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The Authentic Travel Company trading as Travel Specialists by Advantage, company number 04698963, with its registered office address at 21 Provost Street, London, N1 7NH (“we”, “us” or “our”), operates the website with the URL www.authentictravelcompany.com (“the Website”). Travel Specialists by Advantage operates as a managed branch of Advantage Travel Centres Limited (“Advantage”) and is a member of the Advantage Managed Service Scheme. Advantage is registered under number 04698963 and has its registered office at 15-21 Provost Street, London, N1 7NH. These Booking Conditions, together with any other written information we brought to your attention before your booking was confirmed, form the basis of your contract for agency booking services with Travel Specialists by Advantage.
We, act as retail booking agents in respect of all bookings we take and/or make on your behalf.
For all such arrangements where we act as your retail agent, your contract for the supply of the service(s) in question will be the disclosed supplier of the service(s) in question. When making your booking, we will arrange for you to enter into a contract with that supplier. Your booking will be subject to these terms and conditions for our booking services, and also any booking conditions of the disclosed supplier of your travel arrangements. You are advised to read all applicable conditions carefully prior to booking. Except where otherwise stated, we do not accept liability in relation to any contract you enter into or for any arrangements you purchase or for the acts or omissions of any supplier(s) or other person(s) or party(ies) connected with any arrangements.
For the avoidance of doubt, where we sell you a Package holiday that has been organised by another supplier, we will sell that holiday as retail agent for that supplier. Where that Package holiday includes a flight, the flight will be protected by the supplier’s ATOL and the ATOL Certificate will be issued by us on behalf of that supplier.
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.
Any money paid to us in respect of a booking including a flight purchased under our ATOL or a third party’s ATOL is held by us on behalf of and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times, but subject to our obligation to pay it to the supplier of your arrangements for so long as that supplier does not fail financially. If that supplier does fail financially, any money we hold at that time or subsequently accept from you is and continues to be held by us on behalf of and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust without any obligation to pay that money to the applicable supplier.
When you make a booking, you guarantee that you are over 18 and have the authority to accept, and do accept these conditions on your behalf and on behalf of all members of your party and, further, if you are making a booking for more than one person, that you are responsible for all payments due from each and every party member for whom you are making a booking. When you use our website to make a booking, you will need to provide us with credit or debit card details in order to cover the full cost of your trip. You authorise us or an authorised third party to take full payment for the total amount of your purchase. Please note that you may be required to present a credit card at the time of check-in, rental or pick-up to provide confirmation of authorised card use or to secure any additional charges.
Where we are acting as booking agent, your booking is confirmed and a contract between you and the supplier will exist when we send you a confirmation invoice. Please check your confirmation invoice carefully and report any incorrect or incomplete information to us immediately. If you have paid a deposit, you must pay the full balance by the balance due date notified to you. If full payment is not received by the balance due date, we will notify the supplier who may cancel your booking and charge the cancellation fees set out in their booking conditions.
Upon receipt, if you believe that any details on the confirmation or any other or any other document are wrong you must advise us immediately. Please ensure that names are exactly as stated in the relevant passport. As we act only as booking agent, we have no responsibility for any errors in any documentation except where an error is made by us.
It is your responsibility to ensure that any information which is given to you by us or any of our employees or suppliers is passed on to all members of your party. Any information which we give to you shall be deemed as given to each and every party member for whom you are making or have made a booking. We can only liaise with the lead passenger on the booking.
We reserve the right to return your deposit and decline to issue a confirmation at our absolute discretion.
The price of your flight may include taxes, fees and charges which are imposed on air transportation by government authorities. They may represent a significant portion of the cost of air travel and are either included in the fare or shown separately on your ticket. You may also be required to pay taxes or fees or other charges not already collected, for example, it is not always possible to include all departure taxes on your ticket(s). In some cases departure taxes must be paid by you locally to the Government of the country you are departing from and are therefore non-refundable by us.
Credit card and debit card companies make a charge to process payments on their products. If your card is a consumer card we will absorb this cost. If your card is a business card we will pass on this charge and this will be added to the final price of your travel arrangements. Typically this amounts to 2% of the total for credit cards. In the event of a cancellation, credit card charges are non-refundable.
The price of each product or service is regularly reviewed and is subject to change. Promotional or discounted offers on this site are provided at our discretion. All offers are subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time. We will charge you for any additional handling fees incurred by us in respect of payment through a debit or credit card and in addition to the price of your trip.
Bookings made on the telephone may incur a supplementary charge to cover the additional resource costs involved. We reserve the right to record telephone calls for training and quality purposes.
If you wish to change any part of your confirmed arrangements or cancel them, you must inform us in writing as soon as possible and we will liaise with any applicable supplier on your behalf. This should be done by the first named person on the booking. Whilst we will do our best to assist, we cannot guarantee that any supplier will be able to meet your requested change as amendments can only be accepted in accordance with their terms and conditions.
We will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if any supplier needs to make a significant change to your confirmed arrangements or to cancel them. We will also liaise between you and any applicable supplier in relation to any alternative arrangements offered but we will have no further liability to you.
We endeavour to ensure that the details of all products, including prices, displayed on our websites are accurate. However, given the high volume of flights, hotels and other products offered it is inevitable that, in exceptional cases, mistakes will arise. We cannot accept liability for these errors.
You must ensure you check the price and all other details of your chosen arrangements with us at the time of booking.
It is your responsibility to check and fulfill the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. 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. 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/abroad/passports Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check. For European holidays you should obtain a completed and issued form EHIC prior to departure. Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.
