Limosa - Birdwatching and Wildlife Hoildays Worldwide

Booking Conditions

Limosa Holidays is the trading name of an unincorporated travel partnership, launched in 1985 by Chris and Barbara Kightley. The booking conditions below form the contract between us. Please read them carefully.

1. Your Financial Protection: When you buy an ATOLprotected air holiday package from us you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser's Licence number 2950.

   In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance bookings. For further information visit the ATOLwebsite at www.atol.org.uk

   Not all holiday and travel services offered and sold by us will be protected by the ATOL Scheme. Those not including the cost of a flight from the UK, or booked by you as Land Only (see 5), are protected and fully bonded through AITO Trust Ltd. Our AITOT number is 1049.

2. Booking Procedure: A reservation is made once a completed booking form, together with the appropriate booking deposit, have been received from you and confirmed in writing by us. At this date a contract will come into force between us. Our written confirmation of your booking means that we agree to operate your holiday as stated in the brochure. The contract, which is deemed to have been made at our offices in Northrepps, is governed by English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

   When submitting your booking by telephone, fax, email, letter or online, it is implied and accepted that the ‘lead name' on the booking guarantees that he or she has the authority to accept, and does accept, on behalf of the party, the terms of these booking conditions.

3. The balance is due 12 weeks (or more in the case of some tours and cruises) prior to the start of the holiday. The date the balance falls due will be advised by us when we confirm your booking. If the balance has not been paid by the due date we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled and levy appropriate cancellation charges.

   Late Bookings: Please note bookings accepted less than 12 weeks prior to departure must be accompanied by full payment at time of booking.

4. Payments: Whilst we are willing to accept payment of deposit by credit card with noadditional charge, please note that we do prefer final balances to be paid by cheque or by Debit Card whenever possible. By helping us to reduce our overheads in this way, we are able to return the savings to you in the form of lower tour prices.

   Occasionally, where the airline requires full payment before they will confirm a flight booking, we may require an interim deposit from you, in addition to the tour deposit, in order to secure your flights. We will inform you immediately if the occasion arises.

   Please make cheques payable to "Limosa Holidays".

5. Land Only Bookings: If you are taking a Land Only option we advise you to check with us whether your chosen tour is ‘up and running' BEFORE booking your international flight/s. Please note we will not be held responsible for any cancellation charges you may incur occasioned by Limosa Holidays cancelling your holiday for whatever reason.

6. Cancellation: You may cancel your booking at any stage. Cancellation must be advised in writing by the ‘lead name' and takes effect on the day such notice is received by us. Deposits are non-refundable, and all tour and interim flight deposits you have made will be retained by us. In the event of cancellation after the full balance is due, the cancellation charges are as follows:

   85 or more days before departure	Loss of deposit only
   84-43 days before departure	50% of total invoice cost
   42-29 days before departure	75% of total invoice cost
   28 days or less before deposit	100% of total invoice tour cost

   To protect yourself against cancellation please ensure that you purchase travel insurance (see item 21 below) as early as possible. If the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of your insurance, the above charges will normally be refunded to you by the insurance company, less premium cost and any excess applicable.

   If you are unavoidably prevented from proceeding with your holiday, you may transfer your booking up to 30 days prior to departure to another person, providing the transferee meets any conditions which may apply to the booking. We shall make a charge of £50 per person for administrative costs, plus all additional charges imposed by our suppliers arising from the transfer.

   If circumstances force you to leave a tour early, or follow a separate itinerary, you will have to bear any extra costs involved, although these may be covered by your Insurance.

7. Transferring Between Tours: If you wish to transfer from one tour to another, a charge of £50 per person will be made to cover office administration. We are happy to accept transfers providing this does not take place within three months prior to departure of your original tour, or this does not force us to cancel the tour you are already booked on, and provided we do not suffer costs incurred from our airlines and suppliers relating to your cancelled tour. In such cases, transfers will usually be treated as a cancellation and rebooking, and the relevant cancellation charges will apply.

8. Tour alteration: We do everything possible to ensure each tour runs as advertised. However, we reserve the right to alter the holiday, or to substitute accommodation and leaders if necessary, in which case participants will be informed. Most such changes will be minor (see below).

   If a major change (see below) is necessary, or we have to cancel your holiday for any reason before the date of departure, we will advise you as soon as reasonably possible. You will have the choice of: (a) accepting the new arrangements; (b) an alternative holiday if available (and where this is of a lower price we will refund the difference, but where this is of a higher price, you will be expected to pay the difference); or (c) cancelling your booking in return for a full refund (save for any insurance premiums). Irrespective of which you choose, we will pay reasonable compensation, as follows:

   Period before scheduled departure date within which a MAJOR change or cancellation is notified to you	Compensation per person
   More than 56 days	Nil
   56-43 days	£10
   42-29 days	£15
   28-15 days	£20
   14-0 days	£30

   A major change to your holiday is one which involves a significant change of accommodation or itinerary; a change of flight time by more than 12 hours (but not a flight delay as this is covered by travel insurance) and a change in UK airport (except as between London airports). No compensation is payable in respect of other changes which are minor, or where cancellation or change is as a result of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could reasonably avoid, examples of which include: force majeure (war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, epidemic, fire, adverse weather conditions, non-availability of fuel; or by industrial dispute which unavoidably prevents a carrier, hotelier or other supplier from performing their contract; the balance has not been paid by the due date; or the tour is cancelled because the number of persons actually booked is insufficient to operate the tour. If a tour is under-booked we will inform you no later than 6 weeks prior to departure. Save for the compensation payments set out above, we will be under no further liability to you.

