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Booking Terms and Conditions
These Booking Conditions, together with our privacy policy and where your holiday is booked via our website, our website terms and conditions of use, together with any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, form the basis of your contract with Surf and Turf Ltd (“we” or “us”). Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to "you" and "your" include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made or any other person to whom a booking is transferred.
By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:-
He/she has read these terms and conditions and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them;
He/she consents to our use of information in accordance with our Privacy Policy;
He/she is over 18 years of age and resident in the United Kingdom and where placing an order for services with age restrictions declares that he/she and all members of the party are of the appropriate age to purchase those services.
If you did not see these terms and conditions when you made your booking and you are not happy to proceed with the booking now that you have seen them please return all documentation to Surf and Turf Safaris Ltd within 7 days of receiving these booking conditions. Your booking will be cancelled and your monies will be returned in full, provided you have not commenced your travel. This clause does not apply if your booking was made within 10 weeks of travel.
These Booking Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales only. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live in those places and if you wish to do so.
1. Booking and Paying For Your Arrangements
A booking is made with us when a) you tell us that you would like to accept our written or verbal quotation, and b) you pay us a deposit (or if booking within 5 weeks of departure, full payment) and c) we issue you with a booking confirmation. A binding contract will come into existence as soon as we have issued you with a booking confirmation that will confirm the details of your booking and will be sent to you or your travel agent. Upon receipt, if you believe that any details on the confirmation (or any other document) are wrong you must advise us immediately as changes can not be made later. The balance of the cost of your arrangements (including any applicable surcharge) is due 35 days before departure. If we do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out below will become payable.
All monies you pay to one of our authorised travel agents for your arrangements with us will be held by that agent on your behalf until we issue our confirmation invoice, after which the agent will hold the monies on our behalf.
2. Accuracy
We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices on our website and other promotional material are accurate, however occasionally changes and errors occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before your booking is confirmed.
3. Pricing
We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holidays.
The price of your holiday is subject at all times to changes in transport costs such as fuel, scheduled airfares and any other airline cost changes which are part of our contracts with airlines (and their agents), cruise ship operators and any other transport provider; to cost changes arising from government action such as changes in VAT or any other government imposed changes; and to changes in currency exchange rates and to dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports, any or all of which may result in a variation of your holiday price. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. 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 travel arrangements (excluding any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements), you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday 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 to us, except for any insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. 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. There will be no change made to the price of your holiday within 30 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period.
Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
4. Changes by You
If you wish to change any part of your booking arrangements after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you must inform us in writing as soon as possible. This should be done by the person who made the booking. Whilst we will do our best to assist, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your requested change. Where we can meet a request, all changes will be subject to any applicable rate changes or extra costs incurred as well as any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Where we are unable to assist you and you do not wish to proceed with the original booking we will treat this as a cancellation by you. A cancellation fee may be payable. If a customer is prevented from travelling it may be possible to transfer the booking to another suitable person provided that written notice is given. An administration fee will be charged, details available upon request.
Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
5. Cutting your holiday short
If you are forced to return home early, we cannot refund the cost of any services you have not used. If you cut short your holiday and return home early in circumstances where you have no reasonable cause for complaint about the standard of accommodation and services provided, we will not offer you any refund for that part of your holiday not completed, or be liable for any associated costs you may incur. Depending on the circumstances, your travel insurance may offer cover for curtailment and we suggest that any claim is made directly with them.
6. If you cancel your holiday
If you or any other member of your party decides to cancel your confirmed booking you must notify us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect when it is received in writing by us at our offices at Surf and Turf Safaris Ltd, PO Box 665, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 3FE, United Kingdom. We recommend that you use recorded delivery. Since we incur costs in cancelling your arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below. (The cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges which are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.):-
| 35 days or more: | Deposit forfeited |
| 35 - 29: | 50% of total holiday cost |
| 28 - 15: | 75% of total holiday cost |
| 14 days or less: | 100% of total holiday cost |
Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration or cancellation could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements in addition to the charge above.
If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.
If any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person(s) may transfer their place to someone else (introduced by you) providing we are notified not less than two weeks before departure and you pay an amendment fee of £20 and meet all costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers.
No refunds will be given for passengers not travelling or for unused services.
7. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you or your travel agent of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it.
However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance.
Examples of “major changes” include the following when made before departure; a change of accommodation area for the whole or a major part of your holiday, a change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification for the whole or a major part of your holiday, a change of outward departure time or overall length of your holiday of twelve or more hours, the closure of the only or all advertised swimming pool(s) at your accommodation for an extended period and, in the case of tours, a significant change of itinerary missing out one or more major destination substantially or altogether.
If we have to make a major change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of the following options:-
Have a refund of all monies paid or
Accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).
