Expressbookers.co.uk

Agency Terms of Business

These are the agency terms of business ("Agency Terms of Business") on which we, www.expressbookers.co.uk, will process a booking for your travel requirements.

When processing your booking we will arrange for you to enter into a contract with the provider of the travel related service including, among others, airlines, hotels, accommodation providers, transfer providers and cruise companies ("Suppliers").

Importantly, your booking through us is subject to both these Agency Terms of Business (which define and explain our obligations to you and the role that we play) and the specific booking conditions of the relevant suppliers ("Booking Conditions" – which set out, amongst others, your rights in the event that something goes wrong with the travel related service you have booked).

You are advised to read both carefully prior to booking.

In completing your booking with us you are accepting both our Agency Terms of Business and the Booking Conditions.

You may decide to make one or more booking with us at the same time. Please note that irrespective of the various products you book, for example a flight booking or a hotel booking, each booking is a separate booking and your bookings, even though they may be linked to the same dates of travel, do not constitute a package as defined in the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Travel Regulations 1992 ("Package Travel Regulations 1992") nor the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) Regulations 1995, Amended 2003 ("ATOL Regulations").

The choice of search path through the website has no impact on the availability or pricing of product.

All bookings are purchased individually at their own individual price. The price charged in total for several bookings will always equal the simple sum of the prices charged for each individual booking.

Book your flights, accommodation & transfers with confidence

www.expressbookers.co.uk is a trading name of Travel Experts Limited and a member of ABTA under membership number Y4428. expressbookers.co.uk is not a tour operator. This means that we do not arrange or create combinations of travel products; we simply facilitate your connection to those who do provide or arrange travel products such as airlines hoteliers, transfer companies and cruise operators etc. Essentially we are an advanced search engine through which you can actually book any product which you have decided you want as a result of the web searches carried out through us.

For the avoidance of doubt, Travel Experts Limited operates a website and trade names, including www.expressbookers.co.uk, and has a call centre. All bookings are subject to these Agency Terms of Business, regardless of whether they were booked through the call centre or on the company website.

The General terms of business below also apply to all bookings.Thereafter, additional terms of business relating to specific types of bookings are set out.

General terms of business

Booking details

Please check that all names, dates and timings are correct on receipt of all documents and advise us of any errors immediately. Any changes to these details will incur the amendment fees stated below in addition to any charges applied by the Supplier. Please ensure that the names given are the same as in the relevant passport.

The booking information that you provide to us will be passed on only to the relevant Suppliers of your travel arrangements or other persons necessary for the provision of your travel arrangements. The information may therefore be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary and religious requirements. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit checking companies. If you are travelling to the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection will receive this information for the purposes of preventing and combating terrorism and other transnational serious crimes.

If you travel outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"), controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in the United Kingdom.

If we were not authorised to pass this information to the relevant Suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we would be unable to arrange you’re booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant parties.

Full details of our data protection policy are available upon request.

Payment

You will be required to pay a deposit or make full payment for your booking at the time of booking. Where you only pay a deposit you must pay the full balance by the balance due date notified to you. If full payment is not received by the balance due date, the balance will automatically be deducted from the card used to pay the deposit. If there are insufficient funds available we will notify the supplier who may cancel your booking and charge the cancellation fees set out in their Terms and Conditions, you are still liable for any cancellation fees charged.

It is important that you understand that payment at the time you are making your booking does not in itself mean that your booking is confirmed. Your booking is only confirmed when we send you our email confirmation of booking. Because we are making live reservations with suppliers we have to have the security that we have appropriate payment from you and hence your initial payment to us is your authority to us to confirm your booking with the supplier. If unexpectedly in the short time between your payment and us seeking to confirm your booking with the supplier the travel product has become unavailable and we cannot obtain an alternative acceptable to you, you will of course receive a complete refund of the money you have paid for that product. You must also understand that this refund will only apply to the product which is unavailable and any other bookings will not be affected, that is, you will be committed to any other products which were booked for travel at the same time.

