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Booking Conditions
Your contract is with Somak Travel Limited trading as Somak
Holidays, a company registered in the United Kingdom in 1968
– Registration no. 958261.
1. Your holiday contract:
When you make a booking you
undertake that you have the authority to accept and do accept
these booking conditions on behalf of yourself and your party.
A contract will exist upon the issue of our Confirmation Invoice.
These conditions in conjunction with the information set out in
our brochure form the entire agreement between Somak
Holidays and yourself. Any advice/information given to you by
your travel agent which is inconsistent with our brochure and
these conditions will not form part of your contract with
ourselves.
2. Data Protection:
In order to process your booking, Somak
will need to use personal information for you and other
passengers included in your booking. This personal information
may include each passenger's name, address, phone number,
email address, passport number, credit/debit card number and
sensitive information such as health, medical, dietary, mobility,
religious or other special requirements. This personal
information may be passed on to other suppliers of your travel
arrangements in addition to public authorities such as customs
and immigration, security and credit checking organizations,
and otherwise as required by law. Similarly, we may also need
to provide personal information to contractors who provide
services to or for us e.g. sending mail, processing payments,
providing marketing assistance. This may involve sending
personal information including sensitive information to other
countries that may not afford the same level of protection of
personal information. We may also use the personal
information you provide us to review and improve the tours and
services that we offer, and to contact you by post, email and/or
telephone about other tours and services offered by Somak
3. Your holiday price:
When you or your travel agent request
a booking with Somak, if we are able to accept the booking,
you must immediately pay a deposit of $300 per person
together with any applicable insurance premium. Occasionally
you may be required to pay a sum greater than $300, this is so
that we can secure hotels or products on your behalf that must
be paid for by Somak at the time we book them for you. The
balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid
at least 8 weeks before your departure date. If your booking is
made within 8 weeks of departure, full payment including any
insurance premiums is required at the time of booking. If the
deposit is not paid on time, we reserve the right to cancel your
travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid on time we shall
retain your deposit and reserve the right to cancel your travel
arrangements and levy the cancellation charges set out in
clause 4 below. All monies you pay to the travel agent are held
by them on our behalf at all times.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time before
you book, including any special offers which we may have from
time-to-time, and which may or may not be the same as set out
in our publicity material.
4. If you change your booking:
If, after our confirmation
invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel
arrangements in any way, for example, your chosen departure
date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these
changes but it may not always be possible.
Any request for changes MUST be in writing from the person
who made the booking or your travel agent. You will be asked
to pay an administration charge of $50 per person per change,
together with any further charges and/or supplements and/or
costs we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware
that these costs will increase the closer to the departure date
that changes are made and you should therefore contact us as
soon as possible. We may not be able to make alterations to
your holiday arrangements within 21 days of departure without
you incurring cancellation charges.
5. If you cancel your holiday:
You, or any member of your
party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time.
WRITTEN notification from the person who made the booking
or your travel agent must be received at our offices. The
following scale of cancellation will be payable depending on
when the notification of cancellation is received:
56 days or more
Deposit only
55 – 43 days
30% of total holiday price
42 – 29 days
50% of total holiday price
28 – 15 days
75% of total holiday price
14 – 3 days
90% of total holiday price
Less than 3 days
100% of total holiday price
If some, but not all, party members cancel, additional charges
may be payable by the remaining members (e.g. under
occupancy charges).
Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the
terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these
charges.
6. If we change or cancel your holiday:
It is unlikely that we
will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements.
However, we do plan the arrangements many months in
advance and occasionally, therefore, it may be necessary to
make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time.
Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you or
your travel agent of them if practicable and time permitting.
Please note that carriers, timings and routings given in the
brochure are for guidance only and may be subject to change.
Such changes are deemed to be minor changes. Other
examples of minor changes include alteration of your
outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft
type, change of accommodation to another of the same
standard, or change of airports within the same city area.
We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your
travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of
clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not
reached, we may have to cancel it. However, we will not cancel
your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your
departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by
you to pay the final balance. If it is necessary for us to cancel
your travel arrangements for reasons other than force majeure
and non-payment of the final balance, we will pay
compensation to you as set out in this clause.
