Booking Conditions

Booking Conditions

1. PAYMENTS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY

Reservations may be made by telephone, the website or a completed and signed booking form sent in the post or by fax. This can be confirmed by card payment over the phone, or will be held for one week, pending receipt of your deposit per person of:

• £150 for all tours under £1000
• £500 for all other tours costing up to £3000
• £750 for all tours costing over £3001 (except Cruises)
• £1,500 for Cruises

NB: The contract between us comes into existence when we send out our confirmation invoice which confirms your booking. You undertake to pay for the holiday you have booked and we undertake to provide you with the holiday we describe in the brochure. Please check details on your confirmation invoice including notes on the reverse, and notify us of any errors within 14 days. If you make a booking on behalf of others as well as yourself, we shall take it that you have the authority of each of those other people to enter into the contract on the basis of these booking conditions and that you and they have agreed to be jointly and severally liable to us. If we are unable to accept your booking, we will of course return your payment to you immediately. The balance payment for all tours is due 12 weeks before departure (except for cruises which are 85 days before departure). If you are making your booking within 7 days of the balance due date, full payment will be necessary immediately. Post-dated cheques are not acceptable nor will we keep records of credit or debit cards to take payment at the due date. Arblaster & Clarke reserves the right to cancel any booking for which full payment has not been received on the due date, and to levy cancellation charges as set out in clause 4 below. Unless otherwise stated, the tour price without flights excludes international flights. We offer some tours where we are unable to book group flights and instead have to book published online fares. As availability and prices of these flights can change significantly, we aim to book them as soon as possible after the tour becomes viable. We will require confirmation that you are still committed to the tour before purchasing these for you as the tickets are non-changeable and non-refundable.

2. INSURANCE

It is a condition of booking that all travellers be covered by comprehensive travel insurance and do not travel against medical advice. You should organise it immediately after you book so as to be covered in case of the ill health of yourself, a close relative or your travelling companion. We do not check insurance policies; however we request written details (insurer’s name, policy number and emergency contact number) no later than 4 weeks prior to departure. You are responsible for indemnifying us in full in the event that we incur any losses or expenses arising out of your failure to take out adequate insurance cover.

3. IF YOU WISH TO MAKE ANY CHANGES

to our advertised or your confirmed holiday arrangements, we will do our best to accommodate you but this cannot be guaranteed. Any change is subject to availability and also to payment of an administration fee of up to £50 per person and any associated costs of the change imposed by our suppliers. You should note that airlines may treat a change as a cancellation and create a new booking, charging a 100% cancellation fee.

4. IF YOU HAVE TO CANCEL

We must be informed in a letter/fax/email from the person who made the booking. The cancellation takes effect from the date at which the notification reaches our office. You may not transfer your deposit to another tour. Your deposit paid to Arblaster & Clarke will be forfeited together with any additional travel arrangements and any flight costs which have been invoiced as referred to in clause 1. A further charge will be made which varies with the amount of time between Arblaster & Clarke receiving your written cancellation and the tour departure date. The charges made for our tours are as follows:

Cancellation charges payable to Arblaster & Clarke are calculated on time prior to departure as follows:
Up to 84 days: Deposit*
• Up to 84 days before departure date: deposit
• 83 – 68 days before departure date: 35% of tour cost
• 67 – 56 days before departure date: 55% of tour cost
• 55 – 35 days before departure date: 75% of tour cost
• 34 days before departure date: 100% of tour cost.
Penalties are also levied on the single supplement. Insurance is recommended.

If you are on a cruise, cancellation terms are:
Up to 85 days: Deposit*
83 – 56 days: 75% of tour cost
55 – 41 days: 90% of tour cost
40 days or less to date of departure: 100% of tour cost.
*plus any invoiced flight costs

5. TRANSFER OF BOOKINGS

If you are unavoidably prevented from taking your holiday you may (as long as this is not less than 30 days before departure), find another person to take your place. This right of transfer is subject to a fee of £50 per person. You and the transferee shall be liable to Arblaster & Clarke for the payment of the balance, together with any additional charges imposed by the suppliers providing the component parts of your holiday. You are not permitted to transfer your booking to another tour.