You must notify us of your choice within 7 days of our offer. If you fail to do so we will assume that you have chosen to accept the alternative booking arrangements.
If we make a major change or cancel, less than 8 weeks before departure, we will also pay compensation as detailed below:
| Notification period | Compensation per person |
| 56+ days | Nil |
| 28 - 56 days | £10.00 |
| 14 - 27 days | £20.00 |
| 1 - 13 days or notice in resort | £30.00 |
The compensation that we offer does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so. We will not pay you compensation where we make a major change or cancel more than 8 weeks before departure or in the event that we are forced to make a change or cancel 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 or if we cancel because the minimum number of people required to run your holiday has not been reached (in this case we will inform you not less than 8 weeks prior to departure).
The above sets out the maximum extent of our liability for changes and cancellations and we regret we cannot meet any expenses or losses you may incur as a result of change or cancellation. Please note: where accommodation with a higher price than the original accommodation is offered by us and accepted by you, the difference in price will be deducted from any compensation payable. In no case will we pay compensation if accommodation is offered by us and accepted by you with a higher price than that originally booked in the same location where no additional payment is made by you. Compensation will not be paid in respect of children staying at hotels for free and, where payable, will be paid on a pro-rata basis of the adult rate where children have received a reduced rate.
We will not pay you compensation and the above options will not be available if we make a minor change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time or where the change(s) or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you.
Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" to change or terminate your arrangements after departure. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any from our suppliers), pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
If we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services that you have booked with us after you have departed, we will make alternative arrangements for you at no extra charge and, if appropriate in all the circumstances, will pay you reasonable compensation.
8. Force Majeure
Note on force majeure: except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by any event which we or the supplier(s) of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. These events can include, but are not limited to war, threat of war, civil strife terrorist activity and its consequences or the threat of such activity, riot, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster and adverse weather, sea, ice and river conditions and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned’s control. Advice from the Foreign Office to avoid or leave a particular country may constitute force majeure.We will follow the advice given by the Foreign Office.
9. Special Requests
Any special requests must be advised to us at the time of booking e.g. diet, room location, a particular facility at a hotel etc. You should then confirm your requests in writing. Whilst every effort will be made by us to try and arrange your reasonable special requests, we cannot guarantee that they will be fulfilled. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed.
10. Building and Development Work
Although you may be on vacation, life will be going on around you as normal. This may include noise and inconvenience from building or roadworks and traffic. From time to time general refurbishment at hotels is necessary to maintain standards. We will notify you of any building/refurbishment works which may reasonably be considered to seriously impair the enjoyment of your stay which we are informed about as soon as possible. We will also give you the choice of accepting a different package of a comparable standard (where available), booking another package from us (please note that the price may differ from your original booking) or cancelling your booking. Please note that public services and facilities may also be affected by maintenance, bad weather and so on, all of which are beyond our control. We recommend that you contact the local tourist information office at your destination for the latest details.
11. Disabilities and Medical Problems
We are not a specialist disabled holiday company, but we will do our utmost to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your stay, please provide us with full details by e-mail at bookings@surfandturfsafaris.com or by fax to +44 (0)1932 820432 before we confirm your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements if possible.
If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel (imposing applicable cancellation charges) when we become aware of these details.
12. Complaints
We make every effort to ensure that your booking arrangements go smoothly. Most problems can be sorted out straight away but we cannot resolve a problem until we know about it. If you have a complaint you must immediately inform a member of the hotel management staff or the representative of the supplier of the service(s) in question giving all relevant details. Failure to do so will affect our ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract. Any verbal notification must be put in writing and given to the hotel or supplier as soon as possible. If the problem cannot be resolved and you wish to complain you must send formal written notice of your complaint by registered post within 28 days of the end of your stay at the hotel concerned. All such complaints should include all relevant information together with your booking reference and should be sent to: Complaints Department, Surf and Turf Safaris Ltd, PO Box 665, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 3FE, United Kingdom. We regret we cannot accept liability for any claims which are not notified to ourselves and/or our suppliers strictly in accordance with this clause.
13. Guest Behaviour
All guests staying with us are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner and not to disrupt the enjoyment of other guests. If in our opinion or in the opinion of any hotel manager or any other person in authority, your behaviour or that of any member of your party is causing or is likely to cause distress, danger or annoyance to any of our other guests or any third party or damage to property, or to cause a delay or diversion to transportation, we reserve the right to terminate your booking arrangements with us immediately. In the event of such termination our liability to you and/or your party will cease and you and/or your party will be required to leave your accommodation or other service immediately. We will have no further obligations to you and/or your party. No refunds for lost accommodation or any other service will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of termination. You and/or your party may also be required to pay for loss and/or damage caused by your actions and we will hold you and each member of your party jointly and individually liable for any damage or losses caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to the hotel manager or other supplier prior to departure from the hotel. If you fail to make payment, you will be responsible for meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made against us as a result of your actions together with all costs we incur in pursuing any claim against you. We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us.
