All Whittle Holidays are fully bonded
Why should I read this page? Our Trading Charter forms the basis of a legally binding contract between you as the lead name making the booking, anyone else in your party and us. When you make this booking you undertake that you have the authority and do accept, on behalf of your party these booking conditions. This contract is made subject to these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
How and when do I make a contract with you? You can contact us by phone, mail, e-mail or via a travel agent. Whichever way you contact us the contract is made when we issue a confirmation of booking. We will send you or your agent the confirmation of your booking within 14 days. Please check this confirmation very carefully to ensure it is correct and tell us, or your agent, immediately of any errors.
How is my holiday money protected? We subscribe to the Code of Conduct of the Bonded Coach Holidays Group ("BCHG") of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK. BCHG requires a bond to be taken out to provide protection for your holiday money in the unlikely event that a Member cannot, for financial reasons, carry out their obligations to their passengers.
BCHG Consumer Guarantee The Bonded Coach Holiday Group guarantees to bona fide customers that in the event of failure of a bona fide Member, it will:
wherever possible, arrange for a holiday or tour to be completed or
where failure occurs after a holiday has begun, arrange for customers to be returned by an appropriate means to their UK area of departure or
if the holiday cannot be completed, the reimbursement of payments made to the BCHG Member.
When do I need to pay for my holiday and how much? At the time of booking you will need to pay a deposit for each person named on the booking. See the booking form for details of deposits payable. The balance must be paid as listed below. If you book within our balance due period you will need to pay the total cost at the time of booking. If you do not pay the outstanding balance on or before the due date we may cancel your booking and you will be required to pay cancellation charges detailed below. The date of cancellation will normally be the date you confirm in writing that you intend to cancel or 15 days after the balance due date, whichever comes first. Your balance is due 8 weeks prior to departure. Where optional items are purchased as part of the tour package these are payable on the balance due date except where items, such as theatre tickets, have been specifically purchased for you. In this case the cost will be payable at a date notified to you and will not be refundable unless we obtain a refund.
If I use an agent who does my money belong to? Your agent will hold your deposit on your behalf until we issue a confirmation of your booking. The agent then holds this money on our behalf. The agent holds any balance you pay on your behalf until the date the balance is due. The agent will then hold this balance payment on our behalf.
Can you change the price of my holiday after you have issued the booking confirmation? Yes we can, but only in very limited circumstances. The price of your holiday is subject to change for an increase or decrease in any of the following costs:-
Transportation costs including fuel (including fuel tax), ferry and operator fares and tolls, embarkation or disembarkation fees at terminals.
Exchange rates applied to the particular holiday booked.
Dues and taxes (including the rate of VAT).
Even in this case, we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price, which excludes any insurance premium, and any amendment charges. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be surcharged but where a surcharge is payable, there will be an administration charge of £1 together with a separate amount to cover your agent's commission. If this means paying more than an extra 10% on the holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of any money paid. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date of the revised invoice. Alternatively you may decide to take a comparable holiday, if available, details of which will be provided on this revised invoice. We will not surcharge you after the date that your final balance is due unless the charge relates to any amount set by or payable to a Government or country forming part of the holiday and even then no surcharge will be imposed less than 20 days pre-departure. The price of your holiday is fully guaranteed against fluctuations in currencies and will not be subject to any currency surcharges.
Can I change my holiday arrangements? After issuing our confirmation we will do our best to accommodate any changes you may wish but we cannot guarantee to do so. Any changes must be notified to us in writing and signed by the person who signed the booking form. If we are able to make the changes an amendment fee of up to £25 per booking will be payable plus any additional charge for facilities requested. Any significant alteration after the balance due date will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to cancellation charges detailed below. A significant alteration would include a change of departure date, holiday or hotel, or number of people travelling.
Can I transfer my booking? You can transfer your booking to someone else provided you give us reasonable notice. This person must satisfy all the conditions for the holiday and a change cannot be made later than fourteen prior to departure. We will make an administration charge of up to £25 per person for every transfer we make plus any reasonable additional costs caused by the transfer. You remain responsible for ensuring that the holiday is paid for by the due date.
How can I cancel my holiday? You, or any member of your party, may cancel at any time provided that the cancellation is made by the person who signed the booking form and is communicated to us in writing via the office at which you made your original booking. You will have to pay cancellation charges set out below to cover our estimated loss resulting from the cancellation. If you are insured against cancellation you may be able to recover this from insurers. Your cancellation will take effect from the date when either the travel agent or we receive your written confirmation of your cancellation. You must also return any tickets or vouchers that you have received. A reduction in room occupancy may incur charges for remaining passengers by the application of supplements for low occupancy of rooms.
