Best At Travel

Your contract is with BEST AT TRAVEL PLC whose registered office is at 89 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1DA.  ABTA membership no.F2078 and ATOL no.3337

1                    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 take a deposit and issue a confirmation invoice.  (In some cases you will be asked for full payment but you will be advised at the time of booking). This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions which are governed by English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may, however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you wish to do so. Important: It is your responsibility to check that the information on your confirmation invoice is correct and to inform us as soon as possible of any discrepancy. We will not be held liable if tickets have been issued with any wrong informationif you have failed to notice beforehand.

2                    Your Financial Protection

We provide full financial protection for our package holidays.  When you buy an ATOL  protected air holiday package from Best At Travel PLC you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3337,  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.

3                    ABTA

We are a member of ABTA, membership no. F2078.  We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTAs 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.  The arbitration scheme is 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.  The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking.  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 £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element.                                                                           

Your request for arbitration must be received by ABTA within twelve (12) months after the date of your return from holiday. Outside of 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 can request the ABTA/IDRS mediation procedure and we have the option to agree to mediation.  Further information on the Code and ABTAs assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com

4                    Your Holiday Price

(i)                 We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays on our website.  You will be advised the current price at the time of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.

(ii)               When you make your booking you must pay a deposit (or full price if applicable). The balance must be paid 12 weeks before your departure date.  If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements.  If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit. 

(iii)              Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your holiday may change after you have booked.  However, there will be no charge 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 any amendment charges.  You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1 per person.   If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your holiday, you will have the option of accepting a change to another package 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.   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.  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.

5                    Balance

You must pay your balance 12 weeks prior to departure or by the due date shown on your confirmation invoice.  It is very important that you pay the balance when due because failure to do so will lead to cancellation of your holiday and still leave you liable for cancellation charges.  Payments can be made by credit or debit card by logging into www.bestattravel.co.uk or by calling us on 0207 849 4000.  If you are using a credit card there will be a charge of between 1.5% and 2% levied depending on the type of card. If you are sending a cheque, please allow 7 working days for clearance.

6                     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 is not always 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 fee and any further cost we incur in making the alteration.  You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Note:  Certain travel arrangements (eg flight tickets) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any request to alter could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of this part of the arrangements.

7                    If you Cancel Your Holiday

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your 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 shown below:

More than 12 weeks prior to departure   Loss of deposit

84-55 days prior to departure                      50%

54-30 days prior to departure                      75%

29-  0 days prior to departure                      100%

In some circumstances our holidays carry a 100% cancellation fee will apply as airlines &/or hotels may charge in full at the time of booking and if applicable to your booking this will be stated on your confirmation invoice. If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy you may be able to claim these charges.

8                    If We Change Or Cancel Your Holiday

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but occasionally this may become necessary 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 opportunity.  We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements.  However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than one week prior to 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 the monies paid to us or accept an offer of an alternative holiday of comparable standard, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation as set out below.   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.  A major change is, for example, one that involves a change of UK airport (excluding Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted), a change of your accommodation to a lower grade than booked or a change of resort location.  You will have the choice to either accept an offer of an alternative holiday comparable in standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your holiday booking and refund all monies paid. In all cases, except where a major change arises due to reasons of force majeure, we will pay compensation as shown below.

     Compensation per person

     Over 12 weeks               nil

     84-55 days                       £20 per person

     54-30 days                       £30 per person

     29-0 days                         £40 per person

Force Majeure

We will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control.  These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems with transport.

9                    If You Have A Complaint

If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (eg hotelier, local agent etc) 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 our Customer Relations Department at Best At Travel PLC, Worldwide House 7 – 9 Whitfield Street, London, W1T 2AS giving your booking reference and all other relevant information.   Please keep your letter concise and to the point.  This will help us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response top you.

It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the service in question whilst in resort.  If they are unable to resolve your disappointment then it is your responsibility to contact our Customer Relations Department on 0207 849 4000 for assistance. 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 right under this contract.  Please also see Clause 3 above on ABTA.

10               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 taken, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not have foreseen or forestall.  Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of 2 x 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 in 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.

(c)         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 Worldwide House 7 – 9 Whitfield Street, London, W1T 2AS.  Under EU law (Regulations 261/2004) you have the rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellations or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines.  However, reimbursement in 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 Clause 6.  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 on 020 7240 6061 www.auc.org.uk.

