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Take a moment to read our FAQ section
Your contract is with Top Tours International Ltd. trading as Channel Escapes and exists as soon as the booking is made.
Our address is 4 Somerset Place, Glasgow G3 7JT, telephone: 0203 955 5050 or email: travel@channelescapes.com. Company Number SC162914, VAT Number GB671744910.
Our Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) No. 10008, issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, and International Air Transport Authority (IATA) Licence, authorise us to issue airline electronic tickets for scheduled airlines worldwide. All of the holidays bookable via this website are flight inclusive packages and you will receive an ATOL Certificate when your booking is confirmed. 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.
The person making the booking must confirm that they have the authority of all persons included in the booking form and must pay the appropriate deposit on behalf of the party. The person who is making the booking accepts all responsibility of making payment to us for the total cost of all members holiday cost. Once a booking is made and payment is received a contract exists between us. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, the onus is on you, the client, to ensure your details are correct, and we must be notified of any discrepancies immediately.
Please note we may not always be aware of delays on flights. Carriers do not offer compensation for inconvenience or loss of holiday time caused by flight delays. Similarly, it is not possible to obtain refunds for any unused accommodation or facilities in the event of an extended delay and therefore any claims in this respect should be directed through your travel insurance.
If you are prevented from travelling on the aircraft because in the opinion of any person in authority (e.g. police, pilot, security personnel) you are thought to be unfit to travel or likely to cause discomfort or disturbance to other passengers, your contract with us will terminate immediately and we will have no Further responsibility or liability to you. When you book with us, you also accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. If in our reasonable opinion or in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority you or any member of your party behaves in such a way as to cause danger or distress to any third party or property, we are entitled, without notice, to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned without compensation or refund.
In the event of your wishing to alter the details of a confirmed booking or modify one, we shall be obliged to levy an amendment fee of £25.00 per person. Any such alteration must be confirmed to us in writing. No refund will be made for unused accommodation. Should the number of persons travelling change, the price will be recharged on the basis of the new party size. Changes where transportation is with low cost carriers will incur higher amendment fees.
If it becomes necessary for you or any member of your party to cancel your booking or any part of it, you must inform us in writing immediately. Cancellation charges are calculated from the date we receive the written notification in our office. If any cancellations are made and written notification is received by us then the charges will be made in accordance with the cancellation charges stated below:
– More than 60 days before departure – 50%
– 59-1 Days – 100%
The cost of any non-refundable flight will be deducted from the holiday cost before the percentage representing the value of any refund is applied. Rarely, we have to make changes after bookings have been confirmed. We always try to avoid changes and cancellations but we must reserve the right to do so. Changes are normally minor although sometimes they are significant. Minor changes can be a change in the travel time of less than 10 hours or changing accommodation to another of similiar standard. We cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where our obligations to you under our contract change as a result of a force majeure. This includes events such as war or threat of war, civil unrest (actual or threatened), industrial dispute, natural or Nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire, terrorism and any event outwith our control. We cannot accept responsibility for any delay howsoever caused.
We strongly advise you to ensure that you have adequate insurance cover in place for your trip. This is important and it is your responsibility.
We make every effort to ensure that your holiday is as carefree as possible. Should you, however, feel that you have cause for complaint, please register your complaint in the first instance with the hotel management (in the case of disservice by the hotel). If this is proven unsatisfactory then the client should notify us of the nature of their complaint in writing to us within 28 days of the end of their holiday. Any dispute arising out of, or in connection with this contract, which cannot be amicably settled, may be referred to arbitration under a special scheme devised for the Travel Industry by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. All legal matters are governed by Scottish Courts.
We will ensure that the holiday arrangements we agree to make as part of our contract with you are made with reasonable care. It is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. We will only be responsible for what our employees and agents do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment or carrying out work we had asked them to do. We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example, loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from:- the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or -the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or force majeure, as previously defined.
We are not responsible for any services which do not form part of our contract.