Scale of Cancellation Charges
| Period before departure within which written cancellation of holiday is received | Amount of cancellation charge as a % |
| More than 56 days | Deposit |
| 55 - 49 days | 30% - or deposit, if greater |
| 48 - 22 days | 50% |
| 21 - 8 days | 70% |
| 7 - 1 days | 90% |
|
Departure day or later including voluntary termination whilst on holiday |
Total holiday cost |
On holidays of under 6 days only the deposit is forfeit over 48 days.
What happens if you change my holiday? The arrangements for your holiday will usually have been made many months in advance. Sometimes changes are unavoidable and we reserve the right to make them. Most changes are likely to be minor and we do our best to keep you informed. We will tell you before your booking is confirmed if there have been any changes since the brochure was published. If, after booking and before departure, we make a significant change to your holiday you will have the option of withdrawing from the holiday without penalty or alternatively transfer to another holiday without cost. In either case we will pay you compensation as below. A significant change would involve a change in departure or return time by more than 12 hours, departure point, location of resort or quality of hotel, (excluding single overnight hotels), a change of mode when crossing the Channel (that can be either by ferry or Eurotunnel), or the coach specification. If you withdraw because we have made a significant change or if we cancel your holiday for any reason other than non-payment by you we will offer you the choice of:
a comparable replacement holiday if available; or:
a replacement holiday of lower quality together with a refund of the price difference; or:
a full refund of the money you have paid.
When we have notified you of the changes and options available, you must tell us your decision as soon as possible and within any timescale we may need to set bearing in mind the need to safeguard the holiday arrangements of other customers.
Scale of Compensation We will pay you compensation for significant changes on the following scale:
| Period before departure in which significant change is notified to you or your agent | Amount per person |
| More than 56 days (48 for holidays under 6 days) | Nil |
| 48 - 25 days | £10 |
| 15 - 24 days | £15 |
| 8 - 14 days | £20 |
| 0 - 7 days | £25 |
Payment of compensation according to the scale set out above will not affect your statutory right to claim further compensation if, in all the circumstances, you remain dissatisfied. Holidays under 5 days - compensation restricted to 50% of above rates.
You are entitled, if appropriate to be compensated for the non-performance of the contract except where:
The package is cancelled because the number of persons who agreed to take it is less than the minimum number required, and you were informed of the cancellation in writing within the period indicated in the description of the package.
The package is cancelled by reason of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised.
unavoidable technical problems with transport
If, after departure, we need to make a change to a significant proportion of your holiday we will do our best to make suitable alternative arrangements at no extra cost to you. If it proves impossible to do so or if you have reasonable grounds for refusing the alternative offered, we will arrange transport back to your point of departure or to an alternative location that we agree to.
What is the extent of your liability? We accept responsibility if you or any member of your party is killed or injured as a result of an activity forming part of your holiday arrangements which you booked with us before your departure; or if any part of your holiday arrangements, booked with us in the UK, is not as described in the brochure or not of a reasonable standard; if the failure in your holiday arrangements or any death or personal injury is due to any fault on our part or that of our agents or suppliers whilst acting in the course of their employment. We do not accept responsibility if the failure, death or personal injury is not caused by any fault of ours or of our agents or suppliers or is caused by you or someone not connected with your holiday arrangements; or if the failure, death or personal injury is due to unusual or unforeseen circumstances which, even with all due care, we, or our agents or suppliers, could not have anticipated or avoided. Where you, or any member of your party, participate in sports or any other activity that involves an element of risk whilst on holiday that has been arranged completely independently of Whittle Holidays it should be understood that participation is at own risk and it is their own responsibility to obtain the relevant insurance.
For claims which do not involve personal injury, illness or death, the most we will have to pay if we are liable to you is three times the price the person affected paid for their holiday (not including insurance premiums and amendment charges). We will only have to pay this maximum amount if everything has gone wrong and you have received no benefit from your holiday.
Whittle Holidays do not accept any liability for any changes or delays to any form of transportation where this does not form any part of the holiday you have booked with us.
If you or any member of your party is killed, injured or becomes ill as a result of transport by ship, train or coach, any liability where we may have to pay compensation is limited by the Athens Convention (transport by ship), the Berne Convention (transport by rail) and the Geneva Convention (transport by road). We have copies of the relevant conventions if you ask. Also note that these conventions may limit or remove the carrier's liability to you and the amount which the carrier has to pay you.
