Terms & Conditions

FLIGHT CENTRE (UK) LTD BOOKING CONDITIONS

1. Your Agreement with Flight Centre
By confirming your travel details with us, you are accepting that the terms of this Agreement apply to your travel arrangements. This also applies to the conditions of any contract made with any supplier. This agreement 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 wish to do so. Your Rights under this agreement are set out below. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice.

2. Third party rights
A person who is not a party to these terms and conditions shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of these booking terms and conditions. This paragraph does not affect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.

3. If You Change Your Booking
If you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date, your chosen route 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 paid for the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer you are to your departure date. 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. Please be aware that most travel providers will not allow a name change and this will be considered a cancellation. Flights must be taken in the order that they are booked. If you do not check in on a confirmed flight, the airline will register you as a ‘no-show’ and the remainder of your ticket will be cancelled.

4. If You Cancel Your Holiday
You may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who paid for the booking and the original tickets/vouchers must be received at the branch where the booking was made. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges which could be up to 100%. Any refund due to you will only be paid once we have received the refund from the supplier. Please note this may take up to four months. If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges from your insurer.

5. Your Holiday Price
Prices advertised are inclusive of tax unless otherwise stated. Prices are correct at time of publication and are subject to change without notice. Prices are per person unless otherwise stated, and are subject to availability. Seasonal surcharges may apply depending on date of travel.

We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays advertised. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.

If a deposit is required, your consultant will advise when final payment is due. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit.

Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked.

6. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
Occasionally, we or our supplier may have to make changes to your original booking and we/they reserve the right to do so at any time. Where we are acting as an Agent, we cannot accept any liability or costs incurred that may result from these changes. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date.

In accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. Any changes to the actual airline after you have received your tickets will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding gate.

Please note that carriers such as Airlines may be subject to change. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor 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 standard or higher. No compensation will be paid for these.

We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. This also includes for reasons of force majeure, pandemic or epidemic illness or failure by you to pay the final balance.

Where we are principal, if we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation.

Compensation Table

Force Majeure: This means that we will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions and unavoidable technical problems with transport.

7. Ticket Cancellation

Your cancellation charges are detailed on your travel itinerary.

8. Hotel/Vehicle Rental/Tour/Other Travel Arrangements Cancellation
Your cancellation penalties are detailed on your travel itinerary. Where Flight Centre are acting as an agent, please refer to the booking conditions for that particular operator. Reservations are not transferable from one individual to another.

9. Flights and Flight Travel Documents

Your ticket and travel documents are your document of travel and the information on the ticket/voucher/invoice is deemed correct. It is your responsibility to check your air tickets and other documents immediately upon receipt. If any details are incorrect you must advise us immediately.

Please note that a flight described in your flight ticket as “direct” will not necessarily be non-stop.

All departure/arrival times on your flight ticket are provided by the airlines concerned and are estimates only. They may change due to air traffic control restrictions, weather conditions, operational/maintenance requirements and the requirement for passengers to check in on time.

We are unable to make any special arrangements for you if you are delayed; these matters are at the sole discretion of the airline concerned.

10. Airline Ticket Refunds
Where a ticket is refundable, the tickets will be forwarded to the relevant airline for their consideration. Once we have received any refund, we will forward it onto you less any cancellation and administration charges. Refunds for part used tickets are always less than pro-rata and may have no refund value whatsoever. Refunds usually take 12 weeks to process however this may take longer. Tickets returned more than one year from date of issue are classed as expired by the airline and generally have no refund value at all. Lost or stolen tickets may not be re-issued by some airlines and duplicate or replacement tickets may then have to be purchased locally, at the local fare. Even if replacement tickets are purchased, certain airlines will not issue refunds for lost/stolen tickets. Please ensure that any tickets returned to Flight Centre are sent by registered post.

11. Flight Reconfirmations
We are not liable if there is any change to a departure/arrival time previously given to you or shown on your ticket Please confirm all flights with the relevant airlines and check there have been no time changes to your original itinerary. While we will endeavour to inform you of any changes brought to our attention prior to departure, we will be unable to do so after departure. Failure to reconfirm any sector of your itinerary, may result in you needing to purchase a new flight.

12. Pre-departure Taxes
Flight Centre will collect all mandatory taxes, however some countries may charge a departure tax that must be paid locally. We advise our clients to retain sufficient local currency to meet these charges.

13. If You Have a Complaint
Any problems that arise whilst you are on holiday should be communicated to the relevant supplier immediately so that they have the chance to rectify the issue. If they are unable to resolve the issue, you must contact Flight Centre immediately so that we are able to help. 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.

If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 21 days of your return home in the first instance with the consultant who booked your holiday or the branch manager. Failing this you may write to our Customer Excellence Department at Level 6, CI Tower, High St, New Malden, UK, KT3 4TE giving your booking reference, the store you booked through and all other relevant information within the timeframe set above.

We are members of ABTA (membership number F3691) and abide by ABTA’s code of conduct. ABTA offers an arbitration scheme should we be unable to resolve any disputes. Further information on ABTA’s arbitration scheme and the code of conduct can be found at www.abta.com.

14. Our Liability to You
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us we will make good the arrangements or 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 2 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 transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and

b) Any relevant international conventions, 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, 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 for copies of the international conventions, or the transport companies’ contractual terms, from our head office at Level 6, CI Tower, High St, New Malden, UK, KT3 4TE.