Cancellation and Amendment

If you cancel or amend your booking the Supplier may charge the cancellation or amendment charge shown in their Booking Conditions (which may be 100% of the cost of the travel arrangements) and you must in addition pay us the cancellation or amendment charge stated below.

Insurance

Many Suppliers require you to take out travel insurance as a condition of booking with them as detailed in their Booking Conditions. In any event, we strongly advise that you take out a policy of insurance in order to cover you and your party against the cost of cancellation by you; the cost of assistance (including repatriation) in the event of accident or illness; loss of baggage and money; and other expenses. If we have arranged your policy please check it carefully to ensure that all the details are correct and that all relevant information has been provided by you (eg. pre-existing medical conditions). Failure to disclose relevant information will affect your insurance.

Delivery of documents

All documents (including invoices / tickets / insurance policies) will be sent to you by e-mail or by post. You can elect for delivery by other means subject to payment of an additional charge.

Passports, Visas and Health

Please visit www.fco.gov.uk for general information about the passport and visa requirements for your trip. 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. Neither we, nor the Supplier, accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date.

Some of our accommodation providers negotiate their low rates on the basis that residents of the country where the hotel stay is taking place, are not eligible to stay at that rate. In most circumstances, this does not apply to residents of EU countries staying in other EU countries. Problems seem to mainly occur, where non-EU passport holders are booked to stay in the country where the passport was issued. For example, Turkish nationals in Turkey, or Egyptian nationals in Egypt. If you think this may affect your booking, please ask our customer service team to confirm your booking will be accepted by the hotel, as resolution once you are abroad will be very difficult.

Please take special note that for all air travel within the United Kingdom, airlines require photographic identification of a specific type. Please check for any health formalities required for your trip, you should check with your own doctor for your specific circumstances.

Final travel arrangements

Please ensure that all your travel, passport, visa and insurance documents are in order and that you arrive in plenty of time for checking in at the airport.

Flights times, prices and data

Flight times shown are provisional and may be subject to change, as per the Principal's booking conditions. For all flight bookings please reconfirm your flight times 48 hours prior to departure as per the Principals/airline's instructions. This applies to outward and homeward journeys, as changes to flight times may be made during your time abroad. We cannot be held responsible for you missing flights if you have not followed these instructions. Tickets are generally issued by the Principal between ten days and two weeks prior to travel, however they reserve the right to issue documents on departure at the airport. You must contact us one week prior to departure if your travel documents have not been received or if you do not have a flight reference number for a ticket on departure booking. We will not be responsible for the loss of any items sent by post unless such loss is due to our negligence.

The flight information advertised comes from all the major UK and EU Principals and airlines. The data is scanned by a third party and regularly updated. Please be aware that some airlines do not maintain real time seat availability in the reservations system to which we connect. As agents for those Principals we are constrained by the information they provide. Seat availability and pricing is at the operator's discretion and is subject to availability. Prices can fluctuate.

Please note that in certain cases, flight providers may not provide full details of flight times and dates on our website. Where this is the case, our website will display an incomplete set of data. Customers should note that the inbound flights may take off in the early hours of the morning of the day following the date displayed. The flights are usually set up to allow for the full numbered nights booked to be spent in resort if an outbound flight lands late evening or early in the hours of the morning the inbound flight will take off the early hours of the morning at the end of your stay.

Every care is taken to ensure our online systems are up to date and correct. Please be aware however that as we use third party data, there may be occasions where the prices we show are incorrect or inaccurate. Please accept our apologies for any accidental misrepresentations on this website or other affiliated sites.

In flight meals, baggage allowance and charges

All airlines have a standard baggage allowance which is included in our online prices. Allowances differ significantly from airline to airline. The allowance you are entitled to will show in the booking conditions of your airline which are displayed at the bottom of this e-mail. Where you require extra luggage allowance this will have to be added to the booking and paid for.

