Terms and Conditions

The following Booking Conditions form the basis of your contract with The Holiday Company T/A Winning Tours, of Ducie House, 37 Ducie Street, Manchester M1 2JW. Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations.

1. Making your booking

To make a booking, you must complete our booking form. The person making the booking, ("the party leader") must be at least 18 and must be authorised to make the booking on the basis of these Booking Conditions by all members of his/her party. By making the booking, the party leader confirms that he/she is so authorised to do so. The party leader is responsible for making all payments due to us. All bookings are accepted subject to these Booking Conditions.

Once we have received your booking form and all appropriate payments, we will, subject to availability, confirm your holiday by issuing a confirmation invoice. This invoice will be sent to the party leader or your travel agent. Please check this invoice carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later.

2. Payment

In order to confirm your chosen holiday, a deposit of 10% per person (or full payment if booking within eight weeks of departure) must be paid at the time of booking. If you book within 8 weeks of departure, and it is necessary for us to post your travel documents to you by express means to ensure you receive them prior to departure, an administration fee of £5 per booking will be payable by you at the time you make your booking. If you wish to purchase the insurance policy we offer, all applicable premiums must also be paid at the time of booking (you must be insured - see clause 7).

The balance of the holiday cost must be received by us not less than 8 weeks prior to departure. This date will be shown on the confirmation invoice. Reminders are not sent. If we do not receive all payments due (including any surcharge where applicable) in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you. In this case the cancellation charges set out in clause 6 below will be payable.

All monies paid to one of our authorised travel agents for your holiday with us will be held on our behalf until they are paid to us or refunded to you.

3. Your contract

A binding contract between us comes into existence when we despatch our confirmation invoice to the party leader. English law governs this contract and all matters arising out of it. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises out of or in connection with this contract or your holiday will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales, * or if you are a resident of Scotland or Northern Ireland, by the courts of your home country.

Changes to these Booking will only be valid if agreed by us in writing.

4. The cost of your holiday

The prices shown in our brochure were calculated on 31 May 2002 on the basis of then known costs and exchange rates of £1 to 14.73 Rand as shown in the Financial Times Guide to World Currencies on 27 May 2002

We reserve the right to increase or decrease the prices of unsold holidays at any time. The price of your chosen holiday will be confirmed at the time of booking.

Once the price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed at the time of booking then, subject to the correction of errors, we will only increase the price in the following circumstances. Price increases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge. A surcharge will be payable if transportation costs and/or dues, taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at airports increase or our costs increase as a result of any adverse changes in the exchange rates which have been used to calculate the cost of your holiday.

Even in the above cases, we will absorb increased costs up to a total amount equivalent to 2% of the cost of your confirmed holiday (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges). Only if the increased costs exceed this 2% will we levy a surcharge. If any surcharge is greater than 10% of the cost of your holiday (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges), you will be entitled to cancel your booking and receive a full refund of all monies paid to us except for insurance premiums and amendment charges. You have 14 days from the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice to tell us if you want to cancel for this reason. If you do not tell us that you wish to cancel within this period of time, we are entitled to assume that you do not wish to cancel and will pay the surcharge. Any surcharge must be paid with the balance of the cost of the holiday or within 14 days of the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice, whichever is the later. We promise not to levy a surcharge within 30 days of departure.

*Please note, changes and errors occasionally occur. You must check the price of your chosen holiday at the time of booking.

5. Changes by you

Should you wish to make any changes to your confirmed holiday, you must notify us in writing as soon as possible. Whilst we will endeavour to assist, we cannot guarantee we will be able to meet any such requests. Where we can, an amendment fee of £20 per person/per booking will be payable for all changes requested before balance due date together with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. Any changes requested after balance due date will be treated as a request for a new booking and a cancellation of the original booking. The cancellation charges set out in clause 6 below will be payable by you.

6. Cancellation by you

Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your chosen holiday once it has been confirmed, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when we receive it in writing at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking and may be unable to re-sell your holiday, the following cancellation charges will be payable. Where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and any amendment / cancellation charges which have already been incurred. Insurance premiums and amendment / cancellation charges are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.

Period before departure within which written Cancellation charge per

notification of cancellation is received by us person cancelling

more than 56 days Deposit only

56-43 days 30% of holiday cost

42-29 days 60% of holiday cost

28-7 days 90% of holiday cost

less than 7 days 100% of holiday cost

Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.

