TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Making a Reservation
2. The Price of Your Vacation
3. Alterations By You
4. Cancellations By You
5. Alterations/Cancellation By Us
6. Your Obligations To Us
7. Our Obligations To You
8. Flights
9. Visa, Passports & Health
10. Force Majeure
11. Excursion, Activities, Website & Quote Information
12. Special Requests
13. Complaints
The following Booking Conditions form the basis of your contract with WAC Travel Limited. Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions, “you” and “your” means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date).
“We”, “us” and “our” means WAC Travel Limited.
1. MAKING A RESERVATION
(a) To make a reservation your party leader must complete and sign a Booking Form accepting these Booking Conditions on behalf of all members of your party. In addition you must pay us a deposit. The deposit we require is 25% of the total price of your vacation plus flights. The deposit must accompany the signed Booking Form. In the event that we are required to make full payment in advance of your vacation to a supplier for any services requested by you as part of your tailor made vacation, in order to secure such arrangements we may invoice you immediately for the full amount of that element of your vacation and payment will be due forthwith even if this is more than 8 weeks prior to your departure. If your booking is made within 8 weeks of departure, the full payment for the vacation is due immediately and should accompany this Booking Form.
(b) Your booking is not accepted until the date shown on the Confirmation Invoice and it is only then that a contract exists between you and us. Once we have received all appropriate payments and the completed Booking Form we will book all of your travel arrangements and subject to availability, send you confirmation, usually within 7 days of your Booking Form being confirmed. Approximately 10 weeks before departure, you will be sent a FINAL INVOICE for the full amount payable. The Final Invoice will include any surcharges if applicable. Payment will become due 8 weeks prior to departure. Please check your invoices carefully as soon as you receive them. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracy in any document within 14 days of our sending it out (5 days for tickets). We will do our best to rectify any mistake notified to us outside these time limits but you must meet any costs involved in doing so. The only exception to this requirement to meet costs is where the mistake in question was made by us and there is good reason why you did not tell us about it within these time limits.
2. THE PRICE OF YOUR VACATION
(a) We reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices at any time before your vacation is confirmed. You will be advised of any error of which we are aware and the then applicable price prior to the time that your vacation is confirmed by us. Once the price of your chosen vacation has been confirmed at the time of booking, we will only increase or decrease it after that point by way of a surcharge or refund in the circumstances set out below. Please note however that we guarantee not to impose any surcharge on you if you have paid the full balance of the cost of your vacation at the time of booking and the remaining provisions of this clause will not apply.
A surcharge or refund (as applicable) will be payable, subject to the conditions set out in this clause, if our costs increase or decrease as a result of transportation costs (e.g. fuel, scheduled airfares and any other airline surcharges which are part of the contract between airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator) or dues, taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at airports increasing or decreasing or our costs increase or decrease as a result of any changes in the exchange rates which have been used to calculate the cost of your vacation. Even in the above cases, only if the amount of the increase in our costs exceeds 5% of the total cost of your vacation (excluding any amendment charges), will we levy a surcharge. 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. A refund will only be payable if the decrease in our costs exceeds 5% as set out above. Where a refund is due, we will pay you the full amount of the decrease in our costs. Any surcharge must be paid with the balance of the cost of the vacation or within 14 days of the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice, whichever is the later. We promise not to levy a surcharge within 30 days of the start of your vacation.
3. ALTERATIONS BY YOU
(a) If you wish to alter any details of your vacation after your Confirmation Invoice has been issued we will do our best to make the alterations (although we cannot guarantee that such alterations will be possible) provided that we are informed of your wish to change no later than 8 weeks prior to departure (other than as set out in (b) and (c) below). For all alterations a $100 administration fee will be charged per person per change, together with all costs and charges incurred by us or incurred or imposed by our suppliers. A request to alter your vacation details must be made in writing by the person who signed the Booking Form on your behalf (the Party Leader).
(b) Requests for Name changes must be made in writing to us not less than 8 weeks before departure.
Where a transfer to a person of your choice can be made, all costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers as a result together with an amendment fee of $100 must be paid before the transfer can be effected. Please note: for flight inclusive bookings, you also must pay the charges levied by the airline concerned. As most airlines do not permit name changes after tickets have been issued for any reason, these charges are likely to be the full cost of the flight.