6. IF WE HAVE TO ALTER

Although it is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, the tour itinerary, or Wine Guide or Tour Manager, we reserve the right to do so because we plan many months in advance. Where a change is a minor change, such as a change to your tour manager or a wine visit change, we will, if practical, advise you before departure, but we are not obliged to do so. When a change is a significant change (defined as an alteration to your flight time by more than 12 hours, or a change to a lower standard of accommodation for the whole or a major part of your holiday, or a change to the general wine region advertised for a major part of your holiday), we will advise you as soon as is reasonably possible if there is time to do so before departure. You may then either accept the change, or take an alternative holiday (paying or receiving a refund / credit in respect of any price difference), or withdraw and accept a full refund. In addition, in appropriate cases, we will pay compensation in accordance with the table in clause 7 (on the assumption that the full balance has been paid) subject to the exclusion referred to in clause 7. In the unlikely event that we become unable to provide a significant proportion of your trip after you depart, we will make alternative arrangements for you to continue the trip at no extra charge, or, if this is impossible, or you do not accept these alternative arrangements for a good reason, we will provide you with transport back to your point of departure. In addition, if appropriate, we will pay you compensation of an amount which is reasonable taking into account all the circumstances. Compensation will not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases where we are unable to provide your contracted holiday services as a result of force majeure (See clause 8).

7. IF ARBLASTER & CLARKE HAS TO CANCEL

your holiday before the date of departure, you will have the choice of taking an alternative holiday (paying or receiving a refund/credit in respect of any price difference) or accepting a full refund of all monies paid. In addition, in appropriate cases, and subject to the following exceptions, we will pay you compensation as set out below. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the choices referred to in this clause and clause 6 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 of under-booking or (3) the change is not significant. Under-booking is the situation in which the minimum number of bookings required to run a tour is not met. We will notify you no later than 70 days before departure (or 85 days for cruises) where this is the case. We are not liable to pay you any additional travel or any other costs, expenses or losses which you incur as a result of any change or cancellation by us (such as for connecting flights or other travel arrangements), or for any insurance premiums.

PERIOD BEFORE DEPARTURE WITHIN WHICH A MAJOR CHANGE OR CANCELLATION IS NOTIFIED TO YOU: COMPENSATION PER PERSON PER BOOKING (ON TOP OF FULL REFUND)
More than 21 days Nil
8 – 21 days £50
7 days or less £75
The above sets out the maximum extent of our liability under this clause and we regret we cannot meet any expenses or losses you may incur as a result of inconvenience suffered.

8. FORCE MAJEURE

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of “force majeure”. In these 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, whether actual or threatened, war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.

9. PASSPORTS AND VISAS

All travellers are responsible for ensuring that they have a valid passport (NB some countries require a passport valid for 3-6 months after travel). We require full passport details no later than 4 weeks prior to departure for airline bookings. We will advise British citizens with a British passport if a visa is required in our brochure and on our website. A visa might not be issued if the passport is valid for less than six months after the date of your return. It is therefore very important to check and renew your passport in good time. We will advise British citizens holding a British passport of the current situation with regard to obtaining a visa for the country you visit. For some countries the process and rules can change without warning, but we are very experienced in adapting and continuing with visa procurement where group visas are required. For those tours where it is necessary for you to visit the embassy in person, we will use all reasonable efforts to assist British citizens who hold a British passport to get a visa. However, obtaining one is your responsibility and not part of our contract. You will need to pay all costs incurred in applying for or obtaining a visa. We cannot be held responsible for any changes in the visa process or for any refusal or failure of any country’s authorities to grant a visa to any individual. If you cannot obtain a visa and have to cancel as a result, we regret cancellation charges as set out in our booking conditions will apply. If you are not a British citizen with a British passport, you are responsible for making sure that you aware of and have the relevant documentation. Please contact the embassy concerned. For all clients, all passports, visas, travel insurance and health certificate requirements are your responsibility. Arblaster & Clarke accept no responsibility for any delay or expense incurred through any irregularity in your documents. For regular updates on visa requirements or any travel or safety advice for British Citizens planning to travel overseas, see the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) website: www.fco-gov.uk which you should visit before making a final decision regarding your destination.

