PACKAGE HOLIDAY BOOKING CONDITIONS
Your Contract is With Choice Holidays Limited.
1. Your holiday contract
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. 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 Maltese Law, and the jurisdiction of the Maltese Courts.
2. Your financial protection
We provide full financial protection for our package holidays, by way of Malta Tourism Authority's Travel Operator Licence number TRA/C/01. When you buy a protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an Insolvency Fund 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 will provide you with the services listed on the Insolvency Fund Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative licence 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 licence holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative licence holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative licence holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the Insolvency Fund scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).
If we are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative licence holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Insolvency Fund may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the Insolvency Fund scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to the Fund 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 Insolvency Fund scheme.
3. Code of Conduct
We are a Member of FATTA ,.FEDERATED ASSOCIATION OF TRAVEL & TOURISM AGENTS MALTA.
We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by the association's Code of Conduct.
We are fully licensed travel agents members of FATTA and we following a Travel Agency Code Of Ethics.
4. Your Holiday Price
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We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays shown in our brochure/website. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.
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When you make your booking you must pay a deposit equivalent to 100% of the flight, transfer and any extra cost plus £1, however a higher deposit will be necessary if your booked accommodation requires an immediate full payment. The balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid at latest 42 days before your departure date. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit. The price of your travel arrangements is always calculated in GBP and may be quoted for reference only in EUR. The price is calculated using the exchange rates quoted in the latest available data on Open Exchange Rates in relation to the following currencies: GBP, EUR.
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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 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 £2 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 (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel: 1) you must do so within 14 days from the date on your final invoice 2) We will provide a refund of insurance premiums paid to us if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. 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.
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No charges are incurred on all debit and credit card payments. Card details are be encrypted and are handled by our financial institution and not stored by us.
5. 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 to be made 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 £10 per person, and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.
Note: Certain travel arrangements (e.g. flight tickets) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
6. 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. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay our standard cancellation charges, for the accommodation portion of your holiday, as follows:
Period before departure in which you notify us |
Cancellation charge |
More than 42 days |
The deposit paid on accommodation only |
More than 28 days |
50% of the accomodation cost |
More than 21 days |
70% of the accomodation cost |
More than 7 days |
90% of the accomodation cost |
7 days and less |
100% of the accomodation cost |
Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges. Should you require, please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any documents and confirmations which you would need to compile your insurance claim.
However, if upon booking you have clearly stated that the all or part thereof your booking is non-refundable, the cancellation fee is 100% of the cost.
For the remaining portion of your holiday such as flights and travel extras, the cancellation charge is 100% of the cost, as per the supplier's terms and conditions.
7. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
As we plan your holiday arrangements many months in advance we may occasionally have to make changes or cancel your booking and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Changes 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 of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In some cases we will also pay compensation (see below). These options don’t apply for minor changes. 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 or higher standard, changes of carriers. Please note that carriers such as airlines used in the brochure/website may be subject to change.
Cancellation
We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 2 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your holiday before this date if, e.g., the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached. If your holiday is cancelled you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).In some cases we will pay compensation (see below).
Compensation
If we have to cancel or make a significant change to your arrangements, we will give you the following choices:
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Accepting the changed arrangements as notified to you;
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Purchasing another holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally booked if available (with you paying or receiving a refund in respect of any price difference); or
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Cancelling or accepting the cancellation and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us.
You must notify us of your choice within 3 days of our offer. If you fail to do so we will assume that you have chosen to accept the alternative booking arrangements. If we make a significant change or cancellation less than 70 days before departure, we will also pay compensation as detailed below:
IF WE CANCEL OR MAKE A MAJOR CHANGE TO YOUR HOLIDAY
Period before departure in which we notify you Amount you will receive from us
More than 15 days £10
Less than 15 days £20
Force Majeure
We will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems with transport.
8. If You Have A Complaint
If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) and our resort representative immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at Flat 5, Sunset Court, Triq Raddet ir-Roti, St. Paul's Bay SPB 4111 Malta giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to our representative without delay and complete a report form whilst in resort. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract. Please also see clause 3 above on Code of Conduct.
9. Our Liability to You
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or 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. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of twice the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to
(a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and
(b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.
Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details will be publicised at EU airports and available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted.
NB this clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.
This brochure/website is our responsibility, as your tour operator. It is not issued on behalf of, and does not commit the airlines mentioned herein or any airline whose services are used in the course of your travel arrangements. Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation Orders in order to qualify for infant status, a child must be under 2 years of age on the date of its return flight.
13. Disabled and Less Mobile Passengers
If you or any member of your party have any disabilities, it is extremely important that we make the necessary arrangements to make your holiday go smoothly. We must therefore insist that you contact sending us a filled in checklist to our offices on info@choiceholidays.eu before completing any reservation to ensure compatibility for the holiday that you choose.