If we make any payment to you or any member of your party for death, personal injury or illness, you will be asked to assign to us or our insurers the rights you may have to take action against the person or organisation responsible for causing the death, personal injury or illness.
Our suppliers (such as accommodation or transport providers) have their own booking conditions or conditions of carriage, and these conditions are binding between you and the supplier. Some of these conditions may limit or remove the relevant transport provider's or other supplier's liability to you. You can get copies of such conditions from our offices, or the offices of the relevant supplier.
What do I need to do if I have to complain? If you have a complaint during your holiday you should tell the driver/representative and, where relevant, supplier at the earliest opportunity so that they can do their utmost to resolve the problem immediately. If they are unable to resolve the problem to your satisfaction you should complete a Holiday Report Form which is available from the driver/representative. You will be given a copy of this report which you should keep. If, on your return from holiday, you remain dissatisfied you should write within 28 days to the General Manager. In your letter you will need to quote your booking reference number, holiday number, departure date and the number of the Holiday Report Form which you completed at the time. If you do not tell us at the earliest opportunity about a problem giving rise to your complaint we cannot take steps to investigate and rectify it. In deciding how to respond to your complaint we will take into account the date you first drew the problem to the attention of our driver/representative and/or supplier.
If I do not agree with your decision can I request arbitration? Yes - if we cannot resolve your complaint amicably you may request the dispute be referred to the CPT independent arbitration scheme. Full details will be provided on request or from CPT. This scheme is a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. This scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £1500 per person/ £7500 per booking. Except in exceptional circumstances there is a time limit of 9 months from the date of return from your holiday to request arbitration. This scheme does not apply to claims that arise mainly in respect, or consequences of, physical injury or illness.
Coach seating See General Information. Specific seats will not be allocated on coaches operating on feeder services between joining points and main holiday departure points or on coaches which carry out transfers to and from seaports.
Health & Safety on holiday In some countries, standards may be different to those that we are accustomed to. You should therefore exercise greater care for your own protection. Further information can be obtained from your GP or from your travel agent who can provide you with the leaflet "Health Advice for Travellers" from the Department of Health. Some people may be at risk from discomfort or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) if they remain immobile on a journey for long periods. If you are undertaking a bus or coach journey of more than 3 hours you should consult your doctor if you have ever had DVT or pulmonary embolism, a family history of clotting conditions, cancer or treatment for cancer, a stroke, heart or lung disease or if you have had major surgery in the past 3 months. We reserve the right to refuse any booking in the absence of a doctor's certificate confirming that you are fit to travel. During the journey we will provide comfort stops as frequently as possible. During these stops you are strongly recommended to walk around. Exercise reduces any discomfort which may be caused by periods of immobility. During any journey you should drink alcohol only in moderation as it leads to dehydration.
Passenger behaviour We want all our customers to have a happy holiday, but you must remember that you are responsible for your behaviour and the effect on others. If you or any member of your party is abusive or disruptive or behaves in a way which, in our reasonable opinion, could cause damage or injury to others, affect enjoyment of their holiday or which could damage property, we have the right, after reasonable consideration, to terminate your contract with us. If this happens we will have no further obligations or liability to you. The coach driver/representative, ship's captain, or authorised official of other means of transport is entitled to refuse you boarding if in their reasonable opinion you are unacceptably under the influence of drink or drugs or are being violent disruptive or abusive. If you are refused boarding on the outward journey we will regard it as a cancellation by you and we will apply full cost cancellation charges. If the refusal is on the return journey we have the right to terminate the contract and will have no further obligations or liability to you.
No smoking policy We operate a strict no smoking policy on all our coaches. We make frequent comfort stops. The no smoking policy of other carriers and suppliers will vary and must be adhered to.
Pets Pets cannot be taken on our holidays. Registered Assistance Dogs will normally be accommodated on UK holidays but not on overseas holidays.
Pick up point, itineraries, travel documents and passport You are responsible for ensuring that you are at the correct departure point, at the correct time, with the correct documents. We are not liable for any loss suffered by you or your party because of an incorrect passport or late arrival at the departure point. If you are a British citizen travelling outside the UK you must have a full UK passport valid for a minimum of three months after your scheduled date of return. Non-UK citizens must seek passport/visa advice from the relevant consulates prior to making a booking. The name on the passport must match the name on the ticket. If someone in your party changes name after booking you must tell us immediately so that we can issue a ticket in the new name. When the balance is paid we send you or your agent all necessary documents about two weeks prior to departure. Certain travel documents may have to be retained by us and your driver/courier will then issue them to you at the relevant time. If you lose a travel document after issue we will charge you to the direct cost charged by the carrier/supplier for a duplicate/replacement. Whittle Holidays reserve the right to modify itineraries to conform with requests from competent authorities. Included excursions are on the relevant brochure page. Refunds will not be made for excursions not taken. Optional excursions may be booked and paid for in resort but these will not form part of the package booked with us. Admission fees to buildings, grounds etc. are not included unless stated on the relevant brochure page.