15. Personal Injury Unconnected With Your Booked Travel Arrangements
If you, or any member of your party, suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your package travel arrangements or an excursion arranged through us, we shall at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance. Where legal action is contemplated and you want our assistance, you must obtain our written consent prior to commencement of proceedings. Our consent will be given subject to you undertaking to assign any costs or benefits received under any relevant insurance policy to ourselves.

16. Scheduled Airline Failure Administration Fee
(a) If you are holding a ticket(s) on an airline which fails due to insolvency and has ceased flying, the money you have paid for your ticket(s) may be lost.

(b)As part of the requirements under our Air Travel Organisations’ Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority to protect our customers, Flight Centre (UK) Ltd undertakes to ensure that, should this happen, our customers receive compensation for their loss to the extent referred to below.

(c)This means that Flight Centre (UK) Ltd undertakes that, in the event of a scheduled airline failure arising solely upon a scheduled airline entering into an “insolvent winding-up” (as defined by Rule 4.151 of the Insolvency Rules 1986 (as amended)) or equivalent insolvency process in any other jurisdiction other than England and Wales and ceasing to fly prior to commencement of a passenger’s trip, all monies paid by the passenger either as a deposit, or as the case may be, as the price for the scheduled airline ticket(s) will be refunded to the passenger in full; or

(d) In the unlikely event of an airline failing after the commencement of your trip, please contact the store through which you booked so that the appropriate alternative arrangements can be made. You will be given the option of an alternative airline for the affected sectors. Flight Centre will endeavour to keep these arrangements as close to your original itinerary as possible.

(e)As a fee for Flight Centre (UK) Ltd administering both the repatriation of passengers and refunds (as explained above), Flight Centre (UK) Ltd charges each customer a nominal administration fee for this service. This fee forms part of the cost of each airline ticket purchased from Flight Centre (UK) Ltd and is not optional.

17. Ticketing
The maximum validity for any ticket is one year. However, the majority of tickets are valid for less. For scheduled airlines, the validity of your ticket will be displayed on your itinerary.

18. Insurance
For all travel, Flight Centre would recommend that you purchase travel insurance. It is your responsibility to ensure you have valid travel insurance that covers your needs.

19. 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. Please allow adequate time to obtain any such advice or documents.

Each client, including children, must possess an individual passport with at least 6 months validity at the date of return. For travel to/via the USA, a machine readable passport is required.

For Travel to the USA: if you have a criminal record, including spent convictions, driving offences or have been arrested and are travelling to the USA, you must contact the US embassy as you may be denied entry.

For travel to other countries, we recommend you contact the relevant embassy if you have any concerns regarding other destinations.

20. Airline Passenger Information
Some countries and airlines are required by law to supply certain information to immigration authorities and failure to provide this information could result in the passenger being denied boarding. If you do not have this information to hand at the time of booking, please ensure you contact your consultant at the earliest opportunity. The information required is: Your passport details and country of residence and, for the USA only, the address of your first night’s stay.

21. Health Requirements
It is your responsibility to ensure you have complied with all the health and vaccination requirements for the countries you are visiting. Advice can be obtained from your GP or travel clinic.

22. Seating & Special Requests
If you have any seating or special requests, we will pass these on to the relevant airline or supplier. Flight Centre cannot guarantee any requests as these are entirely at the airline’s or supplier’s discretion.

23. Baggage Allowance
Baggage allowance varies for different airlines therefore please check your allowance with your consultant.

24. Financial Security
Flight Centre hold an ATOL licence under number 4267, (Air Travel Organiser’s Licence). This is issued by the Civil Aviation Authority and in the event that Flight Centre should go insolvent you will be financially protected.

25. Brochure Accuracy
Brochures only: Our brochures are necessarily prepared many months in advance of the holiday season to which they relate and therefore some of the advertised facilities or products may no longer be available or may have been altered. As a result, changes may be made to the particulars contained in the brochure at any time. Our brochures are not issued on behalf of the airlines mentioned therein and do not commit the airlines mentioned therein or any airline whose services are used in the course of your travel arrangements.

All photographs used are for the purposes of illustration only and should not be taken to be literal representations of actual facilities, accommodations or services offered unless otherwise advised.

Our brochures are offered to you by Flight Centre UK Limited, whose registered office is at Level 6, CI Tower, St Georges Square, New Malden, Surrey KT3 4TE, Great Britain.

26. Use of Material in Brochures or on Our Website
Brochures and Website only: All copyright and other intellectual property rights in any material, including text, photographs or other images contained in a brochure or displayed on our website are either owned by us or have been licensed by the owner for our use. If you wish to use any of the information or material contained in this brochure or displayed on our website, you must first obtain our written permission, or that of the owner of the rights to the material, as the case may be.

27. Payments
For payments by bank transfer or cheque, please ensure you check the exact amount with your travel consultant.

1. Personal (and Company) Cheques
Flight Centre do accept personal and company cheques and these should be made payable to Flight Centre (UK) Ltd. We require ten working days for cheque clearance before tickets can be issued and hotels booked. Please confirm with your travel consultant that there is sufficient time between cheque payment and any ticketing deadline. Foreign currency cheques are not acceptable.

2. Bank and Building Society Drafts
Once the relevant bank or building society can verify the cheque, these are treated as cash.

3. Cash
Please do not post us cash.

4. Cards
a) Maestro, Switch or Visa Delta debit cards are accepted. Solo cards are accepted but must be used in store and cannot be used for telephone bookings.
b) We also accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners.

5. Direct Credit/Bank Transfer
Please contact Branch for details. Please notify the branch you have booked through of any deposits made into a Flight Centre account.

28. In-store bookings

Please note for in-store and phone bookings, a service fee from £16 will apply.