10. COMPLAINTS

In respect of matters arising during the holiday must be reported to the tour manager or wine guide immediately so that any problem may be remedied on the spot. Our priority is to give you an enjoyable holiday, and we strive very hard to do so. However, if the tour manager or wine guide is unable to help, and you still have a complaint, you should put it in writing at the time and then send it to us within 30 days of your return. Failure to take these steps may hinder our ability to resolve the problem and/or investigate it fully and in consequence, your rights under the contract may be affected. We regret we cannot accept liability for any claims which are not notified to ourselves and/or our suppliers strictly in accordance with this clause. If you are ill whilst on holiday, report your illness to our representative, consult a local doctor and also consult your GP on return to the UK. Should you then wish to make a claim against us as a result of that illness you must provide us with details of both the local doctor whom you saw, and your GP, together with written authority for us to obtain a medical report from both those doctors.

11. ARBITRATION

If you have a dispute with Arblaster & Clarke which you are unable to resolve, you may call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute Settlement Service (details on request). Claims which exceed £2,500 per person or £10,000 per booking, or claims in respect of illness or physical injury are not admissible under the service. The costs under this scheme, should the award go against you, are minimal compared with those in a court of law. If, despite our best efforts and having followed the above procedure for reporting and resolving your complaint, you feel that it has not been satisfactorily settled, we recommend that it is referred for arbitration under the ABTOT Travel Industry Arbitration Service. An Independent Arbitrator will review the documents relating to any complaint and deliver a binding decision to bring the matter to a close. Details of this scheme are available from The Travel Industry Arbitration Service, administered by Dispute Settlement Services Ltd at 9 Savill Road, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 2NY or from ABTOT, 117 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7BT. This scheme cannot however decide in cases where the sums claimed exceed £1,500 per person or £7,500 per booking form, or for claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness or the consequence thereof.

12. SPECIAL REQUESTS

If you have any special requests, please inform us of these in writing at the time of booking. We will advise the relevant suppliers but cannot guarantee that they will be met. Furthermore, Arblaster & Clarke has no liability to you if such requirements are not met. 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.

13. CLIENT BEHAVIOUR

When you book a holiday with Arblaster & Clarke you accept responsibility for the proper conduct of your party. Arblaster & Clarke reserves the right in its reasonable discretion to terminate the holiday of any member of your party whose conduct is disruptive or detrimental to the enjoyment of other clients, or whose conduct may prejudice the reputation of Arblaster & Clarke with our suppliers or hotel owners. In that situation, Arblaster & Clarke shall have no further responsibility or liability to you. The departure of a coach, ship or train will not be delayed for passengers who are not on board by the stated departure time.

14. YOU MUST BE FIT AND WELL

to take part on one of our tours. Many of our programmes involve a great deal of walking. We rely on your assessment of your own ability to participate in a tour. If you have any reservations regarding your fitness for a trip, please ring us. Under no circumstances should you travel if your doctor has or would advise against it. If you are infirm, disabled or unfit in any way or have any medical condition which will or may affect your tour arrangements, it is imperative that you inform Arblaster & Clarke so that we may give you advice as some of the tours would be very unsuitable or even dangerous for you. If you know that you need help, you should bring a helper with you, whose participation is subject to availability and the full tour price. Arblaster & Clarke reserves the right to refuse to take participants who have not provided all relevant details of any medical condition, disability, infirmity or other factors which affect your ability to fully participate in the holiday at the time of booking or as soon as any such condition etc. develops, if later. Bookings are accepted on the understanding that they appreciate the possible risk inherent in travel and that they undertake the tours or walks featured in our brochure, on that basis. It should also be noted that as we travel outside of Europe, the general levels of comfort and services are lower than would be found in the UK and the EU. It is essential that you understand the nature of the trips we offer and that you are able to participate in all the activities included in your chosen itinerary.

15. BROCHURE ACCURACY

Arblaster & Clarke reserves the right to change any of the prices, services or other particulars contained in this brochure at any time before we enter into a contract with you. If there is any significant change, we will notify you before you enter into such contract. All information is given in good faith and believed correct at the time of printing. Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, occasional errors do occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances; you must therefore check your holiday details carefully prior to making your booking.

16. FLIGHTS, FERRIES and TRAINS

In some cases a return flight at a later date can be arranged if this is requested at the time of booking (see clause 3 for administration charge for any such changes). The majority of flights are scheduled and at the time of going to press these are not confirmed. In accordance with EU regulations we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by listing carriers to be used or likely to be used as follows: Aerolineas Argentinas, American Airlines, Aegean Airlines, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Easyjet, Iberia, LAN, South African Airways, TAP, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways.

