Famous Holidays Booking Terms & Conditions
Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions apply to your booking. Please read these terms and conditions carefully.
We are a member of The Freedom Travel Group Ltd (“Freedom Travel”). The Freedom Travel Group Ltd has a registered office at: Westpoint, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6FZ. Its company registration number is 03816981. The Freedom Travel Group Ltd is part of the Thomas Cook Group.
Through our membership of Freedom Travel, we are licensed under the ATOL scheme (number 6042) and are a member of ABTA (The Travel Association). We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. Visit www.abta.com for more details.
Our obligations to you will vary depending on which type of booking you’ve made as explained in the following four sections.
We are an authorised agent for Tour Operators, Airlines, Cruise Operators, Accommodation Providers or other suppliers. When we act as an agent, your contract for the travel arrangements will be directly with the supplier of the arrangements and will be subject to that supplier’s booking conditions as explained in SECTION A below.
We also organise our own packages. When you book one of these, your contract will be with The Freedom Travel Group Ltd. When we refer to a “Package” in these conditions we mean a package as defined by the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. SECTION B contains the conditions which will apply only where Freedom Travel act as the Principal and we have arranged a Package at your request..
There are certain terms that apply to any type of booking and these are detailed in SECTION C.
For bookings that include a cruise, the following additional terms apply in SECTION D.
Your booking with us will be governed by English law and any disputes will be dealt with in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Northern Ireland or Scotland, the courts of Northern Ireland or Scotland (as appropriate), can deal with any disputes.
SECTION A. Our Service As An Agent of the supplier of travel arrangements
A1. Your Contract
These are the terms on which we will make a booking for your travel or holiday requirements. When making your booking we will arrange for you to enter into a contract with the principal(s) or other supplier(s) (e.g. tour operator/airline/cruise company/accommodation company) named on your receipt(s). We can book a package holiday for you, in which case you will have one contract with the principal, or we can book the services that make up your holiday with different principals or suppliers, in which case you will have separate contracts with each of them. As agent we accept no responsibility or liability for the acts or omissions of the principal(s) or supplier(s) or for the services provided by them. The principal’s or supplier’s Booking Conditions will apply to your booking and we advise you to read these carefully as they do contain important information about your booking. Please ask us for copies of these if you do not have them. All travel arrangements which we provide or which are sold through us are not an offer by us to sell any travel arrangements, but an invitation to you to make an offer to the suppliers of the arrangements. We are free to accept that offer on behalf of those suppliers or to reject it.
A2. Changes or Cancellations You Make Before Travel
If you want to change the arrangements you have booked in any way, we will try to help you, although we cannot guarantee that we will always be able to do this as changes are subject to availability at the time and to the terms and conditions and charges of the principal/supplier. We will liaise with them and inform you of the amendment or cancellation charges which apply which may be up to 100% of the cost of the booking, depending upon the type of booking and notice you give.
For any changes that can be made, we will charge the price that applies on the day the change is made. Remember any change to your departure date, airport, transport, destination, accommodation, or length of holiday has to apply to all members of your booking.
The lead name on the booking must give us notice to change.
Our Charges
In addition to any charges applied by the principal/suppliers, we will also apply a maximum charge of £25 for each person on the booking and for each item you want to change to cover our costs of administering the change. Any booking discount you may have received at the time the original booking was made, may be altered or reduced whenever changes are made.
SECTION B. Package arranged by Freedom Travel
The terms set out below, together with the terms set out in Section C, apply when we have arranged a Package for you.
B1. Price Changes After Booking
Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your Package may change after you have booked. However there will be no change 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 Package, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your Package, 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 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. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
Should the price of your Package go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your Package cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that Packages are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your Package due to contractual and other protection in place.
B2. Changes Made By Us Before Travel
Sometimes we’ll have to make changes to your Package. Significant Changes: If any change will have a significant effect on your Package, we’ll tell you about it before you travel (if there is time). The sort of significant changes we’ll tell you about include: a change to your UK departure point; significant change of your destination; a change of more than 12 hours to the time you leave the UK or your destination or a change of time of embarkation or disembarkation by more than 12 hours; if we downgrade your accommodation by a lower official rating; if there’s a significant change of cruise itinerary missing out 2 or more ports altogether; and If the swimming pool will not be available for an extended period during your holiday and no alternative pool is available either at the property or nearby.
