GREAT VALUE HOLIDAYS LTD  BOOKING CONDITIONS

These Booking Conditions apply to all bookings made with Great Value Holidays Ltd both directly either online through a website owned and operated by Great Value Holidays Ltd  and, all bookings made with Great Value Holidays Ltd through third party deals websites, including but not limited to www.secretescapes.com and www.travelzoo.com,  plus any other readers offers (“Third Party Websites”).

Please note that for bookings relating to products advertised on Third Party Websites or the Great Value Holidays Ltd website, full payment may be required at the time of booking and the booking is non-refundable and non-changeable and 100% CANCELLATION CHARGE WILL BE LEVIED in the event you choose to cancel the booking. This is due to the fact that we provide vastly discounted offers through Third Party Websites and as advertised on the Great Value Holidays Ltd website, which we may only be able to purchase on a non-refundable/changeable basis. Therefore any payment and changes/cancellation terms specified in the applicable deal/offer will apply to your booking and will take precedence over such a term in these Booking Conditions.

Great Value Holidays Ltd (hereinafter known as ‘GVH’, ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’) with company number 12901809 and whose registered address is 6^th floor, One London Wall, London EC2Y 5EB. It is agreed by both parties that these Booking Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales only. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live in those places and if you wish to do so.

All bookings you make are accepted subject to these Booking Conditions, our “Important and Useful Information” section, our Privacy Policy and any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, which all form the basis of your contract with GVH. Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to "you" and "your" include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made or any other person to whom a booking is added or transferred.

No variations or alterations to these Booking Conditions shall be valid unless agreed by us in writing.

By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons named on the booking that:

1.     He/she has read these Booking Conditions and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them; 

2.     He/she consents to our use of personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and is authorised on behalf of all persons named on the booking to disclose their personal details to us, including where applicable, special categories of data (such as information on health conditions or disabilities and dietary requirements); 

3.     He/she is over 18 years of age and resident in the United Kingdom and where placing an order for services with age restrictions declares that he/she and all members of the party are of the appropriate age to purchase those services;

4.     He/she accepts financial responsibility for payment of the booking on behalf of all persons named on the booking.

1.     Booking & Paying For Your Arrangements  

Web Bookings: 

The following clause applies to bookings made directly with GVH, on any website owned and operated by GVH (including ) and all bookings made on third party websites including but not limited to www.secretescapes.com, www.travelsupermarket.com, www.icelolly.com and www.travelzoo.com/uk,  plus any other readers offers:

i.       A booking is made with GVH when you:

a.      select your chosen arrangements and follow the necessary booking process online;

b.      make the applicable payment; and

c.      we issue you with a booking confirmation.

ii.      We reserve the right to return your payment and decline to issue a confirmation at our absolute discretion. 

iii.     A binding contract will come into existence between you and GVH as soon as we have issued you with a booking confirmation that will confirm the details of your booking and will be sent to you by email. 

iv.     Upon receipt of your booking confirmation please read it carefully. If you believe that any details on your booking confirmation or any other documents are wrong, you must advise us immediately as changes cannot be made later and it may harm your rights if we are not notified of any inaccuracies in any document within ten days of our sending it out.

Non-Web Bookings (applies to bookings made over the telephone or email, or otherwise not made through an online website):

i.       A booking is made with us when you:

a.      tell us that you would like to accept our written or verbal quotation;

b.      pay us a deposit (or full payment if you are booking within 12 weeks of departure or if full payment is required at the time of booking due to the terms of the deal); and

c.      we issue you with a booking confirmation.

v.      We reserve the right to return your deposit/full payment and decline to issue a confirmation at our absolute discretion.

ii.      A binding contract will come into existence between you and us as soon as we have issued you with a booking confirmation that will confirm the details of your booking and will be sent to you or your travel agent. 

iii.     Upon receipt of your booking confirmation please read it carefully. If you believe that any details on your booking confirmation or any other documents are wrong, you must advise us immediately as changes cannot be made later and it may harm your rights if we are not notified of any inaccuracies in any document within ten days of our sending it out.

