The conditions set out below together with the relevant brochure & Website (www.jmb-travel.co.uk) descriptions will form part of the contract between you and everyone else named in the booking form added subsequently (“you”) and JMB Travel Consultants Limited of Eagle Tower, Montpellier Drive, Cheltenham GL50 1TA (“us”).
1.To make a booking
A deposit is required (amount as stated on your quotation or invoice) for all departures. (NB: For Late Bookings, see paragraph 2 below). On receipt of your deposit we will send you a confirmation and invoice. The contract between us is made when we take your deposit and issue the confirmation and invoice. We will do our best to comply with any special requests but cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The balance of your holiday price must be paid at least eight weeks before departure, otherwise we may cancel your holiday and levy the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 11 below. The person signing does so on behalf of the entire party and he or she is primarily responsible for all payments. The charge of 2.5% which is made by the relevant Credit Card Company will be levied on all credit card transactions for the payment of your holiday.
2. Late Bookings
If you book less than eight weeks before departure, we will do our best to accept your late booking, but please be warned that we usually have to release surplus accommodation and seats back to hotels and airlines eight weeks before departure. It is not always possible to get back on the same basis what we have released. If we are able to accept your late booking, we will confirm it on the phone and ask you to send full payment with your booking form immediately. Cancellation by you after confirmation will incur the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 11 below.
3. Holiday Price
Your holiday price and what it includes are clearly set out in the brochure for each individual quoted holiday. The prices are based on quotations and estimates received from airlines, hotels and handling agents and closing exchange published rates in the Financial Times on 3rd September 2012. Currency, flight and other costs associated with your holiday are susceptible to change and currency exchange rates can fluctuate sharply. We are obliged, therefore, to reserve our right to levy a surcharge in respect of transportation costs, the cost of fuel, airport charges, governmental action or currency fluctuation. In the unlikely event that there is a surcharge we will absorb an amount to 2% of the total holiday cost, excluding the insurance premium and any amendment charges. We promise never to impose a surcharge less than thirty days before you depart.
4. Our Responsibilities to you
We accept liability if any of the services we are contractually obliged to provide prove deficient and not of a reasonable standard or if you suffer personal injury or death as a result of any of the services or facilities we arrange for you UNLESS the deficiency, lack of reasonable standard, personal injury or death is not attributable to us, nor to the fault of our suppliers, but is attributable to your fault, to the actions of someone unconnected with your holiday or to any unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control which neither we nor our suppliers could have anticipated or avoided even exercising all due care. Except in cases of personal injury or death, the maximum compensation we will pay you for a deficiency or lack of reasonable standard (“a deficiency”) is a full refund of the holiday price, together with reimbursement of any expenses that you are obliged to incur because of the deficiency and 50% of the holiday price per person affected by the deficiency. Our assessment of the reasonable compensation to which you are entitled will depend upon the circumstances of your particular case. The conditions of carriage of any airline or other transportation company providing a component of your holiday arrangements are incorporated into this contract. Please note that if you suffer death or personal injury in the course of air, sea or rail travel or in connection with hotel accommodation, the amount of compensation you will receive is limited by certain International Conventions. These are the Warsaw Convention, as amended by the Hague Protocol 1955 (air), the Berne Convention 1961 (rail), the Athens Convention 1974 (sea) and the Paris Convention 1962 (hotels). If you wish to see copies of these Conventions please write to us allowing 28 days for a reply. We cannot accept liability if you suffer personal injury or death from an activity which is not part of the holiday arrangements we make for you. However, if you are in difficulty, we will endeavour to give you prompt assistance, including help and guidance.
5. Your Responsibilities to us
You must make sure that you have a valid passport and, if appropriate, a visa for your holiday. If your holiday arrangements include a hire car, you must make sure you take a valid EC or International, as appropriate, driving licence with you. We cannot be held liable if you do not. If we incur any expense in helping you because you do not have with you a valid passport/visa or driving licence, you will have to reimburse us. Similarly you should also check and ensure that you comply with any health requirements applicable to the place(s) to which you are travelling.
6. Changes to your Holiday by us
We will do our best to avoid having to change your holiday, but we reserve the right to make changes. A change may be ”significant“ or ”minor“. A ”Significant“ change will be a change of your place of departure (except between Gatwick and Heathrow), a change of departure time by more than twelve hours, a change of accommodation to a lower grade than booked or a surcharge of more than 15% of the holiday price, excluding insurance premium and amendment fees. Any other change will be “minor”. We reserve the right to make minor changes at any time. We will, if practicable, notify you of minor changes in advance, but we are not obliged to do so nor are we obliged to pay compensation. If there is a significant change, we will tell you as soon as practicable and offer you a choice of three options. The first option is to accept the suggested alteration. The second option is to change your booking to another holiday operated by us and available. (If the replacement holiday is more expensive, you will have to pay the difference; if it is cheaper, we will give you the appropriate refund.) The third option is to cancel your holiday altogether and to receive a full refund. In the unlikely event that we have to make a significant change after your holiday has started, or if we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services booked, we will either arrange for you to return to the UK (if you wish) and give you a refund in proportion to the cost of the services not received, or we will make alternative holiday arrangements for you.
