8. Conditions of Carriage Transport of any kind is subject to the conditions of carriage of the company providing that trip. These conditions are likely to embody the provisions of the law of the country of the company concerned or are likely to be subject to international conventions with government(s), any of which may limit or exclude the liability of the carrier (airline, coach, ship, etc.). YOUR COMMITMENT TO US 1. Booking Form And Deposits Your completed booking form showing all clients’ names as specified in your passport, must be accompanied by the appropriate deposit. No deposit is payable for infants under two years of age at the time of outbound travel. The person signing the booking form confirms that he/she has the authority of all other persons mentioned on that form to make the booking on their behalf and that he/she has already accepted the General Conditions. If you are booking a late-offer holiday any information and conditions issued in conjunction with that offer are also part of your contract. If in doubt you should check with your Travel Agent. 2. Balance Of Payment The balance is due for payment eight weeks before departure for land tours & twelve weeks for cruise tours (can be earlier for certain tours, ask at time of booking), or immediately if the booking is made within eight weeks from departure. If you book through a Travel Agent, you should ensure that you pay the Agent in sufficient time to allow payments to reach our Company by the due date. If for any reason the balance is not received by us by the due date, we reserve the right to cancel bookings and levy a cancellation charge as though there has been a cancellation in accordance with paragraph 4. If your chosen travel agent fails to pay in full (less the applicable commission) to the Tour Operator, the tour operators will be under no legal obligation to supply you with your holiday, so it is up to you to ensure that your travel agent pays the Tour Operator! Payments by credit cards are not accepted. No payments by cheque will be accepted less than 14 days before departure. As a norm we do not accept credit card payments, but if we do, we will have to charge you an administrative fee of 2% over the amount to be paid. 3. If You Change Your Booking Your booking can be changed upon request and subject to availability (rebooking). This can be done until 60 days before date of travel at the rebooking fee applicable at the time. Should you wish to make a rebooking after 60 days before date of travel, then booking changes can only be made, if at all possible, by cancelling the travel contract under the conditions stated in 6.1 and rebooking. Any form of alteration made to the date of travel, destination or place of start, accommodation, the cabin or mode of transport is considered as a change. 3.1 Replacements Up to the date of travel i.e. taking into consideration a reasonable amount of time for organisational matters, you may demand that a third party takes over all rights and liabilities of your travel contract. O.C. reserves the right to decline the third party should he/she not meet the travel requirements or should there be legal restrictions or an official directive against his/her participation. Should a third party enter the contract then he/ she and you are liable as co-debtors for the travel fare and the additional costs caused by the third party entering. 3.2 Name Changes At the time of booking all passengers names need to be submitted to OTG. Names need to be congruent with the valid passengers’ passports. OTG reserves the right to pass on the relevant charges applicable at the time for name changes after the option is confirmed. 4. If You Cancel Your Booking You can cancel your contract at any time before date of travel. As means of proof, cancellations should be made in writing. Your cancellation notice is effective upon receipt by O.C. Should you cancel your booking or not commence the holiday, O.C. reserves the right to levy charges for made travel provisions and expenses incurred. When calculating the charges, O.C. takes into account the services saved and the possible other use of the services. O.C. may claim cancellation fees expressed as a percentage of the travel fare according to the amount of notice given between cancellation date and departure date, as listed below. Cancellation fees: Up to 340 days before: €100 per cabin 339 to 120 days: €1000 per cabin 119 to 90 days: 25% of the total fare or €1000 per cabin (whichever is higher) 89 to 60 days: 50% of the total fare or €1000 (whichever is higher) 59 to 30 days: 75% of the total fare or €1000 (whichever is higher) 29 days or less: 100% of the total fare or €1000 (whichever is higher) *or applicable deposit amount per person (2 years of age and over) whichever is the greater. Cruises bear a 100% cancellation fee if cancelled
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less than 90 days prior to departure. If cruises are cancelled more than 90 days prior to departure only the deposit is lost, unless the cancellation is made more than 180 days before departure in which case no cancellation fees apply. On scheduled service and charter flights, sea passages and coach transportation, the amount of cancellation charge shown above applies only in the event that any air tickets issued are returned to the Tour Operator, otherwise a 100% cancellation charge shown above applies. If the reason for your cancellation falls within the terms of your insurance cover, you may be able to claim a refund of your cancellation charges from the insurance company. In case of actual or potential outbreaks of Bird Flu, SARS, Swine Flu etc, or natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, etc., or political turmoil, terrorist activities, act of war in a neighbouring country, industrial action, etc., clients will not have a right to cancel their holiday without incurring full cancellation fees as specified in these General Conditions unless either the country that is at risk or hit issues an official state of emergency for the area to which the Client is travelling, or the Maltese Foreign Office issues instructions that disallow Maltese citizens to travel to a particular country or area of a country. In case that a trip (or part of a trip) has to be cancelled for the above reasons, the Tour Operator will try its very best to recuperate all the funds possible on behalf of its Clients, but the Clients cannot hold the Tour Operator responsible for parts of the funds or of the holiday lost as a consequence of the above acts. 5. Your Holiday Insurance We highly recommend that you take out for yourself and those for whom you book our recommended holiday insurance or that you arrange a policy yourself giving comparable or better cover under all sections. 6. Your Responsibilities a) It is your responsibility to ensure that you and those for whom you are booking are in possession of valid passports which are valid for at least six months after your scheduled date of return to Malta and any appropriate visas. Be sure to check passport and visa requirements with your Travel Agent well in advance particularly if you are a non-Maltese passport holder. Maltese nationals need visas for travel to a number of countries including the USA, Brazil, China, Egypt, Turkey and Russia and it is up the each Client to take care of his / her own visa for countries having such requirements. Should a visa not be issued, or withdrawn after issuance, or should a country refuse entry to a client for any reason (including invalidity of passport), the Tour Operator and, or his suppliers / subcontractors cannot be held responsible for damages or for partial or full loss of the holiday and any financial consequences will have to be borne by the Client. You are responsible for any charges, fines etc. that may be levied by authorities in Malta or overseas for non-compliance of regulations in this area and any such amounts will be recharged to you. b) Similarly, it is your responsibility to check with your doctor as to what vaccinations or inoculations are advisable for your chosen destination. c) Airline regulations state that women 28 weeks or more into pregnancy at the time of return travel must have a medical certificate of fitness to travel. d) You must be responsible for a reasonable standard of behaviour by yourself and by those for whom you have booked. We reserve the right to decline to accept or retain any person as a client if their behaviour is, in our opinion, or in the opinion of the airline pilot, hotelier or accommodation owner or manager or other person in authority, likely to cause distress, danger, damage or annoyance to other customers, employees, other people or to property. You understand that we shall be under no liability to pay any refund or compensation to, or costs incurred by, any person whose behaviour is thus unacceptable. 7. If You Have A Complaint We do our best to give you an enjoyable, trouble-free holiday, but occasionally even the best laid plans can go wrong. If you have a problem or complaint relating to the overseas part of your holiday you must advise in writing our tour leader, representative or agent in your resort at the earliest opportunity in order that it may be investigated and we have the opportunity to resolve the matter on the spot. In addition, you must notify us in writing within seven days (7) of the date of your return from your holiday. Because of the difficulties of investigating a complaint too long after the event, we will not accept liability in respect of claims received after the seven day period, and/or which have not been reported in writing to our representative or the supplier in resort. 8. Jurisdiction and Choice of Law The relationship between O.T.G. and the passenger shall be governed exclusively by Maltese Law and the Courts of Malta shall enjoy exclusive jurisdiction in relation thereto.