Booking Conditions
The following Booking Conditions together with all other details contained in this brochure and the 'Essential Information' and supplementary information held on our website, form the basis of your contract with Exclusive Escapes Limited. The "Booking Information and Essential Information" on our website are easily printable, however, a copy is available from us on request. Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions, "you" means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date). "We" and "us" means Exclusive Escapes Limited.
Exclusive Escapes Commitment to You
1. ATOL - YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION
When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package (and/or flights) from us you will receive a confirmation invoice from us (or via our authorised agent through which you made your booking) confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 6056.
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
The price of our air holiday packages includes the amount of £1 per person as part of the ATOL Protection Contribution (APC) we pay to the CAA. This charge is included in our advertised prices.
2. YOUR RESERVATION
All holidays and offers advertised in this brochure are subject to availability. When you or your travel agent ask for your holiday booking to be confirmed, if available, we allocate your chosen holiday to you at that moment. It is then that a firm contract exists between you and Exclusive Escapes. If you choose to book your holiday directly through us we will confirm your booking and give you a reference number and you then have five working days to get the appropriate payment to us in full (less in the case of late bookings) otherwise the booking will automatically be cancelled.
If you wish to purchase the insurance we offer, all applicable premiums must be paid at the time of booking, as cover will not be effective until these are received in full. When we receive the monies due we will send a confirmation invoice setting out exactly what has been booked and the amount of money paid and, where applicable, the date the balance of the payment is due. Reminders for the balance payment are not always sent out so it is important to ensure your payment is made in good time by the appropriate due date.
Please note that late payments may incur an administration fee of £100 per booking. Further, your booking may be cancelled by us in the event of late payment, (see 'Paying the Balance').
3. OUR PRICE PROMISE
Whatever happens to the value of the Pound, the price of your holiday - once confirmed at the time of booking - will not be subject to any currency surcharges. Otherwise, once the price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed at the time of booking then, subject to the correction of errors, we will only increase the price in the following circumstances.
Price increases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge. A surcharge will be payable if transportation costs and/or dues, taxes (e.g. VAT) or fees payable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports increase. Even in this case, we will absorb increased costs up to a total amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges.
Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be surcharged but where a surcharge is payable there will be an administration charge of £1 per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission.
If you pay more than 10% on the holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all the money paid to us except for any amendment charges. We will consider appropriate refunds of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on the invoice.
We reserve the right to correct errors in both advertised and confirmed prices. We will do so as soon as we become aware of the error. Should there be an obviously incorrect price shown we will issue a new invoice and will not be bound by the price quoted on the incorrect invoice.
4. OUR INVOICE
Please check your confirmation invoice carefully (including the spelling of names and initials) immediately on receipt as it sets out what we are promising to provide.
If there are any inaccuracies it is essential you bring these to our attention within 10 days of the date shown on the invoice, otherwise we will assume all the details to be correct. If we are able to make the necessary changes within this time no charges will be levied. However, amendment fees will be levied for any changes made outside this period.
5. IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
It is unlikely that we will have to make any alterations to your holiday but, as we plan the arrangements many months in advance, we must reserve the right to make changes or, in certain circumstances, cancel your holiday or correct errors in our brochure even after your holiday has been confirmed. Most changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a "significant change" unless for reasons of "Force Majeure". When we refer to a "significant change" in these Booking Conditions, we mean one or more of the following changes when made before departure:
- cancellation of holiday
- change of property to that of a lower official classification or standard (e.g. exclusive boutique to select boutique) for the whole or a major part of the time you are away
- change of accommodation area for the whole or a major part of the time you are away
- change of outward departure time or overall length of time you are away of 12 or more hours
- change of UK departure point to one which is more inconvenient to you (except between Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted)
- closure of the only or all advertised swimming pool(s) at your property for an extended period (2-3 days)
All other changes are treated as "minor" changes. If we have to make a significant change or cancel your holiday, we will inform you or your travel agent as quickly as possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of the following options:
- accepting the changed arrangements or
- purchasing an alternative holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally booked if available (if the chosen alternative is less expensive than your original one, we will refund the difference but if it is more expensive, we will absorb the difference) or
- cancelling in which case you will receive a full refund of all monies you have paid to us (excepting insurance premiums or amendment fees) within 7 days.
