Privacy Policy

Who We Are

We are Great Value Holidays Limited, a tour operator specializing in packages curated by seasoned travel experts who are proficient at creating superior holiday offers. If you need it our company number is 12901809 and our registered office is 6th Floor, One London Wall, London, United Kingdom, EC2Y 5EB. Great Value Holidays Limited is the controller of your personal information, and is responsible for your personal information. All references in this policy to "Great Value Holidays", "our", "us" or "we" refer to Great Value Holidays Limited, or our group company GCS Travel Limited, as appropriate. All references in this policy to "our website" refer to the website owned by Great Value Holidays at https://www.greatvalueholidays.com.

As a valued Great Value Holidays customer, your personal privacy is very important to us. We understand that booking online involves significant trust on your part. We value your trust and have made it a high priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of the personal information you provide to us. Please read this policy to learn about our privacy practices.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This privacy policy applies to:

1. Visitors to our website;
2. Customers of Great Value Holidays;
3. People who take part in promotions, competitions, surveys or questionnaires.
4. People you provide information about.

Depending on our relationship, we will collect and use your information in different ways. Please click on the links above to find out about the types information we collect about you and how we collect it.

What This Policy Contains

This Privacy Policy will explain:

• What types of personal information we collect and how we obtain it.
• What we do with the information we gather.
• Legal basis for processing personal data.
• Marketing communications and market research
• Who we share your personal data with 
• Protecting your personal data
• Where we may transfer your personal data
• Data retention
• How we use cookies
• Links to other websites
• Social media features
• Children
• Your rights
• Changes to our privacy policy
• Further questions and how to make a complaint
• Key terms

Your Rights To Object

You have various rights in respect of our use of your personal information as set out in the Your Rights section. Two of the fundamental rights to be aware of are that:

1. you may ask us to stop using your personal information for direct-marketing purposes. If you exercise this right, we will stop using your personal information for this purpose.
2. you may ask us to consider any valid objections which you have to our use of your personal information where we process your personal information on the basis of our, or another person's, legitimate interest.

You can find out more information in the Your Rights section.

What Types Of Personal Data Information We Collect And How We Obtain It

Visitors to our website

If you visit the website, we may collect the following, depending on whether you simply browse the website, sign up to receive marketing communications (what we refer to as a 'simple sign-up') or create an account with us:

• Name and job title
• Address, email address, phone number and date of birth
• Your account login details, such as your username and the password you choose
• Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
• Information about your browsing behaviour on our website
• Information about when you click on one of our advertisements, including advertisements on other websites
• Technical information about the way you access our digital services, including operating system, IP address, online identifiers and browser details
• Social preferences, interests and activities

Customers of Great Value Holidays

We may collect the following information when you buy our services or products:

• Passenger information, passport details, other ID document details
• Name, gender and date of birth as required by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
• Insurance details
• Relevant medical data and any special, dietary, religious or disability requests
• Information about your purchases, including what you bought, when and where you bought it, how you paid for it and credit or payment information
• Social preferences, interests and activities

People who take part in promotions, competitions, surveys or questionnaires

We may collect the following information when you contact us or we contact you to take part in promotions, competitions, surveys or questionnaires about our products or services:

• Personal data you provide when you connect with us, including by email, post, and telephone or through social media, such as your name, username and contact details
• Details of emails and other digital communications we send to you that you open, including any links within those communications that you click on
• Your feedback and contributions to customer surveys and questionnaires

Other sources of personal data:

• We may use personal data from other sources, such as specialist companies that supply information, retail partners, and public registers
• our insurance company, their agents and medical staff may exchange relevant personal data and special categories of personal data with us in circumstances where we/they need to act on your behalf or in the interest of other customers or in an emergency
• If you log-in using your social network credentials to connect to our platforms and online services e.g. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, you will agree to share your user details with us.  For example, your name, email address, date of birth, location and any other information you choose to share with us

Personal data you provide about others

• We use personal data about other individuals provided by you, such as those people on your booking, which may include all of the information set out in the Customers of Great Value Holidays section above.
• By providing other people’s personal data, you must be sure that they agree to this and you are allowed to provide it.  You should also ensure that, where appropriate, they understand how their personal data may be used by us by letting them know about this Privacy Policy.

Special Categories Of Data

Some of the personal information that we collect about you or which you provide to us about you or other people may be special categories of data.  Special categories of data include information about physical and mental health, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical belief, trade union membership and biometric data.

What We Do With The Information We Gather

We use your personal data in a variety of ways and in particular for the following reasons:

To provide the products and services you request

We need to process your personal data so that we can manage your account or booking, provide you with the products and services you want to buy and help you with any orders and refunds you may request.