Certain charter airlines and low cost (no frills flight) carriers consider hold baggage to be an optional extra. When you are booking with an airline that does make a charge for luggage it is not included or displayed in our head line prices and the option to add this extra facility will be offered to you after we have received your order request. Please note that all hold luggage charges are dependent on the price charged to us by the airline in question however the final price we will charge you is set by us and can vary. This will usually be between £4 and £22 per bag for each leg of the journey. The luggage allowance will be dictated by the airline in question and can again vary. Should you choose not to take any hold baggage on your trip then you will receive the standard hand baggage allowance as detailed in the airlines booking conditions. This will normally be between 5 and 10kg. Bags must be no larger than the dimensions allowed by the airline in question for carry on luggage. For further information please refer to the airline booking conditions at the bottom of this page. Our online prices do not include in-flight meals.

Please note where flight extras are added at the time of booking they cannot be removed, cancelled or refunded.

On line check in

Please note that some no frills airlines require you to check in online. Where applicable your paperwork includes instructions regarding the online check in procedure. Failure to check in online will result in check in fees at the airport which you will be liable to pay for.

No-Frills Flights

When we make a booking for you with certain low cost (no frills) airlines we do so as your agent. We will search the relevant airline database, and then, if you choose to buy, will purchase the flight seats on your behalf directly from the airline, using the card details you have provided. This confirms your contract with the airline. Where you have used a credit card to book this offers you protection under the Consumer Credit Act in the event of the airlines failure (most no frills carriers do not hold ATOL licences). In processing your payment you will see two separate transactions on your card statement one will be for the cost of your flights with the airline and the remainder will be your payment to Travel Experts Limited including our booking fees. As with all other principals we accept no responsibility for the acts or omissions of the no frills (low cost) carriers or for the services provided by them. Their terms and conditions will apply to your booking and you should familiarise yourself with these terms. You can view them by clicking the Booking Conditions link at the bottom of your booking summary. Please note that all no frills flight bookings are non-refundable.

When booking with certain charter airlines and low cost (no frills flight) carriers it is not unusual to find that they will make a separate charge to check in hold baggage. Where this charge is levied by the airline we will offer you the opportunity to add this optional extra to your booking. (Please refer to the in flight meals, baggage allowance and charges section of terms of business above).

No tickets will be issued for low cost flights and you will simply need your confirmation number, which will be emailed to you with your booking confirmation, along with your passport, to board the flight.

Scheduled Flights

Our website offers scheduled flights from all the major airlines. Please note that in certain cases these flights may be indirect and fly via other airports. The flight display will show the take off time from the departure airport and the landing time into the destination airport correctly. Where we are offering a scheduled flight with no stops, an icon will display on the list next to the flight to show that it is a direct flight. In all other cases the flight being offered will be an indirect flight. The full details of any flight stopovers will be made clear to you by our sales agents at your time of booking. Please note many scheduled flights are non amendable and refundable once booked. Where you have used a credit card to book this offers you protection under the Consumer Credit Act in the event of the airlines failure (Most scheduled carriers do not hold ATOL licences).

Multiple Airlines and Triangular flights

Where we book a multiple airline or Triangular flight on your behalf we will be making two separate flight bookings with two separate flight suppliers or at times the same flight supplier. One booking will be for the outbound leg of your flights and another for the inbound leg of your flights. These legs may operate from different inbound and outbound UK airports. When making a multiple airline or triangular flight booking the different UK airports will be displayed throughout the booking process and a multiple airline logo will be shown.

This means you will see two flight vouchers displayed on your paperwork, two flight references and at times two separate flight suppliers booking conditions. This does not affect your travel arrangements in any way and you simply use the correct voucher to check in for each leg of your journey.

In the rare event that a change is made by one of your flight suppliers to the outbound or inbound leg of your flight and you cannot find a suitable alternative so choose to cancel your booking, then you will be liable to pay any cancellation fees arising from the cancellation of any other services and flight legs associated with your booking.

Occasionally flight operators change the flight times and for that reason it is important that you confirm your flight times two days prior to departure.

For outbound flights, you can do this easily via the "Manage my booking" link on our website.

For inbound flights, it may be necessary to reconfirm your flight with the airline. Please check this in the correspondence received from your Supplier, including the Supplier’s Booking Conditions. You should take a note of any reference number or contact name when reconfirming. If you fail to reconfirm you may be refused permission to board the aircraft and you are unlikely to receive any refund.