Non British passport holders, including other EU nationals, should obtain up to date advice on passport and visa 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 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 passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.
Pre-Travel Advice: The Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit may have issued information about your holiday destination. You are advised to check whether or not such information has been issued on the Internet under the address www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo prior to travelling. Alternatively, you can contact the ABTA Information Department on 0901 201 5050 (calls charged at 50p/minute). It is your responsibility to check any advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit and we accept no responsibility for this.
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) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please contact your tour guide or in the case of a tailor-made tour our local agent or our offices at 21 Provost Street as soon as possible. Failure to do so will affect ours and the applicable supplier’s ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract. If the problem cannot be resolved and you wish to complain further. You must send formal written notice of your complaint to us at our office within 28 days of the end of your stay, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you.
We strongly recommend that you do not travel without adequate Travel Insurance for your own protection and peace of mind, please be aware that some airlines may not allow you to travel without insurance. It is your responsibility to ensure that you purchase adequate travel insurance for your needs.
You should ensure that you travel with your booking confirmations, e-tickets and any other travel documentation (including your passport) at all times. We will not be liable for any supplier not providing you with the booked product or service if you do not produce such documentation.
If you have a booking for any of our products or services, including flights, car hire, accommodation and packages, but you do not show up to check-in, collect the car or otherwise do not avail yourself of such product or service, you will not be entitled to any refund from us. Certain airlines may also cancel the return portion of your ticket if you fail to take the outbound journey. Please contact us if you fail to take the outbound journey but intend to use the inbound portion of a return ticket.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you and the members of your group do not behave in a way which is inappropriate or causes danger, distress, offence or damage to others or which risks damage to property belonging to others (including but not limited to drunkenness and air rage) whilst on your trip.
If, in our reasonable opinion or that of our suppliers, your behaviour is inappropriate and causes danger, distress, offence, or damage to others, or risks damage to property belonging to others, we and/or our suppliers (e.g. hotel managers, airline pilots) may take appropriate action in order to ensure the safety and comfort of our customers and their property and that of our suppliers, including terminating your trip, in which case our and our supplier’s responsibility to you will cease immediately and you will not be eligible for any refunds, payments of compensation and/or any reimbursement of any cost or expenses you may incur as a result of such termination. Further, you will be liable to reimburse us for any expenses we incur necessarily as a result of such termination.
When travelling on an arrangement including hotel accommodation, no person under the age of 18 years will be allowed to travel independently. The exception is for Las Vegas where visitors are required to be 21 years old if unaccompanied. The passenger’s age relates to the whole of the period when they are away including the day of return. When travelling on a flight-only basis, passengers can travel alone if they are aged 14 years or over subject to airline approval, providing they can travel unassisted. Please note if they are aged 14 – 15, a parent or legal guardian must accompany them to check-in, and a valid photo-ID in addition to the country specific documentation must be presented. We strongly recommend that parents or guardians of unaccompanied young persons remain in the airport until the flight has departed. Airlines reserve the right not to accept unaccompanied minors less than 14 years of age for carriage. If an under 14 year old needs to travel unaccompanied, please contact us by email via our support request system to request assistance before making a booking.
INFANT FARES: Infants must be under 2 years old on the return date of travel. If your child celebrates his or her 2nd birthday while on holiday, you must book and pay the appropriate child fare. Charges for infants vary depending on the route and length of flight and will be advised in the booking process. Infants are not entitled to their own seat and must travel on an adult’s lap. If you require a seat for your infant to sit separately you will need to purchase a child’s ticket at the appropriate fare. Infants do not always receive a personal baggage allowance as this varies from carrier to carrier.
CHILD FARES: Children must be 2 – 11 years old on the return date of travel to qualify for any applicable child fare reduction. Children aged 12 years and older pay the full fare and have their own seat and also have a full baggage allowance.
BABIES: An infant must be more than 7 days old to travel on an aircraft, for health and safety reasons.
The email address that you provide with your booking will be used for all future communication with you, including any changes and additional information on your flights and/or hotel bookings. It is therefore your responsibility to ensure that you check your email on a regular basis, and also notify us should your email address change.
Please advise us of any special requests and we will pass these on to the relevant supplier. However, we cannot guarantee your special request as we do not have any direct control over the manner in which the services are provided.
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.
We may amend these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice. If we do amend these terms and conditions, the amended terms will be effective when posted on this website and you are deemed to have accepted the relevant changes.
Additional terms and conditions may apply to reservations, purchases of goods and services and other uses of portions of this site, and you agree to abide by such other terms and conditions.
We cannot be held responsible for any disruption to your trip due to bad or unusual weather conditions.
The Authentic Travel Company Ltd is a trading name of Advantage Travel Centres Limited, registered in England and Wales with registered number 04698963 Vat No. 680 7873 93
Head Office: 21 Provost Street, London, N1 7NH
Book with Confidence. We are a Member of ABTA which means you have the benefit of ABTA’s assistance and Code of Conduct. We provide financial protection for your money when you buy a package holiday. If you buy other travel arrangements such as accommodation only this protection doesn’t apply. Travel Specialists by Advantage is a Member of ABTA. When you book with an ABTA Member you can expect high service standards, fair terms of trading and accurate information. ABTA’s strict joining criteria for Members, code of conduct, customer helpline and complaints resolution scheme are all there to give you confidence and peace of mind when booking your travel arrangements. For more information contact ABTA, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ, tel 020 3117 0500 www.abta.com
Click here for the latest travel advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office including security, local laws and passports.
