Terms and conditions

Payment-

A deposit of 50% is required at the time of booking.

The remaining balance must be paid 15 days before departure.

Communication

Any communication directed at the address or made through/on the contact details such as e-mail id, cell phone/telephone no./fax no. of the Client as disclosed in the “Booking Form” or made to the travel agent through whom the client has made the bookings with the company shall be deemed to have been communicated to and received by the Client. The Company shall not be responsible for any error on the part of the mode of communication or the Travel Agent in this regard

Hotels
You will be out sightseeing most of the time and hence we have taken care to select hotels which are convenient and comfortable. Hence sometimes they may be located away from the city centre. Most of the rooms have private baths or showers. The hotels will either be those shown in the itinerary or of the same category. Due to trade fairs and conventions in the cities, the hotels may be blocked out for more than 2 years in advance. Given this you may have to stay in hotels further away from the cities and itineraries may have to be altered/amended. Since the rooms are comparatively small, we would recommend only 3 persons in one room for your own comfort. Triple rooms are usually no larger than twin rooms and the third bed is often a rollaway cot put in a twin room for the night. All baggage and personal effects are at all times and under all circumstances your responsibility. We will not be responsible or liable in case of loss of such items from the hotel premises/coach / Cruise / Airport / during travel or place of visit etc. Some hotels offer the facility of safe deposit lockers, which can be availed of by you at your own cost and risk. The company will not be liable for any loss/theft from the same. Any damages caused to the hotel rooms / Coach/place of visit etc. during your stay/tour/visit shall be borne and payable by you, and the company will not be liable for the same. The company is not liable if there is sudden disruption/disorder of telephone, internet services, and other amenities while staying at the hotels. The company will also be not responsible for the facilities provided or not provided in the room/bathroom/hotel premises etc. by the Hotel or its staff. Rude or Unprofessional behaviour of hotel staff does not come under the direct purview of the company and the company will not be responsible for the same. Facilities like a mini bar, pay television channels, telephone etc are not complimentary and these facilities if used by the client have to be paid for by the client directly to the Hotel and such charges are not included in the tour cost. The client will have to abide by the check-in/check-out time of the hotel.

Any changes made directly by the hotel come under their direct purview and we will not be liable for any compensation due to this change
Requests for double rooms will be subject to availability and in cases when a double is not available, we will provide you with a twin room. General check-in time is usually 1400 hours and check-out time is usually 1200 hours; early check-in and late check-out is subject to availability unless pre-paid and booked in advance

HEALTH AND INSURANCE

It shall be the duty of the Client to inform the Company in case the Client has any medical condition that may affect his ability to enjoy and pursue fully the Tour Arrangements and wherein the interest of the Group or any member thereof is prejudicially affected. Pace of certain tours might not be suitable to individuals. Hence, we suggest that individuals may choose tours as per their health conditions. The Company presumes that the Client and/or the Group or any member thereof have no disability or disease or such medical or health condition which could adversely impact his/her/their health on the tour, except which has been disclosed by the Client/Group/ any member to the Company in writing, at the time of Booking of the tour. Company reserves the right to ask the Client to provide written certification/ disclosure of medical fitness before departure. Subject to the disclosure made by the Client/Group/any member, the Company in its discretion may refuse to take on tour or accept any booking of the Client, if in its sole judgment the medical or health condition of the Client is not fit to undergo any tour. In the event that a medical or health condition has not been disclosed to the Company in writing, the Company will not be liable to provide any assistance or money back. It is necessary for the client to obtain a valid travel / health insurance prior to the commencement of the tour and the Company will not be responsible for the same. Settlement of the claims will be entirely at the discretion of the insurance company. We are travel agents and travel/holiday organizers only. The role of the company is that of an agent of the client to secure proper services for the tour from the independent contractors and service providers such as the airlines, shipping company, hotels, Coach etc. We do not control or operate any airline, neither do we own or control any shipping company, coach or coach company, hotel, transport or any other facility or service mentioned. We take care in selecting all the ingredients in your travel/holiday; but because we only select them and have no control in operating them, we cannot be responsible for any injury, death, loss or damage, which is caused by the act or default or negligence or omission of the management or employees of any hoteliers, airlines, shipping company, transport/coach owner / transport/coach operator who are the Company’s independent contractors. We may offer you various experiences, sports and other allied activities in an itinerary. Having chosen, accepted and paid for an itinerary in your own judgment and choice which may have its inherent risk, liabilities and consequences associated with the itinerary, you hereby release and exempt the Company, its directors, agents, shareholders, officers and employees from all/any liability for personal injury, property damage, wrongful loss, death and causes of action of any kind caused in whole/in part, arising in connection of the services provided by an independent contractor/(s) its employees, representatives, agents, sub-contractors, servants and/or by virtue of you availing the activities on the travel/tour. The Company hereby expressly disclaims all/any claims arising in connection with the activities/ itinerary.