Please note: the above options are not available where any change made is a minor one.
Compensation: If we have to make a significant change 8 weeks or less before departure, we will also pay you compensation, subject to the exceptions outlined, as set out below:
| Period before scheduled departure within which a significant change or cancellation is notified to you or you travel agent: | Compensation per person (not including infants) |
| More than 56 days | Nil |
| 43-56 days | £10 |
| 29-42 days | £20 |
| 15-28 days | £30 |
| 14 days or less | £40 |
Exceptions: Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to make a change as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care, (see "Force majeure"). For children and additional adults invoiced at reduced rates, compensation will be paid on a pro-rata basis of the adult rate.
In all cases, our liability for significant changes is limited to offering you the above mentioned options and, where applicable, compensation payments. We regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change.
No compensation is payable for minor changes.
Force Majeure: Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" to change or terminate your holiday before or during your holiday. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by "force majeure". "Force majeure" means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, epidemics, health risks, fire, technical problems to transport, closure or congestion schedules by scheduled airlines and all similar events outside our control.
6. RESOLVING A COMPLAINT
We know that, in spite of all our efforts, problems can arise. It is a condition of our contract that if you have a problem during your holiday, you must inform our overseas representative and the relevant supplier (hotelier) in order to allow us to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you are overseas.
It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question as well as to our representative without delay and complete a Guest Report Form whilst at your property. 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 on holiday and this may affect your rights under this contract.
If you feel a complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily whilst on holiday, please write to our Guest Services Director, detailing in full the nature of your complaint, the lead passenger name, date of departure and booking reference, together with a copy of our Guest Report Form (issued overseas and signed by a member of our Overseas Team), to our UK office within 28 days of return. This will enable us to investigate your complaint promptly.
We can usually reach an amicable settlement, but in the unlikely event of it not being resolved, the dispute may, if you so wish, be referred to arbitration under a specific scheme. Alternatively, in the unlikely event of your complaint not being resolved, the dispute may go to your County Court or other suitable UK court.
7. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR HOLIDAY
- We accept responsibility for ensuring that all component parts of the inclusive holiday that you book with us are supplied to you as described in the brochure and to a reasonable standard. We also accept responsibility for what our employees, agents, suppliers and sub-contractors do or do not do providing they were at the time carrying out work authorised by us except where death, personal injury or illness results (dealt with separately below). If any part of your holiday is not provided as advertised and to a reasonable standard, we will pay you appropriate compensation as long as you have taken all reasonable steps to notify our staff or the supplier locally and given us the opportunity to rectify the problem and mitigate your loss. This acceptance of responsibility is, however, subject to clause 5 - “force majeure” and the other terms of these Booking Conditions.
- We cannot accept responsibility for death, injury or illness caused during your holiday unless it is proved this is due to negligence or omission of our employees, agents, suppliers or sub-contractors or air/sea carriers whilst carrying out the course of their duties on our behalf. All bookings are subject to the Conditions of Carriage of the carrier used which are limited by international convention (e.g. Montreal Convention for international air travel, Athens Convention for international travel over water). For all claims which result from international carriage, compensation can only be paid in those situations where the carriers concerned would be obliged to pay compensation under the relevant international convention. Copies of conditions which apply to your air or sea travel are available for inspection at the travel agent where you book your holiday or from the carriers themselves. Under EU law you have the rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation 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 is the responsibility of the airline and 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 paragraph 5. If any payments 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
- Our liability for any claim (excluding personal injury, illness or death) will be limited to twice the cost of your holiday, excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges.
- We have taken all reasonable and proper steps to ensure that the suppliers of the various services which will be provided to you as part of your inclusive holiday are safe and reputable businesses and that they comply with the local and national laws and regulations which apply to the services they provide. Please note, it is the laws and regulations of the country in which services are actually provided which apply to your holiday arrangements and not those of the UK. As a general rule, safety and other requirements and standards overseas will not be the same as the UK and may often be lower.
- Personal injury (connected with your holiday arrangements). If you or any member of your party suffers illness, injury or death and it is proved this is due to negligence or omission of our employees, agents or suppliers, you must tell us or the supplier involved about your illness or injury whilst you are in resort and write to us within 90 days of your return from holiday.