We will confirm the actual carrier for your holiday at the time of booking or, if not known at this stage, as soon as we become aware of this. Please note the existence of a “Community list” (available for inspection at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/list_en.htm) detailing air carriers that are subject to an operating ban with the EU Community. If the carrier with whom you have a confirmed reservation becomes subject to an operating ban as a result of which we/ the carrier are unable to offer you a suitable alternative clause 7 will apply. See also clause 19.

IMPORTANT: Customers booking their own flights should not do so until Arblaster & Clarke has confirmed the holiday will operate (at the latest 70 days before departure, or 85 days for Cruises) as all group tours are subject to a minimum number of bookings being achieved and are responsible for their own transport to / from the airport.

17. FLIGHT & OTHER TRAVEL DELAY & CANCELLATION

There is no guarantee that flights, trains or ferries will depart at the time specified, and Arblaster & Clarke does not have any liability to you for any delay. In the event of a delay or cancellation at your point of departure, the airline is responsible for providing assistance (Denied Boarding Regulations -(see clause 18 below). In this situation, where you have booked your flights with us, we will endeavour to provide you with as much information and general assistance as we are able to in the circumstances. However, please bear in mind that we will be reliant on the airline concerned for information and this can be limited and/or take time to obtain. Depending on your location and the means available for communication with you, it can also be difficult to get information through to you quickly. The following is a general summary of the position where you have booked your flights with Arblaster & Clarke depending on when a flight delay or cancellation occurs. A similar situation will apply where delay or cancellation affects other forms of transport. 1. If you have yet to depart the UK on your holiday, we would continue with our plans until the flight is cancelled with no suitable alternative flight being offered by the airline. At that point, if we considered it impossible to find a reasonable alternative form of transport, we would cancel the holiday and refund you all holiday payments. Please also see clause 6 above. 2. If you suffer a significant delay in returning home from a tour because your scheduled flight is delayed or cancelled, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure, that you are accommodated overnight and will pay (if the airline does not) for the first night and supper of your extra stay. Please remember though that the airline will usually be responsible for arranging this accommodation. Accommodation depends on local availability and the expected length of any delay. Where necessary, we would also rebook you, or offer to rebook you, onto the next available flight with the airline on the same fare basis as the original package (usually economy class). 3. Where any delay in returning home lasts for longer than 24 hours, the airline should continue to meet your accommodation and reasonable meal expenses. This will be the case where the airline is an EU carrier or was due to depart from an EU airport. They may, however, require you to stay at the accommodation and take the meal arrangements they provide. We regret we cannot meet such expenses where the airline does not do so, or where you choose not to accept the arrangements offered. 4. In exceptional circumstances, there may be such a lengthy delay in securing a return flight to the UK that it may be appropriate to consider alternative means of returning home. This will, however, depend on a number of factors including your location at the time and the practical viability of different arrangements including availability and travel time. For many overseas destinations, the only practical option will be a flight even where this involves a considerable wait. 5. Should either individuals or the whole party wish to find a way to return earlier at their own expense, either by rebooking on an upgrade with the airline or by organising overland travel or in any other fashion, Arblaster & Clarke and/or its local agents will provide whatever assistance it reasonably can in the prevailing circumstances. All expenses involved in doing so will be your responsibility.

18. DENIED BOARDING REGULATIONS

If your flight is cancelled or delayed, your flight ticket is downgraded or boarding is denied by your airline, depending on the circumstances, the airline may be required to pay you compensation, refund the cost of your flight and/or provide you with accommodation and/or refreshments under EC Regulation No 261/2004. The Denied Boarding Regulations apply where the airline is an EU carrier or the affected flight was due to depart from an airport within the EU. Where applicable, you must pursue the airline for the compensation or other payment due to you. These represent the full amount of your entitlement to compensation. This includes distress, disappointment, inconvenience or effects on other arrangements. We have no liability to make any payment to you in relation to the Denied Boarding Regulations or in respect of any flight cancellation or delay, downgrading of any flight ticket or denial of any boarding. If, for any reason, we make a payment to you or a third party which the airline is responsible for in accordance with the Denied Boarding Regulations, you must, when requested, assign to us the rights you have or had to claim the payment in question from the airline. If your airline does not comply with these rules you may complain to the Civil Aviation Authority on 020 7453 6888 or by e-mail to passengercomplaints@caa.co.uk or see www.caa.co.uk – Referring Your Complaint to the CAA.

