Booking Conditions

Any contract between you and us (Optimundo Limited) is subject to these booking conditions. When you make a booking you guarantee that you accept, on behalf of all in your party, the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist when we issue your confirmation invoice.

This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by Scottish Law, and the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts. When we act only as a booking agent for certain tours, your contract will be with the relevant suppliers and their terms and conditions will apply. Copies of their booking conditions will be sent you for study before we accept your booking.

Your financial protection

The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked with us and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. We provide this security by way of a bond held by the Civil Aviation Authority under ATOL number 6957 for flights and holidays including flights.

Booking Procedure

To make a booking please contact us by email at info@optimundo.com stating the reference number of the holiday that you would like to book. We will check the availability of the requested holiday and, if available, ask you to pay the booking deposit. On receipt of your deposit we will send you a confirmation invoice. The balance of payment must be paid 8 weeks before you travel. Any failure to do this may lead to the cancellation of your holiday and the imposition of charges. If you are making a booking within 8 weeks of departure we will require the full payment of the holiday cost at the time of booking.

Special requests for flight seats, dietary requirements or particular room allocations should be made at the time of booking. Although we will make every effort to ensure these requests are fulfilled, they cannot be guaranteed, and we will not be held liable for any claims for loss as a result. Requests for flight seats are passed on by us to the airline concerned, but the confirmation of requests is strictly at the discretion of the airline.

Please note that the balance due date will appear on your invoice and no reminder for settlement of this will be sent.

Price policy

Prices are based upon then known costs and exchange rates at the time of quotation, as quoted in the Financial Times world value of the pound table.

Once the price of your holiday has been confirmed to you at the time of booking, we will only increase or decrease it by way of a surcharge or refund if our costs increase or decrease because of changes in:

a) transportation costs including fuel, scheduled airfares and any other transport surcharges which form part of our contract with the transport provider;

b) dues, taxes or fees chargeable for service such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports;

c) exchange rates.

Even in these cases, only if the amount of the increase in our costs exceeds 2% of the total cost of your holiday (excluding any amendment charges), will we levy a surcharge. Should you decide to cancel for this reason you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your amended invoice. Alternatively you may transfer your booking to another holiday without paying an amendment fee. We guarantee that no surcharges will be passed on within 30 days of the departure date. Should the cost of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of the total cost of your holiday (excluding any amendment charges), we will pay you the full amount of the decrease in our costs. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the cost of your holiday due to contractual and other protection in place. If the surcharge exceeds 15% of the cost of your holiday, you will be entitled to cancel your booking and receive a full refund of all monies paid if you do so in writing within 14 days of receiving the surcharge notice.

NB: Where we act only as an agent for your booking, we reserve our right to pass on to you in full all additional costs and charges of whatever nature levied by the supplier concerned in accordance with its own terms and conditions.

If you change your booking

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, we will endeavour to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes must be made in writing (letter or email) from the person who made the booking. You may be asked to pay an administrative charge of £50 per person plus any further costs incurred in making this alteration e.g. cancellation charge applicable to the original arrangements and additional costs for the new arrangements. You should be aware that these costs are likely to increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.

NB: 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 those arrangements.

If you or another member of your party is prevented from travelling we will endeavour to transfer the booking to another person at your request, provided that reasonable notice is given and the transferee meets all the conditions of the travel arrangements. The request to transfer a booking must be made in writing, together with the transferee's full details and any amendment charges incurred in making the transfer which are levied by our suppliers.

If you cancel your booking

Should you have to cancel your booking, or any component of it, please notify us in writing (letter or email) as soon as possible. The following cancellation charges will apply:

Prior to departure date:
More than 56 days: deposit only
36–56 days: 40% of final invoice
15–35 days: 60% of final invoice
6–14 days: 80% of final invoice
1–5 days: 100% of final invoice
date of departure: 100% of final invoice

Where holidays involve special discounted non-refundable air tickets or boat deposits, any cancellation charge will include the cost of such tickets if that cost is not recoverable elsewhere. Refunds are not given for services or accommodation paid for but not used, for whatever reason, after the date of departure.

NB If the reason for your cancellation is covered by your travel insurance policy you may be able to reclaim these charges from it.