We cannot accept responsibility in the event that you miss your flight if you do not confirm your flight times as described above.

Accommodation

Sometimes your accommodation provider may need to make a change. If you have already booked we will let you know as soon as we can, if there is time before your departure.

In the unlikely event that your accommodation provider has to make a major change or alteration to your booking, they will offer you the option of accepting the change or cancelling the booking and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us in connection with the accommodation booking.

Cruises

Sometimes your cruise provider may need to make a change. If you have already booked we will let you know as soon as we can, if there is time before your departure.

In the unlikely event that your cruise provider has to make a major change or alteration to your booking, they will offer you the option of accepting the change or cancelling the booking and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us in connection with the cruise booking

In resort transfers

Unless you have reserved a transfer separately, no flight or hotel booking includes a transfer. Please ensure that the hotel you have selected is accessible from the airport you have chosen to fly to. At times the hotel suppliers or airlines involved in your booking may offer a free or complimentary resort transfer. Express Bookers will pass on this offer to you however it forms no part of our contract with you and the provision, delivery and service standards of the transfers are the responsibility of the hotel provider and the 3rd party involved in their delivery. In the event of a difficulty with your transfers, we will do all we can to assist you to resolve the matter? Ultimately however the contract will be between yourself and the Principals.

General

We do not accept responsibility for any expenses or costs incurred by you as a result of the change and we do not accept responsibility for changes or cancellations that are due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, governmental action or accommodation ceasing to be available.

All bookings made, even if arranged at the same time, are separate and independent bookings. Where your Supplier initiates a change or cancellation to a booking, your ability to cancel or change any other bookings is not affected. For example, if your accommodation booking is changed or cancelled by your Supplier, the Booking Conditions of your flight booking (including cancellation charges) will still apply, and vice versa.

Website accuracy

We endeavour to ensure that the details of all products, including prices, displayed on our websites are accurate. However, given the high volume of flights, hotels and other products offered it is inevitable that, in exceptional cases, mistakes will arise. We cannot accept liability for these errors. This is because the information which you are shown is being transmitted effectively live from the relevant Supplier’s IT system.

Notwithstanding the above, in cases where details other than price are materially incorrect we will offer you the choice of continuing with your booking or cancelling with a full refund of money paid on that booking only.

Where inaccuracies relate to the understatement of the price of a specific product you will be offered either a full refund of money paid on that booking only or the opportunity to maintain that booking on receipt of the additional payment which is necessary.

We take reasonable care to ensure that the information published about each hotel, villa, apartment or river cruise is accurate. Facilities and amenities in accommodation may be temporarily unavailable for operational reasons. Where this happens we will do our best to advise you as soon as possible. We cannot accept liability for errors or omissions in the descriptions and images.

Complaints

We pride ourselves on delivering the highest standard of customer service but if you have any dissatisfaction regarding your travel arrangements they should be reported to the relevant Supplier or their local supplier or agent immediately. www.expressbookers.co.uk is an online booking agent and are not liable for any complaints as regards to services or standards provided by accommodation suppliers, hoteliers and or transport suppliers.

You must fill in a complaint form in your destination with the accommodation supplier, Hotel or transport supplier. The complaint form needs to be signed by both parties and a copy given to each party. If you are unable to resolve your concern please contact our customer services team who will try to assist you whilst you are in your destination.

If you fail to follow this procedure there will be less opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint. The amount of compensation you may be entitled to may be reduced or you may not receive any at all depending upon the circumstances.

If you wish to also make a formal complaint upon your return home then these should be addressed in writing to Customer Relations at Travel Experts Ltd. Enclosing a copy of the complaint form signed by both parties in your destination.

If the matter cannot be resolved and it involves us or another ABTA member then it can be referred to the arbitration scheme arranged by ABTA www.abta.com.

Limitation of liability

For the avoidance of doubt, your booking is directly with the Supplier and Travel Experts Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility for any aspect of your bookings or travel arrangements.

Specifically, we will not be liable for any act or omission by any person not employed directly by us and whilst we have chosen our Suppliers with care we have no control over our Suppliers and so cannot be held responsible for any action or omission of our Suppliers or their servants, agents or employees.