iv.     If your booking is accepted more than twelve weeks before departure, a deposit per person, specified at time of booking, as part payment of the total cost of your holiday is payable at the time of booking. The balance is payable not less than twelve weeks before departure.

v.      If your booking is accepted, within twelve weeks of departure, full payment for your holiday is required immediately.

vi.     If we do not receive the deposit and/or the final payment by the due date we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled and levy the appropriate cancellation charges.

vii.    Please note that we are unable to send any reminder that final payment is due; cheques must be received in sufficient time to allow for clearance by the due date for payment; it is the responsibility of the party leader or card holder that payment is made by the due date. Credit or debit card payments can be made online using the ‘GVH User Portal facility at www.greatvalueholidays.com.

2.     Financial Protection

We provide full financial protection for our package holidays which don’t include flights, by way of a trust account held by PT Trustees Limited, Nucleus House, 2 Lower Mortlake Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2JA  https://pttrustees.com/.

If you book arrangements other than package holiday from us, your monies will not be financially protected. Please ask us for further details.

3.     Errors & Missions

You must check thoroughly any documents sent to you and report any errors to us immediately. Charges arising out of the correction of any errors occurring as a result of incorrect information being supplied by you are the full responsibility of the customer, and not of GVH. There may in addition (at our sole discretion) be an administration charge applicable (up to £25 per person) in addition to charges that may be levied by a supplier to correct any errors.

4.     Pricing

The price of your travel arrangements has been calculated using exchange rates quoted as the ‘buy’ rate on www.travelex.co.uk on the date of your booking confirmation.

IMPORTANT: Prices quoted on our website may vary from those quoted over the phone for the same package/product as they are constantly updated electronically. If you have to book with us over the phone, the price given to you then will be the one applicable and we will not accept any dispute over the difference between on line and phone prices. 

We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holidays. We also reserve the right to increase the price of confirmed package holidays solely to allow for increases which are a direct consequence of changes in:

i.       the price of the carriage of passengers resulting from the cost of fuel or other power sources;

ii.      the level of taxes or fees applicable to the holiday imposed by third parties not directly involved in the performance of the holiday, including tourist taxes; and

iii.     the exchange rates relevant to the package holiday.

Such variations could include but are not limited to any transport providers.

You will be charged for any increase in accordance with this clause.

However, if this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 8% of the price of your confirmed package holiday (excluding any insurance premiums, amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements), you will have the option of accepting a change to another package holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us, except for any insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 7 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.

Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, then any refund due will be paid to you less an administrative fee of £10. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.

There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 20 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period.

5.     Amendments to Confirmed Bookings & Transfer of Bookings

For bookings accepted via any Third Party Website or the GVH website:  once we have issued you with a confirmation invoice, your booking is non-changeable and non-refundable, no matter how far in advance of the departure date the booking is confirmed, and no matter how soon after the confirmation a cancellation request is received by GVH. As such, any changes would result in 100% cancellation of the holiday, and require the purchase of a new holiday.  However, should you want to change the details of your booking, you must inform us in writing as soon as possible. This should be done by the first named person on the booking. Whilst we will do our best to assist, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your requested change without incurring 100% cancellation.  Where we can meet a request, all changes will be subject to payment of an administration fee per change (levied by us), as set out in the table below, as well as any applicable rate changes or extra costs incurred by us or imposed by any of our suppliers. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.

 Guide to our amendment fees:

*Note1: Certain suppliers will treat a name change as a cancellation and require a new booking to be made at the prevailing prices and administration charge.

**Note2: Certain arrangements (e.g. accommodation with restrictions on refunds and amendments have already been purchased), may not allow name or other changes, including transfers of travel dates, after they have been confirmed, and any amendment or transfer could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% and may demand a full re-purchase of the arrangements in question. In such cases you are liable for all applicable charges regardless of the notice period given to us. The supplier may charge an amendment/cancellation fee for any period prior to departure, in which case their fee is payable by you, in addition to the above administration fee payable to GVH.  

