Terms & Conditions | 179
The Vacation Collection 2017 General Information / Advice The contract
For help and advice in planning your holiday, call your dedicated American Express Platinum Card Travel Service office (listing below), who will be delighted to help you.
correspond with the name on your ticket or you may not be allowed to travel, and your insurance may be invalid. Some of our destinations may require you to obtain a visa prior to arrival. Cardmembers should check with their embassy or consulate to ascertain the relevant passport and visa requirements. None of our destinations currently have any health requirements. You should, however, check with your doctor prior to departure as to which innoculations and available and necessary for specific destinations. It is your own responsibility to check that you are in possession of all relevant travel documentation, and that you have fulfilled any mandatory health requirements. We cannot have any liability for any loss, damage or expense you may incur through having failed to do so.
Foreign Office Travel Advice
US Visa Requirements:
Your local Government Travel Advice Unit may have issued information about your holiday destination. You are advised to check this information prior to departure – for assistance, please speak with your Platinum Card Travel Service agent.
Travel Insurance
From 12 January 2009, all nationals and citizens included in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) - see www.usembassy.org.uk for VWP countries, who plan to travel to the United States for temporary business or pleasure, are required to hold an electronic travel authorisation prior to boarding a U.S.-bound airplane or cruise ship. Electronic authorisations need to be submitted on https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. not less than 72 hours prior to travel. However last minute authorisations can be submitted at the above website. Once approved the electronic travel authorisation will be valid for 2 years or until your passport expires if within the 2 years. Each traveller is responsible for holding the correct documents for their own travel. American Express can not be held liable for travellers not holding the correct documentation.
Medical, repatriation or cancellation costs can be high and so it is essential that you have cover for all in your group at the time of booking.
General Information
Accommodation
Please be aware when confirming your holiday of adverse weather seasons eg. Caribbean/Florida hurricane season or visit the appropriate travel websites for more information.
Special ‘Added Value Benefits’
Child Discounts
Each hotel is offering our clients a special ‘added value’ benefit or service. Please note that these are only available for stays of 2 nights or more (unless mentioned differently on the relevant page). Room upgrades are subject to availability on arrival.
The best child discounts normally apply when sharing accommodation with two adults. Local charges may apply for infants (under 2 yrs) eg meals.
A contract will exist as soon as American Express issue a confirmation in the form of an invoice, e-mail or other message. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by Swedish law. Note that if the hotel accommodation included in the brochure is a component of a “Package Tour”, as defined under the Swedish Act on Package Tours (1992:1672), other additional terms will apply, as communicated by American Express.
Planning Your Holiday
Consumer Protection Travel Association Platinum Card: American Express Platinum Card Travel Services are members of local Travel Regulatory Associations – full details are listed below under Address Listing.
Hotel Prices Superior Standard We feature a range of the most popular rooms or suites. However, we will be happy to arrange more luxurious options on a request basis.
Our hotel prices are based on known costs and are correct at time of print (November 2016). We reserve the right to alter any of our advertised accommodation prices. You will be advised of the current price of the accommodation that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.
Personal Preferences What they do Include
We are always happy to request individual preferences and, although they can usually be met, they cannot be guaranteed. For example; • Around the World, opinion varies on what really is a ‘double bedded room’. It can be either; a room with a double bed but sometimes made up of 2 twin beds pushed together. Whilst a ‘twin’ has 2 twin beds. • Particular room / location preferences eg close to main building.
Unless otherwise stated, all prices shown throughout this brochure include the following; • Accommodation - grade as shown, based on two adults sharing and inclusive of hotel service charges and local taxes. • Meals as shown - where ‘Half Board’ is breakfast and dinner and ‘Breakfast’ includes full buffet or continental breakfast. A La Carte meals are not included.
Charges for Leisure Facilities
What they do not Include
Some hotels will make a local charge for the use of some facilities eg spa / watersports / tennis courts.
• Passenger duties, overseas departure taxes or Government levies / taxes introduced after the publication of this brochure. • Passport or Visa costs. • Porterage / Gratuities / Personal Expenditure. • Holiday insurance, unless covered automatically as benefit of being an American Express Cardmember. • Transfers. • If clients book half board, restrictions may apply. This can be different per accommodation. Also some accommodations have a dress code in place. More information available at time of booking.
Swimming Pools In the event of us being advised that a swimming pool has been / is due to be out of use for prolonged maintenance then we will try to advise you accordingly. However, sometimes circumstances can be out of both our and the hotels’ control.