- Personal Injury (not connected with your holiday arrangements). If you or any member of your party suffers illness, injury or death through misadventure as a result of an activity which does not form part of your contracted holiday arrangements we will provide you with all reasonable assistance. Where legal action is contemplated and you want our assistance, you must obtain our written consent prior to the commencement of proceedings and within 90 days of the incident in question. Our consent will be given subject to you undertaking to assign any costs, benefits received under any relevant insurance policy to ourselves. We limit the cost of our assistance to you or any member of your party to £5,000.
- If an excursion has to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions or other circumstances beyond our control, our liability is limited to a refund of the cost of the excursion and no compensation will be paid. Please note, no refund or compensation will be paid for the cancellation of excursions that are included in the holiday cost. We cannot accept liability for any sporting activities or excursions booked independently through local suppliers and not through Exclusive Escapes as an inspection will not have been carried out by ourselves.
- If, in our opinion, or in the opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member of your party behaves in such a way to cause or be likely to cause danger, annoyance or distress to any third party or damage to property, we may terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave the property or other service. We will have no further responsibility towards such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.
Your Commitment To Us
Your contract with us and all matters arising out of it are governed by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises out of or in connection with this contract or your holiday will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales.
1. BOOKING AND PAYMENT
Age: Bookings for younger people will not be accepted unless one member of the party is 18 years of age and is the lead name on the booking. Infants must be less than two years old on the return date of travel and a charge of £30 per infant is levied to cover administrative costs.
Deposit: At the time of booking you pay an initial payment of £200 per person plus any insurance premium, nothing for infants. Once this is received by us this constitutes acceptance of our Booking Conditions and a commitment to proceed with the booking. This is the only payment required until 12 weeks before departure except in the case of any special offers, or if your departure is within 12 weeks when full payment will be due. Please note there may be a supplementary charge or deposit payable on some holidays where it is necessary to secure specific facilities with full payment at the time of booking which are non-refundable in the event of cancellation, i.e. special business class supplements on scheduled flights, connecting flights etc.
Insurance: It is essential you have adequate insurance cover and it is a condition of this contract that if you do not take our recommended insurance you effect a policy which offers equivalent or better cover. (see Insurance Details).
If you have taken our insurance the premium will be shown separately on your Confirmation Invoice. Please note that insurance premiums are not refundable (after the "cooling off" period) or transferable in any circumstances.
Booking through Travel Agents: If you book your holiday through a travel agent we will communicate with you through the travel agent. All the monies you pay to one of our authorised travel agents for your holiday with us will be held by the agent on our behalf until it is paid to us or refunded to you in the event of cancellation. The travel agent must give you an ATOL receipt or confirmation invoice when you pay.
We will also send you, via your travel agent, an ATOL confirmation invoice within 7 days of receiving notification of your booking from the travel agent.
Paying the Balance: You must pay the balance shown on the confirmation invoice at least 12 weeks before departure, or as special offers dictate. If payment is not received by the due date, you could be liable to cancellation charges of up to 100% of the holiday price, because in this event we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled by you at any time up to the date of departure. If we do not treat the holiday as cancelled, we reserve the right to charge a fee for any late payments. It is important therefore that you pay the balance by the due date or advise us in writing of any cancellation in accordance with paragraph 3 (if you cancel your booking).
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. The Turkish Embassy can be reached on 0207591 6900 and Greek Embassy on 0207 221 6464. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. in general, 6 months validity is required on all passports.
Health Requirements: There are currently no compulsory vaccinations for travellers to Turkey or Greece. However, if you have any concerns we recommend you contact your doctor prior to travel. information on health is contained in the leaflet ‘advice on Health for Travellers’ available from your ABTA travel agent or the Department of Health.
Foreign & Commonwealth Office Advice
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office produces up-to-date travel information to help British travellers make informed decisions about travelling abroad. For further information please visit www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo
2. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING
Amendments to the booking: If you wish to change your booking to another holiday in this brochure, or if you wish to amend your booking after we have issued our invoice but outside the cancellation period outlined below, we will try our best to help but may not be able to provide your requested change and we will have no obligation in this respect.