9. Surcharges: Prices shown are based on costs and exchange rates as at 25 July 2008. We do all that we can to ensure that the price you see on our website/brochure is the price you pay. Please note that our policy has always been NOT to surcharge customers - and our record in achieving this is second to none. Although under Package Travel regulations there is provision for surcharges to be made within certain parameters, Limosa Holidays undertakes NOT to impose any surcharge on any holiday booked during the life of our current brochure/website (which is valid until 31st August 2009).

10. Prices: We reserve the right to change any of the prices shown on our contained in our brochure/website at any time before we enter into contract with you. If there is any upward change, we will notify you before we enter into such contract. If you have already booked and the change is downward, the price you pay will of course be the new lower price.

11. Special requests must be advised to us prior to departure and preferably at the time of booking. We will advise the relevant supplier(s) of your requirements but we cannot guarantee that such requests will be met. Furthermore, we have no liability to you if such requests are not met.

12. Accommodation: We reserve the right to change accommodation from that specified within our literature, for whatever reason. Whenever possible, changes will be to accommodation of equivalent or higher standard. Where this is not possible, we may occasionally have to settle for accommodation of a lower standard, in which event a pro rata refund will be made to participants after the tour.

    Single rooms cannot always be guaranteed and bookings are only accepted on the understanding that you will consent to share a room in the event of unexpected lack of single rooms at any location (a pro rata refund will be made to you after the tour).

    The tour prices in our brochure/website are the cost per person based on two people sharing a room. In most cases, there is an additional cost to pay for single travellers wishing to occupy a room to themselves. This is the single room supplement indicated in our brochure/website. The reason for this supplement is that our contact with the owners is based on a price per room while our holidays are sold per person, including flights and other elements. Therefore, the per person price for a lone traveller includes the entire room cost.

    We do not make additional or excessive profits from these sales, the prices charged merely reflect the real cost to us. In some hotels there are rooms that are designed for single occupancy only. In this instance there will normally be a supplement but usually less than when a single person occupies a twin/double room. These single rooms are often smaller and sometimes less well appointed. We do not know which room you will be given as hotels will usually decide this shortly before you arrive.

13. Itineraries: The birds, wildlife and itineraries within our brochure, website and tour information packs outline our planned programme but are intended only as a guide. You should see a reasonable proportion of the birds mentioned if you have good eyesight and participate fully in the tour. Our itineraries do not constitute contracts and we reserve the right to change them at any time for emergency, logistical or other reasons so long as these alterations are in keeping with the nature of the tour. The final decision for any change rests with our office, or our experienced tour guide(s) who are often best placed to assess the situation ‘on the ground'.

    We strive rigorously to ensure that all guides accompany their stated tours but, in assigning leaders eighteen months or more in advance, we reserve the right to substitute a leader(s) if absolutely necessary. We will not be held liable for any loss whatsoever caused a result of any delay or alteration.

14. Group Size: We reserve the right to exceed the maximum group size by one person in cases where there is only one place left on the holiday and a couple wish to book.

15. Photos: We reserve the right to take photographs during the operation of our tours, and to use the resulting images for promotional purposes. By booking with us, tour members agree to allow their image to be used in this way. Participants who prefer that their image should not be used must inform us prior to the tour.

16. Airlines: We use a variety of airlines to our principal destinations. This information will be outlined in the detailed itineraries. However, schedules and routes may change and for operational reasons we reserve the right to change the airline for any particular tour. Any air travel that is part of any tour is subject to the conditions of carriage as stipulated by the airline concerned and liability is limited in accordance with International Convention. 

    It is our obligation to collect UKAirport Departure Tax. This amount is included in the cost of your holiday.

    Surnames and forenames provided to Limosa Holidays must be spelt exactly as on the client's passport. We accept no responsibility and resulting costs involved if air tickets are issued for client's names that do not match passport names.

    All passport, visa, travel insurance and health certificate requirements are entirely your responsibility and Limosa Holidays accepts no responsibility.

    The governments of various countries require airlines to collect Advance Passenger Information (APIs) from passengers prior to travel. The airlines will only provide each country's Customs and Immigration Authorities with the relevant information required by them, however some governments require airlines to provide them with direct access to airline passenger bookings (PNRs) which may contain other passenger data. It is important that the information is accurate so you pass through Immigration on arrival in these countries without delay.