Where any claim or part of a claim concerns any travel arrangements including the getting on or off of the transport concerned, forming part of the arrangements we have agreed to make, or provide as part of our contract with you and which are provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier or hotelier concerned would have to pay under the international convention or regulation which applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question (for example The Warsaw Convention as amended or unamended and The Montreal Convention for international travel by air and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, The EC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No. 889/2002 for national and international by air, The Athens Convention for international travel by sea). Where a carrier or hotel would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable International Convention or Regulation in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to you for the complaint or claim in question.
We cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description which we could not have foreseen you would suffer if we broke our contract with you or which did not result from any breaking of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees.
As part of our booking conditions and in line with the security questions asked by airlines we will, on your behalf, confirm the following:
– That your baggage is within the dimensions and weight restrictions allowed by the carrier
– That if you leave your baggage unattended at any time, or if anyone gives you something to take on the aircraft you will contact an airline official
– Any liquids you are carrying will be in containers to a maximum volume of 100ml and these will be in a resealable 1l plastic bag
– That you will not carry onto the aircraft sharp objects, explosives and any items which you are forbidden to carry onto the aircraft
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, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are 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, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, 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.
Travellers will receive all essential information about the package before concluding the package travel contract.
There is always at least one trader who is liable for the proper performance of all the travel services included in the contract.
Travellers are given an emergency number or details of a contact point where they can get in touch with the organiser or travel agent.
Travellers may transfer the package to another person, on reasonable notice and possibly subject to additional costs.
The price of the package may only be increased if specific costs rise (for instance fuel prices), and if expressly provided for in the contract, and in any event not later than 20 days before the start of the package. If the price increase exceeds 8% of the price of the package, the traveller may terminate the contract. If the organiser reserves the right to a price increase, the traveller has a right to a price reduction if there is a decrease in the relevant costs.
Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee and get a full refund of any payments if any of the essential elements of the package, other than the price, are changed significantly. If before the start of the package the trader responsible for the package cancels the package, travellers are entitled to a refund and compensation where appropriate.
Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee before the start of the package in the event of exceptional circumstances, for instance if there are serious security problems at the destination which are likely to affect the package
Additionally, travellers may at any time before the start of the package terminate the contract in return for an appropriate and justifiable termination fee.
If, after the start of the package, significant elements of the package cannot be provided as agreed, suitable alternative arrangements will have to be offered to the traveller at no extra cost. Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee, where services are not performed in accordance with the contract and this substantially affects the performance of the package and the organiser fails to remedy the problem.
Travellers are also entitled to a price reduction or compensation for damages or both where the travel services are not performed or are improperly performed.
The organiser has to provide assistance if the traveller is in difficulty.
In the event of the financial failure of the package organiser or its retailer agent after the commencement of the package and if transport is included, repatriation of travellers is secured. Travellers booked through Top Tours International Ltd have insolvency protection through Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) 10008, issued to Top Tours International Ltd by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
For further information please visit The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018
The price of your travel arrangements is subject to surcharges on the following items for increases in: transportation costs e.g. *fuel, *scheduled airfares and *any other airline surcharges which are part of the contract between airlines (and their agents) and the tour operator/organiser, *government action such as increases in VAT or any other government imposed increases, *currency in relation to adverse exchange rate variations. Please note this is not an exhaustive list.
When you make booking through an external partner or a separate website where the holiday is supplied by us and is protected by our ATOL licence, these same terms and conditions apply. If payment is not taken at the point of booking this payment is required in full within 48 hours of the booking being confirmed.
Passports are necessary if you wish to make a day trip to France. Photographic identification (your responsibility) is necessary for travel by air and passports may be used for this purpose. Other acceptable forms include photographic driving licence, photographic bus pass or photographic work pass.
If a member of your party has a disability or reduced mobility we can help to arrange appropriate assistance, but full details of any disability or assistance needs must be given when you book.
Please advise us of any special requests you may have. We cannot guarantee to provide them but we will do our best.