Germania Travel

Terms & Conditions

We are Germania Travel Limited, a limited company incorporated in England (company number 6018151) whose registered office is at 61 West Borough, Wimborne, BH21 1LX.

We are specialist travel organisers. Our business operates out of the United Kingdom and is directed exclusively towards UK custom. Our services are as advertised.

Application of these terms and conditions These terms and conditions, together with any further terms and conditions notified to you by us prior to your entering into a contract with us (without limitation including any in our brochure or on our website which are relevant to your booking) and any other terms which we both otherwise agree will be binding on us both once a contract is made between us. A contract will exist between us once you have made your booking with us, paid your deposit (or such other fee as may be appropriate for example where you are making a ‘late booking’) and we have issued you with our booking confirmation. Our contact with you is also subject to any air carriers’ terms and conditions of carriage.

You should read these terms and conditions carefully.

You should note in particular the content of paragraph 5 ‘our liability to you’ which contains certain limitations and exclusions.

If any part of Our Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of them will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable.

English Law Any dispute arising over our contract will be dealt with under English Law.

Our Terms do not affect your statutory rights.

Brochure and website content We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in our brochures and on our website. However, content is subject to change from time to time, often due to the actions of our suppliers (e.g. airlines, hotels, tour companies, car hire companies). We will endeavour to notify you of any change known to us affecting your holiday prior to issuing you with our booking confirmation.

We do not generally use linking or framing. We are not responsible for the content, policies and services of any sites linked to or accessible via our website.

Packages A ‘package’ is a pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following booked by you through us at an inclusive price where the combination lasts for a period of more than 24 hours or involves overnight accommodation – (a) transport; (b) accommodation; (c) other tourist services not ancillary to transport or accommodation and being a significant part of the booking.

Where the arrangements which you make with us for your holiday do not amount to a ‘package’ (as defined above) we act as booking agent only.

Booking Conditions All holidays are subject to availability.

When you make a booking with us you are making an offer to us to buy some of our advertised services. We reserve the right to refuse to accept and/or not to proceed with any booking at any time in our sole discretion. Once the contract is made between us we will perform our obligations to you in accordance with Our Terms.

All bookings must be made by a person aged eighteen years or over. Where your booking is for more than one person, the first-named person in your party aged eighteen years or over will be treated by us as the ‘lead name’ for your booking. The lead name will be responsible for making all payments due to us in accordance with our contract.

Completion and submission by you of our booking form will be treated by us as confirmation that you have read, understood and accepted all Our Terms.

It is important that you accurately complete our booking form as all documents, notices and other information relating to your holiday will be sent to this address. It is your responsibility to ensure that the details which you supply to us are correct.

1. Payment You will be notified at the time of booking the price of your holiday. You will be required at the time of booking to pay us a non-refundable deposit of 20% of the quoted holiday price, and the full holiday price of a booking should be made at least 60 days prior to departure (‘late booking’).

Unless you are making a late booking, the balance owing must be paid to us no later than 60 days before your date of departure. If we do not receive the balance by this time then we will treat the booking as cancelled by you and you will be liable to pay our cancellation charges (see paragraph 3.2).

We accept cheques and bank transfers.

If you make a late booking and it is necessary to issue your documents on departure or send them to you by special delivery, there will be an administration charge payable by you of £25 per booking. An administration charge also applies to any changes carried out by us at your request (see paragraph 3.1).

2. Prices The prices quoted in our brochure, on our website or in our publicity and promotions are correct at the time of publication. In the event of any change in our prices to those stated we will notify you prior to accepting your booking. All our prices are quoted in GBP sterling.

(a) Packages We guarantee the price of your holiday stated in our booking confirmation.

We may however pass on to you certain additional charges resulting from increased transportation costs, taxes or fluctuations in the exchange rate. We will not pass on any such charges occurring within 30 days of your scheduled date of departure nor which would result in an increase of less than 2% in the total cost of your holiday.