Please note,  should  you  alter  all  or  any components of your original booking directly  with  a supplier, we  will  not be  liable  for  any  such  changes and  cannot be  held  responsible for  the modifications  or   implications  resulting  from  them.

***Note3: We strongly recommend booking all extras/ancillary requirements at the time of booking to ensure the best price and availability. Extras include, though not limited to car hire and transfers to-and-from hotel/cruise (including upgrades to private transfers).

 Transfer of Booking: If any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person(s) may transfer their place to someone else subject to the following conditions:

a       That person is introduced by you and satisfies all the conditions applicable to the holiday;

b       We are notified not less than 7 days before departure

c       You pay any outstanding balance payment, an amendment fee of £15 per person transferring as well as any additional fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer; and

d       The transferee agrees to these Booking Conditions and all other terms of the contract between us

You and the transferee remain jointly and severally liable for payment of all sums. If you are unable to find a replacement, cancellation charges as set out in clause 8 will apply in order to cover our estimated costs. Otherwise, no refunds will be given for passengers not travelling or for unused services.

Important Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended or transferred after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

6.     If You Cancel Your Booking Before Departure

For bookings advertised via Third Parties including Third Party Websites and through Reader Offers as well as those advertised through the GVH website: once we have issued you with a confirmation invoice, your booking is non-refundable, no matter how far in advance of the departure date the booking is confirmed, and no matter how soon after the confirmation a cancellation request is received by GVH. As such, any cancellation will result in the entire cost of the holiday being levied as a cancellation charge.

However, if you or any member of your party decides to cancel your confirmed booking it is essential that we receive written instructions from the party leader confirming this. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect when it is received in writing by us at our offices and will be effective from the date on which we receive it. We will endeavour, where possible, to limit the costs we incur when cancelling your arrangements, though you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below. Should one or more member of a party cancel, it may increase the per person holiday price of those still travelling and you will be liable to pay this increase. The cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges which are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling

We will deduct the cancellation charge(s) from any monies you have already paid to us.

*Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration or cancellation could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements in addition to the charge above.

If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

Cancellation By You Due to Unavoidable & Extraordinary Circumstances:

You have the right to cancel your confirmed holiday before departure without paying a cancellation change in the event of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” occurring at your holiday destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the holiday or significantly affecting the transport arrangements to the destination. In these circumstances, we shall provide you with a full refund of the monies you have paid but we will not be liable to pay you any additional compensation. Please note that your right to cancel in these circumstances will only apply where the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against travel to your destination or its immediate vicinity. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” means warfare, acts of terrorism, and significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination.

This clause 6 outlines the rights you have if you wish to cancel your booking. Please note that there is no automatic statutory right of cancellation under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

7.        If We Change or Cancel

It is unlikely that we ever have to make changes or cancel holidays already booked, but accommodation allocations are planned many months in advance and occasionally changes and cancellations have to be made. We reserve the right to make such changes and cancellations at any time. 

Changes: Most changes are of a minor nature and we will advise you as soon as possible before your departure, however in cases where we have not been made aware, this will be done in resort but we will have no liability to you. A minor change is any change which we do not consider significant.  Examples of minor changes include (but not limited to) change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard. 

Occasionally we may have to make a significant change to your confirmed arrangements. Examples of “significant  changes” include the following, when made before departure:

i.       Change of resort area for the whole or a significant part of your time away

ii.      Change of hotel rating to a lower grade or classification for the whole or a significant part of your time away. 

iii.     A significant change to your itinerary, missing out one or more destination entirely.

Cancellation: We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 60 days before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your holiday before this date if, e.g., the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached. 

If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of:

i.       (for significant  changes) accepting the changed arrangements;  or

ii.      having a refund of all monies paid; or 

iii.     if available and where we offer one, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value)

You must notify us of your choice within 7 days of our offer. If we do not hear from you within 7 days, we will contact you again to request notification of your choice. If you fail to respond again we will assume that you have chosen to accept the change or alternative booking arrangements. 

