Booking Conditions

Your Agreement With Us

In these booking conditions any reference to ‘you’ means all persons named on the booking including any added or substituted at a later date. References to ‘we’ are references to Beyond The Ordinary Ltd, a company registered in England with number 11694414. We are a fully bonded and ATOL licensed UK based tour operator.

Reading these Booking Conditions forms part of your contract with Beyond The Ordinary Ltd.

On payment of the deposit it is deemed that the lead passenger has read and accepted these Booking Conditions and has the authority to accept, and is accepting, the terms of these conditions on behalf of all persons in the party. This contract is governed by English Law and both parties agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts at all times.

On payment of the deposit, it is also deemed that the lead passenger fully accepts financial responsibility for payment of the booking on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking.

Your agreement with us shall come into existence when we issue our Confirmation Invoice.

Financial Protection

The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under its ATOL Franchise and The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Beyond The Ordinary Ltd, ABTOT number 5412, ATOL number 11532, and in the event of their insolvency, protection is provided for the following:

1. non-flight packages;
2. flight inclusive packages that commence outside of the UK, which are sold to customers outside of the UK; and
3. flight inclusive packages, flight only and linked travel arrangements (LTAs) sold as a principal under the ABTOT ATOL Franchise.

ABTOT cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if you are abroad.  Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by ABTOT when purchased directly with Beyond The Ordinary Ltd.

In the unlikely event that you require assistance whilst abroad due to our financial failure, please call ABTOT’s 24/7 helpline on 01702 811397 and advise you are a customer of an ABTOT protected travel company.

You can access The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/contents/made

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.

The price of our ATOL-protected flight inclusive Packages includes the amount of £2.50 per person as part of the ATOL Protection Contribution (APC) we pay to the CAA. This charge is included in our advertised prices.

We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate or holiday itinerary, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate or itinerary (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 or supplier may provide you with the 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 or supplier 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 or supplier. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder or supplier, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under ABTOT.

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate or holiday itinerary, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder, alternative supplier or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, ABTOT Limited may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under its scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to ABTOT Limited 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 ABTOT ATOL Franchise scheme.

For further information visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk or the ABTOT website at www.ABTOT.com

Making A Booking

You must pay a deposit to proceed with a booking. The value of this deposit varies from booking to booking but will be notified to you before you book and will be not less than £300 per person.

Most airlines allow us to ‘hold’ international flight reservations for a certain period of time. Where this is not the case, and tickets need to be issued immediately, you will need to pay for these flights, in full, at the time of making a booking. Once airline tickets have been issued, they are non-changeable and non-refundable. Therefore, cancellation charges of 100% of the flight cost will be levied if you have to cancel or make any changes after tickets have been issued (for any changes the full price of the flight will have to be paid again even if the same flight is used). This applies to all bookings.

Although most ground arrangements (by which we mean Hotels / Tours / Transfers / Excursions Etc) do not require payment at the time of booking, there are exceptions to this rule. Where any such exceptions exist, these will be notified to you before you book. If, subsequently, you need to amend or cancel your booking, while we will make every effort to recover such payments, this cannot be guaranteed.

The balance must be paid between 10 & 8 weeks before departure (you will be notified of this at the time of booking). If your booking is made within this time, the balance must be settled immediately a Confirmation Invoice is issued.  If the balance is not paid in time, we retain the right to cancel your booking without warning and apply cancellation charges as set out in the ‘Cancellation By You’ section of these Booking Conditions.

Please also refer to our How To Book page for further information.

Processing Your Booking

All bookings are accepted on a request only basis and are based on the itinerary and booking details sent to you by your consultant – it is your responsibility to check these details carefully and advise us of any errors immediately. In certain circumstances there can be a charge for amending any errors (i.e. an incorrectly spelt name on an issued airline ticket).

Receipt of our initial Booking Acknowledgement does not signify availability of your planned holiday. The cost of your holiday cost can change due to external influences, out of our control, such as hotel / tour availability, exchange rates, fuel surcharges and airlines changing or cancelling services.

Final costs are only guaranteed once all services have been confirmed and in the case of flights, all airline tickets have been issued.

Flights

Times of flight departures are for guidance only. These times may be amended by the airline for a number of reasons beyond our control. It is your responsibility to check final times with the airline before departure.