If any member(s) of your party is/are prevented from travelling, the person(s) concerned will be able to transfer their place to someone else (introduced by you) providing the following requirements are complied with. We must be notified of the transfer(s) not less than 28 days before departure. Where a transfer to a person of your choice can be made, all costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers as a result together with an amendment fee of £50 must be paid before the transfer can be effected.

For flight inclusive bookings, you must pay the charges levied by the airline concerned. As most airlines do not permit name changes after tickets have been issued for any reason, these charges are likely to be the full cost of the flight.

7. Insurance

We consider adequate travel insurance to be essential. The insurance cover we offer is provided by Derek Ketteridge and Associates (a Division of Ketteridge Group Limited) 2nd floor, 7a Middle Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1AL and underwritten 100% by certain Underwriters at Lloyds London.

You agree that at the time of purchasing the insurance offered by us that:

· The Insured(s) is/are not aware of any reason why his/her proposed journey or trip could be cancelled or abandoned.

· The Insured(s) have informed Derek Ketteridge and Associates in respect of all serious and/or chronic pre-existing illnesses/infirmities he/she suffer(s)(ed) from now and/ or in the past.

· The Insured(s) has obtained advice from his/her GP on the advisability of taking the holiday or trip with us where he/she has received medical treatment as a hospital in-patient during the 6 months preceding the commencement date of his/her holiday or trip with us.

The Insured(s) must obtain a certificate of fitness from their GP stating the Insured(s) ability to travel where he/she is undergoing medical treatment at the time when the balance of the cost of the holiday becomes due.

If you decide not to purchase this insurance, you must give details of your alternative policy (insurer and policy number) on our booking form. If you fail to do so, we will add the appropriate premiums for the personal travel insurance we offer to your confirmation invoice. These premiums must be paid as soon as possible as cover will not be effective until we receive all applicable premiums in full.

Please read your policy details carefully and take them with you on holiday. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is adequate for your particular needs. We do not check alternative insurance policies.

8. Changes and cancellation by us

We start planning the holidays we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in brochure 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. However, we promise we will only cancel your confirmed booking 8 weeks or less before departure where you have failed to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or where we are forced to do so as a result of "force majeure" as defined in clause 9 below. We will not cancel after this date for any other reason.

Most changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a "significant change". "Significant changes" include the following changes when made before departure; a re-routing of your outbound flight to a destination airport which is less convenient for you, a change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification or standard for the whole or a major part of the time you are away, a change of accommodation area for the whole or a major part of the time you are away, a change of outward departure time or overall length of time you are away of twelve or more hours.

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 departure, 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 chosen alternative is less expensive than your original one, we will refund the difference but if it is more expensive, we will ask you to pay 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.

You must inform us within ten days of being offered the above options which one you wish to take. If we do not hear from you within the ten days, we will assume you wish to accept the changed arrangements (where a significant change has been made), or, for cancellations, accepting the cancellation and receiving a full refund.

Please note, the above options are not available where any change made is a minor one.

If we have to make a significant change or cancel 8 weeks or less before departure, we will pay you compensation subject to the following exceptions. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where (1) 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 or (2) we have to cancel because the minimum number of bookings necessary for us to operate your holiday has not been reached - in this case we will notify you by the deadline. No compensation will be payable 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).

Period before departure a significant change Compensation per person

or cancellation is notified to you (excluding infants)

more than 56 days Nil

56-43 days £10

42-29 days £15

28-7 days £20

less than 7 days £25

In all cases, our liability for significant changes and cancellations is limited to offering you the above mentioned options and, where applicable, compensation payments. We regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation. No compensation is payable for minor changes or where we make a significant change or cancel more than 8 weeks before departure.

Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (see clause 9) 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.

9. 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 contractual obligations is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 10(1) below) 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 war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, airport closures, *technical problems with transport, epidemics, fire and all similar events outside our control.

10. Our Liability to you

(1) We promise to make sure that all parts of the holiday we have agreed to arrange as part of our contract are provided to a reasonable standard and in accordance with that contract. We also accept responsibility for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do. We will not, however, 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:-

(a) the fault of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or

(b) the fault of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday which we could not have predicted or avoided or

(c) an event or circumstances which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not have predicted or avoided even after taking all reasonable care (see clause 9).