(b) Other holiday arrangements We reserve the right to pass on any charges levied on us from time to time by our suppliers in respect of any other holiday arrangements made by us on your behalf. • Overseas transfers/transportation • Accommodation, meals • The services of a representative, tour guide or an appointed local agent, including a 24-hour emergency contact (except cruises). • Any applicable overseas port charges. • Child discounts.

Our holiday price does not normally include: • Visa fees, porterage, personal expenditure, hotel extras. • Taxes or compulsory charges introduced by Governments, regulatory bodies after you have booked. • Security charges introduced or increased after you have booked which affect transportation costs. • Holiday insurance.

The price payable by you for your holiday and what this price includes will be confirmed to you by us at the time of booking and set out in our booking confirmation.

(c) Group bookings and discounts Some bookings or prices are dependent on the number of participants or occupants and if this applies to your holiday arrangements you will be notified by us at the time of booking. We reserve the right to make further charges where numbers fall below those required to qualify for the discount offered or price otherwise appropriate. We also reserve the right to cancel such a booking in the event that numbers fall below the required number at any time up to 30 days prior to your due date of departure.

3. Changes or cancellation by you

3.1. Changes

(a) Transfers Where you are or any member of your party is prevented from travelling for any reason (including death, illness or jury service) we will transfer your booking to any other person satisfying all the requirements relating to your holiday notified to us by you in writing a reasonable time prior to your due date of departure.

(b) Other changes If you wish to make any other change to your booking at any time after our booking confirmation has been issued, we will try but cannot promise to meet your request. We require your authority in writing before we can make any change. In the event that any change is requested in relation to a group booking we require the authority in writing of the lead name before we can make the change.

(c) Administration fee In each of the above circumstances, an administration charge will be payable of £30 per person where your request is received by us 60 days or more prior to your date of departure and £50 per person where the request is received less than 60 days prior to your date of departure. This charge is non-refundable.

(d) Treatment of changes by our suppliers Many of our suppliers, particularly airlines and cruise companies do not permit us to change names or travel dates and impose full cancellation charges. We will pass these on to you in addition to our administration charge, where applicable.

3.2. Cancellations If you wish following the issue to you by us of our booking confirmation to cancel your booking or any part of it relating to any person (in the case of a group booking), we will require your authority in writing or (in the case of a group booking) the authority in writing of the lead name to do so.

Our cancellation charges will apply (see the table ‘cancellation charges’ below). These are calculated with reference to the date on which we receive your authority in writing. We will not refund to you any deposits, administration charges, insurance premiums or any other fees or charges made by us and paid by you relating to your holiday in the event of cancellation by you.

We incur costs from the time you make your booking and you agree that if you cancel your booking you will compensate us for our losses and expenses, as per the table below. Our cancellation charges increase the nearer the cancellation is made to your departure date as we may not be able to resell your holiday without making significant price reductions or at all.

We strongly recommend that you take out insurance cover. Germania Travel has arranged a special insurance policy. For further details please refer to paragraph 7.

Cancellation charges Number of days left before your due date of departure when your authority in writing is received by us. Cancellation charge (expressed as a percentage of the total holiday price): 60 days or more: deposit only, 59 – 43 days: 40 %, 29 – 42 days: 60 %, 7 – 28 days: 80 %, 6 days or less: 100 %.

4. If we have to change or cancel your holiday We will do our utmost to deliver the holiday which we are contracted to provide to you.

As we put in place the arrangements necessary to enable us to offer our range of holidays many months in advance, we may occasionally have to make changes and reserve the right to do so at any time.