19. SUPPLIERS’ CONDITIONS

Transport and other suppliers have their own booking conditions or conditions of carriage, and you will be bound by these as far as the relevant transport provider is concerned. Some of these conditions may limit or exclude liability on the part of the relevant provider and they are often also subject to international conventions. Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.

20. MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

Although we will of course advise you about health formalities for your tour (British citizens with a British passport), it is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of all recommended vaccinations and health precautions in good time before departure. Check with your doctor or with the National Travel Health Network and Centre www.nathnac.org. If you are a national of an EC country and are taking a European tour, you should take your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) available from main Post Offices or online. It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain all necessary inoculations, take all necessary medication and follow all medical advice in relation to your holiday (and travel with it in hand luggage). Should you be taken ill whilst on tour we will endeavour to arrange for professional medical care as appropriate and as quickly as practically possible and, where necessary inform your travel insurers. Please ensure that you provide us with your next of kin details so that we can make arrangements for them to be contacted in an emergency. Please note that all costs incurred by the company in providing this assistance, including payment for any transport and telephone calls must be reimbursed to the company. A receipt will be issued so that you can present this to your travel insurers.

21. LIABILITY

(1) We will accept responsibility for the arrangements we agree to provide or arrange for you as an “organiser” under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 as set out below. Subject to these booking conditions, if we or our suppliers negligently perform or arrange the services which we are obliged to provide for you under our contract with you, as set out on your confirmation invoice, we will pay you reasonable compensation. The level of such compensation will be calculated taking into consideration all relevant factors such as but not limited to: following the complaints procedure as described in these conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees’ or suppliers’ negligence affected the overall enjoyment of your holiday. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us. You should be aware that standards of, for example, safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout the transport and destinations that your holiday may involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK but this does not necessarily mean that they have been provided negligently. The services and facilities included in your holiday will not be provided negligently if they comply with the applicable local regulations.

(2) We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:

(a) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party;

(b) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; –

(c) unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond ours or our supplier(s) control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or

(d) an event which either ourselves or suppliers could not, even with all due care, have foreseen or forestalled.

(3) We limit the amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause:

(a) loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions and money:

The maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is an amount equivalent to the excess on your insurance policy which applies to this type of loss per person in total because you are assumed to have adequate insurance in place to cover any losses of this kind.

(b) Claims not falling under (a) above and which don’t involve injury, illness or death:

The maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is twice the price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you or your party has not received any benefit at all from your booking.

(c) Claims in respect of international travel by air, sea and rail, or any stay in a hotel:

(i) The extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we were carriers under the appropriate Conventions, which include The Warsaw/Montreal Convention (international travel by air); The Athens Convention (with respect to sea travel); The Berne/Cotif Convention (with respect to rail travel) and The Paris Convention (with respect to hotel arrangements). You can ask for copies of these Conventions from our offices. Please contact us. In addition, you agree that the operating carrier or transport company’s own ‘Conditions of Carriage’ will apply to you on that journey. When arranging transportation for you, we rely on the terms and conditions contained within these international conventions and those ‘Conditions of Carriage’. You acknowledge that all of the terms and conditions contained in those ‘Conditions of Carriage’ form part of your contract with us, as well as with the transport company and that those ‘Conditions of Carriage’ shall be deemed to be included by reference into this contract.

(ii) In any circumstances in which a carrier is liable to you by virtue of the Denied Boarding Regulation 2004, any liability we may have to you under our contract with you, arising out of the same facts, is limited to the remedies provided under the Regulation as if (for this purpose only) we were a carrier.

(iii) 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.

(4) It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to ourselves and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these conditions.

(5) Where any payment is made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or guardian if under 18 years) must also assign to ourselves or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.

(6) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description: (a) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you; or (b) relate to any business.

(7) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised in our brochure. For example any excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you.

22. EXCURSIONS

Our local contacts may, at your request, make arrangements for excursions locally on your behalf. However, please note that 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, activity or tour you book whilst on holiday, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion, activity or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion, activity or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.