Insurance: If we cancel or make a significant change and you accept a refund, we will provide a full refund of your travel insurance premiums if you paid them to us and can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.  

Compensation: In addition to a full refund of all monies paid by you, we will pay compensation as detailed below in the following circumstances:

-        if, where we make a significant change, you do not accept the changed arrangements and cancel your booking;

-        If we cancel your booking and no alternative arrangements are available and/or we do not offer one.

The compensation that we offer does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so:

*Infants are excluded from compensation and for children invoiced at reduced rates compensation will be paid on a pro-rata   basis of the adult price.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not pay you compensation in the following circumstances:

-        where we make a minor change; 

-        where we make a significant change or cancel your arrangements more than 60 days before departure;

-        where we make a significant change and you accept those changed arrangements or you accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements;

-        where we have to cancel your arrangements as a result of your failure to make full payment on time;

-        where the change or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you; 

-        where we are forced to cancel or change your arrangements due to Force Majeure (see clause 8).

If we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services that you have booked with us after you have departed, we will make alternative arrangements for you at no extra charge and where those alternative arrangements are of a lower standard, provide you with an appropriate price reduction.

8.     Force Majeure - Circumstances Outside Our Reasonable Control

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by “Force Majeure”. For the purposes of this clause, Force Majeure means any event beyond our or our supplier’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include warfare and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination (including but not limited to Covid-19 or future strains of the Coronavirus and the ongoing effects of Covid-19), epidemics, pandemics or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination or remain at the travel destination, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our of the supplier(s) concerned’s control.

Brexit Implications: please note that certain travel arrangements may be affected as a result of the United Kingdom having now left the European Union. This could include an unavailability of certain flight routes, access to certain ports and airports and changes to the visa requirements of British citizens travelling to, within or through the EU. Please rest assured that this is something we will continue to monitor and will advise our customers as soon as possible if we become aware of any confirmed bookings that will be affected. However, since this is something which is completely unprecedented and outside our control, we would treat any such changes as Force Majeure, and whilst we will endeavour to provide suitable alternative arrangements or refunds where possible, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation.

9.     Special Requests

Any special requests must be advised to us at the time of booking e.g. diet, room location, a particular facility at a hotel etc. You should then confirm your requests in writing. Whilst every effort will be made by us to try and arrange your reasonable special requests, we cannot guarantee that they will be fulfilled.  The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed.  We do not accept bookings that are conditional upon any special request being met.

10.   Disabilities & Medical Problems

We are not a specialist disabled holiday company, but we will do our utmost to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your stay, please provide us with full details before we confirm your booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements.  We may require you to produce a doctor’s certificate certifying that you are fit to participate in the tour. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details. 

11.   Registering a Complaint

We make every effort to ensure that your holiday arrangements run smoothly but if you do have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier/local contact detailed on voucher) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please contact us via the GVH User Portal or email us at customerservice@greatvalueholidays.com. If the problem cannot be resolved locally and you wish to complain further, you must send formal written notice of your complaint to us within 28 days of your return to the UK. We cannot accept any complaints sent by fax, or received outside the 28 days period. Please keep your letter/email concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you. Failure to follow the procedure set out in this clause may affect ours and the applicable supplier’s ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract.

Please note should your party leave a hotel earlier than the duration booked; you will receive no refund of the cost of the unused nights. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the accommodation reserved on your behalf by GVH, it is a strict booking condition that you contact our local agent immediately who will try to resolve the matter in resort. If the matter cannot be resolved locally, please contact our London office and we will endeavour to make alternative arrangements (if applicable and/or possible.) No complaint can be considered upon return to the UK unless first reported to the local contact shown on your accommodation voucher, and / or our London office.

