27.3 By making a booking through the Services, you are confirming that the payment details provided on the booking are valid and correct. If any payment method is rejected, we may contact you requesting an alternative payment method or we may cancel your booking.
27.4 If you have any query about an amount that has been charged by us to your credit or debit card, please contact us straight away. In the event that we find a payment has been taken in error we will refund the amount immediately to your credit or debit card.
27.5 Secret Escapes acts solely as an agent between the customer and the Travel Providers, and therefore cannot issue an invoice for a sale made by the Travel Providers. Secret Escapes does provide a booking confirmation which can be used as a receipt as it shows the amount paid at the time of booking. Secret Escapes are only able to provide a VAT invoice for your booking fee.
28. ALTERATIONS OR CANCELLATION BY YOU
28.1 Unless you have purchased a refundable deal, Travel Offers cannot be changed by you nor can they be cancelled with a refund. Please refer to your booking confirmation which will set out details of the terms on which you can cancel your booking and claim a refund, if applicable.
28.2 Where you have not purchased a refundable deal, if a Member wishes to cancel or make a change to their purchased Travel Offer, then Secret Escapes may, at its sole discretion, use reasonable endeavours to assist a Member in the Member's attempts to liaise with the Travel Provider to arrange cancellation or make the required change. Secret Escapes gives no guarantee that any such attempts will be successful. The Travel Provider may charge a cancellation or amendment fee (as shown in their terms and conditions), which may be as much as 100% of the cost of the travel arrangements.
28.3 Any request for a change to a confirmed booking must be made by the Lead Name on the booking and we may require this to be confirmed to us by email.
29. CANCELLATIONS AND AMENDMENTS BY TRAVEL PROVIDERS
29.1 If a Travel Provider informs us of a change to your purchased Travel Offer, we will inform you. Most changes are minor changes, however, occasionally we have to notify Members of a significant change that a Travel Provider has made to a purchased Travel Offer. A significant change is a change made before the start of the Travel Offer which, taking account of the information given to us at the time of booking the Travel Offer and which the Travel Provider can reasonably be expected to know, the Travel Provider can reasonably expect to have a major effect on your purchased Travel Offer.
29.2 In the unlikely event of a Travel Provider cancelling or making a significant change to your purchased Travel Offer we will tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so before the start of your purchased Travel Offer, we will use reasonable efforts to seek (but cannot guarantee) to secure from the Travel Provider an offer to you of one of the following options (depending on the nature of the purchased Travel Offer):
(a) accepting the changed arrangements; or
(b) for Travel Offers other than Third Party Package Holidays: a choice of accepting an alternative reservation or cancelling your reservation together with a full refund of all monies you have paid. In the event of no alternative being available from the Travel Provider, they may instruct us to cancel the Travel Offer and give a full refund; or
(c) for Third Party Package Holiday Travel Offers only:
(i) choosing a replacement Third Party Package Holiday of a lower, similar or higher standard to that originally booked if available. In the event you accept an alternative Third Party Package Holiday of a lower standard you will be entitled to recover the price difference between the price you paid and the price of the lower standard Third Party Package Holiday. If you accept a Third Party Package Holiday of a similar standard, there will be no extra charge. If you accept a Third Party Package Holiday of a higher standard, you must pay the price difference between your purchased Third Party Package Holiday and the higher priced Third Party Package Holiday; or
(ii) cancelling the purchased Third Party Package Holiday together with a full refund of all monies you have paid.
(Note that the efforts we may take to secure the various options from the Travel Providers of Third Party Package Holidays described above does not impact upon the legal rights which you may have directly against these Travel Providers under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.)
29.3 Travel Providers may not give Members any of the above options in the event that a change to the purchased Travel Offer is a minor change. Please note that a change of flight time of less than 12 hours, a change of airline or aircraft (if identified at the time of booking) or a change of a destination airport or a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard usually qualify as minor changes.
29.4 Where a Travel Provider cancels or makes changes to the purchased Travel Offer, Secret Escapes will not be responsible for any costs incurred by you.
29.5 In the rare cases that a Travel Provider cancels your booking after it has been accepted, you will be notified by the Travel Provider or Secret Escapes acting on the Travel Provider’s behalf. As Secret Escapes is an agent acting on behalf of Travel Providers, and your contract for the Travel Offer is with the Travel Provider, we will use reasonable endeavours to assist you in getting a refund or changing your dates. However, Secret Escapes will not be responsible for any costs associated with a cancellation by the Travel Provider.