Special Diets Airlines and good hotels will normally try to meet special requests. It may, however, be difficult for some hotels in remote locations to provide for some ‘very specific’ requests.
Check-in/out times In most cases, hotel rooms are not available until approximately 3 pm on your day of arrival. The check-out times are usually between 11 am & 12 noon on day of departure. Depending on flight times you may not be able to access your room upon arrival, also there may be a considerable time between vacating your room & leaving for the airport. We can arrange a day room if you require at additional cost.
Booking Conditions Introduction The hotels featured are sold by American Express; trading as Platinum Card Travel & Centurion Travel (“American Express”, “We”, “Us”, “Company”), please see legal entity address under country listing. Incorporated with limited liability and registered with the Secretary of State, Delaware, USA.
Passports/Visas/Health Requirements The majority of our destinations require Cardmembers to hold a full passport which is valid for at least 6 months after your return. The name on your passport must
The Vacation Collection travel arrangements are operated by ALG Tide UK Ltd, operating Travel Impressions and The Vacation Collection (Registered Address 49
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| Terms & Conditions
Southwark Bridge Road, London, United Kingdom, SE1 9HH; Registered Number 08514631). A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by the laws in the country where the contract is concluded.
1. Brochure Accuracy We take great pains to ensure the accuracy of our brochure. However, changes outside our control may occur during the period between preparation of the brochure and your holiday; also, the availability of facilities may be affected by local conditions or adverse weather conditions. We reserve the right to change any of the facilities, services or prices contained in the brochure (including any information leaflets which accompany the brochure). We will tell you of any change before you make a booking. 2. Making a booking as a Cardmember and using your Card as payment When you have chosen your accommodation and you make a request to us to book it, you must pay a deposit of 2500 SEK per room. Eight (8) weeks before departure date, the final balance will be debited from your Card. Should the booking be made within eight (8) weeks of departure, full payment will be immediately charged to your Card. Your booking is confirmed and a contract between us exists when we issue our confirmation invoice/ email [as applicable]. Please check your confirmation carefully and report any incorrect or incomplete information to us immediately. Please ensure that names are exactly as stated in the relevant passport. The cost of your accommodation does not include any extra chargeable services that you may use whilst at the accommodation. These are payable direct to the hotel [as applicable]. If you have any specific requests, we will advise the relevant supplier but we cannot guarantee they will be met and no liability will be met by the Company. 3. Changes to your Holiday by You After our confirmation has been issued, any requests for changes must be sent to us in writing, by email, fax or post, by the person that made the booking. We can’t guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your request but we will try to do so. If you change the number in your party, the accommodation price will be re-calculated. If the party size is reduced, this is likely to mean the remaining members paying more due to under-occupancy. No charge will be made for minor changes; however, if the changes are more significant, cancellation policy fees will be calculated – please see clause 5 below. 4. Changes made to your Holiday by Us We reserve the right to make changes to your holiday. A change may be “significant” or “minor”. A change of accommodation to a lower grade is always a significant change. Hotel pool closures, hotel facilities/amenities changes can be “minor” changes. We reserve the right to make minor changes at any time. We will advise you of minor changes before you leave. We are not obliged to pay you compensation for minor changes. Where there is a significant change, we will inform you as soon as practicable and you will have three options. The first option is to accept our suggested alteration. The second option is to change your booking to another available hotel provided by us. If the replacement you choose is cheaper we will give you the appropriate refund. The third option will be to cancel your hotel altogether and to receive a full refund. You shall, within 10 days of receiving the notification of the change, inform the Company if you whish to cancel the hotel altogether. If not, you will loose the right to cancel the hotel. On rare occasions, significant changes become necessary after departure. If this happens, or if we become unable to provide a significant proportion of services booked, we will either arrange for you to return to your starting destination country (if you wish) and give you a refund in proportion to the cost of the services not received, or we will make alternative hotel arrangement for you. If we make a significant change you may be entitled to compensation according to Swedish law. We will, if appropriate, at least pay you compensation on the following scale: More than 56 days before departure 0 SEK per person 33 – 56 days before departure 50 SEK per person 15 - 32 days before departure 70 SEK per person 0 - 14 days before departure 90 SEK per person An example of a situation if a change or cancellation occurs because of circumstances beyond our control, for example war, riot, industrial dispute, actual or threatened terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, flood, epidemic or pandemic illness and all similar situations we will have no liability to you. No compensation, costs, expenses or any other sums, including the cost of securing alternative accommodation will be paid by us.