12.   Your Behaviour

All guests staying with us are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner and not to disrupt the enjoyment of other guests. If in our opinion or in the opinion of any hotel manager or any other person in authority, your behaviour or that of any member of your party is causing or is likely to cause distress, danger or annoyance to any of our other guests or any third party or damage to property, or to cause a delay or diversion to transportation, we reserve the right to terminate your booking arrangements with us immediately. In the event of such termination our liability to you and/or your party will cease and you and/or your party will be required to leave your accommodation or other service immediately. We will have no further obligations to you and/or your party. No refunds for lost accommodation or any other service will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of termination. You and/or your party may also be required to pay for loss and/or damage caused by your actions and we will hold you and each member of your party jointly and individually liable for any damage or losses caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to the hotel manager or other supplier prior to departure from the hotel. If you fail to make payment, you will be responsible for meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made against us as a result of your actions together with all costs we incur in pursuing any claim against you. We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us. 

13.   Delays, Missed Transport Arrangements & Other Travel Information

If you or any member of your party misses your transport arrangement, it is cancelled or you are subject to a delay of over 3 hours for any reason, you must contact us and the transport supplier concerned immediately.

We do not offer flights and we are not responsible for any flight you may otherwise book. In the event that you make such booking, please read your flight terms and conditions carefully. You may have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from the airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Contact your airlines or the third party you made a flight booking with for more information.

14.   Passport, Visa, Immigration Requirements & Health Formalities

It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the entry, passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. If you or any member of your party is 16 or over and haven’t yet got a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 6 weeks before your holiday. We can only provide general information about this. You must check requirements for your own specific circumstances with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates and your own doctor as applicable in regard to health formalities. Requirements do change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure.

Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting. For further information contact the Passport Office on 0870 5210410 or visit https://www.gov.uk/browse/citizenship/passports.

Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check https://uk.usembassy.gov. 

For European travel you should obtain a UK Global Health Insurance Card (UK GHIC) prior to departure unless you are able to rely upon an existing European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

For travel to Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, UK GHIC and EHIC can not be used for medical treatment. Passengers to these destinations should obtain comprehensive medical insurance prior to departure, including cover for emergency medical treatment and associated costs.

Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, visit https://www.gov.uk/travelaware. 

Non British passport holders, including other EU nationals, should obtain up to date advice on entry, passport, visa, health and immigration requirements   from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of your destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling,

We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any entry, passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any entry passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.

Please note: The impacts of Brexit may change your visa, ticket and health requirements. Third country nationals may require an airport transit visa when passing through EU Member States. There is the potential for disruption at borders when travelling between the UK and EU Member States and you should allow sufficient time for this when planning any onward travel. You should check any impacts of Brexit on your travel, in advance of your departure, to ensure that you fulfil the requirements post-Brexit, including any passport validly requirements. The UK Government passport checker can be found here https://www.gov.uk/check-a-passport-travel-europe

15.   Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office Advice

There may be small differences between the actual accommodation and its description. Occasionally, local conditions may mean that some facilities or services become unavailable or subject to restriction. For reasons such as maintenance, bad weather or lack of demand from guests. In addition to this, please be aware that advertised facilities within your hotel and around the resort may not be fully functional in early and late season. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes or closures to area amenities or attractions. We cannot accept responsibility for any inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information about any accommodation or its facilities and/or services, except in the case of our negligence. If our suppliers made us aware of any changes, we will inform you of any changes. There may be a change of ownership/management of the hotel and this constitutes a minor change.

16.   Local Laws

Sometimes local laws, religious customs or events means facilities are not available. For example, in all Muslim countries during the month of Ramadan, bars and restaurants – including hotel restaurants – change their opening hours. You may not be allowed to smoke, drink or eat in public areas during daylight either.

17.   Hotel Overbooking & Seasonal Closure

In the unlikely event of an overbooking situation at your hotel whilst you are abroad, alternative arrangements will be made to provide you with similar accommodation to your original booking. If this cannot be arranged and you are transferred to a lower grade hotel than originally booked you will receive compensation based on paragraph 7. Hotels may from time to time decide to close or delay their seasonal opening due to refurbishment or lack of demand. We will inform you of this as soon as we aware and offer you an alternative hotel of similar standard and whenever possible within the same resort.