11               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 or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequence 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.

12               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 responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. Note: Clients not holding passports marked “British Citizen” must check the applicable requirements with the respective Embassy or Consulate of the countries they are visiting or the British Foreign Office.   Please ensure that you comply with the applicable passport and visa requirements and that you allow sufficient time to obtain them.   

Machine readable passports are required for all travellers to or via the U.S.  All children must have their own passports especially when travelling to the U.S.  All passports must be valid for at least six (6) months by the end of your journey.

Note: Clients travelling to the U.S. must apply for their visa prior to departure on the following website  https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov (there will be a minor charge for this service).

For regular updates on visa requirements to other destinations or any conflicts in particular regions we recommend you check with the Foreign Commonwealth office website http://www.fco.gov.uk or call them on 0207 270 1500.

Recommended inoculations for travel may change at any time and you should consult with your doctor or the appropriate Embassy or Consulate for up to date information. It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain all the necessary inoculations in relation to your trip.

Flights

Details of airlines, flight numbers and destination airport will be shown on you confirmation invoice.  Please note that no airline is able to guarantee departure times and these may change due to inclement weather conditions, air traffic control restrictions, technical/operational problems.  The Company is not liable for any change to a departure/arrival time previously shown on your confirmation.  It is for this reason that you are required to reconfirm your flight departure time 72 hours before departure with the airline concerned. Best At Travel is also unable to make any special arrangements for passengers if the flight is delayed as this is the sole responsibility of the carrying airline &/or their ground handling agent.  We regret that we are unable to guarantee specific aircraft types or seat allocation.

Insurance

As the Company is not liable for flight delays, cancellations, lost or delayed luggage, industrial disputes, natural disasters etc it is an expressed term of this contract that you and all members of your party are adequately insured. 

Excursions

Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for locally whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book locally your contract will be with the operator of the excursion and not with us and we will not be held responsible for anything that happens during the course of an excursion purchased locally.

Special requests and Medical Problems

If you have any special requests (eg low/high floor, inter-connecting rooms etc) please advise us at the time of booking.  Although we will forward any such requests to the relevant supplier (eg hotel, airline etc) we regret that we cannot guarantee this prior to departure and any failure to meet your special request will not be deemed as any breach of contract on our part.

If you have any medical condition or disability which may affect your booking arrangements you must advise us, in writing, at the time of booking giving us full details.  If we are unable to properly accommodate your particular needs we will reserve the right to decline your booking but obviously every effort will be made to assist, where possible.

Ticket Despatch

Please note that it is now mandatory for customers to be emailed an eticket on all routes where an eticket is available. Note: An eticket is a paperless electronic ticket, it is paperless because when you book the details they are safely  stored in the airlines booking system so there is no need to send you a paper ticket. 

Your travel documents (eticket, accommodation voucher, transfer voucher, etc) will be emailed to the party leader approximately 10-14 days prior to departure but will not be released until we have received full payment from you.   An email itinerary will be emailed and is the party leader’s responsibility to pass this onto the members of the party travelling as it will be required at check in along with an acceptable form of identification.  Note: Acceptable forms of identification –  Passport, UK driving license, credit card etc.

Credit Cards

It is mandatory that you or a member of your party travel with a recognised credit card as this will be required when checking into hotels or collecting your hire car, for example.

Map/Distance Disclaimer

Please note that the information as to the distance from the city centre and the location of the hotel on the maps provided are for indicative purposes only.  If you require the hotel to be within a certain distance from the city centre or near a particular location we recommend that you check on the hotel’s own website.

Behaviour

It is the party leader’s responsibility to ensure that you and all members of your party do not behave in a way which causes offence to others or which risks damage to the property belongings. In such circumstances, our suppliers (eg hotel, airlines, transfer agent etc) have the right to terminate any arrangement made on your behalf in which case our responsibility to you will cease immediately.   Further, you will be liable to reimburse any expense whatsoever incurred as a result  of your unacceptable behaviour.

Departure Taxes

It is not always possible to include all departure taxes on your ticket – in some cases departure taxes must be paid locally and these are payable to the Government of the country departed from and are non-refundable.

Pre-travel advice

The Foreign Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit may have issued information about your holiday destination.  You are advised to check this information on BBC (Cefax) page 470 or on their website www.fco.gov.uk or you can contact ABTA by calling 0203 117 0500.

