Fair Trading Agreement

We are Exotic Retreats (Travel) Ltd. Our registered office is at Kalami House, 113 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 1EE and our company number is 4475503. The air holidays and flights in this brochure/website are ATOL protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 6141. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund you any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

These Fair Trading Agreements apply to any booking that you make with us, so you should read them carefully. They contain some exclusions and limitations of liability. If any part of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Booking Conditions will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable. If there is anything you do not understand or want to know, please contact us before booking.

A deposit of £150 per person plus the applicable insurance premium (or evidence that Insurance giving at least equal cover has been taken elsewhere) must be paid for each person including each child on making your booking. No contract with us will exist until we have received these amounts and we have issued our confirmation invoice confirming your booking except in the case of bookings made within 10 weeks of departure when our Late Booking procedures apply. Should you later cancel, cancellation charges will become payable in accordance with paragraph 4. We reserve the right to refuse or continue with a booking without giving any reason.

2. PAYMENT OF THE BALANCE

The balance or for late bookings the total cost must be paid at least 10 weeks before departure. If we do not receive the balance, we shall be entitled to cancel the booking, retain your deposit and apply the cancellation charges as set out in paragraph 4. In the unlikely event of a costing error caused by either our reservations team, website, brochure or appearing on your confirmation/invoice, the price shown in the brochure or subsequent late availability circular will apply. Similarly, we undertake to refund any overcharge caused by such error.

3. LATE BOOKINGS

4. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY

42 days or more before departure     Loss of Deposit
41-29 days before departure              50% or Deposit if greater
28-15 days before departure             70% or Deposit if greater
14-7 days before departure               90%
6 days or less & ‘No Show’                 100%

5.IF YOU CHANGE YOUR RESERVATION

- Changes to your reservation can only be accepted if the travel date of the revised arrangement still falls within the same holiday season as your original booking.
- If you wish to alter the details of a confirmed booking (other than increasing the number of passengers in your party), there will be an amendment fee of £20 per person named on the booking form (maximum £45 per booking) in addition to the increase, if any, in the costs of the revised arrangements. Amendments made to flight or accommodation 42 days or less before departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and you will be liable to pay the relevant charge as shown in paragraph 4.
- For name changes (of some of the party members) notified to us more than 10 weeks prior to departure, a charge of £25 per name change will apply, increasing to £40 per name change between 10 weeks and 21 days prior to departure; £100 per name change between 21 days and 8 days prior to departure. Full cancellation charge (100% charge) will apply for name changes within 7 days prior to departure.
- Requests for name changes of all party members will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and cancellation charges as detailed in paragraph 4 will apply.
- For name changes on scheduled flight reservations notified to us more than 10 weeks prior to departure a charge of £20 per name change will apply, increasing to £40 per name change between 10 weeks and 22 days prior to departure. Full cancellation charge (100% charge) will apply for name changes within 21 days prior to departure. All amendments must be confirmed to us in writing. No refund will be made for unused accommodation or services during an independent variation of a holiday.

5. IF WE CHANGE YOUR RESERVATION

We plan your holiday arrangements many months in advance and although it is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to confirmed arrangements, occasionally, changes may be made and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes are of a very minor nature and we will advise you at the earliest possible date. Flight timings and carriers detailed are for your guidance only and subject to change. The scheduling of departure times may be varied after this brochure/website is printed by Airport Authorities or other factors beyond our control. We will advise you as soon as any change which involves a flight alteration exceeding 2 hours is known to us, but please do check your travel documents as soon as you receive them. We reserve the right to substitute alternative carriers and/or aircraft types if necessary. As a result, should you decide to transfer to another holiday or cancel your holiday, normal cancellation charges as detailed in paragraph 4 will apply. If a major change occurs, we will inform you as soon as it is reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. A major change is one that we make to your holiday arrangements before departure that includes changing your airport(s) except between Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted, time of departure or return by more than 12 hours, or offering accommodation of a lower standard. In such cases you have the choice of either accepting the renewed arrangements as notified to you, or cancelling your holiday with full refund of money paid. If you accept the new arrangements we will pay at least the compensation on the scale shown below:

Notification Period:
More than 42 days before departure      Nil
41-28 days before departure                 £10 per person
27-14 days before departure                 £20 per person
13 days to arrival in resort                     £30 per person

Infants and children travelling under our ‘Free Accommodation for Child’ scheme are not eligible for compensation payments. For children invoiced at a reduced rate, compensation will be paid on a pro-rata basis.

Important Note:
Compensation payments do not apply to any changes caused by the Force Majeure events set out in paragraph 8, neither do they apply in the case of a flight delay occurring after check-in, which is covered separately by our Holiday Insurance.

7. CANCELLATION BY US

We will not cancel your holiday within 10 weeks of your departure unless caused by events beyond our control and set out in paragraph 8 or unless you have not paid the final balance due. If we are obliged to cancel your holiday more than 10 weeks before departure we will endeavour to offer you an alternative. If this is not acceptable, we will, naturally, refund all monies paid.

8. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU

We accept full liability for the proper performance of our obligations under our agreement with you for the provision of your holiday. If you or any member of your party suffers damage caused by our failure to perform or our improper performance, we accept liability except in the following circumstances:
- If the failure or improper performance is your fault or the fault of any member of your party.
- If the failure is the fault of someone else not connected with the provision of services, which make up the holiday confirmed by us.
- Force Majeure events over which we have no control. These include actual or threat thereof the following – war riots and civil strife, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, weather conditions, fire, flood, drought, industrial disputes, government action, airport regulations and closures or technical transportation problems which may affect the service of hotels abroad or the scheduling of aircraft or other transport, or other circumstances amounting to Force Majeure.
- Any event, which we or the supplier of any service could not foresee or forestall.

9. ASSISTANCE

We shall offer you prompt general assistance should you suffer difficulties, illness, personal injury or death during your holiday with us and arising out of an activity, which neither forms part of the holiday we have confirmed, nor an excursion booked through us. In addition, subject to our discretion and provided that it is requested within 90 days of the occurrence of the mishap, either as part of the general assistance referred above, or to meet the initial legal costs associated with any legal action undertaken by you (provided you have obtained our prior agreement to that legal action), we may provide you with financial assistance. This is limited to £5,000 per booking and may be provided as a loan if you have appropriate insurance cover or if there is a claim for costs against any third party. The only limitation on our acceptance of liability set out here are (whichever is the less): -
- except in cases of personal injury, our liability will not be more than twice the price of the holiday of the person making the claim against us; and our liability will not exceed any limitation applicable under any international convention governing or relating to the provision of the service complained of, even if that convention has not been ratified by or applied in the United Kingdom.

10. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a problem during your holiday, please promptly inform your Exotic Retreats representative and/or the relevant supplier (e.g. hotel) in resort who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint cannot be completely resolved during your holiday, you must obtain written confirmation from the supplier or your Exotic Retreats representative stating that your complaint has been lodged. Please follow this up within 35 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Relations Department in our London Office giving your original booking reference number and all other relevant information. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem to the supplier of the service in question and/or to your Exotic Retreats representative whilst in the resort and obtain a written confirmation of the complaint lodged. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we cannot accept responsibility as we have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem.
Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract, which cannot be amicably settled, may be referred to arbitration, if the customer so wishes, under a Special Scheme arranged by the Association of British Travel Agents and administered independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The Scheme provides with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com). A simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provide upon request on can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com). The Scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £15,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims, which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The Scheme can, however, deal with general compensation claims, which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element.
The application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators within nine months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this time limit, arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if the company agrees but the ABTA Code does not require such agreement.

11. GENERAL CONDITIONS

If the behaviour of any member of any party is considered likely to cause offence, danger, damage or distress to others, we reserve the right at all times to cancel or terminate a holiday completely. If, for example, any airline pilot, coach driver, accommodation owner or manager, or senior member of our staff considers that the behaviour is unacceptable, they are authorised to terminate a holiday wherever and whenever necessary. If this situation arises, our responsibility will cease immediately and we will not be obliged to cover any expenses incurred by the party concerned and neither will we consider any claims for compensation or refunds whatsoever. We will also be within our rights to impose cancellation fees. Exotic Retreats cannot accept responsibility for the behaviour of other guests staying at your holiday accommodation.

12. HOLIDAY INSURANCE

It is a condition of booking that you are adequately insured for your holiday before you travel. You must either take out our holiday insurance (details on our website) or arrange an insurance policy yourself which is at least as good as the one we provide. Should you elect to arrange your own insurance, we must have written details confirming the name of your insurers and your policy number.

13. EXOTIC RETREATS PRICING POLICY

Exotic Retreats reserve the right to increase or decrease holiday prices (subject to demand and supply). We also reserve the right to change prices due to increased aviation insurance and security cost, a charge will be added to the holiday cost of each person. We also reserve the right to change this amount from time to time and the exact charge will be advised to you at the time of booking. The price of your travel arrangements is subject to surcharges on the following items for increases in 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/organiser. Government action such as increases in VAT or any other Government imposed increases, currency in relation to adverse exchange rate variations.
Where a surcharge is payable there will, in addition, be an administration charge of £1.
If the surcharge amounts to more than 10% of the holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all money paid except for any premium paid to us for holiday insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on the invoice.

14. EXCHANGE RATES

All prices quoted in this brochure/website are based on exchange rates as calculated by our Treasury Department on 01st May, 2005..

15. CONSUMER PROTECTION

The air holidays and flights in this brochure/website are ATOL protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 6141. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk

16.FLIGHTS

All flights are subject to the conditions and limitations contained in the Warsaw Convention 1929 as amended, the Montreal Convention 1999 and EC regulation 2027- 1997. Copies available on request.

17.  The ‘A to Z of holiday information’ detailed are part of our terms and conditions and must be read carefully before you book. No verbal alteration can be made to the terms and conditions described in the brochure. Any such change must be confirmed in writing.
Kalami House, 113 London Road, Twickenham, London. Middlesex

18. This contract is governed by the laws applicable wherever you live in the United Kingdom