18.   Travel Insurance

It is a requirement when booking your holiday that you have an adequate insurance policy in place . You must be satisfied that your insurance fully covers all your personal requirements including pre-existing medical conditions, cancellation charges, medical expenses and repatriation in the event of accident or illness.

If you choose to travel without adequate insurance cover, we will not be liable for any losses howsoever arising, in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available.

19.   Our responsibility for your package holiday

(1)  We will accept responsibility for the package holiday arrangements we agree to provide or arrange for you as an “organiser” under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 as set out below and as such, we are responsible for the proper provision of the travel services specifically included in your package, (as set out in your confirmation email, Summary, Itinerary and Travel Vouchers sections of the GVH User Portal), and the information we provided to you regarding the services prior to booking). Please note that we shall not be responsible for any additional services provided to you, whether provided by the travel service providers or otherwise, which are not set out in your confirmation email, Summary, Itinerary and Travel Vouchers sections of the GVH User Portal,  and the information we provided to you regarding the services prior to booking.

(2)  We will not be responsible or pay you any compensation for any personal injury or death unless you are able to prove that it was caused by our negligence or the negligence of our suppliers.

(3)  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; 

(b)    the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unavoidable and extraordinary; or 

(c)    Force Majeure (as defined in clause 10)

(4)  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 required 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 up to three times 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.

(5)  Subject to these Booking Conditions, if we or our suppliers negligently perform or arrange those services set out in the (as set out in your confirmation email, Summary, Itinerary and Travel Vouchers sections of the GVH User Portal) and we don’t remedy or resolve your complaint within a reasonable period of time, and this has affected the enjoyment of your package holiday you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or compensation or both. You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in this package. The level of any such price reduction or compensation in respect of any claim for damages or compensation whatsoever will be calculated taking into consideration all relevant factors such as but not limited to: following the complaints procedure as described in these Booking 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.

(6)  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. 

(7)  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. 

(8)  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; or (c) indirect or inconsequential loss of any kind

(9)  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.

(10)  Where it is impossible for you to return to your departure point as per the agreed return date of your package, due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”, we shall provide you with any necessary accommodation (where possible, of a comparable standard) for a period not exceeding three nights per person. Please note that the 3 night cap does not apply to persons with reduced mobility, pregnant women or unaccompanied minors, nor to persons needing specific medical assistance, provided we have been notified of these particular needs at least 48 hours before the start of your holiday. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” mean warfare, acts of terrorism, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely back to your departure point.

(11)  For litigation purposes, your contract is made at our London office in the jurisdiction of the Westminster County Court, St. Martins Lane, London WC2.

20.   Prompt Assistance

If, whilst you are on holiday, you find yourself in difficulty for any reason, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is appropriate in the circumstances. In particular, we will provide you with appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance and assistance with distance communications and finding alternative travel arrangements. Where you require assistance which is not owing to any failure by us, our employees or sub-contractors we will not be liable for the costs of any alternative travel arrangements or other such assistance you require. Any supplier or transport supplier may however pay for or provide refreshments and/or appropriate accommodation and you should make a claim directly to them. Subject to the other terms of these Booking Conditions, we will not be liable for any costs, fees or charges you incur in the above circumstances, if you fail to obtain our prior authorisation before making your own travel arrangements. Furthermore, we reserve the right to charge you a fee for our assistance in the event that the difficulty is caused intentionally by you or a member of your party, or otherwise through your or your party’s negligence.         

21.   Excursions

Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your contracted arrangements with us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.

22.   Conditions of Suppliers

Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers.  Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions which will form part of your contract with us.  Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions.  Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.

23.   Law & Jurisdiction

These Booking Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales only. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live in those places and if you wish to do so.

If you booked your holiday in any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom (including any booking via the Internet), this contract, and any other claim or dispute arising from or related to this contract, will be governed by English law and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising out of it.  

Please read our IMPORTANT & USEFUL INFORMATION section which also forms part of our trading commitment to our customers, with additional and helpful information.