What happens if I am delayed? Your travel insurance may cover you for some delays. In addition where you are delayed for more than six hours in any one day we will seek to minimise any discomfort and where possible, arrange for refreshments and meals.
Do I need to take out travel insurance? On all our holidays we offer travel insurance. In most instances it is at a small additional cost. If you do not wish to take out our insurance policy we may request confirmation that you have made alternative arrangements and that the level of cover is sufficient.
What assistance will you give me if things go wrong when it is not your fault? If you, or any member of your party, suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your package travel arrangements or an excursion arranged through us in the UK, we shall at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance. Where legal action is contemplated and you want our assistance, you must obtain our written consent prior to commencement of proceedings. Our consent will be given subject to you undertaking to assign any costs, benefits received under any relevant insurance policy to ourselves. We limit the cost of our assistance to you and any member of your party to £5000 per party.
Special needs Unfortunately, many hotels overseas do not provide adequate facilities for guests with mobility problems or who suffer from other disabilities. But whether you are planning a holiday overseas or in the UK, please notify us before you book if you or any member of your party has special needs or suffers from any disability. We are keen to plan arrangements for your holiday so that special needs and requests can be accommodated as far as possible. If you will need assistance or special facilities in the hotel, or may have difficulties in taking part in excursions or boarding and travelling on the coach or other means of transport you must let us know in advance. Not all the holidays in this brochure may be suitable for you. We want you to enjoy your holiday and will try to help you select an appropriate trip. If you need advice or further information either you or your booking agent should contact us.
Special requests If you require a special diet tell us before booking, or when medically advised, and send us a copy of the diet. We will notify the hotels but some hotels may not have facilities for special diets and we cannot be held liable for failure to do so. Where this is likely we will tell you prior to confirmation so that you can cancel your booking without charge. Any extra costs must be paid to the hotel prior to departure from the hotel. You should also detail any other requests on the special requests section of the booking form. We will pass this to the supplier but this does not necessarily mean that your request will be fulfilled. If it can you may incur an extra charge payable either to us or direct to the hotel. Please note that requests cannot be guaranteed unless we confirm this on your confirmation.
Single Occupancy Single occupancy of rooms when available may be subject to a supplementary charge and this will be shown on the brochure page.
Entertainment Some of our hotels arrange entertainment but is at the discretion of the hotel and is not guaranteed. It may be withdrawn if there is a lack of demand or for operational reasons.
Data Protection Act In order to process your booking and ensure that your holiday runs smoothly we, and your travel agent, need to use the information you provide such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc. We take responsibility for ensuring that proper measures are taken to protect your information. We must pass this on to relevant suppliers such as hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be supplied to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law. We will not pass information on to any person not responsible for part of your arrangements including sensitive information 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. Where information is held by your travel agent, this is subject to your agent's own data protection policy. Your data controller is the General Manager. If you would like to a copy of your information held by us please contact us. We retain your full contact details and other information in secure files and electronic storage facilities.
INSURANCE
We strongly recommend all clients arrange travel insurance. For your protection and peace of mind we have arranged a Special Holiday Travel Insurance Scheme which is underwritten by Axa Insurance UK PLC who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
We summarise below the details of the insurance cover provided which also includes INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL RESCUE - 24-hour emergency service. The following is a brief summary of the cover available. Full details of Cover, Policy Warranties and Exclusions will be forwarded with your confirmation of booking. In any event you may ask for a specimen copy of the Policy Wording before booking should you wish to examine this in advance.
|
Cancellation |
Up to £2,000 |
|
Medical Expenses & Repatriation |
Up to £ |
|
Curtailment & Hospital Benefit |
Up to £2,000 |
|
Luggage & Personal Money |
Up to £ |
|
Luggage Delay |
Up to £75 |
|
Personal Liability |
Up to £ |
|
Personal Accident |
Up to £ |
|
Loss of Passport |
Up to £200 |
|
Legal Expenses |
Up to £5,000 |
|
Delayed Departure |
Up to £ |
|
Missed Departure |
Up to £200 |
|
Fourteen Day Refund – Cooling Off Period |
Premium refund if policy not satisfactory. |