    We strongly recommend that you provide your Advance Passenger Information to the airline in advance of going to the airport. You can do this online at any time in advance of your flight through "Manage My Booking" on the airline's website, or when you check in with the airline online. If you do not have internet access, you can give the airline the information at an airport Check-in kiosk or airport Check-in desk. Where you have booked your flights through Limosa and we already hold the necessary APIs, we are usually (but not always) able to enter the data on your behalf. If you object to us doing this for you and would prefer to enter the data yourself, please let us know.

17. Conduct: You must at all times strictly comply with the laws, customs and regulation of the countries visited, and conduct yourself in a manner deemed by the leader to be compatible with the satisfactory operation of the tour. We reserve the right to dismiss from the group any person unable or unwilling so to do. Any person so dismissed shall have no cause for complaint or refund, and shall bear all the extra expenses of his/her return home.

18. Flights: Our holidays are planned well in advance and so we may not be in a position to state details of airlines, airports, flight timings or aircraft type in our brochure/website and tour itineraries. They will however be detailed either in your Confirmation Invoice (if known at that time) and/or in our Final Tour Letter sent to you 15-30 days prior to the tour's departure.

19. Responsibilities and liability: We will accept responsibility should the services we are contractually obliged to provide prove deficient or not of reasonable standard. We will also accept responsibility for loss or damage due to the acts or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers. We will accept responsibility for the negligent acts or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers whilst acting within the scope of their employment in respect of claims arising as a result of death, personal injury or illness to the client.

    Claims in respect of the above matters shall (in respect of both liability and quantum) fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England. All claims must be notified to us in writing within 28 days of your return from the holiday.

    We shall be entitled to limit our liability in relation to the above in the manner provided by the relevant International Conventions in respect of air, sea and land carriage. We will accept no responsibility or liability in respect of: loss or damage to goods; loss, damage, delay or misdirection of your luggage and personal effects; death or physical injury unless resulting from proven negligence; claims arising out of carriage by air or sea (see above). We will accept no responsibility or liability in respect of claims arising out of your own acts or omissions, or those of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday.

    Where appropriate and subject to our reasonable discretion we will afford general assistance to our clients who through misadventure suffer illness, personal injury or death during the period of the holiday arising out of an activity which does not form part of the holiday.

    We will accept no responsibility or liability in respect of losses or additional expenses incurred as a result of transport delays, flight changes or cancellations, sickness, quarantine, war, riots or political crises, threat of terrorist activity, strikes, industrial action, government intervention, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, weather conditions, flood, acts of God or other similar events beyond our control. Any additional costs that result, such as extra flights and hotel accommodation, will be your responsibility and must be paid for directly at the time.

20. Disabilities and medical conditions: Many, but not all, of our holidays may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities and medical conditions. Please ask us if any doubt. In any case, if any client suffers from any disability or medical condition which may affect the running of the holiday, they must provide us with full details before the balance is due. We reserve the right to cancel a booking and impose the appropriate cancellation charges if such details are not provided. We further reserve the right to decline any booking whenever we feel unable to accommodate the particular needs of a particular client on that trip.

21. Insurance: All participants must be fully and adequately covered by insurance before setting out on holiday. For fuller details please refer to the About Limosa - Esential Info section of our brochure/website (or visit the website Links page). Please note: due to UK Government legislation, under new Financial Services Authority regulations, we are not allowed to offer or recommend travel related insurance to our customers.

    Your insurance must cover you fully in respect of medical care and repatriation should you become too ill to continue with the tour, including the cost of emergency evacuation by helicopter or air ambulance should this be necessary. Note that passenger liability insurance covering the transportation that we hire, particularly in Third World countries, may be inadequate; it is therefore important that your insurance cover includes sufficient provision for your dependents in the event of an accident.

22. Complaints: If you should have a complaint please notify the leader(s) as soon as possible in order that the matter can be dealt with promptly. If it is not dealt with to your satisfaction on the spot, the nature of the complaint should be stated in writing promptly and preferably within 28 days of the date scheduled for your return from the tour. In any event, we will not be under any liability in respect of any claim of which we are not notified in writing within 3 months of the date scheduled for your return. If you have a dispute with us which you are unable to resolve, you may refer the matter to a court of law or call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute Settlement Service (details on request). Claims which exceed £2500 per person or £10000 per booking form, or claims which apply principally or exclusively in respect of (or as a consequence of) illness or physical injury are not admissible for settlement under the service.

23. Mailing List: All names and addresses on the Limosa Holidays mailing list are held on computer. These are strictly confidential and NOT available except for our own use. If you object to your details being stored in this way please let us know and we will remove your details. On tours that we run in conjunction with another operator(s), any details necessarily passed on will only be used for compliance with essential travel formalities.

    Brochure/Website Validity:  Our current brochure/website was published in August 2008 and its prices replace all previously published details. These remain valid until our next brochure/website is published in August 2009.