Moreover, we cannot be held responsible for any loss, damage or expense caused by strike, civil commotion, fire, war, threat of war, terrorist activity, National or nuclear disaster, late delivery, adverse weather conditions or other force majeure or relevant factor which may impact on the services or products of the Suppliers or of Expressbookers Ltd for any reason whatsoever.

In no circumstances shall we be liable for any consequential loss or damage.

In all cases the absolute maximum liability of Travel Experts Ltd is the total price paid by the customer for the specific bookings related to any given complaint.

Cancellation, amendment and other service charges

Please note these are our costs and do not include any charges applied by the Supplier as detailed in their Booking Conditions which will be payable in addition.

Cancellation

Charges will be levied by the principal or other supplier and you will be advised of these at the time of cancellation. In addition, Travel Experts LTD will also charge an administration fee. Details of charges are set out below.

Cancellations more than 3 months from departure date will result in a loss of deposit, any charges over this amount levied by the suppliers and our service fees of £30per person, unless you have chosen to book a holiday at a lower cost by paying in full at your time of booking in which case you will lose all monies paid.

Cancellations within 3 months of the departure date will result in the loss of all monies paid.

No-frills (low cost) flight bookings are non-refundable and cancellation will result in the loss of all monies paid.

If additional monies are due to us at the time of cancellation we reserve the right to collect the remainder of the monies due when you confirm your cancellation from the card used to pay the initial deposit. If this card fails and we hold other cards against your order we will also attempt to debit the outstanding amounts from these cards. If we cannot debit the increased cost to cancel your order the booking may remain active and you will be liable for the full remaining balance.

Please note any incorrect information on any documentation received from us must be brought to the attention of the Administration Department of Travel Experts LTD. If you book a hotel or flights online then corrections of any mistakes made in entering passenger titles, initials or surnames will be chargeable immediately the booking has been confirmed by the Principal. Charges will apply to correct any mistake, even if it is simply one letter, an initial or a title. For those booking children 2 years of age or above and entering 'Infant' as the title, the flight systems will automatically select 'Miss' or 'Master'. Where this is incorrect and you have not provided the correct information at the time of booking you will be required to pay amendment charges.

If your booking is in conjunction with a promotional offer linked to any other product or service and you cancel this product or service. The promotional offer is deemed as cancelled and any cancellations charges will still apply.

Amendments

Charges will be levied by the principal or other supplier and you will be advised of these at the time of amendment. In addition, Travel Experts LTD will also charge an administration fee. Details of charges are set out below

Should you wish to amend or change your booking, confirmation must be received in writing from the lead named passenger. Any such request will not take effect until received by us. We can not amend any bookings within 7 days of departure unless stated otherwise in writing from Expressbookers. Any amendments within 28 days will be subject to the airline or hotel suppliers terms and conditions. Major changes in response to a customer request. For example, different dates, flight times, hotel or airline - £30 per person administration fee.

Minor changes in response to a customer request. For example, adding baggage - £20 per person administration fee.

Jurisdiction

Your contract with Travel Experts Ltd will be governed by Isle of Man law.

Credit Card Fraud Protection

To ensure that your credit, debit or charge card is not being used without your consent, we will validate name, address and other personal information supplied by you during the order process against appropriate third party databases. By accepting these terms and conditions you consent to such checks being made. In performing these checks personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered Credit Reference Agency which may keep a record of that information. You can rest assured that this is done only to confirm your identity, that a credit check is not performed and that your credit rating will be unaffected. All information provided by you will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Accommodation and Transfer bookings

Payment on booking

When you make your booking a deposit is required. This is £25 per person. .

The balance of payment must be paid 28 days before your check-in date. If payment is not received by this date, we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled by you and cancellation charges will be due from you as set out above.

Please note that bookings for trade fairs, exhibitions and special events have to be paid in full at the time of booking.

We will advise you of any deposit level over £25 when you make the booking.

Booking confirmation

We will send a booking confirmation either immediately by automated e-mail. Please check it carefully and contact us immediately if it is incorrect, as it may not be possible to make changes later.