30. NOT USED.
31. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION FOR AGENCY/TRAVEL OFFER SALES
31.1 All the Third Party Package Holidays we sell are protected by the third party package organiser (the Travel Provider). If you buy a single travel service then this does not apply.
31.2 When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from the Travel Provider you will receive an ATOL Certificate after making payment. 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.
31.3 The Travel Provider, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the travel services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither the Travel Providers nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the travel 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).
31.4 If the Travel Provider, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the travel 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 travel services, including any claim against the Travel Provider, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be reassigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.
32. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR AGENCY SALES
32.1 If Secret Escapes fails to comply with these Terms and Conditions, we will be responsible for the loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms and Conditions or our negligence, but we will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if the loss or damage was an obvious consequence of our breach or if the loss or damage was contemplated by you and us at the time we entered into the contract.
32.2 The maximum loss or damage we will be responsible for under paragraph 32.1 is limited to the booking fee you paid us when using the Services to purchase a Travel Offer to which the loss or damage you suffer relates.
32.3 We do not in any way exclude or limit our liability for:
(a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
(b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
(c) any other limitation that is excluded by law from time to time.
32.4 This does not affect your statutory rights. Advice about your statutory rights is available from your local Citizens' Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office.
SECTION C – APPLICABLE TO SECRET ESCAPES' PACKAGE HOLIDAYS
33. BOOKING PACKAGE HOLIDAYS
33.1 We sell two different types of Package Holidays where we are the organiser of the Package Holiday:
(i) "Single Contract Package Holiday" – this is where we have created or put together two or more different travel services (e.g. flight, hotel and/or car hire and/or excursion, tickets or ski passes, etc.) to create a Package Holiday ourselves. We sell this to you under a single contract and we act as the principal. For Single Contract Package Holidays, your contract for the Package Holiday will be with Secret Escapes. This will always be the relevant type of Package Holiday which comprises a London hotel and an excursion or tickets.
(ii) "Multi-Contract Package Holiday" – this is where you select two or more different travel services and we act as an agent for each Travel Provider of the relevant travel service (e.g. airline, hotelier and/or car hire company) in making the booking. For Multi-Contract Package Holidays, we arrange for you to enter into separate contracts with each Travel Provider. It will be each relevant Travel Provider which will be the principal in the contract(s) with you for each separate travel service.
33.2 For the avoidance of doubt, where you have booked a deal which only includes a hotel room and services or facilities which are available at the hotel itself, this will not be a Package Holiday but an agency sale and subject to the terms in Sections A and B of these Terms and Conditions.
33.3 We will set out within our booking confirmation which type of Package Holiday booking you have made with us.
33.4 If your Package Holiday includes a flight, we will issue you with an ATOL Certificate. This will state that it is for a "Single Contract Package Holiday" when you have booked a Single Contract Package Holiday with us, or alternatively it will state "Multi Contract Package Holiday" where you have booked a Multi-Contract Package Holiday with us.
33.5 Secret Escapes does not itself own or provide any of the services, facilities or travel arrangements which make up your Package Holiday. These are provided by third parties whom we arrange to provide the services, facilities or travel arrangements which make up your Package Holiday (the Travel Providers). The terms and conditions of the Travel Providers shall also therefore apply to your Package Holiday booking.
33.6 All bookings for Package Holidays are subject to availability at the time of booking. We try hard to make sure that our advertisements are kept up to date, but we do not guarantee that any of the Package Holidays we advertise will still be available at the time of booking. We will inform you as soon as possible after you place a booking if, for any reason, the Package Holiday you have sought to book with us is not available.
33.7 You can book Package Holidays by following the process outlined on the Service. A contract will only come into existence between us when you have paid the price payable on booking and we have issued our booking confirmation to you. You acknowledge that by booking with us, you will be under an obligation to pay for the Package Holiday booked by you.
33.8 We may not issue a booking confirmation if we discover an error in the pricing of the Package Holiday (see paragraph 34 below) or if any part of the Package Holiday is no longer available.