Telephone calls

We would like to inform our clients that we randomly record telephone calls. This helps us to ensure that customer service is constantly improved.

Hotel and Cruise Ship ratings

The hotel and cruise ship ratings featured in any Best At Travel plc web site are offered as a general guide and do not necessarily represent any official grading system. Actual standards may vary between hotels of the same grade in different countries and even in the same country.   Different countries have different standards; a 5* hotel in one country is not necessarily equivalent to a 5* hotel in another country.

Please note that the hotels and cruise ships booked by us for you are not exclusive to Best At Travel plc.   We are not responsible for any limitation in facilities because of other hotel, or ship guests or their activities. Best At Travel plc does not take responsibility for hotel or ship content (including images, facility listings etc) displayed on our website. Hotels and ships may change facilities and property features without prior notification to Best At Travel.

Images of room or cabin types do not necessarily represent the bed configuration of the room being purchased.  For example, a quad room in North America may invariably consist of two double beds and a room for two will be one double although in Europe this may be two single beds. Also, there may be an additional charge for extra beds or cots.  Therefore, if you have a special requirement please inform us at the time of booking and any special request will be forwarded to the supplier for consideration but is not guaranteed by us and does not form any part of our contract with you.

Carrying Proof of Booking

You should ensure that you travel with your booking confirmation, e tickets and any other travel documentation (including your passport and relevant visa, if required) at all times.  We will not be liable should any Supplier not provide you with the booked product or service if you do not provide the appropriate documents.

Information You Provide Us

Best At Travel plc relies on the information that you provide as being accurate and therefore cannot be held responsible if your e-tickets do not arrive due to an incorrect email address. You must inform us immediately of a change of address, telephone number, email address.

Overview

The contract constituted by the Company’s acceptance of your booking subject to these Conditions shall constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company in relation to the relevant booking, shall exclude all other terms and conditions (except for the relevant suppliers’ conditions and any applicable international conventions) and shall supersede all prior or contemporaneous communication or information provided.

By registering with us, or registering data at our call centre, you agree to the use and disclosure of information by Best At Travel plc as described. In order to help us maintain and improve our service to you we may also use ‘cookies’ to collect information about your use of the website.  Cookies are a feature of web browser software that allows web servers to temporarily store information within your browser which, in turn, allows us to recognise the computer used to access our web sites.  Most browsers automatically accept cookies but you can delete existing cookies from your browser.  You can also edit your browser option to choose not to receive cookies in future.  We may use cookies to keep track of the transaction from one page to the next.

We use third party application service providers to perform some tracking functions.  These companies my use cookie-based information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other web sites in order to measure advertising effectiveness.  We may also collect information about your visit to our website, based on your browsing (click stream) activities.

This information may include the pages you browse and products and services viewed or booked for example.  This helps us to better manage and develop our offers and to provide you with better products and services tailored to your individual interests and needs.  We may use this information to measure the entry and exit points of visitors to the site and respective numbers of visitors to our various pages and sections of the site and details of searches performed.  We may also use this information to measure the usage of advertising banners, other click throughs from the site.  We may disclose information of this nature in aggregate form to third parties but personal information on individual visitors tracking will not be passed on to any third party.

Users who have subscribed to our e-mail service or visitors purchasing products on the site, or registering data with our call centre, who have not opted out (you may opt out at any time by writing to our Data Controller, or emailing to ‘privacy@bestattravel.co.uk), will receive promotional mailings and e-mails from our business or selected third parties.  Your details may be passed to countries outside of the UK and the European Economic Area in order to process and arrange for the products and services you request.  When you submit your booking or request to us you agree that we may use and transfer your personal information in this manner.

 If you have booked a holiday you will still receive an email or other confirmatory material and booking data confirming your booking details and even if you have exercised your right to opt out of further communication as these are necessary to process your booking.

Our Company’s Registered Office:

Best At Travel plc

89 New Bond Street

London W!S 1DA

Our Company’s Operating Office:

Best At Travel plc

Worldwide House

7 – 9 Whitfield Street

London W1T 2AS

Company registration number: 2842995

VAT Registration No: 645 3274 36

ABTA No: F2078 ATOL NoL 3337

Members of PSARA, ADVANTAGE and PATA