23. DATA PROTECTION

Except where expressly permitted by the Data Protection Act, we will only deal with the personal details you give us in order to provide your holiday arrangements, unless you agree otherwise. For example, if we wish to use any of your personal details for marketing purposes beyond our own or for those of other Specialist Tours’ subsidiaries, we will tell you this when we ask for your details and give you the opportunity to say no if you do not wish us to do so. If you make special requests, which include, but are not limited to special dietary, religious or disability related requirements which constitute sensitive information, the relevant data will be passed to the relevant suppliers and carriers to enable provision of the services requested by you. At the request of many of our guests who travel with us regularly, we keep a note of these details rather than ask that this information is supplied again (all notes are automatically deleted if you have not travelled with us for three years or more).

24. WEBSITE

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of our website and brochure, details may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday. You should not assume that details shown on our website match those shown in our brochure. Please check all details of your holiday at the time of booking.

This website is protected by secure SSL encryption. We do not save your credit card details nor do we process them on our servers, these are safely processed for you and held by the payment providers.

25. GUIDES & TOUR MANAGERS

All tours are accompanied by a wine guide. For tours with more than 15 guests a Tour Manager will also accompany the tour. For tours with fewer than 16 guests, Arblaster & Clarke reserves the right not to send a Tour Manager. Some tours will also be accompanied by a Local Guide as required by law.

26. YOUR CONTRACT

With us and any matters arising from it shall be subject to English law and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of England and Wales. If you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, the Courts of Scotland or Northern Ireland can deal with any disputes.

27. FINANCIAL PROTECTION

Many of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays in the brochure and on the website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed in this brochure and on our website. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected.

When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL 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.

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment of benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees 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 ATOL scheme. Please see our booking conditions for information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLCertificate – Flight inclusive tours. We hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence issued by the CAA (ATOL No. 3552). We, or the suppliers of the services you have bought, will provide you with the services you have bought (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). Not all holiday or travel services offered and sold by us will be protected by the ATOL scheme. Tours without flights arranged by us Non-air packages are protected by ABTOT. This arrangement means your money will be refunded or you will be brought back to the UK (where your contracted holiday arrangements include return travel to the UK) if already abroad in the unlikely event of our being unable to provide your holiday due to our insolvency.

28. PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

Arblaster & Clarke Ltd reserves the right to use any photographs, images or video taken on a tour or tour-related occasion by its employees, or forwarded by any person on the tour or connected to the tour, in its brochure, on its website, in its social media marketing activities or for use in any other relevant promotional material.

Please note: We are committed to the on-going training of our staff and this may involve the recording of telephone conversations.

Last revised January 2018.

Data Protection
In order to enable us to process and fulfil your booking, we will ask you to provide us with personal information including, but not limited to, name, address, email address, telephone number, details of group members that are travelling, we well as any special needs, health, medical, mobility or dietary requirements. Arblaster & Clarke Ltd is the data controller of any personal information that you provide to us under the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act 2018.

In order to ensure that your holiday is appropriate for your specific needs that you have disclosed to us, for example, a medical condition or reduced mobility, we or the suppliers of your travel arrangements may require further details. We will ask for your explicit consent to collect and share this information as necessary with the suppliers of your travel arrangements in order to fulfil your booking.

We may pass personal information that you provide to us (including health and mobility information as explained above) on to relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies and local tour operators and destination management companies as necessary to fulfil your contract with us.

If you travel outside the European Economic Area (EEA), your personal information may have to be sent to suppliers and other third parties outside the EEA where controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. This may also apply to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any health issues, disabilities or reduced mobility. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we cannot properly effect your booking. We will ensure that adequate safeguards are in place before transferring any of your personal information outside of the EEA.

For other details of how we may use your personal information and your rights in relation to your personal information, please see our see our Privacy Policy: https://www.arblasterandclarke.com/privacy-policy/ for further details.

Promotional Material
Arblaster & Clarke Ltd reserves the right to use any photographs and images for Legitimate Interest to promote future holidays taken on a holiday by its employees or forwarded by any person on the holiday or connected to the holiday, on its website, in its social network marketing activities or for use in any other relevant promotional material. Should you wish not to be included in any photographs or videos, please inform a member of staff prior to holiday departure.