Booking Terms & Conditions
Please read the following terms and conditions before you proceed with your booking. These terms and conditions apply to all tours. Reference or mention of ‘Company’ means Africa Uncovered Ltd.
1. Booking your Holiday
When you make a booking and pay a deposit, or pay in full (if you are booking within 8 weeks of departure), a contract will exist as soon as we issue you with a confirmation invoice. It is your responsibility to check this confirmation invoice, and to advise us if there are any errors or omissions. The Company will try and arrange for special requests to be met but these cannot be guaranteed. The Company will not be liable if any special request is not met.
2. Payment
On receipt of a signed booking form and a 25% deposit (non refundable), we will, subject to availability, confirm the reservation and send you a Confirmation Invoice.
Final payment is due to us not later than 8 weeks prior to departure. On receipt of the full payment, we will send the information & documents required for your journey, i.e. vouchers, safari information, clothing lists, flight details etc.
If the booking is made within 8 weeks of departure, full payment is required at the time of booking.
YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION
When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.
We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases,where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).
If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.
3. Price Policy
Fuel prices are volatile and many airlines are charging fuel supplements, often at short notice. Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However, there will be no change within 30 days prior to your departure.
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. 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, 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, except for any amendment charges. If the Government or Civil Aviation Authority imposes a passenger levy we reserve the right to pass this on to you.
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. Cancellation by you
Cancellations are only effective on receipt of written notification. If cancellation is prior to 8 weeks before departure your deposit is forfeited. If your cancellation is made 8 to 4 weeks prior to travel then 50% of the total travel cost is forfeited. If your cancellation is made less than 4 weeks prior to travel then 100% of the total travel cost is forfeited.
5. If you Change Your Booking
After your booking has been confirmed, should you wish to change to an earlier departure date, you may do so subject to availability by paying a transfer fee of GBP£30. Normal cancellation fees apply if you wish to postpone your departure.
6. Changes and cancellation by us
Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in brochure, itinerary and other details both before and after bookings have been confirmed and cancel confirmed bookings. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. Most changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a “significant change”. A significant change is a change made before the start of your holiday which, taking account of the information you give us at the time of booking and which we can reasonably be expected to know as a tour operator, we can reasonably expect to have a major affect on your holiday.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so before the start of your holiday, we will offer you the choice of the following options:-
(a) (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements or
(b) purchasing an alternative holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally booked if available. If the alternative arrangements are more expensive, we will ask you to pay the difference but if they are less expensive, we will refund the difference or
(c) cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will receive a full and quick refund of all monies you have paid to us or
(d) agreeing a full credit transfer of all monies you have paid us for use against the cost of a future holiday. If your chosen future holiday is more expensive when you book it, we will ask you to pay the difference but if it is less expensive, we will refund the difference.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel we will, where due, pay you appropriate compensation depending on the circumstances and when the significant change or cancellation is notified to you subject to the following exception. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where 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. No compensation will be payable and the above options will not be available if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or where a change is a minor one.
Very rarely, we may be forced by “force majeure” to change or terminate your holiday after departure but before the scheduled end of your time away. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
7. Force Majeure
Except where otherwise expressly stated 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, loss or expense of any nature as a result of “force majeure”. In these booking conditions, “force majeure” means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include actual or threatened war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.
8. Our Liability to you
(1)We promise to make sure that the holiday 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 holiday 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 holiday 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 holiday and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or
‘force majeure’ as defined in clause 7. Above
(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 by us and we have not agreed to arrange them as part of our contract and any excursion you purchase in resort. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any advertising material 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 UK which would have applied had those services been provided in the UK. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the holiday 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, 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 8 (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 holiday.
(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 hotelier 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 licence 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 hotelier 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 carrier or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question. Copies of the applicable international conventions and regulations are available from us on request.
(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.
9. Alteration to confirmed booking whilst abroad
We regret that no credit or refund is possible forany unused services provided in the cost of your holiday. If you decide to alter your travel arrangements whilst abroad this is your own responsibility and Africa Uncovered Ltd or the Company’s Agents are not responsible for any extras or difficulties that may arise with onward travel as a result of such alterations. No credit or refund is possible for any lost, mislaid, stolen or destroyed documents which could be the subject of a claim on your own insurance.
10. Responsibility of Client
Any passports, visas, health certificates, International Driving Licences and other travel documents required for the holiday must be obtained by the client, whose responsibility it remains to ensure that these are all in order and to meet any additional costs incurred (whether by the client or by the Company on the clients behalf) as a result of failure to comply with such requirements. You are responsible to arrive at stated departure times and places and any loss or damage which you suffer through failure to do so lies with you. The Company has no liability whatsoever to you through your failure to do so.