To manage and improve our products, services and day-to-day operations

We use personal data to manage and improve our products, websites, customer loyalty or recognition programs and other services.

We monitor how our services are used to help protect your personal data, detect and prevent fraud, other crimes and misuse of services.  This helps ensure that you can safely use our services.

We may use personal data to respond to and manage security operations, accidents or other similar incidents, including medical and insurance purposes.

We may use personal data to carry out market research and internal research and development, and to develop and improve our product range, services, IT systems, security and the way we communicate with you.

To personalize your experience

We want to ensure that marketing communications relating to our products and services, including online advertising, are relevant to your interests.

To do this we may use your personal data to better understand your interests so that we can try to predict what other products, services and information you might be most interested in.  This enables us to tailor our communications to make them more relevant and interesting for you.

Looking at your browsing behavior and purchases helps us to better understand you as a customer and it allows us to provide you with personalized offers and services.

We may also measure responses to marketing communications relating to products and services we offer, which enables us to offer you products and services that meet your needs as a customer.

If you do not want to receive personalized services from us, you can change your preferences online, over the phone or by emailing us at any time.  We will update our records as soon as possible. Please see the Marketing Communications and Market Research section for more information.

To make contact with you and interact with you

We want to serve you better as a customer so if you contact us, for example by email, post, telephone or social media, we may use the personal data to provide clarification or assistance to you.

We need to process your personal data so that we can manage any promotions and competitions you choose to enter, including those we run with our suppliers and retail partners. For example, if you win a prize.

We may invite you to take part in customer surveys, questionnaires and other market research activities carried out by Great Value Holidays and by other organizations on our behalf.

To help us to better understand you as a customer, and to be able to provide you with services and marketing communications (including online advertising relevant to your interests), we may combine the personal data we collect when you make purchases in-shop with personal data collected from our websites and other sources.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Please see the Marketing Communications and Market Research section for more information.

Further Processing

Before using your personal information for any purposes which fall outside those set out above, we will undertake an analysis to establish if our new use of your personal information is compatible with the purposes set out above. Please contact us using the details in the Further Questions And How To Make A Complaint section if you want further information on the analysis we will undertake.

Legal Basis For Processing Personal Data

We will only collect and use your personal data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

• It is necessary to perform our obligations under a contract with you or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract

Example: To provide the products and services you request

We need to process your personal data so that we can manage your account or booking, provide you with the products and services you want to buy and help you with any orders and refunds you may ask for.

• It is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation

Example: Sharing personal data with regulatory authorities

So that you can travel, it may be mandatory (as required by government authorities at the point(s) of departure and/or destination) to disclose and process your personal data for immigration, border control, security and anti-terrorism purposes, or any other purposes which they determine appropriate.

• It is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another individual

Example: In an emergency

Your insurance company, their agents and medical staff may exchange relevant personal data and special categories of personal data with us in circumstances where we/they need to act on your behalf or in the interest of other customers or in an emergency.

• It is necessary for the purposes of our or a third party’s legitimate interests and these are not overridden by your interests or rights. Our legitimate interests are to:
  • operate our website;
  • select appropriately skilled and qualified suppliers;
  • ensure a safe environment for our residents and suppliers;
  • carry out marketing, market research and business development;
  • place, track and ensure fulfilment of orders with our suppliers;
  • optimize our website and optimize our product lines; and
  • for internal group administrative purposes. 

Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we may rely on consent where we process special category data and will get your consent before sending direct marketing communications where we are required to do so by law. Please see Marketing Communications and Market Research section below for further information.

Special Category Data

Where we need to process special categories of personal data, for example health data for medical reasons, we will only do so if one or more additional conditions apply. For example, we have your explicit consent; it is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or another individual and you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent; it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. If we are relying on the substantial public interest condition, the processing will be necessary for the purposes of safeguarding children or individuals at risk (please get in touch using the contact details below if you need further information).

Marketing Communications And Market Research

We may collect and use your personal information for undertaking marketing by email, telephone and post.

From time to time we may send you relevant offers and news about our products and services in a number of ways, including by email, if it is in our legitimate interests to do so for marketing and business purposes or if we have your consent.

We will always obtain your consent to direct marketing communications where we are required to do so by law.

We may also send you information about other companies’ products and services that we believe may be of interest to you.  We will only do this if you previously agreed to receive these marketing communications.

When you book or register with us we will ask you if you would like to receive marketing communications. You can change your marketing preferences online, over the phone, using the “unsubscribe” link in our emails, replying STOP to the short code in our marketing text messages or by writing to us at any time.  Of course, the choice is entirely yours, but if you say you do not want to receive marketing information from us you will miss out on receiving great offers and promotions that may be of interest to you.

