many of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on our websites or in our brochures are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed on our websites or in our brochures. 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: http://www.atol.org.uk/ATOLCertificate