If you don’t want to accept a significant change, which we will tell you about before you depart, we will, if we are able to do so, offer you an alternative Package of equivalent or closely similar standard and price at no extra cost, or a less expensive Package, in which case we will refund the difference in price. If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose a different Package offered for sale by us and pay, or receive a refund of, any price difference. Or, if you prefer, you can cancel your Package and receive a full refund of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
Unless the change is as a result of circumstances listed in paragraph B6 below headed ’Circumstances Beyond our Control’, we will pay you compensation as shown in the table below. If you accept the significant change or amend to a different Package offered for sale by us you will receive compensation as per Option 1 in the table below. If you reject the significant change and cancel your booking you will receive compensation as per Option 2. The amounts in the table are by way of guideline only and may in appropriate circumstances be increased
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Period of notice we give you or your Travel Advisor before departure
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More than 98 days
98-43 days 42-29 days 28-11 days 10-0 days |
£0
£10 £20 £30 £40 |
£0
£5 £10 £15 £25 |
Compensation payments relating to a child place for which you have paid a child price are half the amounts shown (up to half the child price paid). There are no compensation payments payable to those travelling on ‘free child places’, ‘free group places’ or infants.
B3. Changes You Make Before Travel
If you want to change the arrangements you have booked in any way, we’ll try to help you, although we cannot guarantee that we will always be able to do this as changes are subject to availability at the time and to our terms and conditions and those of the transport or accommodation providers’.
For any changes that can be made, we will charge the price that applies on the day the change is made. Remember any change to your departure date, airport, transport, destination, accommodation, or length of holiday has to apply to all members of your booking. The lead name on the booking must give us notice to change. We will apply charges from the date we receive the instruction from you.
You are not permitted to change all the names on any booking and at least one of the passengers (over 18) on the original booking must remain, unless you are prevented from travelling for reasons beyond your control and not simply from a change of mind.
Changes to a Package
If you need to change any accommodation you have booked, we will do our best to help. Where permitted by our suppliers, changes to accommodation can usually be made for an amendment fee, although changes close to your arrival date may not be possible. Please note, in some cases we negotiate special offer rates with our accommodation providers, such rates may not allow changes to accommodation once booked – any such changes will incur up to 100% charges. Where this applies, you will be advised at the time of booking.
The majority of our flight, car hire, Eurostar and transfer providers do not typically allow changes to be made to tickets after bookings have been made. The tickets we sell are generally restrictive and our charges reflect the charges imposed by our suppliers.
Changes such as name changes (including initial changes), destination and date changes can be treated by such suppliers as a cancellation and rebooking, regardless of the period of notice given to us. If the supplier treats the change as a cancellation and rebooking we will pass on to you the cost imposed by the supplier, which could be up to 100% of the ticket price, in addition to any difference in price for the changed arrangements and, you must also pay an amount to cover our administration costs as detailed below.
Also note that the transport provider may refuse to issue replacement tickets for lost or stolen tickets and new tickets may have to be purchased by you. The cost of the new ticket may be greater than the cost of the original ticket.
Our Charges
In addition to any charges applied by the transport providers, we may also apply a maximum charge of £25 for each person on the booking and for each item you want to change to cover our costs of administering the change. Any booking discount you may have received at the time the original booking was made, may be altered or reduced whenever changes are made.
B4. Cancellation By You
The lead name on the booking must give us notice to cancel. We will apply charges from the date we receive the instruction from you.
Cancellation of a Package
In order to cover our expected losses from the cancellation of any other booking there is a set scale of charges which must be paid by you if you or anyone traveling with you cancels. Note: These cancellation charges apply to all bookings, except in circumstances where a booking includes items or services where our suppliers own cancellation charges exceed those shown below. In these circumstances any additional cancellation charges will be advised at the time of booking. Please ensure you are certain of the fees applicable to your booking by asking us before proceeding to book your arrangements
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Time we receive your notice to cancel before departure
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Cancellation charge
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More than 98 days
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Loss of Deposit
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98-57 days
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30% of cost (or loss of deposit if greater)
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56-29 days
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50% of cost (or loss of deposit if greater)
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28-22 days
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75% of cost (or loss of deposit if greater)
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21-8 days
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90% of cost (or loss of deposit if greater)
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7 days or fewer
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100% cost
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If any member of the booking cancels and you can’t fill that person\'s place, you may have to pay extra for your accommodation. For example, you may have to pay single or under-occupancy supplements. If you cancel, you must still pay any insurance premiums and amendment charges which arose before the cancellation, and any deposits paid for any pre-booked items or services.
