Please read the following terms and conditions carefully before you book, as these, together with the Essential Information, form the basis of your contract with us and our obligations and your commitments are detailed below. Should you have any questions regarding these terms and conditions then please do not hesitate to ask. Your contract is with Affinity Villas Ltd, registered under the laws of England, who act as agent for all property owners and other suppliers. When accommodation together with flights are purchased from us we comply fully with the rules and regulations imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority and your holiday will be covered under our ATOL licence number 6160.
1. BOOKING AND CONFIRMATION
When you make a booking with Affinity Villas Ltd you must accept on behalf of your party these terms and conditions and by doing so you also guarantee that you have the authority to accept these terms and conditions on behalf of your party. A contract between you and Affinity Villas Ltd will be made once we have received your 30% deposit, or full payment if your booking is within 8 weeks of departure, and we have given you verbal confirmation. This contract will be governed by English law. We will issue you with a confirmation invoice detailing all the elements of your booking. It is your responsibility to check this carefully as any changes subsequently made to your booking will be treated as an amendment or cancellation and maybe subject to a charge. If you make any special requests, and we do not confirm whether these can be met prior to booking, such requests will not be guaranteed. We will not be able to advise you whether such special requests have been fulfilled before you leave. You should check carefully the booking details and all documentation provided to you (including these booking conditions) and contact us immediately if you think any details we give you are inaccurate. The person who makes or pays for the booking must be at least 18 years old. We reserve the right to refuse single sex groups and if a single sex group booking is accepted, an additional security deposit will be required.
2. BALANCE PAYMENT.
The balance of the price of your holiday must be paid at least eight weeks prior to the departure date. The due date will be clearly stated on your confirmation invoice, if the balance is not paid in time we reserve the right to cancel your holiday, retain your deposit and apply cancellation charges as set out in section 6 below. If you pay for your holiday using a credit or charge card there will be a 2% handling charge, however there is no charge for payment by debit cards or cheques.
3. PRICE GUARANTEE.
The price of your holiday elements booked with us will not be subject to any surcharges after our confirmation invoice has been issued. If you obtain a quote from us for a booking but do not book it at the time, we reserve the right to increase or decrease the price at any time before you book. Villa prices quoted are per villa per week. Car hire prices are quoted per week. Flight and transfer prices and any additional service costs are quoted on an individual basis. All prices are quoted in Pounds Sterling (unless otherwise stated).
4. ALTERATIONS BY YOU.
If you wish to make any changes to your holiday after it has been confirmed this must be communicated to us as soon as possible and in writing. Charges for changes or cancellations are calculated from the date we receive your request or notification. We will try to assist wherever possible but cannot guarantee that any such changes can be made. If we are able to comply with your requested change an administration fee of Ł25 per person named on the booking form will be charged together with any increased costs from our suppliers. Where changes to accommodation or car hire are requested within 8 weeks of departure then cancellation charges as set out in section 6 may apply and the amended arrangements will be treated as a new booking. Any request for changes to flight details will be subject to the cancellation and amendment terms as imposed on us by our flight suppliers, this can often be as much as 100%. Cancellation charges for accommodation will not apply for name changes where a new party member is substituted for one who is prevented from travelling. In this case documentary proof of a serious reason (e.g. your own personal illness or injury, the personal illness, injury or death of a close relative, jury service or redundancy) must be provided. You must give us at least 28 days notice in writing and enclose the administration fee of Ł25 per person in addition to any charges or costs levied by our suppliers (this can be as much as 100% for flight suppliers).
5. ALTERATION BY US.
We reserve the right to change any holiday details, including the price, before you book in which case we will tell you before the holiday contract takes effect. Occasionally a change or cancellation may occur after you have booked, but before you depart. A change may be “major” or “minor”. A “major” change is one which materially affects your confirmed holiday, such as a change of accommodation to a lower standard than you have booked, a change of UK airport (excluding between London airports) or a change of time of departure by more than 12 hours. Any other change is “minor”. If there is a minor change before you depart we will try to let you know (although we are not obliged to do so) but you will not be entitled to cancel or receive compensation. We reserve the right to correct minor or obvious errors in your booking details at any time. If there is a major change before departure we will tell you as soon as practicable. We will then offer you the choice of accepting the change, taking the alternative accommodation (if it is more expensive you will have to pay the difference, but if it is cheaper you will receive the appropriate refund) or cancelling and receiving a full refund. In addition, unless the major change or cancellation is caused by force majeure (see below) or occurs before the date the final balance falls due for your holiday, we will pay compensation as detailed below:
More than 56 days nil
29 – 56 days £20 per adult
15 – 28 days £30 per adult
Less than 14 days £40 per adult
The meaning of 'force majeure' includes, but is not limited to, war, threat of war, riot or civil disturbance, industrial dispute or threatened industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire or flood, terrorist activity or threatened terrorist activity, closure of ports and airports and car hire depots, unforeseen local building works or road works, actions of national or local governments or any similar circumstances beyond our control.
6. CANCELLATION BY YOU.
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your holiday at any time providing that the cancellation is made by the same person who made the booking and is communicated to us in writing. As this incurs administrative costs, we will retain your deposit and in addition will apply cancellation charges as shown below:
56 days or more loss of deposit
Between 56 – 29 days 50%
Between 28 – 15 days 75%
Less than 14 days 100%
7. CANCELLATION BY US.
We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday. However, in no case will we cancel your holiday less than 8 weeks before the departure date except for reasons of force majeure or failure on your part to pay the final balance. In circumstances where we are unable to provide the holiday booked, we will return to you all monies paid, or offer you an alternative holiday of comparable standard and if a cancellation occurs within 8 weeks of departure, compensation will be paid on a similar scale to that shown in Clause 5 above.