All airlines have conditions of carriage which apply to you and which limit or exclude liability. For example, airlines may alter their schedules, destination airport, aircraft type, onboard facilities and service. Flights may also be operated by another carrier and make unscheduled stops en-route. In all cases, we are not liable for compensation.

Domestic flights generally have to be paid for in full shortly after booking, no matter how far in advance of the travel date, and thereafter are non-refundable.

Payment

Our preferred method of payment is by BACS direct bank transfer. Our account details will be provided at the time of booking. Alternatively, we also accept payment by most personal UK debit and credit cards but not corporate cards. Non-UK debit and credit cards will incur a fee of 2.5%. We reserve the right to refuse payment from non-UK bank accounts. For non UK residents, a minimum 25% of the cost of the overall holiday must be paid by bank transfer.

Price Guarantees & Surcharges

Once your holiday has been confirmed, and a Confirmation Invoice has been issued, the price of your holiday will not increase except in the following two circumstances.

Increases in taxes or fees on travel services imposed by third parties not involved in performance of the package, e.g. tourist taxes.

Increase in transport costs due to changes in fuel prices or other power sources, e.g fuel supplements on unticketed flight bookings. Any supplement will be notified to the customer no less than 20 days before travel and will never exceed 7% of the total holiday cost.

Changes By You

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to alter your travel arrangements in any way we will do our best to help providing that we receive written notification from the lead person on the booking no less than 70 days before the original departure date.

An amendment fee of £25 per booking will be levied for 1 change, £50 for 2 changes, £75 for 3 changes and £100 for 4 or more changes.

Please note that these charges only cover payments made to Beyond The Ordinary. In addition to these charges we will also have to pass on any charges imposed by our suppliers, eg hotels, airlines, tour companies.

Once issued, airline tickets are 100% non-changeable / non-refundable. This means that you cannot obtain a full or partial refund if you cancel, no matter whether this is advance of travel or while you are part way through your journey.

Even if airline tickets have not been issued, making changes to a booking may result in the airline charging high amendment fees or even insisting that you re-book your flight, potentially at a much higher fare.

Please note that if the number of persons in a booking changes the price will be recalculated on the basis of the amended party size.

If you wish to amend your travel arrangements within 56 days of the original departure date this will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and cancellation charges will be applied as set out below.

Cancellation By You

You, or any of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the lead person on the booking form must be received at our offices either by email or post. If by post, the cancellation letter must be sent by Recorded or Special Delivery. It is then also your responsibility to follow this up by telephone to our office. You will be required to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below.

Period before departure within which written cancellation received (% figure shown is % of holiday cost that is forfeited by client(s))

Over 70 days                      Deposit only

Between 30 & 70 days   80%

Between 22 & 29 days   90%

Between 0-21 days          100%

Where flight tickets have been issued more than 56 days before departure, these will be 100% non-refundable and the charges laid out above will apply to the outstanding balance due.

Please note that refunds due to you may take up to 8 weeks to arrange.

Please note too that if the number of persons in a booking changes due to one or more person(s) cancelling, the price for the remaining passengers will be recalculated on the basis of the amended party size.

Insurance

It is a condition of this booking that you are adequately insured and have comprehensive Travel Insurance. We strongly recommend that clients are insured, or take out insurance (with full cancellation cover) at the time we issue our final Confirmation Invoice.

Health
Please check the health and medical requirements for the destinations you are visiting with your medical adviser and arrange any vaccinations and medical certificates prior to your departure. Some countries may have legal and/or medical requirements for visitors.

Passports, Visas, Health & Entry Regulations

It is your responsibility to check and fulfill all and any passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your holiday destination (including flights in transit). Any information provided by Beyond The Ordinary is meant as general guidance only.

Passports must have at least 6 months validity left at the time of return from holiday and all children must have their own passports. It is also essential that the names you provide us (first and surname) exactly match the names in each passenger’s passport. Failure to do so may result in significant extra costs for which Beyond The Ordinary cannot be held liable.

It is also your responsibility to ensure that you have the necessary visas and / or documentation for any country that you plan to visit or even pass through, ie the USA.