Cancellation of Optional Extras
When we refer to \'Optional Extras\', we mean anything you choose to add to your booking that is additional to the inclusive transport and accommodation arrangements you book. For example, park tickets, event tickets, pre-bookable excursions or car hire. If you cancel any Optional Extras for which there is a cost, we will pass on any costs imposed by the provider of the service, in addition, we may charge up to £25 to cover our costs of administering the change. If you cancel any travel insurance you booked through us your premium will not be refunded, as cover under the policy will already have begun.
B5. Minor Changes Made By Us Before Travel
Any change which is not deemed to be significant, as outlined in the Section entitled “Changes made by us before travel”, will be classed as a minor change. We will endeavour to tell you about a minor change before you travel, however, we will not pay compensation as a result of this change
B6. Circumstances Beyond Our Control
Except where we say differently elsewhere in these conditions, we cannot pay any compensation, reimburse expenses, or cover losses for any amount or otherwise accept responsibility if, as a result of circumstances beyond our control, we have to change your Package after departure, or we, or our suppliers, cannot supply your Package, as we, or they, had agreed, or you suffer any loss or damage of any description. When we refer to circumstances beyond our control, we mean any event that we, or the supplier in question, could not foresee or avoid, even after taking all reasonable care. Such circumstances will usually include, but are not limited to, war, terrorist activity, civil unrest, industrial dispute, bad weather (actual or threatened) and significant building work ongoing outside of your accommodation, which is not known to us in advance of your departure date and building work from a third party (such as resort development).
B7. Changes Made After Travel
If, after your departure, a significant part of your Package cannot be provided, you will be offered a suitable alternative if possible. If it is not possible to offer you a suitable alternative or, for good reasons, you do not accept the alternative arrangements, we will return you to the place of your departure. If appropriate, we will also pay you compensation, unless your return has been due to circumstances beyond our control. The amount of compensation will be reasonable, taking account of all the circumstances.
B8. Airline Collapse
In the unlikely event that your flight back to the UK cannot be provided as planned due to the collapse of the airline on which you were due to travel, you must contact us as soon as possible. We’ll help you by finding an alternative return flight for you (so you may have to spend extra time in your destination until it can be arranged and this may mean you have to incur extra cost). In finding an alternative flight we’ll take the approach of ‘like for like’. If the flight you booked was an economy seat we’ll arrange an alternative return flight in economy. If your flight seat was business or first class, we’ll try to find an alternative return flight in business or first class. Our priority is to get you home as soon as possible in the same class of travel as you’d booked, so if we can only find an alternative in a lower class of travel, we’ll offer you that flight, and having done so, we’ll have fulfilled our obligation to you. We won’t be liable for any costs you incur if you reject the alternative flight we offer and decide to make your own arrangements, or if you haven’t given us the opportunity to arrange an alternative flight home for you.
B9. Cancellation By Us
We can cancel your Package and any other holiday we organise. On rare occasions, we may need to cancel your Package if there is insufficient demand for your particular Package. If we have to cancel a Package for any particular reason, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible. In these circumstances, we will, if we are able to do so, offer you an alternative Package of equivalent or closely similar standard and price at no extra cost, or a less expensive Package, in which case we will refund the difference in price. If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose another offered for sale by us and pay, or receive a full refund of, any price difference. Or, if you prefer, you can receive a full refund of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. However, we will not cancel your Package within 14 weeks of departure except if we are forced to do so because of unusual circumstances we could not have foreseen, where we could not avoid the results of those circumstances even after taking all reasonable care. (See \'Circumstances Beyond Our Control\' above) No compensation will be payable in these circumstances, whenever they happen, and we will only have to offer you the above choices. We can also cancel if you fail to make payment for your booking on time.
B10. Flight Delays
Delays sometimes occur. We work closely with the airlines and overseas offices to make sure any delay is as short as possible. When a delay occurs we will try to make sure refreshments or meals are provided when appropriate. We will not do this ourselves as such arrangements will normally be the responsibility of the airline. If you have taken out our recommended travel insurance or a comparable policy you should have cover against delays.
B11. Our Liability To You
(i) We have a legal duty to use reasonable skill and care in providing the services and facilities that form any part of your booking, or in arranging for third party suppliers to provide those services and facilities. In addition, we’re also liable to you under the Package Travel, Package Holidays und Package Tours Regulations 1992 for any failure by us or any of the suppliers we use to perform a service or provide a facility which forms part of our contract with you for a Holiday. If we comply with any applicable regulatory or legal requirements (such as, for example, those of the Civil Aviation Authority) that will mean we and our suppliers have properly performed our obligations to you under our contract with you. Taking reasonable skill and care doesn’t necessarily mean we have to comply with each and every local law and regulation particularly where these impose absolute obligations. You must show that reasonable skill and care hasn’t been used by us or our supplier if you wish to make any claim against us.