SCOPE OF ACTIVITY

We are travel agents and holiday organizers only. The role of the company is that of an agent of the client to secure proper services for the tour from the independent contractors and service providers such as the airlines, shipping company, hotels, Coach etc. We do not control or operate any airline, neither do we own or control any shipping company, coach or coach company, hotel, transport or any other facility or service mentioned in this brochure. We take care in selecting all the ingredients in your holiday; but because we only select them and have no control in operating them, we cannot be responsible for any injury, death, loss or damage, which is caused by the act or default or omission of the management or employees of any hoteliers, airlines, shipping company, coach owner / coach operator who are the company’s independent contractors arising outside our normal selection process.

LOSS / DAMAGE

Company is not responsible for any loss or damage to personal belongings during the stay in the hotel or while traveling in the coach. Due to theft or loss of baggage, tour participant can lodge a complaint with the local authorities on his / her sole discretion, cost, risk and consequences.

MEALS AND SPECIAL REQUESTS

The menus are pre-set menus provided for meals on the tour. The types of meals are clearly indicated in the brochure. Unlike an airline, we cannot provide a special meal, nor do we guarantee a special diet to the client, except to the extent mentioned in the brochure and preferred by you. We however reserve the right to change the meal arrangement if circumstances make it necessary to do so. In the event that the client wakes up late and misses the breakfast off ered to him or the client is out on his own and reaches late or in case of delay of flights or for any other reason whatsoever the client misses any meal including breakfast offered to him by the company, then no claim can be made for the meal / breakfast, which he has missed and not utilized. Special requests for room allocation, diet consideration on tour / cruise / flight etc. must be made in writing at the time of booking, but all such requests shall be subject to availability. The Company will not be held liable for claims of damages or consequential loss if the company is unable to process such requests for want of availability.

CONDITIONS OF PASSAGE

These conditions are applicable to every client of the Company, who books a Brochure Tour or any Special Tour or travel arrangement. In the event of a client booking through us a Tour and / or Tour Arrangement of any other Tour Operators like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise, Carnival, Cosmos etc., the “Terms and Conditions” specified by such Tour Operator, including their payment schedule, cancellation, refund etc. shall be applicable, in addition to our “Terms and Conditions” while determining the contractual relation between the Client, the Tour Operator and us.

ACCOMMODATION FOR CHILD BELOW 12 YEARS OF AGE

It is expressed and given to understand that a child below 12 years of age who is booked on the tour paying the special rate without a bed will not be provided with a bed in the hotel while on the tour under any circumstances. In case the client makes any changes in their rooming while on the tour, the company shall not make any refunds or pay any compensation to them. In case the Client decides to make any change in the rooming while on the tour subject to availability, then they shall be bound to pay additional charge.