If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you
or your travel agent as soon as reasonably possible if there is
time before your departure. You will have the choice of either
accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of
alternative travel arrangements from us, if available (with no
amendment fee although subject to any difference in brochure
price), or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full
refund of all monies paid except for insurance premiums and/or
amendment charges. In all cases, except where the major
change arises due to reasons of force majeure, we will pay
compensation as detailed below for the period before your
departure within which the notice of cancellation or major
change is notified to you:
56 days or more
Nil
55 – 43 days
$20
42 – 29 days
$40
28 – 15 days
$60
Less than 15 days
$100
'Force Majeure': This means any situation outside our control
such as war or threat of war, riot, industrial dispute, technical
or maintenance problems with means of transportation, re-
scheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline or main
charterer, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire,
adverse weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances
that amount to force majeure.
As we do not control the day-to-day management of your
accommodation it is possible that the reserved accommodation
may not be suitable or available to you once you have arrived in
resort. If this happens we will endeavor to provide
accommodation of at least the same standard in the same resort
area. If only accommodation of a lower standard is available
then we will refund the difference of the brochure price
between the accommodation booked and that available,
together with compensation of $100 per person.
7. If you have a complaint:
If you have a problem during your
holiday, you must, whilst in resort, inform the relevant supplier
(e.g. your hotelier) and your resort representative as soon as
possible and they will endeavor to put things right. You must
also complete a Customer Report Form whilst in resort. If your
complaint is not resolved locally, please follow it up within 28
days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services
Department giving your booking reference and all other
relevant information. Please keep your letter concise, to the
point and typed if possible. This will assist us to quickly identify
your concerns and speed up our response to you.
If you fail to report any problems whilst in resort we will have
been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your
complaint whilst you were there and this may affect any rights
you may otherwise have had under this contract.
8. Behavior:
Please note that your holiday arrangements will
be terminated by ourselves or the suppliers concerned (e.g.
airlines, hotels, tour leaders etc.) if you are behaving in such a
way as to cause, or be likely to cause, danger or distress to
others or damage to property. In this situation, Somak will not
be liable to make any refund, pay any compensation, or meet
any costs or expenses you incur as a result of your behavior.
Please note that you are at all times subject to the laws of the
country you are visiting and must respect local cultures and
customs.
9. Conditions of carriage/accommodation:
Each journey
(whether undertaken or not) that you book by air, land or sea
is governed by the conditions of the carrier which undertakes
to provide that carriage. Some of these conditions limit or
exclude liability and are often the subject of international
agreements. Copies of applicable conditions are available for
inspection at the offices of the carrier concerned or through
ourselves. It is your own responsibility to reconfirm the onward
or return sectors of any air journey with the carrier concerned
or such carrier's duly authorised agents and according to such
carrier's regulations. The outbound flight is reconfirmed by
Somak Holidays prior to your departure. All accommodation
booked by ourselves on your behalf is subject to the 'house
rules' of the proprietor.
10. Insurance:
It is imperative that you ensure that all of your
party have adequate and appropriate insurance. You are free to
choose your own policy but you must satisfy yourself that the
policy is adequate for your needs, in particular for any activities
you are contemplating during your holiday.
11. Documentation:
Where travel and health documents are
necessary to comply with the requirements of any country you
may wish to visit, then it is your responsibility to procure them.
If failure to obtain any such documents results in fines,
surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed upon us
then you shall reimburse us accordingly. You must be aware, by
consulting your own doctor/primary health physician if
necessary, of specific health precautions deemed prudent for
the country/resort you intend to visit and obtain the appropriate
medication/inoculations.
12. By making a booking with us
you agree to the use and
disclosure of the information you provide for the following
purposes: to enable us to process your booking (when it may
be transferred abroad), for market research and analysis, to
prevent fraud and to enable us to contact you by letter,
telephone or email.
13. Law and jurisdiction:
The contract between us, and these
booking conditions, are governed by and construed in
accordance with English law. All parties agree to submit to the
exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
SOMAK HOLIDAYS AFRICA