(ii) For claims which do not involve death or personal injury, if any part of your Package is not as described by us in our contract with you, we accept liability and we will pay you reasonable compensation, in each case subject to all the exclusions and limitations set out within this paragraph B11 but the maximum we’ll pay you in any circumstances is twice the price of the Package. This maximum will only be payable when every aspect of your Package has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit from this. Any sums received by you from suppliers will be deducted from any sum we pay to you as compensation.
(iii) Where a flight ticket is downgraded or a flight cancelled or delayed, or boarding is denied by any airline in circumstances that entitle you to compensation under the Denied Boarding Regulations 2004, then you must make your claim under those Regulations directly against the airline. Any sum you’re paid by the airline in this respect constitutes the full amount of your entitlement to compensation for all matters flowing from the airline\'s actions and which fall within the scope of the Denied Boarding Regulations. If, for any reason, you don’t comply with the requirement to claim against the airline and make a claim for compensation against us, you agree that, at the time we pay you any compensation, you’ll make a complete assignment to us of the rights you have against the airline in relation to your claim.
(iv) For claims which involve death or personal injury resulting from an activity forming part of your Package (excluding Resort Booked Excursions - see paragraph entitled \'Excursions\'), we have liability and we will pay you reasonable compensation, in each case subject to all the exclusions and limitations set out within this paragraph B11
(v) We do not accept liability for any claim, even if it relates to death or personal injury, where that claim arises from any cause that is not due to any fault on our part or that of our agents, subcontractors or suppliers because it is due to your fault, or it is due to the fault of someone not connected with the performance of the Package contract and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or because the claim arises from unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or the claim arises out of an event which neither we, nor our agents, subcontractors or suppliers could have foreseen or prevented.
(vi) If any international convention applies to or governs any of the services or facilities included in your Package and you make a claim against us of any nature arising out of death, injury, loss or damage suffered during or as a result of the provision of those services or facilities, our liability to pay you compensation and/or the amount (if any) of compensation payable to you by us will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to that provided for by the relevant international convention (in each case including in respect of the conditions of liability, the time for bringing any claim and the type and amount of any damages that can be awarded). International Conventions which may apply include: the Warsaw Convention 1929 (including as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955 and by any of the additional Montreal Protocol of 1975) or the Montreal Convention 1999 (these relate to travel by air); the COTIF Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail 1980 (as amended); the Athens Convention 1974 (relating to travel by sea); the Geneva Convention 1973 (relating to travel by road); and the Paris Convention 1962 (relating to hotel stays). You can ask us for a copy of the relevant convention. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we’re to be regarded as having all the benefit of any limitations of compensation contained in any of these conventions or any other international conventions applicable to your Package.
(vii) You agree to assist us in recovering from any third party any sum which may compensate us for any sums we pay you. In particular, you’re obliged to assign to us any rights that you may have against any other person whose acts or omissions have caused or contributed to our legal liability to pay you compensation. You must also provide us with all assistance we may reasonably require to obtain reimbursement from any third party.
(viii) Should you become ill while on holiday, you must consult a local doctor and, in addition, report your illness to the supplier’s representative (if available) or via our contact details as shown on our travel documentation. You should also consult your GP upon your return to the UK. Should you then wish to make a claim against us as a result of that illness, you must provide us with full details of both the local doctor you saw and your GP, together with written authority for us to obtain a medical report from both those doctors.
(ix) If, during your holiday, you or any member of your party suffers any difficulty through misadventure as a result of any activity which doesn’t form part of your contracted Package arrangements, we’ll offer you prompt assistance. This assistance may include our making a contribution towards your initial legal costs in taking action against the person(s) responsible but only if you request this within 90 days of the incident in question. All assistance (financial or otherwise) is subject to our reasonable discretion and a maximum total cost to ourselves of £1000 per booking. If you’re entitled to have any costs and expenses arising from such an incident met by any insurance policy or if you obtain a costs order against anyone in relation to the incident, you must repay to us the costs and expenses we incur in assisting you.
(x) Other than as set out above, and as is detailed elsewhere in these booking conditions, we shall have no legal liability whatsoever to you for any loss, damage, personal injury or death which you suffer arising directly or indirectly from any aspect of your Package.
(xi) If you want to make a claim against us, you must follow the procedure set out in the paragraph C13 entitled “Complaints”.
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