Disclaimer Note for TCS

Tax Collection at Source (TCS) at the rate as applicable will be levied under section 206C(1G)(b) of the Income Tax Act on outbound tour services. The TCS collected will be reflected in the 26AS of the passenger in whose name invoice is raised for claiming Income Tax credit, irrespective of the person from whom payment is received. Hence the name of the person on the invoice should be confirmed at the time of booking the tour package. If customer wants credit of TCS in 26AS in accordance with the person from whom payment is received, then the same shall be communicated in advance at the time of booking. No query of the customer will be resolved at the later stage if there is no such communication from customer at the time of booking.

CANCELLATION DUE TO VISA REJECTION

All the clients travelling on a Vixotica tour must be in possession of a valid visa. Client shall ensure that the Visa Application Form (s) is duly filled and verified by the Client, to its satisfaction, before it is submitted to the Embassy. / Consulate. However kindly note that it is entirely at the discretion of the concerned Consulate / Authorities to grant / reject visa even after submitting all relevant documents and the company will not be held responsible for the same. The company is not at all liable for such cases or has any influence on the consulate/embassy’s decision The role of the company is only to provide necessary guidance to the client for the purpose of applying for VISA. The company will not be responsible for non-issuance of visa due to receipt of incomplete / delayed documents from the Clients. It is a possibility that the consulate may ask the passengers to appear for a personal interview. This is at the sole discretion of the Consulate / Authorities. If the required documents are not submitted by the client, the issuance of visa will further be delayed / rejected, and the client will not hold Thomas Cook liable for the same. Client should adhere to all the norms and conditions laid by the consulate / embassy Upon rejection of visa, if the client wishes to reapply for the visa, he / she is liable to pay again the requisite fee to the consulate and he / she will not claim from Thomas Cook.

BROCHURE / ITINERARY ACCURACY / CHANGE

All information given in this brochure/itinerary is based on the information available at the time of publication. We reserve the right to change any brochure/itinerary information before or after your booking the tour due to any events beyond our control. In case we are aware of any changes sufficiently in advance, we will notify you at the time of booking, otherwise our Tour Manager or Local representative will inform you of the changes. Major road works may necessitate route changes in the itineraries, Indian restaurants may close or change management, all of these may cause us to make changes in the itineraries. Where we know of these sufficiently in advance we will notify you, otherwise our Tour Managers or Local Representative will inform you of the changes on the spot. There are also very big fairs and exhibitions, where all the hotels are fully booked well in advance, and therefore it may be necessary to stay in hotels in other cities. We may often operate more than one coach per departure date. We may operate more than one group per departure or club 2 groups in one departure due to operational reasons. For the comfort and convenience of our clients, we will sometimes reverse the direction, or slightly amend the itinerary including the flight routing. We will advise you of these amendments, prior to the start of the tour or on tour. We may modify the itinerary based on various factors like maintenance of historical monuments, museums, major events like sports conventions, religious festivals, etc. We may take a detour to reach sightseeing places due to traffic conditions; road blocks and that may vary the course of itinerary. We reserve the right to change the departure date or cancel a departure due to lack of enough number of passengers and will not take any responsibility for any ticket of the client which they may have purchased in advance for sector within India or abroad. Clients are responsible for the adherence to time at all stages of the tour. In the event that a client misses on any part of the sightseeing tour or any such tour due to delay on his part, he will not be entitled to claim refund of the same. The company shall not accept any liability or responsibility for any damages, loss, baggage loss, injury, accident, death, breakdown, or irregularity, which may occur in carrying out the tour arrangement, weather conditions, strikes, war, quarantine and any other cause whatsoever and all such loss or expense must be borne by the client. We reserve the right to claim any additional expenses incurred due to delay or changes in schedules of train, aeroplane, bus, ship or other services. We further reserve the right to amend, alter, vary or withdraw any particular departure; excursions advertised or substitute a hotel of similar category if deemed necessary. You consent for the amendment / alteration in the brochure / itinerary. These terms shall be read together with the brochure / itinerary but these terms shall prevail over the brochure / itinerary and shall override the brochure / itinerary to the extent that it is contradictory or conflicting thereto.