Accommodation vouchers

Vouchers will be sent by automated email, subject to full payment being received by Travel Experts LTD. The voucher will provide the address of your accommodation and a local office contact number. This should be handed in upon your arrival. Please take care of your voucher as failure to present it may result in your room being cancelled, or having to pay for your room again, or paying a higher price. No refunds for unused accommodation vouchers can be made, as they will be treated as cancellations.

Child Discounts

Any discounts are usually based on children sharing with two full paying adults. The costing shown will automatically advise you should discounts apply to the property you have chosen. The Hotel will usually ask for child ages. In both hotels and apartments, any room or board supplements are usually payable at the adult rate. If the child or children are older than the age given at the time of travelling the accommodation provider / airline will charge you the full rate payable directly to that supplier

Duration

Most accommodation is available on a nightly basis, although some accommodations require a minimum stay of 3 or even 7 nights. Our websites will identify these properties once a search has been made and highlight this information if deemed necessary.

Requests for accommodation

We will happily approach Suppliers to request accommodation, when not available from our wide range. We make no charge for this service.

Special requests

Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable request on to your Supplier, we are unable to guarantee that the request will be met.

What is included in the price?

Hotel and apartment prices shown our websites are shown, based upon the information you supply, inclusive of all taxes, service charges and the meal arrangements specified below.

RO - Room only - no meals

SC - Self-Catering - no meals, but cooking facilities are provided

BB - Bed & Breakfast - continental breakfast

HB - Half Board - continental breakfast and dinner

FB - Full Board - continental breakfast, lunch and dinner

AI - All Inclusive - continental breakfast, lunch, dinner and local branded beverages and soft drinks*

UAI – Ultra All Inclusive - continental breakfast, lunch, dinner and international branded beverages and soft drinks*

* Hotels may have varying levels of "All Inclusive" – please refer to the description listed under your chosen accommodation.

Gala Meals

Gala meals are provided at many hotels at Christmas and New Year and payment for them is usually compulsory. When you make your reservation with us the cost of any compulsory gala meals will be included in the price.

Star ratings

These are used to symbolise the overall quality and level of standards of each hotel, apartment, villa and cruise ships. Our ratings are based on criteria including the range of standard facilities, the quality of the furnishings, the quality and range of the food outlets, and the overall level of service. They range from 2 stars, where you can expect simple accommodation with limited facilities, to 5 star accommodations which are likely to have a full range of facilities of the highest standards. Our ratings may be different to official ratings as they vary significantly by country, and often within countries. Also, not all countries have rating systems. Where available the official rating of each property is shown with the description

Self catering inventory deposits

In some self-catering properties you will be required to leave an inventory deposit when you arrive, which will be returned to you at the end of your stay, less the cost of any losses or damage incurred.

Overseas accommodation

Overseas accommodation is usually subject to a tourist tax which will be payable locally. Check in / checkout times vary by property but as a rule, please use this guide:

Check in: 3pm

Check out: 11am

Rooms may be kept on later, to be agreed with the property direct, for an extra charge.

Airline bookings

The service we provide for you in respect of a booking directly with the specific airlines. These Agency Terms of Business and the Booking Conditions of the airline will apply to your booking. The Booking Conditions will be deemed to be incorporated into this contract.

Accuracy of website and prices

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that descriptions and prices are accurate at the time of publishing. All statements made by us are in the honest belief that those facts and opinions given are correct. However, subsequent changes, which are beyond our control, may occur. You must, therefore, ensure you check all details at the time of booking. Any material changes will be advised to customers as soon as they become known to us. Please note all duration times given are approximate.

We have no control over the accommodation, transfers, cruises and flights details and descriptions in relation thereto are for guidance only. We accept no liability for any inaccuracy in the information contained on our websites, which may be altered at any time without prior notice and also reserve the right to alter, amend or cancel any of the arrangements as shown on our website.

Fuel surcharge

Our Suppliers may impose a fuel surcharge of up to 7.5%, which we will advise you about as soon as we are informed. You will then have the option of paying the surcharge, or cancelling the booking and receiving a full refund.