HOLIDAYS - FAIR TRADING CHARTER

Our Fair Trading Charter sets out clearly the responsibilities which we at Superior Coaches t/a East London Travel have to you and which you in turn have to us when a contract is made between us. The Contract is made when you make a booking and we accept it by written confirmation on the terms set out in this brochure. Your obligation is to pay the price of the holiday and recognise your liabilities if you wish to alter the holiday or have to make a cancellation. On our part we have obligations to provide you with the holiday you have booked in this brochure. Your contract is entered into with East London Travel where your money is protected in a Natwest Bank trust account.

YOUR CONTRACT WITH EAST LONDON TRAVEL

1. How to Book

Telephone 0845 6028806, postal booking, online www.eastlondontravel.co.uk, Local travel agents.

2. You Pay A Deposit

When booking a holiday you must sign a Booking Form and pay the deposit of £40.00. This deposit is your only commitment until six (6) weeks prior to departure.

3. You Pay the Balance:

The balance of the holiday cost must be paid no less than 6 weeks before the departure date. If you have made your holiday booking within 6 weeks of departure then the total holiday price is immediately payable. No further reminder is sent to you and if the balance remains unpaid at this time, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and to make a cancellation charge at the rates shown below.

4. If You Change Your Holiday Booking:

If, after making your booking and receiving our confirmation of same, you wish to change to another of our holidays or alter your booking in any way (e.g. by changing departure date, pick-up point, accommodation or name change) we will do our utmost to make the changes, provided written notification is received at OUR HEAD OFFICE from the person who signed the Booking Form, or their travel agent at least 6 weeks before departure date. This must be accompanied by a payment of £10 to cover administration costs. Any alteration other than a name change made by you later than 6 weeks before departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will subject to the cancellation charges set out below. Name changes will not be accepted within 7 days of departure.

5. If You Cancel Your Holiday

If you or any member of your party wishes to cancel your holiday, you must notify us in writing immediately. In any case, the date of cancellation will be the date on which notice is received in the Tours Department. The person who signed the Booking Form must also sign the letter of cancellation. As this incurs administration costs and we may not be able to resell your booking. Cancellation charges will apply on the following scale:

NOTICE GIVEN CHARGE
Over 42 days Deposit only
42 – 28 Days 30% of Total holiday cost
Under 28 Days 100% of Total holiday cost

 

6. Complaints:

If you have a complaint during your holiday please immediately inform our local representatives you will do their best to rectify the problem. If the matter cannot be put right on the spot you must record the details of your complaint in writing with our local representatives or address your complaint to East London Travel, 39 Hillside Road, Eastwood, Leigh on Sea within 28 days of completion of your holiday. We cannot consider any claims if this procedure is not adhered to.

7. Conditions of Carriage:

When you travel on a train or ship, the conditions of that carrier apply and are subject to National and International conditions which may limit or exclude liability. Your contract made under the terms of the Fair trading Agreement is subject to English law and jurisdiction.

8. Travel Documents:

You are solely responsible for ensuring that all necessary travel documents e.g. full 10 year passports, visas, vaccination certificates etc are valid and effective. We would be pleased if you would note that all non-EU passports holders must now obtain a special visa for entry into France and some other EU countries.

9. Animals

You may not bring a pet or other animal with you on holiday.

10. Seating

Requests for particular seats can be made on most holidays when booking, but since allocations are made on a first come first served basis, early booking is advisable. There is a seating plan of the coach for each holiday, but it is possible that on occasion, for operational reasons, a coach of different configuration may be used and we must, therefore, reserve the right to alter a seating plan and allocate seats other than those you have booked, although this will be avoided as far as possible

11. Smoking

is NOT allowed on any of our coaches.

12. Departure Times

You are responsible for ensuring that you are at the correct departure point at the correct time, and we cannot be held liable for any loss or expense suffered by clients because of the late arrival at any departure point. As a precaution we would strongly advise all clients to arrive at their departure point at least 10 minutes prior to the departure of their tour.

13. Luggage

We allow one medium size suitcase and one small bag as hand luggage. It is your responsibility to ensure your luggage is on board the coach you are traveling on.

14. Channel Crossings:

Our Continental Tours crossing to France are scheduled to Eurotunnel trains through the Channel Tunnel as shown on the relevant tour descriptions. In the event of one of these services not being available, we reserve the right to use the alternative means of travel without prior notification

15. Insurance – We advise you to take out travel

insurance. It is advisable to obtain an E111 form from the post office and entitles you to free or reduced cost emergency state medical treatment in the EC.

16. Right of Refusal:

We must point out that East London Travel reserve the unconditional right to refuse a booking or terminate a passengers holiday in the event of unreasonable conduct, which in our opinion is likely to cause distress, damage, danger or annoyance to other customers, employees, property or to any third party. This includes any passenger who fails to advise us of any medical condition or disability. Upon such refusal or termination, our responsibility for your holiday ceases. Full cancellation charges will apply and we will be under no obligation whatsoever for any refund, compensation or loss you may incur.

OUR OBLIGATION TO YOU

17. When We Reserve Your Holiday:

When you have confirmed that we have the available space on the holiday of your choice, your holiday booking is confirmed as soon as we receive you Booking Form and deposit. We will forward a confirmation/invoice to you within 3 weeks and the Contract is made when you receive this confirmation.