33.9 If we are unable to accept your booking because, for example, we have no more vacancies remaining on your chosen dates, or because of an error in the price (see paragraphs 34.3 and 34.4 below) we will inform you of this by email and we will not process your booking. If you have already paid for the Package Holiday (or any part of it) we will arrange for monies paid for any part of the Package Holiday already paid to be refunded to you in full as soon as possible, unless you decide to use that payment towards a different booking.
33.10 The booking process on the Service allows you to check and amend any errors before submitting your booking for a Package Holiday. Please take the time to read and check your booking at each stage of the booking process.
33.11 Please make sure that you (and any travel companions) are eligible for the Package Holiday and are able to travel on the dates for which you have booked the Package Holiday before making a booking.
33.12 If you (or any travel companions) have any special requests you must let us know during the booking process. Secret Escapes will attempt to pass on all reasonable requests to the Travel Providers, but cannot guarantee that such requests will be met by the Travel Providers. Secret Escapes does not accept bookings that are conditional on the fulfilment of a special request.
33.13 If you have a medical condition or a member of your party is a person of reduced mobility, please let us know before making a booking so we can ensure that the Package Holiday is suitable for you.
33.14 You must keep the contact details we hold for you up-to-date so that we can contact you if necessary about your Package Holiday.
33.15 When you receive documentation for your Package Holiday, please ensure you check that all personal details are correct and in the event that the Package Holiday involves travelling abroad, that they match the names and ages on the passport(s). If this is not the case, please contact us as soon as possible.
33.16 In the event that tickets and/or travel documents do not arrive by post or email, please contact us.
34. PRICE OF PACKAGE HOLIDAYS
34.1 The price of any Package Holiday will be as quoted on the Service, except in cases of obvious error. The price of a Package Holiday includes VAT, together with any other relevant taxes such as Air Passenger Duty (where it applies).
34.2 The advertised price of any Package Holiday may change from time to time. We try hard to make sure that the advertised price is the most up-to-date price, but prices can change at short notice. We will confirm the actual price at the time of booking. No changes in the price of a Package Holiday will affect any booking that we have already accepted other than as described in this paragraph 34.
34.3 We advertise a large number of Package Holidays and we try hard to ensure that the advertised price is always accurate, but due to the large number of Package Holidays on the Service, it is always possible that some of the Package Holidays listed on the Service may be incorrectly priced, despite our reasonable efforts to make sure that they are accurately priced. We will normally verify prices as part of our booking-handling procedure so that, if there is a mistake and a Package Holiday's correct price is less than the stated price, we will charge the lower amount when accepting the booking from you. If the Package Holiday's correct price is higher than the price stated on the Service, we will normally, and at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before processing your booking, or reject your booking and notify you of the rejection so that you can decide what you would like to do.
34.4 Please note that we are under no obligation to agree to supply the Package Holiday to you at the incorrect (lower) price, even after we have sent you a booking confirmation, if the pricing error is obvious and should reasonably have been apparent to you as a mispricing. In these circumstances, we may contact you for instructions or cancel your booking and notify you so that you can decide what you would like to do.
34.5 We may change the price of your Package Holiday after we have issued our booking confirmation in order to pass on to you changes in:
(i) the price of the carriage of passengers resulting from the cost of fuel or other power sources;
(ii) the level of taxes or fees on the travel services included in your booking imposed by third parties other than the Travel Providers, including tourist taxes, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports; or
(iii) the exchange rates relevant to the Package Holiday. We shall only be able to change the price in this way if we notify you of any price increase at least 20 days before the start of your Package Holiday, together with a calculation and an explanation for this change.
34.6 If the price of your Package Holiday is increased by more than 8% of its total price, then you may:
(i) accept and pay for the price increase;
(ii) reject the price increase and terminate your Package Holiday with a full refund; or
(iii) reject the price increase, terminate your Package Holiday and take an alternative one if we decide to offer this. If you decide to take an alternative Package Holiday, we will inform you of its impact on the price of your booking. If the alternative Package Holiday is of a lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
34.7 We will give you a reasonable period of time to make your decision, which will usually be 7 days from notification of the price increase. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, we shall send a reminder to you, following which we shall be entitled to terminate the Package Holiday and provide you with a refund.
34.8 If you decide to reject the price increase and terminate your Package Holiday with a full refund, you may also be entitled to compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
34.9 You will be entitled to a price reduction corresponding to any decrease in the costs described in paragraph 34.5 above which occur after you have booked but before the start of your Package Holiday, although we will be entitled to deduct our administrative expenses of this process. You will be entitled to ask for a breakdown of these administrative expenses.