4. CANCELLATIONS BY YOU
You may cancel your vacation at any time. The person who signed the Booking Form must send us notice of the cancellation in writing. Cancellation will take effect the day we receive this written notification at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking, cancellation charges will be payable. Changes to your confirmed service(s) must be requested in writing. Cancellations must be requested in writing. We calculate the date the cancellation was received based on US Eastern Standard Time. Any ‘non-refundable’ hotel rates will not be included in the package cost to be refunded.
Cancellations:
– Received between the date of package confirmation and until sixty (60) days prior to the date of departure: the deposit is forfeited.
– Received between fifty-nine (59) and thirty one (31) days prior to the date of departure: 50% of the package cost is forfeited.
– Received between thirty (30) and one (1) or fewer days prior to the date of departure: 100% of the package cost is forfeited.
If you cancel your vacation after it has commenced, no refund at all will be given. Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned. Where any cancellation reduces the number of full paying party members below the number on which the price, number of free places and/ or any concessions agreed for your booking were based, we will recalculate these items and re-invoice you accordingly.
5. ALTERATIONS/CANCELLATION BY US
We make careful arrangements with airlines, hotels and service operators to ensure that we are able to provide you with your vacation as described. However, in exceptional cases, it may be necessary to make changes to your arrangements (including airlines, flights, accommodation, transport or services) due to circumstances beyond our control. Flight times are given only as indications, and finalized times will be shown on your tickets. When changes are necessary, we will do our best to ensure that they do not affect your vacation. If, before you depart, a major change is necessary (defined as a change of itinerary so that you are no longer able to visit a destination where you are scheduled to spend one or more nights or an appropriate alternative destination, or a change of accommodation to a lower standard or category affecting a significant part of your itinerary). Or if we have to cancel your holiday, other than in the event of force majeure, we will contact you and offer you the choice of: a) accepting the changes to your vacation; b) purchasing another available WAC Travel vacation; or c) cancelling your vacation with a full refund.
NB. If your flight is cancelled or delayed, your flight ticket is downgraded or boarding is denied by your airline in circumstances which would entitle you to claim compensation against the airline, you must pursue the airline for the compensation due to you. All sums you receive or are entitled to receive from the airline concerned by virtue of these regulations represent the full amount of your entitlement to compensation or any other payment arising from such cancellation, delay, downgrading or denied boarding. This includes any disappointment, distress, inconvenience or effect on any other arrangements. The fact a delay may entitle you to cancel your flight does not automatically entitle you to cancel any other arrangements even where those arrangements have been made in conjunction with your flight. We have no liability to make any payment to you in respect of any flight cancellation or delay, downgrading of any flight ticket or denial of any boarding as the full amount of our entitlement to any compensation or other payment (as dealt with above) is covered by the airline’s obligations.
6. YOUR OBLIGATIONS TO US
You must:
(a) Arrive at stated departure times and confirm your own return flight and departure times. We accept no liability whatsoever to you for your failure to do so.
(b) Take out adequate travel insurance to cover the cost of industrial action, natural disaster (flooding, storm, fire etc.), cancellation of the vacation by you or the cost of assistance, including repatriation in the event of you suffering an accident or illness. Please read your policy details carefully and take them with you on vacation. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs. We do not check insurance policies.
(c) Behave in a reasonable and responsible manner towards any other person you meet in the course of your travel arrangements. We reserve the right to cancel forthwith your vacation arrangements in the event that you fail so to behave and we will not be liable for any loss or damage that you may suffer as a result (including any onward or return travel arrangements).
7. OUR OBLIGATIONS TO YOU
(1) We promise to make sure that the vacation arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide as applicable as part of our contract with you are made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care.
This means that, subject to these booking conditions, we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted vacation arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted vacation arrangements. Please note it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).
(2) We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: The act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your vacation and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable of ‘force majeure’ as defined in clause 10.
(3) Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in your itinerary or on our website and we have not agreed to arrange them and any excursion you purchase. Please also see clause 11 “Excursions Activities, Website and Itinerary Information”. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any of our itineraries, website or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you.
(4) The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract – and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred – will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided. If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the USA which would have applied had those services been provided in the USA. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable vacationer to refuse to take the vacation in question.