If we change your itinerary

Anyone travelling to South America should understand that the infrastructure, efficiency of transportation systems and standard of facilities and service are not comparable to those in developed countries. We reserve our right to make any changes to your itinerary at any time. Changes can be ‘major' or ‘minor'. Alterations such as change of airline or aircraft type (it is common practice for scheduled airlines to use a ‘code share' system which may include you flying with a partner airline using different aircraft), alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, change of accommodation to another of the same standard, change of tour sequence/daily itineraries are considered normal and minor. Time permitting, any alterations that are known to us will be advised to you at the earliest opportunity prior to departure.

If a major change becomes necessary you will be offered the choice of: (a) accepting the changes; (b) taking an alternative itinerary that we suggest and paying or receiving a refund for any price difference; or (c) cancelling your holiday with a full refund of all monies paid. If you choose to cancel your booking you must inform us in writing within 14 days of receiving your updated travel itinerary. In any of the above cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of ‘force majeure', we will also pay compensation as follows:

Prior to departure date when you are notified of major change:

More than 56 days: £10.00&
36–56 days: £15.00
15–35 days: £20.00
6–14 days: £30.00
0–5 days: £40.00

Force majeure

Compensation will not be payable if we are forced to change or cancel your travel arrangements as a result of ‘force majeure'; e.g. unusual, unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances which are beyond our control. Examples of such circumstances include war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, pandemic disease or other unforeseen circumstances.

If we cancel your holiday

(i) Group tour prices (does not apply to private tours), including all optional excursion costs, are based on an economic number of people travelling together. Should the required minimum number of participants not be reached, we reserve the right to re-cost the tour price or to cancel any tour up to 8 weeks before departure. Compensation is not payable in these circumstances.

(ii) We reserve our right to cancel your holiday in any other circumstances. However, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance, we will not cancel your holiday after the date when the balance of payment becomes due. If we are forced to cancel your holiday at any time prior to departure as a result of ‘force majeure' we will inform you without delay. Should we cancel your holiday for reasons other than ‘force majeure' you will also be entitled to compensation payable according to the scale set out above.

In all cases we will offer you the choice of an alternative holiday, if available, or a full refund of all monies paid. If the balance is not paid on time we shall cancel your holiday and no refund or compensation will be paid.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about your holiday, please inform your local guide or our specified local representative or the supplier of the service (e.g. the hotelier) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint and this may affect your rights under this contract. If your complaint is not resolved locally you should write to us within 28 days of your return, giving your booking reference number and all relevant information. If you make a complaint we promise to deal with it fairly and promptly within the terms of these conditions.

Our liability to you

If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to:

(i) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements.

(ii) 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 compensation that you can claim 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 compensation contained in these or any conventions. Copies of the transport companies' contractual terms, or the international conventions are available on request.

Flight delay and loss of luggage

Under EU 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 of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users' Council on 020 7240 6061 or visit www.auc.org.uk . 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 the terms of these Booking Conditions. In the event of delay, the relevant airline will make arrangements based on the time of day and duration of delay. Where denied boarding and long flight delays (be it domestic or international, outward, onward or homeward) result in lost holiday time, no refunds are given by hotels for unused accommodation, as rooms are held for delayed arrivals, not re-let. In the event that your luggage is lost or damaged you should claim against your holiday insurance policy. Our liability for lost and damaged luggage is restricted in accordance with relevant international conventions.

Your responsibilities

We will not be liable for any loss, damage, illness, discomfort or costs of whatever kind you might sustain from failing to discharge the following responsibilities:

(a) It is your responsibility to check the confirmation invoice carefully and let us know immediately of any error.

(b) You should take out travel insurance before your departure. We cannot be held responsible if you purchase inadequate cover.

(c) It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a full valid passport and obtain the relevant entry visas for all countries to be visited, and meet the entry requirements of any other country you may be travelling to or transiting through. We cannot be held responsible for any delays or costs resulting for not meeting these requirements.

(d)You are also responsible for meeting the health requirements of any country you are visiting. Nor can we be held responsible for any circumstance arising out of your failure to disclose a disability or pre-existing medical condition if this were likely to affect your holiday.

(e) It is your responsibility to arrive in good time to board transportation. If you miss a flight or other transport, we will try to arrange alternative transportation, but reserve the right to recover any costs incurred from you. You are also responsible for reconfirming any return or onward flights with the carrier. We recommend you check in early for any long-haul flight, and in any case not less than 2 hours beforehand.