18. What Is Included In The Holiday Price

Holiday prices include all coach travel, hotel accommodation and meals as specified in the holiday description and VAT at the current rate where applicable. Morning coffee, afternoon tea and other refreshments are not included. Some hotels may make a small additional charge for tea or coffee served after lunch and dinner. Gratuities to the hotel staff and driver/tour guide are discretionary. Included Excursions unless otherwise stated, excursions to cities and other major places of interest do not include guided tours or entrance fees to places of interest. Whilst you are on an included excursion, a guided boat cruise, or entrance to an attraction may be offered as an optional activity at a reasonable charge.

19. Surcharges

UK holidays – The price of your holiday is guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges except for those resulting from fuel, government action (including additional bonding or licensing requirements) and VAT. In all cases we reserve the right to pass these amounts on in full. In the event of our designated hotel rooming allocation being fully booked, we reserve the right to pass on any increase in price or surcharge imposed for obtaining additional rooming or for passengers using twin/double rooms for sole occupancy.
Continental Holidays – The price of your holiday is subject to surcharges on the following items: government action, VAT, currency, fuel. Even in this case we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. Only amounts in excess of 2% will be surcharged. Where a surcharge is payable there will be an administration charge of £2.00 together with an amount to cover agents commission. If the surcharge is more than 10% of the holiday price you may cancel your holiday with a full refund of all money paid, less any premium paid to us for holiday insurance and amendment charges. You must exercise this right within 14 days from the issue date printed on the invoice. Surcharges will not be imposed within 30 days of departure.

20. If We Change Your Holiday:

The contents of this brochure are correct at the time of going to press. We reserve the right to make changes to the information contained in this brochure and will advise you of any changes affecting your holiday where those changes occur prior to booking. The arrangements for holidays in this brochure may require changes after booking and we reserve the right to do so at any time after a booking is made. Most of these changes are very minor but where they are significant we will notify you as soon as is reasonably possible before your departure date. A ‘significant change’ is one that involves changing your departure date; departure point; resort area; reducing the quality of your main hotel or reducing the specification of the coach. Changing the location of a single overnight hotel does not constitute a ‘significant change’. In the event of a ‘significant change’ you may decide to:
a) Continue with the holiday as amended.
b) Accept alternative holiday which we may offer you.
c) Cancel the booking with a full refund.

 

Important Note:

Compensation payments do not apply to changes caused by reason of war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural and nuclear disasters, fire, technical problems to transport, closure or congestion of airports or ports, cancellations or changes of schedules by our carriers and similar events beyond our control.

21. If We cancel Your Holiday:

In certain circumstances we may have to cancel your holiday, for example, our tours have minimum passenger requirements, and if this should occur we will return to you all the money you have paid to us or offer you a suitable alternative. We will not however, cancel your holiday during 4 weeks immediately prior to the departure date unless;
(a) You have not paid for your holiday in full.
(b) Your holiday is influenced by events beyond our control such as war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, industrial disputes, natural disasters, fire, epidemics, bad weather, technical problems to transport, the closure of airports or ports, terrorist activities, hotel ceases trading. Governmental action or General Election or similar events beyond control. If we have to cancel your holiday at any time we are liable for any monies you may have paid to us at the time of cancellation.

 

22. Our Responsibility to You:

We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of out employees, agents, sub contractors and suppliers, and for ensuring that we provide the services supplied to you as described in this brochure and to a reasonable standard. We shall not be responsible or accept responsibility for death, bodily injury or illness caused to the signatory to the Contract and/or any other named person on the Booking Form, except where resulting from the negligent acts and/or omissions of our employees or agents, suppliers, sub contractors, servants and/or agents of the same whilst acting within the scope of, or in the course of their employment. Any claims arising there from shall be subject to English Law in respect of any question of liability or quantum, and all proceedings shall be within the exclusive domain of the English courts.
However, we would draw your attention to the following circumstances which fall outside our direct control and where we are not prepared to accept liability.
a) Please remember that some amenities (e.g. hotel lifts, swimming pools etc) require servicing and cleaning and may therefore not be available at all times. Some services are also affected by weather conditions (e.g. availability of outdoor swimming pools, chair lifts etc) and their availability is at the discretion of the provider of the service. Entertainment (particularly live entertainment) provided by hotels is frequently subject demand and its nature and frequency may be varied if there is lack of demand or insufficient numbers in the hotel.
b) The published running times of services are estimates only and we will not be liable for any loss (howsoever caused) arising from delay or failure to operate services in accordance with published timings.
c) We accept no liability whatsoever for delays caused by circumstances beyond our control. This includes delays caused by industrial disputes, closure of ports, mechanical breakdown etc.

 

23. Special Requests:

We accept these on the understanding that (provided they are mentioned in the Booking Form) they will be passed on to the hotel. Under no circumstances can we guarantee that such requests will be granted or that the hotel has, or is able to, provide the requested facility.

24. Finance Security & Peace of Mind

Your Holiday is operated by East London Travel, 39 Hillside Road, Eastwood, Leigh on sea, Essex SS9 5DQ. We are pleased to confirm your money is completely safe when you book with East London Travel all monies are deposited into a trust account that is operated by Natwest Bank. The account fully complies with the Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tour Regulations 1992. Therefore your money is completely safe as we do not touch it until you return from your holiday.

25. DATA PROTECTION

In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements we and your Travel Agent 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 on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as Customs/Immigration if required by them, or as required by law. Additionally, where your holiday is outside the European Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protection in your destination may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. We will not however, pass any information on to any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to 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.).