Failure to ensure you have the necessary documents to travel is your responsibility and does not entitle you to cancel your holiday without paying the applicable cancellation charges.

Please note that Beyond The Ordinary cannot be held responsible for any future consequences related to a client’s decision to travel to any of our featured destinations.

Local Levies & Taxes

Clients are advised that local duties and levies may need to be paid locally and such costs are the client’s responsibility.

Local Excursions / Tours

Any excursions or other tours that you book or pay for whilst you are on holiday, regardless of who you book them through, do not form part of your contracted arrangements with us. In all cases, 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.

Changes Made By Us

Amendments may sometimes be necessary and errors occasionally occur. We reserve the right to make changes or correct errors at any time both before and after our confirmation. In exceptional circumstances we may also need to make changes after commencement of the holiday. Most of these changes are minor and we always try to advise you of these changes before you depart if there is time.

Flight timings, airlines, aircraft type and routes advertised may be subject to change for any number of reasons. The final details will be shown on your flight tickets and you should check these carefully. If a major change becomes necessary however, we will inform you as soon as it is reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. Changes to aircraft type with a resulting lack of facilities promised at the time of booking are deemed to be minor changes.

A major change involves a change of UK airport (with the exception of change from one London airport to another), destination airport (other than between two airports serving the same city or resort), time of UK departure by more than 12 hours or, in the case of tours and cruises, a significant change of itinerary

If we have to make a major change you have the following options:

1. A) Accepting the altered travel arrangements
2. B) Accepting alternative arrangements that we may be able to offer
3. C) Cancelling your travel arrangements with us without charge

If you choose c) we will refund all your monies to you. Further, if you choose a) b) or c) we will pay compensation to you on the scale shown below. If you choose b) we will refund any difference in cost of the new arrangements if the new cost is lower; however, if the new cost is higher than the original booking you will have to pay the difference, except where the changes arise due to reasons of force majeure.

Compensation per person (excluding infants) is payable as below based on the date before your scheduled departure date when a major change is notified to you:

More than 70 days          Nil

29 to 70 days                     £10

14 to 28 days                     £20

Under 14 day                     £30

Our liability involving a major change is limited to offering you the above options.

Please note that the right to cancel without penalty will not apply, nor will compensation be payable, in cases of force majeure, ie if we are forced to cancel or change your travel arrangements in anyway (either before or after travel has commenced) for reasons of war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions or any other circumstances over which we have no control. Similarly, if after travel has commenced, you incur additional costs for reasons of force majeure than we shall not be held liable for refunds or compensation.

Cancellation By Us

We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients that we require for a particular tour or arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard, if available. If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements compensation will be payable as detailed above unless as a result of force majeure.

Force Majeure

Beyond The Ordinary may cancel, suspend, alter or withdraw a booking in the event or ‘Force Majeure’, in which case the client will be refunded monies returned to Beyond The Ordinary by ground suppliers, hotels and airlines –  less any deductions for expenses incurred.

Beyond The Ordinary cannot accept responsibility or pay any compensation for any loss, delay, cancellation or alteration of travel arrangements caused by circumstances that amount to ‘Force Majeure’. This may include war or threat of war, outbreak or threat of disease (including Coronavirus), denial of border entry for any undocumented reasons, industrial disputes, fire, extreme and adverse weather conditions, natural disaster, riots/civil strife, terrorist activity, decisions relating to foreign nationals made by the elected or de facto leaders of such areas; and such other circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

In such circumstances Beyond The Ordinary will do everything possible to provide alternative necessary travel arrangements to ensure the safe passage for our clients. Any costs incurred are in addition to the original cost of the existing holiday and it may be required for them to be paid in advance.

If You Have A Complaint

If you experience any problems during your holiday, it is a condition of booking that you bring the matter to the attention of our local agents and the relevant supplier (eg your hotel or airline) immediately. If you are unable to resolve your problem locally, please call our UK office by phone during office hours or by email.

If your complaint has still not been resolved then you should contact Beyond The Ordinary, within 28 days of your return, by emailing or writing to our Customer Services Dept. If you fail to follow this procedure, we cannot accept liability for any claim.

Please note that we are unable to consider any claim where any suitable assistance, advice or alternative of our local agents has been unsought, rejected or ignored.

