BOOKING CONDITIONS
Caribbean Journeys is a trading name of Whitehall
Leisure Ltd., and is a fully bonded member of IATA,
the CAA and ABTA. Our IATA number is 9123206. Our
ATOL number is 2207. Our ABTA numbers are: Retail:
F2078, Tour Operations:V2503.
Please read the following terms and conditions carefully
as they apply to all bookings made. No variations
shall be valid unless agreed and confirmed in writing
by a Director of Worldwide Journeys Plc. A verbal
variation will not be valid.
Reserving Your Holiday:
On receipt of your request and deposit we will confirm
your booking, and from that point cancellation
charges will apply. We will then send you a confirmation/invoice
with details of your arrangements.
Please note that a telephone booking confirmation
is as firmly confirmed as if it were made/confirmed
in writing at that time.
Price Guarantee:
Charter flight arrangements - The price shown on
our confirmation invoice will not be subject to
any surcharges.
Scheduled flight arrangements - As scheduled airlines
reserve the right to increase prices at any time
the price shown on our confirmation invoice will
ONLY be guaranteed once full payment is received.
The payment of a deposit guarantees your seat, not
the price.
Government action - Our Price Guarantee cannot cover
increases due to direct
Government action e.g. the
imposition of VAT or Passenger Levy.
Major changes to your holiday:
If before you depart we have to make any major change
to your holiday arrangements e.g. change of departure
time of more than 12 hours in each
direction, change of airport (but excluding changes
between airports in the London region, aircraft type
or airline), it will only be because we are forced
to do so by circumstances usually beyond our control.
In such an unlikely event we will inform you immediately
and our objective will be to minimize your inconvenience.
We will wherever possible offer you alternative arrangements
as close as possible to your original choice.
You will then have a choice of accepting, taking
another available holiday of similar price or cancelling.
Should you choose to cancel you will be reimbursed
all monies paid to us.
Minor changes to your holiday:
If we are obliged to make any minor change in the
arrangements for your holiday, we will inform you
as soon as possible.
Compensation for cancellation or material alteration
by Worldwide Journeys plc.
In the event of cancellation or material alteration
to your holiday, Worldwide Journeys plc will pay
compensation as follows (except where Worldwide Journeys
plc has to cancel or make a material change to your
holiday as a result of any of the reasons referred
to under headings Balance or Force Majeure).
Period when notice Compensation per full fare
Cancellation or alteration is paying passenger.
Given pre-departure. (excl infants).
More than 56 days Nil
43-55 days £10
42-29 days £20
28-15 days £25
14 days or less £30
For children invoiced at a reduced price, compensation
will be
paid on a pro rata basis of the adult price. No other
claims for
Compensation or expenses will be considered.
Worldwide Journeys Liability:
Worldwide Journeys plc accepts responsibility for
deficient services provided to you by independent
suppliers. However, Worldwide Journeys plc is not
liable to you for any failure to perform or improper
performances of the contract where such failure:
is attributed to you or any member of your party.
is attributed to a third party unconnected with the
provision of service contracted and is unforeseeable
or unavoidable.
is due to an event which we or our suppliers, even
with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.
Worldwide Journeys plc also accepts responsibility
if you or any person named on the booking form suffers
bodily injury, illness or death due to a
negligent act and / or omission of:-
Our employees or agents; or our suppliers or sub-contractors’ servants
or agents whilst they are within the scope or in
the course of their employment to provide any service
or arrangement forming part of the holiday that you
have booked with us.
Our liability is limited to the full extent allowed
by relevant international conventions in respect
of anything arising during or out of carriage by
air, land or sea to which such international conventions
apply; PROVIDED that such claims are notified in
writing to us within 90 days following completion
of the holiday and any such claims will be subject
to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Worldwide Journeys plc liability to you (except in
the case of damages for personal injury or death)
is limited to twice the price of the holiday paid
by you or the affected member of your party.
Flights:
Details of airlines, flight numbers / schedules and
destination airport will be shown on you invoice/confirmation.
We regret we are unable to guarantee specific aircraft
types or airline.
Making a booking:
The person making the booking becomes responsible
to Worldwide Journeys Plc for the payment of the
total price of the arrangements for all passengers
shown on the invoice.
