Reference
These conditions should be read in conjunction with our printed brochure and planning guide. This web site is not a brochure.
Key points
- You enter into a booking with us when we issue our confirmation invoice. If you then cancel, there will be cancellation charges. Initially this may only be a deposit, but can go up to 100%.
- You can make changes to your booking in certain circumstances. We make a charge for this. We can change and cancel your booking. We’ll pay you compensation in certain circumstances.
- We are responsible to you for providing your holiday but there are legal limits.
Read the full terms that follow for more information and for other important rights and obligations.
1. Our details
Your contract is with Last Frontiers Limited of The Mill, Waddesdon, HP18 0LP, England, a member of ABTA.
2. Your holiday contract
A booking will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This booking is made on the terms of these booking conditions. 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.
3. Paying for your holiday
When you make your booking you must pay our standard deposit of £500 per person. Some extra deposits may also be payable and we will explain clearly how refundable they are. We will usually give you a confirmed holiday price at the time of booking but in some cases, for example a departure date when confirmed hotel or flights prices have not been published, may give you an estimated price. We will inform you of the confirmed price as soon as we can. If the confirmed price is more than 10% higher than the estimated price you will have the right to cancel and receive a refund of unused services. Some items may not be refundable (for example flights that have been issued). Once confirmed, the price of your travel arrangements is fully guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges.
The balance of the price of your travel arrangements must be paid at least 12 weeks before your departure date. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we will cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we will retain your deposits.
We are under no obligation to give a breakdown of the costs involved in a holiday.
4. Insurance
It is a condition of your booking that you take out adequate holiday insurance to our reasonable satisfaction. You must send us details of your policy including the insurer's name, policy number and 24-hour emergency telephone number. If you do not provide evidence of the insurance by at least 12 weeks before commencement of your holiday, unless otherwise agreed we reserve the right to cancel your holiday and retain all non-refundable payments.
5. 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:
| Period before departure | Cancellation charge |
|---|---|
| More than 84 days | Loss of deposit |
| 84-42 days | 50% of holiday cost |
| Less than 42 days | 100% of holiday cost |
Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.
6. 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 your chosen departure 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, 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 at least 7 days before departure. Both you and the new traveller are responsible for paying all costs we incur in making the transfer.
7. If we cancel or change your booking
- We reserve the right to cancel your booking. We will not cancel less than 12 weeks before your departure date, except for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, or failure by you to pay the final balance. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances means a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. These can include, for example, war, riots, industrial disputes, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disasters, fire, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems with transport.
- 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 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.
In the event a refund is paid to you, we will pay compensation of £40 per person except where the cancellation is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances (see definition above). This does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so.
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 two times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to
- The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and
- 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.
You can ask us for copies of the transport contractual terms or the international conventions. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) 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 EU 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 clause 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline 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.
NB this clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday.
9. Your financial protection
We provide full financial protection for our package holidays.
1. For flight-based holidays this is through our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 2793 issued by the CAA of Gatwick Airport South, West Sussex, RH6 0YR, UK, 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.
2. For travel booked in the UK that does not include a flight we protect our passengers via an ABTA-approved policy arranged by Tasker & Partners Limited of Beaufort House, 15 St Botolph Street, London EC3A 7BB.
3. Our overseas clients should note that wherever we provide services solely in Latin America, such as internal transportation or ground arrangements, and without any international element related to the United Kingdom, we have no requirement on the part of the UK authorities to provide bonding for these services and such clients are advised to protect themselves with travel insurance.
10. ABTA
We are a Member of ABTA, membership number Y5863. 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 problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. the hotelier and/or our local agent) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to us giving all relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to our representative without delay and complete a report form whilst in resort. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract. Please also see the above clause 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. For any excursion or other tour that you book, 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.
15. Travel agents
When you buy a flight-based holiday, 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. When you buy a holiday not including a flight, all monies you pay to the travel agent are held by him on our behalf at all times.
16. Foreign Office Travel Advice
From time to time the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice) issues Travel Advisory Notices giving advice regarding travel to a particular destination, which you should consult. If the FCDO advises against all travel we will probably have to cancel your holiday (we have to follow the advice of our insurers). If the FCDO advises against non-essential travel we will not usually cancel your holiday, but will be happy to give our opinion of the possible risks involved. The decision to travel or not in this case will be yours, and our normal cancellation conditions will apply. You should also check your travel insurance to confirm how an FCDO Travel Notice affects your policy, as this varies between insurers.
17. Risks
Some of our arrangements involve strenuous physical activity and can be in areas where there can be additional risks of disease and injury. All members of your party must be in good health and fully able to participate in any of the physical activities which may be needed for these particular arrangements. If you have any doubts they should be raised with us as soon as possible so that we can advise on the suitability of taking any tour.
18. Group tours
When we operate group tours they are subject to a minimum number of participants. On booking we will send you a confirmation invoice and subsequently advise you once the tour is guaranteed. This will be no later than 12 weeks prior to the departure date. We reserve the right to cancel the tour up until 12 weeks prior to departure. If you plan to arrange your own flights then these should not be arranged on a non-refundable basis until the tour has been confirmed as a guaranteed departure.
If you are participating in a small group tour you must comply with the instructions of the group leader in all matters related to the safety of the group. Your tour leader has the right to ask any person to withdraw from a tour if it is considered necessary for the wellbeing or safety of that person or other members of the group.
19. Your privacy
Your privacy is important to us. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully and our Privacy Policy, detailing what we do with data we hold on you, is available on our website.
20. Law and jurisdiction
This booking is 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.
Edition: June 2019