35. PAYMENT
35.1 When you make a booking with us for a Package Holiday, you must pay the amount stated at the time of booking You must pay the full amount due by the date(s) set out in your booking confirmation. If the sum is not paid in full by the due date, we may cancel your booking immediately and charge you a cancellation fee in accordance with paragraph 37 below. If you have already made a payment to us, we will deduct these charges from the payment already made to us before returning the balance to you or, where that payment is not sufficient to meet our liability, you agree to pay us the additional sum. In the event of such cancellation, we shall have no liability to you and the provisions of paragraph 38 below shall not apply.
35.2 We will accept payment from you in accordance with the payment methods listed on the Service.
35.3 By making a booking through the Service, you are confirming that the payment details provided on the booking are valid and correct. If any payment method is rejected, we may contact you requesting an alternative payment method or we may cancel your booking.
35.4 If you have any query about an amount that has been charged by us to your credit or debit card, please contact us straight away. In the event that we find a payment has been taken in error we will refund the amount immediately to your credit or debit card.
35.5 In relation to ATOL protected flight-only sales or flight-inclusive Package Holidays, money accepted by our agent from you is held by the agent on behalf and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times, but subject to the agent’s obligation to pay it to us for so long as we do not fail. If we do fail, any money held at that time by our agent, or is subsequently accepted from you by our agent, is and continues to be held by our agent 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.
36. ALTERATIONS BY YOU
36.1 If you wish to make a change to your booking after we have issued our booking confirmation, please contact us. Date changes are permitted where stated on the individual offer, and subject to the applicable cancellation and amendment terms and conditions. Where we do not state that changes are permitted, we do not have a legal obligation to make such changes but we may, at our sole discretion, try to accommodate your request. Please understand that it is often not possible for us to do so as changes may depend on availability and the terms and conditions of our Travel Providers.
36.2 Any request for a change to a confirmed booking must be made by the Lead Name on the booking and we may require this to be confirmed to us by email.
36.3 If we agree to make a change, we reserve the right to apply a per person administration charge (the amount of which will be notified to you at the time of making your request) for the making of your required change plus any cost we incur in making the change (including, without limitation, charges which are imposed on us by the Travel Providers for making the change). This could be substantial and such costs tend to increase the closer to the departure date that the change is made. For instance, certain elements of the Package Holiday (e.g. a flight) may incur a 100% cancellation charge.
36.4 You may transfer your Package Holiday to another person who satisfies all the conditions applicable to the Package Holiday, subject to you and the other person accepting that you will both be liable, jointly and individually, for full payment of any balance due to be paid and any fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer. We shall notify you of these costs upon receipt of your request to transfer. In order to take advantage of this possibility, you must contact us at the details set out in paragraph 21 above. You will need to give us reasonable notice of this change so that we can make the necessary arrangements, but 7 days before departure shall be considered to be reasonable.
37. CANCELLATIONS BY YOU
37.1 Except where specified in an offer, you do not have a right to cancel your booking without charge. However, you, or a member of your party, may cancel your booking at any time by giving us written notice by an email (to customersupport@secretescapes.com) or by post to Customer Services, Secret Escapes Limited, 120 Holborn, London EC1N 2TD. Any such notice of cancellation must be given by the Lead Name on the booking.
37.2 You may incur costs in cancelling confirmed bookings. For example, the arrangements entered into with the Travel Providers may be non-refundable. Accordingly, even if you cancel your booking in advance of travel, you (or we) may still have liabilities to pay the Travel Providers. In these circumstances, where you cancel your booking, you will be charged a cancellation fee per person which reflects the losses and costs which you (or we) incur (or have incurred) in cancelling the booking. We also reserve the right to charge an additional per person administration charge which we will inform you of before processing the cancellation. If you have already made a payment to us, we will deduct these charges from the payment already made to us before returning the balance to you or, where that payment is not sufficient to meet our liability, you agree to pay us the additional sum. Different cancellation fees apply depending on the type of offer booked and, where different, these will be specified in an offer and your booking confirmation.