(d) the fault of anyone who was not carrying out work for us (generally or in particular) at the time.

In addition, we will not be responsible where you do not enjoy your holiday or suffer any problems because of a reason you did not tell us about when you booked your holiday or where any problems you suffer did not result from any breach of our contract or other fault of ourselves or, where we were responsible for them, our suppliers or agents or where any losses, expenses, costs or other sum you have suffered relate to any business.

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 in our brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them.

(2) 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.

(3) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any and all claims or parts of claims which do not involve personal injury, illness or death. Except where loss of and/or damage to luggage or personal possessions is concerned or a lower limitation of liability applies to your claim, the maximum amount we will have to pay you for such non personal injury claims if we are found liable to you on any basis is the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total, together with a refund of any expenses incurred by you as a direct result of our failure to provide your holiday in accordance with our contract and also an additional sum of £25 per person for each day of your holiday affected by that failure. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday.

(4) Where any claim or part of a claim concerns or is based on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting on and 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 hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question (for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, the EU Regulation on Air Carrier Liability for national and international travel by air,). When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.

(5) You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 12 below. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.

11. Complaints and problems.

In the unlikely event that you have any reason to complain or experience any problems with your holiday whilst away, you must immediately inform our representative and the supplier of the service(s) in question. If there is no representative available, and the problem is a serious one, you must inform our local agent, or, if there isn’t one, ourselves direct using the emergency telephone number enclosed with your travel documents. If possible, you should obtain a Holiday Report Form from our representative which should be completed and returned to him/her. Until we know about a problem or complaint, we cannot begin to resolve it. Most problems can be dealt with quickly. If you remain dissatisfied, however, you must write to us within 28 days of your return to the UK giving your booking reference and full details of your complaint. For all complaints and claims which do not involve death, personal injury or illness, we regret we cannot accept liability if you fail to notify the complaint or claim entirely in accordance with this clause.

12. Behaviour

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 must be paid direct at the time to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you fail to do so, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us (together with our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions.

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.

13. 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 10 (4)). Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.

14. Special requests and medical problems

If you have any special request, you must advise us at the time of booking and clearly note it on your booking form. Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met unless we have specifically confirmed this in writing. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your Confirmation or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Unless and until specifically confirmed, all special requests are subject to availability. We regret we cannot accept any conditional bookings, i.e. any booking which is specified to be conditional on the fulfilment of a particular request. All such bookings will be treated as "standard" bookings subject to the above provisions on special requests.

If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your holiday, please tell us before you confirm your booking. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person concerned, we must reserve the right to decline their reservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details.

15. Passports, visas and health requirements

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining such documentation must be paid by you. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation. If you or any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds a non British passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through which you are intending to travel. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.

16. Financial security

We hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL number 2876). This means the flights we offer in our brochure are ATOL Protected. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left 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.

17. Brochure Accuracy

Please note, the information and prices shown in this brochure may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the brochure and prices at the time of printing, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking.

This brochure is our sole responsibility. It is not issued on behalf of and does not commit any independent organisation/carriers whose services are featured in it.

18. Delay

Delays sometimes occur for reasons beyond our control. We do not have any liability to you for any delay. Airlines policies vary but, when a delay occurs, they may make arrangements to offer refreshments and meals as appropriate.

19. Safety standards

Please note, it is the requirements and standards of the country in which any services which make up your holiday are provided which apply to those services and not those of the UK. As a general rule, these requirements and standards will not be the same as the UK and could be lower.

20. Flights

The flight timings given on booking are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timings will be shown on your confirmation invoice. However, the actual flight times will be those shown on your tickets which will be despatched to you approximately two weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been despatched - we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.

We are not always in a position to confirm the airline, aircraft type and airport of destination which will be used in connection with any flight included in your holiday. When this information is provided at the time of booking or subsequently, it is subject to change. Any such change will not entitle you to cancel or change to other arrangements without paying our normal charges, subject to clause 8 below.

Please note in relation to flights that, by our contract with you, we do not enter into an agreement for carriage by air but rather we only undertake to reserve accommodation onboard the airline advised at the time of booking or such other airline as may be substituted.

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