If we are able to make the changes we will charge £40 per booking for each time we change or amend your booking at your request. A charge of £40 will be applied each time a name is changed up to 21 days before travel. Within 21 days normal cancellation charges will apply.
If you wish to change the departure date of your holiday, it will be necessary for you to pay the relevant brochure price for the new departure date. For all changes, in addition you will have to pay any costs or charges incurred or imposed by our suppliers in making the change.
Please note that flights through scheduled airlines are based on APEX type fares and have restrictions on changing names, initials etc., even before tickets are issued. Therefore, should you request a name change due to incorrect details given by you, we will be forced to pass on any airline administration costs.
All requests for alterations must be made or confirmed in writing.
Transferring your Holiday: If you are prevented from travelling due to circumstances outside your control such as death, accident, illness, witness summons or redundancy of yourself, travelling companion or close relative etc., you may transfer your booking to another person or group provided you give us at least 21 days notice and the arrangements remain exactly the same as the original booking (an administration fee of £40 per person will be made for this).
You must also agree to meet any costs incurred by us or our suppliers to make this change. If you wish to change your booking, within 28 days of departure, to a later date this is treated as a cancellation and re-booking.
Changes Overseas: Should you wish to change your holiday or flight details whilst in Turkey or Cephalonia this may be possible but will require immediate payment by credit, debit card or sterling. As this alters the basis of the contract between us it is essential such changes are arranged through us in writing either through our overseas team or our local agent or, if this is not possible, our head office in the UK.
3. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING
Should you, or a member of your party, be forced to cancel, you must advise us or your travel agent in writing. Verbal cancellations will not be accepted. The letter should be signed by the person who is the lead passenger. A cancellation is not effective until a copy of this letter is received by us. To cover our estimated loss caused by the cancellation as we may be unable to resell your holiday or if we can it may not be at the full sale price, we must make a charge which is payable by you. The following is our scale of charges:
| Period before departure within which written cancellation is received by us | Amount of cancellation charge per person cancelling expressed as % of total excluding amendment charges and insurance premiums |
| More than 42 days | £250 per person (or the deposit amount paid whichever is greater) |
| 29-41 days | 40% or £250 per person whichever is greater |
| 15-28 days | 60% |
| 7-14 days | 80% |
| 1-6 days | 100% |
If one or more members of the party wishes to cancel this may result in a room being under occupied and the remaining people on the booking may have to pay any relevant charges to retain the booking. Any flights purchased by Exclusive Escapes on your behalf will be non-refundable of transferable.
If the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of your holiday insurance policy, you should make a claim direct to the insurance company for the recovery of charges.
4. DURING YOUR HOLIDAY
The accommodation provided is only for the use of passengers shown on the holiday invoice as confirmed by us. Sub-letting, sharing or assignment is prohibited. You are responsible for any damage caused to the property during your holiday, except by persons not known to you or us and unconnected with the contract between us. If you are responsible for any damage all costs in this respect must be met by you and paid locally.
Please note that the owner or senior Exclusive Escapes manager may remove anyone whose behaviour is disruptive or affects the enjoyment of other guests (see Clause 7 of Booking Conditions). Occasionally, it may be necessary for the owner or a senior member of Exclusive Escapes staff, or other persons authorised by the company to carry out a specific task, to enter the property during your holiday for the purpose of quality control, photography or to carry out emergency repairs. Wherever possible you will be notified of this beforehand in resort.
5. CONDITIONS AND PRICES
This brochure may be superseded by future editions, our website and by any errata advised to you in writing or on your confirmation notice. The prices quoted in this brochure are based on exchange rates as quoted in the Financial Times Guide to world currencies on: 2 March 2007 2.7735YTL, Euro 1.4761 & US$1.9443: to the £ and have been used in calculating VATand other known costs for prices.
6. DATA PROTECTION
In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements we need to use the information you provide such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc.
We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information onto the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
Additionally, where your holiday is outside the EEA controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. We will not however, pass any information onto any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. (If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we cannot provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons).
You are entitled to a copy of your information held by us. If you would like to see this please contact us. (We may make a small charge for providing this to you).