You may still receive service-related communications from us.  For example, confirming bookings you make with us and providing important information about the use of our products and/or services.

We would like to hear your views to help us improve our products and services, so we may contact you for market research purposes.  You always have the choice about whether to participate or continue in our market research.

Who We Share Your Personal Data With

Sharing Personal Data with Suppliers and Retail Partners

In order to provide products or services you have requested, we may share your personal data with suppliers of your travel arrangements, including airlines, hotels and transport companies.

We also work with carefully selected suppliers that carry out certain functions on our behalf.  For example, companies that help us with IT services, storing and combining data, marketing, market research, processing payments and delivering products and services.

We may need to share personal data to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; this includes providing personal data to others for the purpose or preventing fraud and reducing credit risk.

When we share personal data with other organizations we require them to keep it safe, and the must not use your personal data for their own marketing purposes.

We only share the minimum personal data that enables our suppliers and retail partners to provide their services to you and us.

Sharing Personal Data with Government Authorities

So that you can travel, it may be mandatory (as required by government authorities at the point(s) of departure and/or destination) to disclose and process your personal data for immigration, border control, security and anti-terrorism purposes, or any other purposes which they determine appropriate.

Some countries will only permit travel if you provide your advance passenger data (for example Caricom APR Data and US Secure Flight Data).  These requirements may differ depending on your destination and you are advised to check. Even if not mandatory, we may assist where appropriate.

We may share the minimum personal data necessary with other public authorities if the law says we must, or we are legally allowed to do so.

Sharing Personal Data within the Great Value Holidays group

Our Privacy Policy applies to all of the services offered by Great Value Holidays but excludes services that have separate privacy notices that do not incorporate this Privacy Policy. We may share the minimum personal data necessary with other companies and members of the Great Value Holidays group for example, to provide the products and services you request; to manage and improve our products, services and day-to-day operations; to help to personalize your experience; where appropriate, to make contact and interact with you; and if allowed and appropriate, for marketing or marketing research purposes.

We may also share personal data to third parties: 

• where it is in our legitimate interests to do so to run, grow and develop our business:

(i) if we sell or buy any business or assets, we may disclose your personal information to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets;

(ii) if substantially all of our or any of our affiliates' assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal information held by us will be one of the transferred assets;

• if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation, any lawful request from government or law enforcement officials and as may be required to meet national security or law enforcement requirements or prevent illegal activity;
• in order to enforce or apply our terms of use, our terms and conditions for customers or any other agreement or to respond to any claims, to protect our rights or the rights of a third party, to protect the safety of any person or to prevent any illegal activity; or
• to protect the rights, property, or safety of Great Value Holidays, our staff, our customers or other persons. This may include exchanging personal information with other organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Any third parties with whom we share your personal information are limited (by law and by contract) in their ability to use your personal information. We will always ensure that any third parties with whom we share your personal information are subject to privacy and security obligations consistent with this privacy policy and applicable laws.

Save as expressly detailed above, we will never share, sell or rent any of your personal information to any third party without notifying you and, where necessary, obtaining your consent. If you have given your consent for us to use your personal information in a particular way, but later change your mind, you should contact us and we will stop doing so.

Protecting Your Personal Data

The main risk of our processing of your personal information is if it is lost, stolen or misused.  This could lead to your personal information being in the hands of someone else who may use it fraudulently or make public, information that you would prefer to keep private.

For this reason, Great Value Holidays is committed to protecting your personal information from loss, theft and misuse.  We take all reasonable precautions to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal information, including through use of appropriate organisational and technical measures. When you book travel on the Great Value Holidays site, you do so through a secure server. The use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology means that all personal information, including your credit card number, will be encrypted as it travels from your computer to the Great Value Holidays Online Booking Engine. When received, the information is decrypted and processed in the same way as a normal credit card transaction by telephone. Great Value Holidays also uses payment token technology which saves your payment information for quicker checkout for future purchases.  This technology is also encrypted using SSL.

If your browser supports SSL, and if you entered our site via our secure server access, then transmission of any sensitive data will be protected. If your browser does not support SSL, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of any browser to enhance the security of further transactions.

In the course of provision of your personal information to us, your personal information may be transferred over the internet. Although we make every effort to protect the personal information which you provide to us, the transmission of information over the internet is not completely secure. As such, you acknowledge and accept that we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our website and that any such transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your personal information, we will use strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access to it.

The security of your data also depends on you. For example, where we have given you or where you have chosen a password for access to certain services, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.