37.3 In addition to the cancellation right set out above, you shall have the right to cancel your booking before the start of the Package Holiday without paying any cancellation charge in the event of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances (which is described in paragraph 13 above) (Events Outside Our Control) occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity, where we have confirmed to you that they will significantly affect the performance of the Package Holiday, or that they will significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination. If you cancel in this circumstance, we shall provide you will a full refund of any payments made in relation to your booking but you will not be entitled to compensation or any of the rights set out in paragraph 43 below.
38. CANCELLATIONS AND AMENDMENTS BY SECRET ESCAPES BEFORE DEPARTURE
38.1 As the arrangements which make up your Package Holiday are planned many months in advance, from time to time we (or the Travel Providers) may need to make a change to your purchased Package Holiday. We reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes are minor changes, however, occasionally we have to notify customers of a significant change that we are constrained to make to the main characteristics of the Package Holiday, or where we cannot fulfil any of your special requirements which we have accepted.
38.2 In the unlikely event that we have to make a significant change to your Package Holiday, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible. You will then have the option to:
(i) accept the proposed change. If this results in a Package Holiday of lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with paragraph 43 below;
(ii) reject the proposed change and terminate your Package Holiday with a full refund; or
(iii) reject the proposed change, terminate your Package Holiday and take an alternative one if we decide to offer this. If you decide to take an alternative Package Holiday, we will inform you of its impact on the price of your booking. If the alternative Package Holiday is of a lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
We will give you a reasonable period of time to make your decision, which will usually be 7 days from notification of the proposed change. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, we shall send a reminder to you, following which we shall be entitled to terminate the Package Holiday and provide you with a refund.
38.3 If you decide to reject the proposed change and terminate your Package Holiday with a full refund, you may also be entitled to compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
38.4 We may not give you any of the above options in the event that a change to the purchased Package Holiday is a minor change. Please note that a change of flight time of less than 12 hours, a change of airline or aircraft (if advised), a change of a destination airport to one within the same region, or a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard usually qualify as minor changes.
38.5 On rare occasions, we may have to cancel your Package Holiday and we reserve the right to do so. If we have to do so, we will notify you as soon as possible. We will also offer you an alternative Package Holiday if we are able to do, and inform you of its impact on the price of your booking. If the alternative Package Holiday is of a lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with paragraph 43 below. If we cannot offer you an alternative, or even if you just prefer, we will provide you with a full refund of any payments made for the Package Holiday.
38.6 If we cancel your Package Holiday, you may be entitled to compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below except where we are prevented from providing the Package Holiday because of (i) Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances; or (ii) the number of persons who agree to take the Package Holiday is less than the minimum number required and you are informed of the cancellation, in writing, within the period indicated in the description of the Package Holiday.
39. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR PACKAGE HOLIDAY
39.1 Secret Escapes does not itself own or provide any of the services, facilities or travel arrangements which make up your Package Holiday. These are provided by third party Travel Providers. Our role is to exercise reasonable skill and care in making your booking and, for Single Contract Package Holidays, to exercise reasonable skill and care in making the arrangements for the Travel Providers to provide the services, facilities and travel arrangements to you.
39.2 We also have a liability to you for the performance of the travel services included in your Package Holiday under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 ("PTR"), irrespective of the fact that such travel services are to be performed by the Travel Providers.
39.3 You must tell us immediately of any failure to perform or improper performance of your Package Holiday (“Failure”). This will give us the opportunity to resolve the Failure whilst you are on your holiday. If we refuse to do so, or if it is necessary to remedy the Failure immediately, then you may resolve the Failure yourself and request reimbursement of reasonable expenses from us. However, these rights will not arise if remedying the Failure is impossible or entails disproportionate costs. In that case, your only right will be to seek a price reduction or compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
39.4 If a significant proportion of the travel services included in your Package Holiday cannot be provided as agreed in the booking, we shall offer, at no extra cost to you, suitable alternative arrangements for the continuation of the Package Holiday. The alternative arrangements shall, where possible, be of equivalent or higher quality than those specified in your booking. Where they are of lower quality you will be entitled to a price reduction as described in paragraph 43 below. You may only reject the alternative arrangements we offer to you if they are not comparable to what was agreed in the booking or if the price reduction is inadequate. If you do reject the alternative arrangements, or if we are not able to offer them, then you may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
39.5 If a Failure substantially affects the performance of the Package Holiday, and we have failed to remedy it within a reasonable period of time, you may decide to continue with your Package Holiday or terminate your booking without paying a termination fee. If you decide to terminate, then if your Package Holiday included carriage to the destination, we shall also repatriate you with equivalent transport without undue delay back to your place of departure and at no extra cost to you. You may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation in accordance with paragraph 43 below.