(5) As set out in these booking conditions we limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us. For all claims which do not involve death or personal injury or loss of or damage to luggage or personal possessions (including money), if we are found liable to you on any basis the maximum amount we will have to pay you is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under clause 7(6) below. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your vacation.
(6) Where any claim or part of a claim (including those involving death or personal injury) concerns or is based on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting on and/or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention or regulation which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question (for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended or unamended and the Montreal Convention for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating license granted by an EU country, the EC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No 889/2002 for national and international travel by air, the Athens convention for international travel by sea). Please note: Where a carrier or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable International Convention or Regulation in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to you for that claim or part of the claim. 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.
(7) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description (1) 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 (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers. Additionally we cannot accept liability for any business losses.
(8) You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 13 below.
If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.
8. FLIGHTS
We will notify you in your confirmation invoice of the name of the airline operator, the aircraft type to be used and the destination airport for your vacation. However these details are subject to change. Any such change in these details will not entitle you to cancel or change your vacation without paying our normal charges. The flight timings given on booking and detailed on your confirmation invoice are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timings will be shown on your tickets which will be despatched to you approximately 2 weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets
very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been despatched – we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.
9. VISAS,PASSPORTS & HEALTH
The passport, visa and health requirements applicable at the time of printing to US citizens for the vacations we offer are available from us. A full US passport presently takes approximately 6-8 weeks to obtain. If you or any member of your party haven’t yet got a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 6 weeks before your vacation. Many destinations require you to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the date of arrival in the country and pages free for Visa and immigration stamps. You must ensure that you consult your doctor or local health clinic well in advance of your vacation to obtain advice and treatment on any vaccinations/inoculations against hepatitis, typhoid or tetanus as well as any other vaccinations/inoculations that may be necessary. If requested, your travel advisor will advise you on which countries require a visa when traveling with a US passport . We regret we cannot accept any liability if you or any member of your party are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation. If you or any member of your party is not a US citizen or holds a non US passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through which you are intending to travel. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in delays, fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly. Prior to travel you might be required to sign a health pledge and travel waiver.
10. FORCE MAJEURE
In these Booking Conditions “Force Majeure” means any event which we or our supplier of service(s) could not even with all due care foresee or avoid.This will include war or threat of war, terrorist activity or threat of such activity, civil riots or strife, nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, health risks, epidemics, and pandemics, and all other circumstances and ‘Acts of God’ beyond our control. Except as otherwise expressly set out in these Booking Conditions we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 7(1) above) as a result of “force majeure”.
11. EXCURSION, ACTIVITIES, WEBSITE, AND ITINERARY INFORMATION
The information contained in our itineraries and on our website is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We may provide you with information about activities and excursions which are available in the area you are visiting. We have no involvement in any such activities or excursions which are neither run, supervised nor controlled in any way by us. They are provided by local operators or other third parties who are entirely independent of us. They do not form any part of your contract with us even where we make the reservation with suppliers on your behalf. WAC Travel and our employees, agents and representatives accept no liability whatsoever for any injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or any other incident which may be caused by the negligence, defect, default of any company or person in performing these services. All services and accommodations are subject to the laws and regulations of the country in which they are provided. WAC Travel is not responsible for any baggage or personal effects of any individual participating in a WAC Travel vacation. Individual travelers are responsible for purchasing a travel insurance policy, if desired, that will cover some of the expenses associated with the loss of luggage or personal effects.
12. SPECIAL REQUESTS
If you have a special request (e.g. special dietary requirements, honeymoon etc.), you must indicate this on the Booking Form (or if there is insufficient space in a covering letter). We will do our best to accommodate these requests but cannot guarantee to do so and they do not form part of the contract between you and us.
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your vacation, please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability of the chosen arrangements. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. [If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person concerned, we must reserve the right to decline their reservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details.]
13. COMPLAINTS
Should you have any cause for complaint, please inform the hotel in which you are staying or your WAC Travel representative immediately. Once we are aware of a complaint we will try to rectify the problem whilst you are on vacation. In the unlikely event that matters cannot be resolved to your satisfaction in the resort, please notify your personal travel consultant by email or mail at WAC Travel, 70 S Broadway, Nyack NY 10960 within 28 days of your return.