14. Our Responsibilities
1) Subject to these booking conditions, your holiday arrangements will be made or performed using reasonable skill and care. Also, as long as they were acting within the course of their employment or carrying out work we had asked them to do, we will be responsible if our employees, servants or agents fail to make or perform your holiday arrangements using reasonable skill and care. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. If we, or our employees, servants or agents fail to make or perform your holiday arrangements using reasonable skill and care, taking into consideration all relevant factors (for example following the complaints procedure as described in these conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees, servants or agents acts or omissions affected the overall enjoyment of your holiday), we will pay you reasonable compensation.
2) We will not be responsible or pay your compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description which results from: -
the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected;
the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; or
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
an event which either ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers and subcontractors could not, even with all due care, have foreseen or forestalled.
3) The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply, or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards in practice. The fact that services or facilities fail to comply with local or UK guidance or advice shall not of itself mean that the services or facilities in question have not been provided with reasonable skill and care.
4) We limit the amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause:
Loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions and money. The maximum amount we will have to pay you is £25 per person in total because you are assumed to have adequate insurance in place to cover any losses of this kind.
Claims not falling under (a) above or involving injury, illness or death. The maximum amount we will have to pay you is twice the price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you or your party has not received any benefit at all from your booking.
Claims in respect of international travel by air, sea and rail, or any stay in a hotel.
The extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we were carriers under the appropriate Conventions, which include The Warsaw/Montreal Convention (international travel by air); The Athens Convention (with respect to sea travel); The Berne/Cotif Convention (with respect to rail travel) and The Paris Convention (with respect to hotel arrangements). You can ask for copies of these Conventions from our offices. In addition, you agree that the operating carrier or transport company's own 'Conditions of Carriage' will apply to you on that journey. When arranging transportation for you, we rely on the terms and conditions contained within these international conventions and those 'Conditions of Carriage'. You acknowledge that all of the terms and conditions contained in those 'Conditions of Carriage' form part of your contract with us, as well as with the transport company and that those 'Conditions of Carriage' shall be deemed to be included by reference into this contract.
In any circumstances in which a carrier is liable to you by virtue of the Denied Boarding Regulation 2004, any liability we may have to you under our contract with you, arising out of the same facts, is limited to the remedies provided under the Regulation as if (for this purpose only) we were a carrier.
When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.
5) It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to ourselves and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these conditions.
6) Where any payment is made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or guardian if under 18 years) must also assign to ourselves or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.
7) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you; or (b) any business losses.
8) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised in our brochure. For example any excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you.
14. Financial security
The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 requires us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays we sell and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. We provide this security by way of setting aside all monies paid to us by customers into a trust fund until your package holiday booked with us is complete. We cannot access the monies paid to us until the completion of your holiday, you cancel the holiday or you become entitled to a refund because we no longer offer our services, so in the case of our insolvency you will receive a full refund of all monies paid towards your holiday. Access to the monies of the trust fund is via a trustee, who will only release monies once one of the above instances has occurred. This security will also provide for your transport home if insolvency occurs whilst you are on your package holiday, ensuring that you will not be stranded abroad.
If you book arrangements other than a package holiday with us the financial protection referred to above does not apply.
15. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements and Health Formalities
It is your responsibility to check and fulfill the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. We can only provide general information about this. You must check requirements for your own specific circumstances with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates and your own doctor as applicable.
Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting. For further information contact the Passport Office on 0870 5210410 or visit www.passport.gov.uk.
Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check www.usembassy.org.uk. For European holidays you should obtain a completed and issued form EHIC prior to departure.
Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visit www.fco.gov.uk.
Non British passport holders, including other EU nationals, should obtain up to date advice on passport and visa requirements from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of your destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling.
We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.
16. Delays
We regret we are unable to offer you any assistance should a delay disrupt your itinerary. Any airline or other transport provider concerned may however provide refreshments and/or appropriate accommodation.
17. Insurance
It is a condition of booking that you and all members of your party have comprehensive travel insurance cover including medical insurance cover and that it is adequate for your needs. For those who participate in sports and activities whilst on holiday that have been organised and arranged independently of us, it should be understood that participation is at the individual's own risk and it is your responsibility to obtain the relevant insurance. A policy suitable to cover the arrangements you book can be arranged through World Nomad’s Travel Insurance at www.worldnomads.com, who can cover for SCUBA diving, safaris and cage diving. Please note that you will need to check which activities you are covered for, and you may need to ask to have additional activities covered if they are not included in the standard package. If you choose to travel without adequate insurance cover, we will not be liable for any losses howsoever arising, in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available. Please keep your insurance details with you whilst on holiday.
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