Deposit:
No booking will be confirmed unless the required
deposit, minimum of £100, has been received
by Worldwide Journeys PLC.
Changing your arrangements:
If you wish to change any item - other than increasing
the number of persons in your party - and providing
we can accommodate the change, you will have to
pay an Amendment Fee per person. These fees can
vary greatly and will be advised at the time changes
are made. Changes must be confirmed to us in writing.
Cancellation:
Should you or any member of your party be forced
to cancel your holiday, we must be notified in
writing, by the person who made the booking and
who is therefore responsible for the payment of
the cancellation charges. Cancellation charges
are calculated from the date we received the written
notice of cancellation.
(Amount of cancellation charge shown as a % of total
holiday cost)
More than 56 days Deposit
31-55 days 50%
15-30 days 70%
8-14 days 90%
1-7 days 100%
Please note: in some circumstances, 100% cancellation
will apply from time of booking, and this will explained
to you at time of booking and will also be stated
on your confirmation invoice.
Legal jurisdiction:
The Laws of England shall apply in all respects and
the Courts of England shall have sole jurisdiction.
Group Holidays:
Some of our holidays are based on minimum number
of participants and in the unlikely event that
these numbers are not reached we reserve the right
to cancel the tour and refund all payments made.
Prices are subject to increase if the group size
is reduced.
Balance:
You must pay the balance 8 weeks prior to departure
or by the due date shown on the confirmation invoice.
Please note that for some telephone bookings full
payment may be required IMMEDIATELY i.e. before
you receive invoice / confirmation. If this applies
you will be advised when the booking is made. It
is very important that you pay balances when due
because failure to do so will lead to the cancellation
of your holiday and still leave you liable to the
cancellation charges. Queries must be notified
to the Accounts Department immediately on 0870
709 3000.
Passports, visa and health requirements.
Passport and visa: We can only advise of the requirements
for British and Irish passport holders. For British
and Irish passports endorsed in any way and all other
passport holders, requirements should be checked
with the relevant Embassy. You should ensure that
you have a valid ten-year passport and, as many countries
require expiry dates on passports to be a considerable
length of time after the return from holiday, we
would recommend that your passport is valid for 6
months after return to the UK. From 5 October 1998
the Home Office requires that children under 16 will
be required to travel on their own passports.
In most cases where we inform that visas are required,
clients are responsible for obtaining these themselves.
The cost, method of obtaining a visa, and time necessary
for application, vary considerably between countries
and are subject to change. We would therefore advise
you to contact the relevant Embassy at the earliest
opportunity for the most up to date information..
Health:
Recommended inoculations for travel may change at
any time and you should consult your doctor on
current recommendations before your departure.
Health requirements for your holiday destinations
are outlined in the Department of Health leaflet
entitled ‘The Traveller’s Guide to
Health’, which is available by calling 0800
555 777. It is your responsibility to ensure that
you obtain all recommended inoculations, take all
recommended medication and follow all medical advice
in relation to your trip.
Special requests and medial problems:
If you have any special requests, please advise us
at time of booking. Although we will endeavour
to pass any such requests on to the relevant supplier,
we regret we cannot guarantee any request will
be met. Failure to meet any special request will
not be a breach of contract on our part. If you
have any medical problem or disability, which may
affect your booked arrangements, you must advise
us in writing at the time of booking giving full
details. If we feel unable to properly accommodate
your particular needs, we must reserve the right
to decline / cancel your booking.
Behaviour:
When you book with us, you accept responsibility
for any damage or loss caused by you or any member
of your party. Proper payment for any such damage
or loss must be made at the time direct to the
accommodation owner or manager or other supplier.
If you fail to do so, you must indemnify us against
any claims (including legal costs) subsequently
made against us as a result of your actions. We
expect all clients to have consideration for other
people. If in our opinion or in the opinion of
any person in authority you are behaving in such
a way as to cause or to be likely to cause distress,
danger or annoyance to any third party or damage
to property, we reserve the right to terminate
your arrangements without notice (including any
return transport arrangements). These will immediately
cease and we will not be responsible for meeting
any costs or expenses you may incur as a result,
making any refund or paying compensation.