5. Cancellation of your Holiday by You All cancellations must be in writing and signed by you. Written notice of cancellation can be sent to us by fax or by email (provided at time of booking) but must in all cases be confirmed by recorded delivery. Upon receipt the following charges (excluding insurance premiums and amendments charges paid) will be payable by the client, depending upon the number of days prior to departure. If you cancel (this is the date on which we receive your written notice of cancellation during the hours of 9am to 5.30pm). You will be liable for the appropriate cancellation charges, which will apply from the date of receipt by us of your written notice of cancellation. Your cancellation policy is outlined below. You will be liable for the appropriate cancellation charges, which will apply from the date of receipt by us of your written notice of cancellation. Please note there will be occasions where this policy does not apply to certain products/seasonality i.e. City breaks, South Africa, Christmas/New Year/Trade Fair periods. Your travel counsellor will inform you of these cancellation fees at time of booking. In order to offer you flexibility, we don’t have a fixed cancellation policy. It varies per accommodation and period you are travelling. We will inform you at the time of booking. These rates are correct at time of publishing (November 2016) & apply to our Resort products but may be subject to change, please check at time of booking. 6. Cancellation of your Travel Arrangement by Us We reserve the right to cancel your hotel up to 2 months before departure. After that, we will only cancel your holiday for reasons of “force majeure”. In the unlikely event that we cancel your hotel, we will offer you the choice of an alternative hotel if available, or a full and prompt refund of all that you have paid. If the only acceptable alternatives are cheaper, we will make the appropriate refund. In addition, unless the cancellation was caused by “force majeure” you may be entitled to compensation according to the Swedish law. We will, if appropriate, at least pay you compensation on the scale set out in clause 4 above. We reserve the right to cancel your hotel and levy cancellation charges in the amounts set out in clause 5 above should you fail to pay the final balance when due, or if you behave in an improper manner (please see clause 10). We will not be responsible to pay any compensation following a change or a cancellation by us. Any amendment or cancellation fees you incur in terms of other arrangements you have made with other providers under separate contracts are not claimable from us. 7. Surcharges Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, 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 of 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 Euro 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. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. 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. 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. The price of your travel arrangements was calculated using exchange rates quoted in the Financial Times Guide to World Currencies in Autumn 2016; in relation to the following currencies: USD, SEK, CHF, GBP, Euro, AUD, NzD, SA Rand, Thai, Sing $, BHD, MYR, RO, Russian Rouble, HKD.
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8. Our Responsibility for your Booking: (i) We have a duty to select the accommodation providers with reasonable skill and care. We have no liability to you for the actual provision of the accommodation, except in cases where it is proved that we have breached that duty and damage to you has been caused. Therefore, providing we have selected the provider with reasonable care and skill, we will have no liability to you for anything that happens at the accommodation or any acts or omissions of the provider or others. We also have no liability in the following situations: (i) where the accommodation cannot be provided as booked due to circumstances beyond our control (see the Note in clause 8). (ii) where you incur any loss or damage that could not have been foreseen at the time of your booking, based on the information provided by you. (iii) where you incur any loss or damage that relates to any business activity. (iv) where any loss or damage relates to any services which do not form part of our contract with you. 9. Suppliers’ Conditions/Conditions of Carriage The suppliers of your holiday will have their own booking conditions or conditions of carriage and you will be bound by these so far as the relevant supplier is concerned. Some of these conditions may limit or exclude liability on the part of the relevant supplier. Where relevant, copies of such conditions may be available for inspection at the offices of the relevant supplier. 10. Your Responsibilities (i) When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. This means that you are responsible for making all payments due, notifying us if any changes or cancellations are required and for receiving the confirmation and keeping your party informed. (ii) While on holiday any damage to property shall be the liability of yourself. You will be liable for full cost of repairs or replacement. (iii) You must report promptly at the stated times for all transport arrangements and ensure that you have all necessary travel tickets and documents, including passports, visas and any health certificates required. We will have no responsibility to you if you cannot gain access to any country because you do not have the appropriate travel tickets and documents. 11. Check-in and Check-out In most cases, hotel rooms are not available until approximately 3 pm on your day of arrival. The check-out times are usually between 11 am & 12 noon on day of departure. Depending on flight times you may not be able to access your room upon arrival, also there may be a considerable time between vacating your room & leaving for the airport. We can arrange a day room if you require at additional cost. If you check-in after midnight, your accommodation has been reserved for you from the previous day and this counts as the first night of your stay. Special requests for early check-in and late check-out are not guaranteed and are subject to availability at the hotel. 