39.6 If we are unable to ensure your return to your place of departure as agreed in your Package Holiday because of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances, we shall bear the cost of necessary accommodation, if possible of equivalent category, for a period not exceeding three nights per passenger. This limitation shall not apply to persons with reduced mobility and any person accompanying them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, as well as persons in need of specific medical assistance, provided that we had been notified of their particular needs at least 48 hours before the start of the Package Holiday.
39.7 If a longer period of accommodation than that referred to in paragraph 39.6 above is provided for in Union passenger rights legislation (as described in the PTR) concerning your mode of return transport, or such legislation does not allow the transport provider to limit its obligations as described in paragraph 39.6 in the event of Unavoidable or Extraordinary Circumstances, then the limits set out in such legislation will apply instead.
40. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION – FLIGHT INCLUSIVE PACKAGE HOLIDAYS
40.1 We provide full financial protection for our Package Holidays and ATOL protected flight only sales by way of our Air Travel Organiser's Licence number 11257 issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Gatwick Airport South, West Sussex, RH6 0YR, UK, telephone +44 (0)333 103 6350, email claims@caa.co.uk.
40.2 When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive Package 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 operate a trust account to hold all money paid for flight inclusive Package Holidays on trust pending the completion of the trip. On making a booking for such Package Holidays, the money paid by you will be held on trust by Travel Trust Services Ltd and made available to the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust in the event of Secret Escapes’ insolvency.
40.3 We, or the Travel Providers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the travel services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the Travel Provider are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the travel 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).
40.4 If we, or the Travel Providers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the travel 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 travel 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 reassigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.
40.5 To the extent that you have purchased an ATOL protected Package Holiday with Secret Escapes credit that has not been purchased as a gift card, or is not part of a refund credit note (see paragraph 47 below), the value of the credit used in the booking will not be financially protected.
41. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION – NON-FLIGHT INCLUSIVE PACKAGE HOLIDAYS
41.1 When you buy a Package Holiday that does not include a flight, protection is provided by way of a trust account with Serenity Travel Trusts, a trading name of Travel Trust Services Ltd, Enlightened House, 60 Featherbank Lane, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4NW, contact http://serenitytrusts.co.uk/for-consumers/.
42. FINANCIAL FAILURE OF THE TRAVEL PROVIDER
42.1 In the event that one of the Travel Providers ceases to trade and/or accept your booking during your Package Holiday, you must contact us immediately to inform us and allow us to make alternative arrangements. We will accept no liability for costs and expenses you incur in circumstances whereby you have not given us a reasonable opportunity to make alternative arrangements.
42.2 In making alternative arrangements, we will aim to replace the travel component provided by the failed Travel Provider with one which is of a higher quality, equivalent, or as near equivalent as possible in the circumstances.
43. PRICE REDUCTION AND COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES
43.1 You will be entitled to an appropriate price reduction for any period during which there is a Failure, unless the Failure is attributable to you.
43.2 You shall be entitled to receive appropriate compensation from us for any damage you sustain as a result of a Failure except where the Failure is:
(i) attributable to you;
(ii) attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services included in the Package Holiday and is unforeseeable or unavoidable;
(iii) or due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances.
43.3 We shall not be liable to pay compensation to you in connection with your Package Holiday where there are international conventions which limit the extent or the conditions under which compensation would have to be paid by one of our Travel Providers. These same limitations will apply to us and in an identical manner as if such limitations applied directly to us. These international conventions include (but are not limited to) the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air (and all earlier related conventions), the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail (Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) of 9 May 1980), the Geneva Convention in respect of travel by road and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation. We shall have the full benefit of any limitation of compensation which is contained in these conventions and any other international conventions which govern the travel arrangements which make up the Package Holiday. Please ask us for copies of these international conventions if you would like to see them.
43.4 Our liability will also be limited in accordance with the contractual terms of the Travel Providers which provide the transportation element of your Package Holiday and in an identical manner as if such limitations applied directly to us.
43.5 Our liability to you in connection with your Package Holiday shall be limited to a maximum of three times the cost of your Package Holiday, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we or our Travel Providers have caused such damage intentionally or with negligence.