11. Any Problems
We make every effort to ensure that you have a trouble-free holiday. If you have a complaint about the holiday, you must immediately inform our representative and the supplier of the service(s) in question, giving all relevant details. Until we know about a problem or complaint, we cannot begin to resolve it. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem to the supplier of the service(s) in question AND to our representative whilst in resort (not all destinations have a representative so please contact our head office). They will do their best to resolve the matter on the spot. If you remain unhappy, the complaint in resort must be followed by a written letter of complaint e-mailed to info@africauncovered.com no later than 28 days after the end of your holiday. This must include all relevant information.
12. Health
As most of the safaris that we offer are conducted in Malaria Areas, anti-malaria precautions should be commenced prior to departure. Please consult your doctor for specific advice. If you are a contagious-disease carrier, you must let us know when booking your safari.
We promote good hygiene practices in hotels and tented camps but it is important to remember that standards of hygiene and safety in some foreign countries, particularly developing destinations, are generally much lower than in the UK, Europe and North America. Care should be taken to minimise the risk of holiday sickness, particularly for pregnant women, children and the elderly.
Safaris, particularly those which involve walking, canoeing or riding, bring you into close contact with wild animals whose behaviour can be unpredictable. We take precautions to ensure that you are led by highly qualified and experienced guides but you must accept that, in purchasing these holidays, an element of personal risk is involved. At all times you must comply with reasonable instructions given by your guide.
Activities such as ballooning, canoeing, white water rafting and scuba diving may be available for you to book with local independent operators. All these activities carry inherent risks. Each person wishing to participate may be asked to sign a form of waiver by the local supplier which may limit or exclude its liability. In some cases they may require you to pay for a lesson. These activities are not sold by us and do not form part of the package which we provide, unless they are included in our itinerary and form part of our inclusive price for your holiday. All participants must be over eighteen years of age and physically fit enough to take part. Safety equipment must be worn at all times. Participants must comply with reasonable instructions given by the organiser of the activity.
13. Insurance
It is a condition of booking, that the sole responsibility lies with the guest to ensure that they carry the correct comprehensive travel and medical insurance to cover themselves, as well as any dependants/travelling companions for the duration of their trip to Southern & East Africa. This insurance should include cover in respect of, but not limited to, the following eventualities: cancellation or curtailment of the holiday, emergency evacuation expenses, medical expenses, repatriation expenses, damage/theft/loss of personal baggage, money and goods. Africa Uncovered, including their representatives, employees and agents will take no responsibility for any costs, losses incurred or suffered by the guest, or guest’s dependants or travelling companions, with regards to, but not limited to, any of the above mentioned eventualities. Guests will be charged directly by the relevant service providers for any emergency services they may require, and may find themselves in a position unable to access such services should they not be carrying the relevant insurance cover.
14. Transport timings and delay
All timings we provide for air, sea, road and rail departures are estimates only and subject to change, sometimes at very short notice. Please ensure you check all information we provide you with as soon as you receive it. Delays may also occur over which we have no control. You must ensure that you are in the right place at the right time for all ground arrangements we have arranged for you. We cannot accept any liability if you fail to do so.
We regret we are not in a position to offer you any assistance in the event of delay at your outward or homeward point of departure for your international flight. Please consult your airline directly in the event of a delay occurring.
15. Brochure / website / advertising material accuracy
The information contained in our brochure, on our website and in our other advertising material is believed correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of printing or publication. However, errors may occasionally occur and information may subsequently change. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking.
16. Behaviour and damage
When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss (reasonably estimated if not precisely known) must be made direct to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier or to us as soon as possible. If the actual cost of the loss or damage exceeds the amount paid where estimated, you must pay the difference once known. If the actual cost is less than the amount paid, the difference will be refunded. You will also be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us and all costs incurred by us (including our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions. You should ensure you have appropriate travel insurance to protect you if this situation arises.
We expect all clients to have consideration for other people. If in our reasonable opinion or in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member of your party behaves in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party or damage to property, we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave the accommodation or other service. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.
17. Conditions of suppliers.
Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier’s liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable international conventions (see clause 8(4)). Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions and of the international conventions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned
AFRICA UNCOVERED LIMITED
166 THE CIRCLE QUEEN ELIZABETH STREET
LONDON
SE1 2JL
COMPANY NUMBER: 5537074
VAT NUMBER: 106 2237 54