(a) Packages Our obligation to you depends on whether the changes are considered ‘minor’ or ‘major’. We will try to tell you as soon as reasonably possible prior to your due departure date about any minor changes, although we are not obliged to do so. We are not obliged to compensate you for any ‘minor’ changes made. Major changes: If we have to make a ‘major’ change we will notify you as soon as possible and you will have one of the following options: to agree the changes and accept their impact (including any on price) to transfer to another holiday offered by us (subject to availability) of equivalent or superior quality to transfer to another holiday offered by us (subject to availability) of lower quality and receiving a refund for any difference in price to cancel your holiday and receiving a refund of all monies paid by you to us (including all deposits and administration charges) If we have to make a ‘major’ change to or cancel your holiday for any reason other than our insolvency or any circumstances beyond our reasonable control we will additionally pay to you the following sum by way of compensation: Number of days before due date of departure that notification of a major change or cancellation by us is received 59 – 43 days, 42 – 29 days, 28 – 15 days,14 – 8 days, 7 – 0 days Compensation payable by us (per person named in our booking confirmation or transfer accepted by us) £10, £25, £45, £60, £75 respectively.

(b) Other holiday arrangements

We will try to tell you of any changes as soon as possible prior to your due departure date, although we are not obliged to do so. We are not obliged to compensate you. However, in the event that we are forced to cancel your holiday for any reason other than our insolvency or any circumstances beyond our reasonable control we will refund to you the full price paid by you for your holiday.

(c) Circumstances beyond our control We will not pay compensation or accept any liability where any change is due to circumstances outside of our reasonable control, including (without limitation) any strikes, lock-outs, or other industrial action, labour disputes, acts of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule regulation or direction, impossibility of the use of any means of public or private transport or any action of any government or regulatory body, accident, break-down of plant and machinery, fire, flood or storm, other adverse weather conditions (including heavy rainfall, hail, snow, fog or frost) affecting any airport, port or any other transport link, embarkation or disembarkation point and their operation, flight delays, other matters affecting air traffic control (including failure of equipment, systems and software), siege, acts of terrorism, police or security alerts or precautionary measures taken.

5. Our liability to you

(a) Packages (i) We accept responsibility for ensuring that the holiday arrangements you book with us are supplied as described in our brochure or on our website. We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers except where they have acted outside our authority or instructions.

(ii) If you feel that any part of your holiday arrangements is not provided as promised, you should notify our supplier and either our appointed local representative (where one is appointed) or ourselves (where a local representative is not appointed) as soon as possible. You must provide us with details in writing at the earliest opportunity.

(iii) Where we have failed to provide you with a significant proportion of the services which you have contracted with us to provide, if you are still on holiday with us we will (where possible and appropriate to the circumstances), endeavour to organise suitable alternative arrangements at no extra cost to you and may pay you an amount in compensation. Where we have failed to provide you with a significant proportion of the services which you have contracted with us to provide and suitable alternative arrangements are not available or are unacceptable to you for good reasons then (where appropriate) we will make arrangements for you (and where other members of your party are affected those members of your party) to return to your place of departure at no extra cost to you. In all other cases (ie: where we have not failed to provide you with a significant proportion of the services which you have contracted with us to provide) our obligation following your notification to us is to investigate matters and (where appropriate) make prompt efforts to find appropriate solutions.

(iv) Our liability in all cases shall be limited to a maximum of 3 times the total cost of your holiday (including deposits and administration charges). We do not accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of any third parties with whom you may have made any bookings or arrangements direct.

(v) None of the provisions of this paragraph 5(a) shall have the affect of excluding or limiting our liability in respect of any personal injury or death of you or any member of your party during your holiday directly resulting from our own acts or omissions or the negligent acts or omissions of our employees, agents or suppliers whilst acting within our authority or instructions. We do not accept any responsibility for death, injury or illness caused by any act or omission of any third parties acting outside of our authority, instructions or control or with whom you may have made any bookings or arrangements direct.

(vi) We are not liable to you where our failure or improper performance of any of our obligations to you is due to: • any fault or failure of you or of any member of your party; • any fault or failure of any third party unconnected with us and the provision of the services for which you have contracted with us to provide which are unforseeable or unavoidable; or • circumstances beyond our or beyond our suppliers’ reasonable control (which circumstances are without limitation described in paragraph 4© although we will endeavour following notification to us to provide you with our prompt assistance where our failure or improper performance results from circumstances not due to any fault or failure of you or any member of your party.

