1. Our details
The Swiss Holiday Company is a trading name of Travelco Limited with whom your contract is made and whose registered address is Nucleus House, 2 Lower Mortlake Road, Richmond TW9 2JA. Our Company Registration Number is 2773456.
2. Your holiday booking
When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may, however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there and wish to do so.
3. Paying for your holiday
When you make your booking you must pay a minimum deposit of £150 per person if your holiday is with SWISS or BA flights. A minimum £250 deposit per person applies if your holiday includes any of the following: flights with any other airline, rail travel from the UK, Glacier Express 1st or 2nd Class or GoldenPass Express Prestige Class. A minimum deposit of £600 per person will be required for holidays including the Glacier Express Excellence Class. If your holiday includes Bernina Express Pullman Class, Gornergrat NostalChic or Legends of Lake Lucerne Cruise, you must pay the full amount of these journeys at the time of booking as part of your non-refundable deposit. In all cases we will confirm the exact amount payable at the time of booking. The balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid at least 10 weeks before your departure date. If the deposit and/or balance are not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit.
4. If you cancel your holiday
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time.
Written notification from the person who made the booking or your travel agent must be received at our offices.
Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay cancellation charges as follows
(see also the exception below).
If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.
| Up to 70 days before departure: |
Loss of deposit |
| 69 to 42 days before departure: |
40% of holiday price |
| 41 to 28 days before departure: |
60% of holiday price |
| 27 to 14 days before departure: |
80% of holiday price |
| Less than 14 days: |
Full holiday cost |
5. If you change your booking
If, after our confirmation invoice has been
issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way (for example: transfer your booking, amend your date or accommodation), we will do our utmost to make
these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be
made must be in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel
agent. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £50-£100 per person and
any further cost we incur in making this alteration. 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. Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be
changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could
incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements. You can transfer your booking to
another person, who satisfies all the conditions that apply to this booking, by
giving us notice in writing as soon as possible and no later than 28 days
before departure. Both you and the new traveller are responsible for paying all
costs we incur in making the transfer. Certain air and travel reservations
cannot be changed and will need to be paid for in full.
6. If we change or cancel your booking
It is a term of your booking that we are able to
make changes to any aspect of your booking. If the change is insignificant, we
will ensure that you are notified about it. Examples of insignificant changes
include alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours,
changes to aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same or
higher standard, changes of carriers. If we are
constrained by circumstances beyond our control to alter significantly any of
the main characteristics of the travel services that make up your package you
will have the rights set out below. We will contact you and you will have the
choice of accepting the change or having a refund of all monies paid. You can
also accept an alternative holiday, where we offer one (we will refund any
price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). We will tell you the
procedure for making your choice. Please read any notification of changes
carefully and respond promptly as if you do not respond to us within the
timescale given your booking may be cancelled. If you choose to
accept a refund we will pay compensation as detailed below except where the
significant change is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which
means a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have
been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The compensation
that we offer does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do
so.
| Up to 42 days before departure: | None |
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| 41 to 25 days before departure: | £20 |
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| 24 to 14 days before departure: | £25 |
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| 13 to 7 days before departure: | £30 |
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| Less than 7 days: | £40 |
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7. Your holiday price
We unconditionally guarantee that there will be
no surcharge to your holiday price after you have made your booking. However,
we reserve the right to increase our prices at any time before you book.
8. Our liability to you
You must inform us without undue delay of any
failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in
this package. If any of the travel services included in your package are not
performed in accordance with the contract, or are improperly performed, by us
or the travel service suppliers, and this has affected the enjoyment of your
travel arrangements, you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or
compensation or both. We will not be liable where any failure to perform or
improper performance of the travel services is due to: you or another member of
your party; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel
services in the package and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unavoidable and
extraordinary circumstances, which means a situation beyond
our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all
reasonable measures had been taken. Our liability, except
in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of
three times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be
limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to:
a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the
travel services that make up your package. These terms are incorporated into
this booking; and
b) Any relevant international convention, for example the
Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in
respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and
the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit
the amount of and conditions under which compensation can be claimed for death,
injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be
regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of the extent of or the
conditions under which compensation is to be paid under these or any
conventions. Under passenger rights law you have rights in some
circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of
denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details will be
publicised at relevant airports and available from airlines. However, reimbursement in such
cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from
us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in these
booking conditions. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to
you by the airline or any other service provider will be deducted. If it is
impossible to ensure your return as scheduled due to unavoidable and
extraordinary circumstances, we will bear the cost of necessary accommodation,
if possible of equivalent category, for a maximum of three nights. The limit
doesn’t apply to persons with reduced mobility and any person accompanying
them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, or persons in need of specific
medical assistance, provided that you notified us of these needs at least 48
hours before the start of your holiday.
By the very nature of rail travel through mountainous landscape, journeys can be disrupted. Changes can occur at short notice when you are already away on holiday which may mean your journey is re-routed. As such events are unforeseeable and considered Acts of God, refunds may be limited to the cost of your seat reservations.
NB this entire clause 8 does not apply
to any separate contracts that you may enter into with local suppliers for excursions or activities
whilst on holiday.
9. Protecting your money
We provide full financial protection for our
package holidays. For flight-based
holidays, this is by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3148, issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Gatwick Airport South, West Sussex, RH6 0YR, telephone 0333 103 6350, email claims@caa.co.uk.
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. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL
Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able to
do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder 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 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. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint
an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim
under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).If we are unable to provide the services
listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or
otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may
make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree
that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those
Trustees 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 ATOL scheme. If you book a package
holiday other than by air from this brochure, your monies are protected by way
of our ABTA bond (W6262).
10. ABTA
We
are a Member of ABTA, membership number W6262. We are obliged to maintain a
high standard of service to you by ABTA's Code of Conduct. We can also offer
you ABTA's scheme for the resolution of disputes which is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. If we
can't resolve your complaint, go to www.abta.com
to use ABTA's simple procedure. Further information on the Code and
ABTA's assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com.
11. Complaints
If
you have a complaint about any of the services included in your holiday, you
must inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) without undue delay who
will endeavour to put things right. If it is not resolved locally, please
follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to us giving your
booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter
concise and to the point. If you fail to follow the requirement to report your
complaint in resort we will have been deprived of the opportunity to
investigate and rectify it and this may affect your rights under this booking.
Please also see clause 10 above on ABTA.
12. Additional assistance
If
you're in difficulty whilst on holiday and ask us to help we will provide
appropriate assistance, in particular by providing information on health
services, local authorities and consular assistance; and helping you to find
alternative arrangements and any necessary phone calls/emails. You must pay any
costs we incur if the difficulty is your fault.
13. Passport, visa and immigration requirements
Your
specific passport and visa requirements and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should
confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept
any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration
requirements.
14. Excursions
Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us.
15. Travel agents
All
monies you pay to the travel agent are held by him on behalf and for the
benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times. This is subject
to the agent's obligation to pay it to us for so long as we do not fail. If we
fail, any money held at that time by the agent, or subsequently accepted from
you by him, is and continues to be held on behalf of and for the benefit of the
Trustees of the Air Travel Trust without any obligation to pay that money to
us.
16. Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is important and you should take it out as soon as possible to cover the cost of cancellation before travel or assistance, including repatriation, once abroad. Please see ABTA for advice.
Please note
This website is our responsibility, as your tour operator. It is not published on
behalf of, and does not commit the airlines mentioned herein or any airline
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,
a child must be under 2 years of age on the date of its return flight.