Force Majeure:
We accept no responsibility for and shall not be
liable in respect of any loss or damage or alterations,
delays or changes arising from unusual and unforeseeable
circumstances beyond our control, such as war or
threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute
including air traffic control disputes, terrorist
activity, natural and nuclear disaster, fire or
adverse weather conditions, technical problems
with transport, closure or congestion of airports
or ports, cancellations of schedules by scheduled
airlines. You can check the current position on
any country by telephoning the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office’s Travel Advice Unit on 020 7238 4503/4504
or visiting their website on http://www.fco.gov.uk.
Reconfirming return / onward flights:
It is your responsibility to ensure you follow ALL
RECONFIRMATION INSTRUCTIONS which will be shown
EITHER on the FRONT of our invoice or on your travel
documents. Worldwide Journeys PLC will not be liable
for any additional costs due to your failure to
reconfirm flights.
Ticket Despatch and Travel Documents.
Tickets will be dispatched 7 days before departure,
however, in the case of late payment and/or late
bookings, tickets may be handed to you at the airport
on departure. Please ensure that you check the flight
timings on your tickets carefully. The correct timings,
using the 24 hour clock system, may have been adjusted
since booking with us or since you received your
invoice.
Airline Ticket Refunds:
Tickets returned will be presented to the airline
for assessment. As soon as we receive a refund
from the issuing airline, we will forward it to
you less any cancellation or administration charge.
Please note that refunds for part-used/returned
halves of tickets are always less than the pro-rata
rate and may have no refund value whatsoever. Refunds
usually take 8 - 12 weeks but in isolated cases
may take longer. Refunds will be processed via
the original method of payment, except for cash
transactions where refunds will be provided by
cheque.
Tickets returned more than one year from date of
issue are considered as expired by the airline and
generally have no refund value.
If tickets are lost or stolen, certain airlines will
not reissue duplicates. New tickets may then have
to be purchased locally, at the local fare. Even
if replacement tickets are purchased, certain airlines
will not issue refunds for lost / stolen tickets.
A delay of up to 18 months is possible before we
receive authority from the airline to make any refund.
Worldwide Journeys PLC applies a further £25
per ticket administration fee over and above cancellation
charges in such cases.
Please ensure that any tickets returned to Worldwide
Journeys PLC are sent by registered post.
Taxes:
Worldwide Journeys PLC will advise you of all mandatory
pre-paid taxes. Most countries also charge departure
taxes that may only be paid locally. It is therefore
recommended that clients retain sufficient local
currency to meet such charges. Please note that
taxes are subject to exchange rate fluctuations.
Insurance:
Travel insurance is compulsory. If you do not wish
to take out our insurance, we need to know with
whom you will be covered.
Worldwide Journeys PLC have made arrangements with
Atlas Travel Insurance to cater to your needs. Please
ask our Sales Consultants for further details of
our competitive insurance rates.
Complaints:
If you have a problems during your holiday, please
inform the relevant airline, hotel, local agent
or other suppliers immediately so that they can
endeavour to put things right. If they cannot resolve
the problems, you must contact Worldwide Journeys
PLC UK office so that we are given an opportunity
to help. Worldwide Journeys PLC will not hold themselves
responsible for the non-performance of an itinerary
through causes beyond their control or when they
are not notified of a problem at the point when
remedial action can be taken. In the unlikely event
that a complaint cannot be resolved at the time,
you should write to us within 90 days of returning
home, giving your original booking reference number
and all other relevant information. If you fail
to take any of these steps this will hinder our
ability to put any problem right and/or investigate
it fully and any right you may have to receive
compensation will be reduced or completely invalidated.
Disputes arising out of, or in connection with
this contract, which cannot be amicably settled,
may (if you so wish) be referred to arbitration
under a special scheme, which though devised by
arrangement with the Association of British Travel
Agents, is administered quite independently by
the Chartered Institute of Arbitration. The scheme
provides for a simple and inexpensive method of
arbitration on documents alone with restricted
liability on the customer in respect of costs.
The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount
greater than £1,500 per person. There
is also a limit of £7,500 per booking form.
Neither does it apply to claims, which are solely,
or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness
or the consequences of such injury or illness. Details
of the scheme will be supplied on request from the
Association of British Travel Agents, 68 – 71
Newman Street, London. W1P 4AH.
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