(vii) In respect of travel by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation, our liability is additionally limited in the manner provided by the relevant International Conventions (see paragraph headed ‘application of other terms and conditions’).

(viii) You should note that the acceptance of liability on our part is subject in all cases to set off or reduction of the amount of any claim made against us to take into account any amount paid to you or any member of your party at any time arising from the same cause or circumstances by any of our suppliers or pursuant to a policy of insurance.

(ix) Our suppliers and our local representatives are instructed not to act as our agents in booking any alternative activities other than those approved and offered by us. Any assistance they may offer at your request in relation to such activities does not imply they have acted as our agent or with our authority or approval. We are not responsible for such activities and have no liability to you in respect of any of them.

(x) If you, or any member of your party, suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your travel arrangements with us or an excursion arranged through us, we shall at our discretion, offer you advice, guidance or assistance. Where legal action is contemplated and you would like to obtain our assistance, you must notify us in writing setting out all relevant details and obtain our prior written consent before commencement of any proceedings. Our consent will not be unreasonably withheld. In the event that our consent is given it will be given in writing and subject to you undertaking to reimburse us for the full amount of our costs and expenses incurred in providing you with such assistance from the amount recovered by you under any relevant policy of insurance and/or pursuant to any claim, whether by judgement, court order, ruling, assessment or settlement. In the event of the possibility of settlement you will consult with us prior to agreeing a figure with any third party with whom you intend to settle or their legal representatives. In any event, we will not provide you with more than £5,000 worth of assistance.

(b) Other holiday arrangements We act only as booking agent in respect of other holiday arrangements made with us and therefore we have no liability to you whatsoever for any such arrangements. All liability to you will rest with the relevant service provider and in the event of any matter arising you should contact them directly. In the event that you are unable to contact the relevant service provider directly please contact us and we will try to assist you in whatever way we can.

(c) Special requirements If you have any special requirements (dietary or otherwise) you must inform us of these at the time of booking so that we can pass these onto our suppliers. We cannot guarantee that your requirements will be met however and we are not liable to you in the event that your wishes are not met.

6. Your responsibility

(a) It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all travelling with you have valid passports, appropriate visas and vaccinations. We are not liable for any costs, delays or illness resulting from your failure to meet these requirements.

(b) You are responsible for ensuring that any existing medical conditions or disabilities which may require assistance are declared to us before you book your holiday or, if newly diagnosed, before your due date of departure so that we can pass these details on to our suppliers in good time. We are not in any circumstances liable if any carrier refuses to accept you or any member of your party as a passenger as a result of any medical condition or disability.

(c) You are responsible for your behaviour and that of your party. We and our suppliers reserve the right to refuse your booking or the right to board or the right to travel and to remove you and/or any member of your party from any transport, accommodation or any part of holiday if you or any member of your party is drunk or under the influence of drink or drugs, if you are or we reasonably believe that you are in unlawful possession of drugs, are behaving violently, disruptively, dangerously or irresponsibly or in any manner whatsoever which presents a risk to others or is causing a nuisance or annoyance to others. No refund will be given or compensation paid and no costs or expenses for which you become liable or which are incurred by you will be made by us or be recoverable by you from us in such circumstances. You may also become the subject matter of police inquiry or security measures or investigation and liable in the event that any offence is committed to criminal prosecution and penalties whether in the UK or in any other country having jurisdiction in respect of the alleged activity.

7. Insurance

You must be suitably insured before we will accept your booking. None of the activities included in any of our tours can be deemed to be of a hazardous nature, i.e. of the type normally excluded from any travel insurance cover. Should you while on holiday choose to take part in any such activity, which was not booked by Germania Travel which can be deemed as being of a hazardous nature, we cannot accept any liability for death or injury. It is also essential to ensure that cover is provided under the terms of your travel insurance.

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