8. INSURANCE.
You must have adequate insurance cover before you travel and you should provide us with the details of your policy before travelling. It is your responsibility to ensure any policy meets your needs, including the cost of cancellation by you and assistance overseas if you suffer accident or illness. Even with travel insurance, the individuals in your party may still need a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Please take this and your travel insurance policy with you on holiday.
9. FLIGHTS AND TIMES.
Any flight bookings that we make for you are with reputable suppliers, whose booking conditions we accept on your behalf. These terms and conditions may be different from ours. Flight times on your confirmation invoice cannot be guaranteed and where changes are made these will be notified to you in writing wherever possible. Actual times will be shown on your flight tickets and must be adhered to as failure to do so may result in missed flights, in which case we are not responsible for any additional costs that you may incur in making alternative arrangements. By booking flights with us you accept the flight operator conditions of carriage, many of whom limit their liability under international agreements.
10. PASSPORTS, VISAS AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS.
British citizens require a valid full passport and visas are not required for travel to Portugal. If you do not have valid documents you will not be able to travel. The carrier may be subject to a fine if you try to travel without the correct documentation and we reserve the right to recover any such charge from the passenger. For citizens of other countries, up to date information on passport, visa and health requirements should be obtained from the Portuguese Embassy.
11. YOUR ACCOMMODATION AND SAFETY.
You undertake to accept the holiday accommodation allocated to your booking and to take responsibility and exercise reasonable care in respect of your accommodation and its equipment and facilities. It is our aim at Affinity Villas Limited that your holiday is safe and trouble free. We are actively working to raise safety standards of accommodation overseas and will, of course, do our best to ensure that. In return we ask that you be mindful of your own duty of care and give thought to your own and other members of your party’s safety whilst you are away. Local regulations may mean that the layout and services within the accommodation are different from those to which you may be accustomed. Accommodation compliance is always with respect to local regulations. The accommodation provided must only be used by the person(s) shown on your booking confirmation and subletting, sharing or assignment is prohibited. The maximum number of occupants for each accommodation unit detailed in our descriptions should under no circumstances be exceeded. Our staff and villa owners are instructed to refuse admission or evict as necessary to comply with this condition. Likewise, if in our opinion, you are, or appear to be, behaving in such a way as to cause disturbance or annoyance to third parties, or causing damage to the property, we may terminate your holiday. In this situation we will have no further liability to you and you will be responsible for any extra expense you incur as a result. You will also be responsible for meeting any claims for damage or breakages.
12. ENGLISH LAW AND JURISDICTION.
The contract between us and any matters arising from it will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and are subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.
13. COMPLAINTS.
In the unlikely event that you do encounter a problem you must immediately notify our local representative or our UK office to try to resolve this problem at the time. If there is an identified problem at your accommodation we reserve the right to access the property to rectify any problem and allowances must be made by you for any local conditions regarding the reasonable time taken to rectify the problem. A failure to notify us, or allow us or our suppliers to rectify the problem, will reduce or negate any claim for compensation that you may wish to make. If your complaint cannot be resolved locally you are required to complete a report form available from our representative or alternatively you can write down brief details and ask our representative to fax our UK head office. Please bear in mind that complaints raised on your return from holiday are rarely resolved satisfactorily and we will not deal with any complaint that has not been reported to our local representatives unless there is a valid reason for not doing so. All complaints must be made in writing within 28 days of your return, to our Customer Relations Department at Station House, Station Road, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7DR. We reserve the right not to deal with any complaints received more than 28 days after your return.
14. OUR PROMISE.
We accept responsibility for ensuring the holiday elements that you book with us are supplied as described and the services offered reach a reasonable standard. If any part is not provided as promised, we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your holiday but we will not be responsible for your disappointment as a result of unrealistic expectations. We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our employees, agents and suppliers save where they lead to death, injury or illness except as provided in Clause 15 below. In respect of the services provided by air carriers, our liability in all cases shall be limited in the manner provided by international conventions and in respect of spoilt holidays our liability will be limited to a maximum of three times the price of your holiday. Customer reviews are not verified by Affinity Villas and are solely remarks and observations submitted by clients following their stay and do not form part of any contract.
15. LIABILITY.
We accept responsibility for death, injury or illness caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of our employees or agents together with our suppliers and subcontractors whilst acting within the scope of, or in the course of their employment. We will accordingly pay to our clients such damages as might have been claimed in respect of death, illness or injury caused by negligence as accepted under English Law.
16. PERSONAL INJURY (UNCONNECTED WITH ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY US).
If any client suffers death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of any activity which does not form part of the holiday arrangements made through us, we shall, at our discretion offer advice, guidance and assistance to help you in resolving any claim you may have against a third party, provided we are advised of the incident within 90 days of the occurrence. Where legal action is contemplated our authority must be obtained prior to commencement of proceedings and be subject to your undertaking to assign any costs recovered or any benefits under an appropriate insurance policy to ourselves. Our costs in respect of the above on behalf of you and your party shall not exceed Ł5,000 in total.
17. DATA PROTECTION.
Affinity Villas will not supply any personal client information to any 3rd party excepting that which is required by a supplier to process your booking.
18. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION.
When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from Affinity Villas 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. Affinity Villas, 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 Affinity Villas 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 Affinity Villas, 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.
19. GENERAL.
Bookings are made subject to the terms and conditions of property owners/agents for whom Affinity Villas Limited act as agents. The law regarding accommodation for persons with disabilities varies from country to country and we cannot guarantee that all accommodation, transport and amenities will be equipped and suitable for wheelchair users or disabled persons. The general information contained within the brochure and on our website, together with the Essential Information, also form part of Affinity Villas conditions of booking.