Local Conditions

The countries in which Beyond The Ordinary provide holidays are considered as developing countries and, accordingly, do not always operate to standards considered the norm or acceptable in the UK and other ‘First World Countries’. This is particularly the case when it comes to internal transport. Accordingly, please note that we cannot accept any claim for compensation in relation to the quality of transport used nor for adherence to timetables. Departure times, routes and journey durations are therefore all given as estimates only.

Various standards of preparation and certain levels of fitness are required for many of our more adventurous itineraries and it is each individual participant’s responsibility to assess their own suitability and to prepare themselves to a suitable level for any of our itineraries. We are unable to refund any money in respect of services from which you withdraw after arrival. With reasonable notice, alternative versions of most of our activities can be organised for our customers and we will endeavour to assist in all reasonable instances.

If you are in any doubt about whether you should travel on any of our itineraries, you should consult your medical adviser.

Our Liability To You 

We accept responsibility for ensuring that the travel arrangements you book with us are supplied as described in promotion material and that the services offered reach a reasonable standard. If any part of your travel arrangements is not provided as promised we will pay you appropriate compensation if we agree that this has affected the enjoyment of your trip.

We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers except death, personal injury or illness (providing they were at the time carrying out work authorised by us).

We accept responsibility should you or any member of your party suffer death, personal injury or illness as a result of any failure to perform or improper performance of any part of our contract with you by any of our agents, suppliers, or sub-contractors (providing they were at the time carrying out work authorised by us) except where the failure to perform or improper performance was due to:

1. A) Your own acts or omissions
2. B) Those of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable.
3. C) An event which could not have been foreseen or avoided even with all due care.

Our liability in all cases (except death or personal injury) shall be limited to a maximum of twice the cost of your travel arrangements excluding insurance premiums and amendment fees. However, our liability in respect of carriage by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation is limited in the manner provided by the relevant international conventions and conditions of carriage. You can ask for copies of these international conventions from our offices.

It is a condition of the acceptance of liability above that you notify us of any claim in accordance with the conditions relating to complaints. Where any payment is made to you or any members of your party that person must assign to ourselves or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party. They must furthermore agree to fully co-operate should our insurers or we wish to enforce these rights.

Personal Injury un-connected With Your Booked Travel arrangements

If you, or any member of your party suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your travel arrangements or an excursion arranged through us, we shall, at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance to help you in resolving any claim which you may have against a third party, provided we are advised of the incident within 90 days of its occurrence. Where legal action is contemplated our written consent must be obtained. If the person concerned is successful in obtaining a costs order against a third party or to recoup costs under any insurance policy, they may have we shall be entitled to recoup from that person the costs actually incurred by ourselves. Our costs in respect of you and any member of your party shall not exceed a total of £5,000.

Conditions of Carriage

When you travel with a carrier, the conditions of carriage of that carrier will apply, some of which may limit liability. The conditions of carriage of that carrier are incorporated into this contract. Our website is entirely our responsibility, as your tour operator. It is not issued on behalf of, and does not commit the airlines mentioned herein whose services are used in the course of your travel arrangements. Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation Orders in order to qualify for infant status an infant must be under 2 years of age on the date of the return flight.

Obeying Local Laws

Clients are required to comply with the laws and regulations of all the countries visited on any trip, and comply with all reasonable instructions of the guide relating to the safety and organisation of the trip. We encourage clients to err on the side of caution if in doubt, ie photographing sensitive areas.  Please note too that many countries have more restrictive laws on medication than exist in the UK, even where you are in transit.

Client Responsibility

It is the responsibility of all clients travelling to ensure that.

• They have read, understood and accepted our Booking Conditions.
• Are aware that amendments or cancellations to bookings will be subject to costs up to 100% of the value of the holiday.
• Have adequate travel insurance in advance of travel (we strongly advise that you are insured / take out insurance as soon as the booking is confirmed).
• You hold a valid passport with at least 6 months validity still remaining beyond your return from holiday.
• You have the necessary entry visas and / or meet all relevant entry requirements for all the countries you are visiting.
• You visit travelaware.campaign.gov.uk for up-to-date travel advice.
• You have received appropriate, independent medical advice and any necessary vaccinations