43.6 If you are granted compensation or a price reduction by another party in relation to the same Failure which you claim compensation or a price reduction from us, then we may deduct the compensation or price reduction you receive from the other party from that which is payable by us.
43.7 Except as set out above, we accept no liability for any claims, losses, expenses, damages or liability for your Package Holiday, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we have caused such damage with negligence.
44. PROMPT ASSISTANCE IN RESORT
44.1 We shall provide you with appropriate assistance without undue delay if you are in difficulty, in particular by providing appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance; and by helping you make distance communications and helping you find alternative travel arrangements. Typically, we do not charge for this assistance, although we do reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for such assistance if the difficulty has been caused intentionally by you or through your negligence.
44.2 If you are in difficulty and you need our assistance, please contact us using the details set out in paragraph 21 above.
45. FLIGHTS WITH LOW-COST AIRLINES
45.1 If, in connection with our Services, you request the purchase of a flight supplied by a Low-Cost Airline (whether as part of a Package Holiday or on its own), we will act as your agent in making the booking and we will take payment from you to enable us to make the booking as your agent and not as agent for the Low-Cost Airline that is the Travel Provider.
46. FLIGHTS WITH TRADITIONAL AIRLINES
46.1 If, in connection with our Services, you request the purchase of a flight supplied by a Traditional Airline (whether as part of a Package Holiday or on its own), these flights are provided by Aviate Management Ltd and Lime Management Ltd ("Aviate"), which acts as an agent for the Traditional Airlines with authority to issue tickets for travel. We act as an agent for Aviate. This means that we act on behalf of Aviate and provide a platform through which you can enter into a contract with Aviate for the provision of flights with Traditional Airlines. We do not directly enter into a contract with you to provide any Traditional Airline tickets you purchase. We do not act as an agent for you in relation to negotiating or concluding any contract between you and Aviate. Your contract for the Traditional Airline tickets is provided by Aviate acting as agent for the Traditional Airlines. As such, these Terms and Conditions govern your use of our Services but the provision of the Traditional Airline tickets will be subject to the terms and conditions of the airline with whom you have booked (the "Traditional Airline T&Cs").
46.2 By using the Services to purchase Traditional Airline tickets from Aviate, you agree to the Traditional Airline T&Cs and you agree that you are contracting directly with the Traditional Airline (via the Traditional Airline's agent Aviate) in relation to the Traditional Airline ticket purchased.
46.3 Secret Escapes does not itself own or provide any of the Traditional Airline tickets. These are all provided by Aviate (as agent for the Traditional Airline). If, after purchasing a Traditional Airline ticket, you have any queries or concerns about the Traditional Airline ticket, please contact the relevant Traditional Airline directly.
46.4 As your contract for the Traditional Airline ticket will be between you and the Traditional Airline, we will not be in any way responsible for the delivery of the Traditional Airline ticket or flight. As such, we do not accept any responsibility or liability for any loss you suffer as a result of availing yourself of the Traditional Airline ticket or flight.
47. REFUND CREDIT NOTES
This section applies to any customers that have been issued with a refund credit note.
47.1 Your refund credit note (“RCN”) acts as an amendment to an existing booking, allowing you to amend your destination and travel dates. You will see a credit for the full value of your original booking in the “Account” section of the website.
47.2 The RCN credit can be applied to any sales listed on the website where payment is taken on our site, although please note that if you choose to book a sale that is not a Secret Escapes package (such as a hotel only booking), you will lose the ATOL protection on the RCN. All booking amendments are subject to current availability which you can view on the website.
47.3 Your RCN is valid for the period of time stated on the document. To the extent that you have not used the credit by the end of the validity period, you will be refunded the balance in cash. We will contact you at the time to arrange the best payment method to do so.
47.4 Your original package booking, and any subsequent amendment to another Secret Escapes package, remains financially protected under the ATOL scheme. Please keep a copy of your RCN and your original ATOL certificate as evidence of your entitlement to ATOL protection. Please refer to paragraph 40 of these terms and conditions for more information about ATOL protection.
47.5 Where you use a RCN to make a booking valuing less than the value of the RCN, the balance will remain in your account as credit but will no longer be financially protected under the ATOL scheme.
These Terms and Conditions were last updated on 7 July 2021.