Unless a significant change is caused by ”force majeure“ (that is, unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, for example, war, threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers or similar events beyond our control), or ”low bookings” (this refers to the fact that we may require a minimum number of bookings before being able to operate the holidays described in this brochure at the prices shown), we will pay compensation for significant change in accordance with the table set out below:-
| Days before departure when significant change notified | Compensation per person |
| More than 56 days | Nil |
| 56-40 | £10 |
| 39-20 | £15 |
| 19-10 | £20 |
| 9-0 | £25 |
7. Brochure & Website Accuracy
We endeavour to ensure that our brochure & Website (www.jmb-travel.co.uk) is correct and accurate. However, the accommodation, services and facilities described in the brochure & Website are generally outside our control and, therefore, we reserve the right to change any of the accommodation, services, facilities or prices described in this brochure at any time before accepting your booking.
8. Flights
Flight timings are provided by airlines and we are subject to air traffic control restrictions, weather conditions, potential technical problems etc. We cannot guarantee that flights will depart at the times given by us or shown on your tickets. We cannot be held liable for any delay which occurs.
9. Changes to your Holiday by you
Changes of names are dealt with in paragraph 10 below. Subject to availability, we will make any other amendment to your holiday you want, provided you request the amendment in writing and pay the appropriate amendment fee. Requests received more than six weeks before departure will incur an amendment fee of £20.00 per person to cover administration costs. An amendment request received within six weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation and re-booking, in which case the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 11 below will apply. NB: Please note that if one or more members of the party cancel, this may involve the remaining members having to pay more for their holiday - see Price Table.
10. Name changes
Subject to certain conditions, you may transfer your booking to another person. Those conditions are:-
(a) You must show us documentary proof of a serious reason which prevents you from travelling, such as your own personal injury or illness, the personal injury, illness or death of a close relative, jury service, redundancy or an unavoidable work commitment.
(b) The person wishing to take over your booking must agree to be bound by our booking conditions.
(c) You, or the person taking over your booking, must pay any final balance due before the name change is affected.
(d) You must pay an administration fee of £20.00 per name change, as well as all additional charges of whatever type which our suppliers may impose. Airlines may charge a 100% cancellation fee and the cost of a replacement ticket.
(e) Any request to transfer your booking must be sent to us in writing to arrive at least 21 days before you are due to depart. It must be signed by the person who signed the booking form and must be accompanied by the documentary proof referred to in (a) above, full details of the proposed new passenger, payment of the final balance if applicable, payment of the administration fee and additional charges in accordance with paragraph (d) and any travel documentation already issued to you by us.
11. Cancellation by you
Cancellations must be notified to us by telephone and in writing. The following cancellation charges apply, the days in question being calculated from the date on which we receive your written cancellation:-
| Days before departure when written cancellation received | Cancellation charge |
| More than 60 days | Deposit |
| 32- 59 days (inclusive) | 60% of the holiday cost |
| 31 days or less | 100% of the holiday cost |
We strongly recommend that you take out adequate holiday cancellation insurance.
12. Cancellation by us
We reserve the right to treat your holiday as cancelled and levy the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 11 above if you fail to make final payment when it becomes due - see paragraph 1 above. On rare occasions we have to cancel client’s holidays before departure for other reasons, such as low bookings (see paragraph 6), and we reserve the right to do so. However, we will not cancel your holiday less than eight weeks before departure except for reasons of force majeure. If we do cancel your holiday, we will offer you the choice of an alternative available holiday or a full and prompt refund of all monies paid. If you choose an alternative holiday which is more expensive, you will have to pay the difference, but if it is cheaper, we will refund the difference. In addition, if we cancel your holiday for any reason other than force majeure or low bookings we will pay you compensation on the scale set out in paragraph 6.
13. If something goes wrong
If you are unhappy about any aspects of your holiday arrangements, please let us/our representative know straightaway so that immediate steps can be taken to rectify the problem. Failure to do this may reduce or even extinguish your legal right to compensation. In the unlikely event that there is a problem and it is not resolved to your satisfaction while you are on your holiday and you wish to complain, please write within 28 days of your return to the UK.
14. Financial Protection
The air holidays in this brochure are ATOL Protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is ATOL 3539. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk
Where the package is hotel and opera only, we comply with the financial protection aspects of the Package Travel Regulations through a trust account into which your money is placed when you book and from which your money is only released when you have completed your package.
15. Law and Jurisdiction
This contract and any matters arising from it will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
16. Changes to the Cast/Cancellation of the Opera or Festival
In the event that any member of the cast of a particular Opera/Concert is unable to perform for any reason, we JMB Travel Consultants cannot be held responsible for this change. In the event of an Opera or Festival being cancelled for whatever reason we will refund to you whatever refunds we receive from the event organiser.
17. Outdoor Performances
In the event of adverse weather conditions a full refund of the face value of the performance ticket will be made only if the performance fails to start and payment must be collected from the box office. If abandonment occurs into the start the conditions of the ticket purchased prevent any refund.
JMB Travel Consultants Ltd
Eagle Tower
Montpellier Drive
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL50 1TA