12. Complaints You may not invoke a fault in what you are entitled to according to the agreement unless you inform the Company about the fault within reasonable time from when you first noticed, or should have noticed, the fault. If you feel it necessary to complain about any aspect of your hotel during your stay, it is essential that this is brought to the immediate attention of the hotel so that remedial action may be taken where possible. If your complaint cannot be resolved locally, please inform the hotel and contact your booking agent accordingly and follow up in writing on your return from holiday within 28 days. If you fail to follow this procedure, the Company will not accept responsibility for any claim as we have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem. If we cannot settle your complaint amicably, it may if you wish be referred to arbitration under a special scheme. Under the rules of the scheme an application for arbitration must be made within 9 months after the scheduled date of return from your holiday. Late applications will be accepted in exceptional circumstance. If you do not wish to refer your case to arbitration, you may of course choose to pursue the matter through the courts which will involve greater liability for costs. 13. Prompt Assistance in resort If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and 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 we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
14. Assistance with Claims If you or one of your party suffer personal injury or death from an activity, which does not form part of the holiday arrangements we make for you, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation. However, we will give assistance where possible, consisting of advice, guidance and, where appropriate and at our discretion, financial assistance up to a limit of 5,000 Euros per booking form. Any financial assistance we give you is for the sole purpose of enabling you to take legal proceedings against any third party responsible for you or one of your parties personal injury or death and is conditional upon you repaying us out of any monies you may recover from the third party in question. 15. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. 16. Excursions Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. 17. Data Protection (a) You and the individuals you are booking for understand and agree that we will: (i) disclose information about you, and the individuals in your group to computerized reservation systems and other distribution technology systems, to airlines and other Suppliers; (ii) keep information about you and the individuals in your group only for so long as is appropriate for the purposes of this Agreement or as required by applicable law; and (iii) undertake all the above both within and outside the European Union. This includes processing the information in the United States of America and other countries outside the European Union in which data protection laws are not as comprehensive as the European Union. However, we undertake that we have and will implement appropriate measures designed to ensure information about you and the individuals in your group will have the same protection in the United States of America and the other countries outside the European Union as such information would have within the European Union. (b) Should you require bookings, payments, delivery of itineraries to be made over the Internet, then it is your responsibility that these transmissions will be conducted via the Internet. We will use reasonable efforts to ensure the security of this data; however, we will not be held liable for any interception of such data. (c) To the extent that we collect any passenger data on behalf of air carriers or other vessels for purposes of meeting governmental requirements (such as the United States’ Advance Passenger Information System requirements) and notwithstanding anything to the contrary, you hereby waive and release any and all obligations and liabilities of us, expressed or implied, arising by law or otherwise, related to such activities. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you acknowledge that we will not be liable if we are supplied with incorrect data regarding a traveler’s residence in the United States or a traveler changes his or her plans without informing us. 18. Your right to assign the agreement You may assign the agreement to any other party which fulfills all requirements to participate in the tour if you inform the Company about the assignment within reasonable time before the departure. When the tour has been assigned, the transferor and the transferee are jointly and severabily liable for what remains to pay according to the agreement and additional costs which arises on account of the transfer. American Express Travel Service Location & Legal Line: American Express Platinum Card Travel Service, Tegeluddsvägen 21, 115 41 Stockholm, Sweden (Member of The Association of Swedish Travel Agents (Svenska Resebyråföreningen, SRF) Member Number 14013). American Express Services Europe Ltd, England, filial, org. nr. 516402-4480 (Bolagsverkets filialregister) 106 82 Stockholm, under tillsyn av Finansinspektionen i Sverige. Filial till American Express Services Europe Limited, säte Belgrave House, 76 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9AX, Storbritannien. Ett aktiebolag bildat i England och Wales vars org. nr. är 1833139 (registrerat i the Registrar of Companies), auktoriserat och reglerat av Financial Conduct Authority i Storbritannien för tillhandahållande av betaltjänster och konsumentkrediter (reg.nr. 661836) samt av Finansinspektionen för tillhandahållande av konsumentkrediter (reg.nr. 44066).