How to Book
What’s included in the holiday
Additional costs
General Information
Car Hire
Flights
Booking Conditions

How to book

1. Select the accommodation of your choice
Please call us to check the availability of accommodation and flight seats. We will give you a confirmed price for the cost of your holiday accommodation, and a separate quotation for flights, car hire and insurance plus any other items you may require.

2. Reserve your accommodation
We will allow you to provisionally reserve your accommodation for up to 48 hours outside of 4 weeks from departure. Please note that we are unable to provisionally reserve charter flight seats – therefore, in order to secure the flights of your choice, an early response is required.

3. Confirm the booking
This can be done either by telephoning us with the full list of passenger names and quoting your credit/debit card details for the deposit, or by sending us a completed booking form by post or fax with accompanying deposit payment. For those booking by telephone, we still require a completed booking form to be sent to us. Please note a handling charge of 2% is applied to all credit card payments.

4. Our confirmation to you
We will send you confirmation invoices for all the elements of your holiday detailing deposits paid to us and when the balances are due (8 weeks prior to departure). If you are planning to pay the balance by credit/debit card you can do so by signing the box on the booking form and we will automatically deduct the balance on the due date.

5. Holiday documents
Your holiday documents, including accommodation vouchers, flight tickets, car hire vouchers, maps and detailed instructions, will be sent to you approximately 10 days prior to your departure.

Telephone: 01223 568904

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What’s included in the holiday

Villa and Apartment holidays

• Accommodation as booked including general services such as gas, water, electricity, change of linen at least once per week and regular maintenance of swimming pools and gardens (during the winter some properties have a small charge for electricity payable locally).
• Maid service will be between 2–6 times per week depending on the accommodation and excluding Sundays and public holidays. (Please enquire for specific details).
• Bath and hand towels are provided (clients should take their own beach towels).
• Assistance from our local representative and individual property managers.
• Welcome food hamper including an initial supply of groceries for all holidays at villas with pools (available with apartment holidays at a cost of £5 per person).

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Additional costs

• Flight Seats – either charter or scheduled from any major or regional airports as specified in guideline flight price list on page 3.
• Extra beds – high chairs, cots etc (prices available on request)
• Car hire – collected from Faro airport as specified on price list on page 3.
• Holiday insurance – as specified on page 7. (Please note that it is a condition of booking that all members of the party have comprehensive travel insurance equivalent to that offered by Light Blue Travel).

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General Information

Deposit and balance payments
A deposit of £175 per person is required for the accommodation plus any additional insurance premuims is required at the time of booking. (Please note that some scheduled flights may also be fully payable at the time of booking and will be advised to you).

Brochure Prices
The inclusive prices in this guide have been calculated on specially negotiated rates with scheduled airlines and hoteliers.  If the class of flight seat used in calculating the brochure price is unavailable then you will be offered the best alternative (either scheduled or charter) which may be at a supplementary price.  The full cost of your holiday inclusing any supplements will be advised to you before you confirm your booking.

Flights
Light Blue Travel normally uses scheduled airlines out of Heathrow and Gatwick (the prices are based on Gatwick departures with British Airways).  Charter airlines are sometimes used in order to facilitate departures from regional airports and if availability on scheduled airlines is limited.  Any supplementary costs for flying from regional airports will be advised to you at the time of booking.  Flight timings and carriers given in the price guide are subject to change and are given as guidance only.

Child Reductions
Children occupying the same bedroom as 2 adults will be entitled to a reduction on the brochure price.  This discount will vary depending on date of travel and age of child (discounts generally apply to children under 12 years old on the date of return travel).  Any child reductions will be advised on request.

Golf Bookings
Requests for golf bookings should be made at the time of booking.  Please advise a preferred tee-off time for each booking that will be requested for you.  At busy periods it is sometimes difficult to secure your preferred times in which case we will reserve the best alternative time for you.  Handicap certifictaes will be required at each of the courses.  Please note green fees are to be pre-paid and are non-refundable.

Arriving and Vacating
Changeover days are Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and the general rule is that guests can access their accommodation from 1200hrs on the day of arrival and should vacate by 1200hrs on the day of departure.  In order to facilitate early arrivals and late flight departures luggage storage and bathroom facilities will usually be made available where possible.  The hotel management may be able to allow you to keep your room for a late check-out but they are entitled to make a charge if they wish.

Your security
Light Blue Travel can offer you total financial protection against all holiday payments. The air inclusive holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority (our Air Travel Organisers Licence number is 5489).  Accommodation-only holidays are protected under ABTA (our ABTA number is V9324).

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Car Hire

Information to follow shortly...

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Flights

Light Blue Travel normally uses scheduled airlines out of Heathrow and Gatwick (the prices are based on Gatwick departures with British Airways).  Charter airlines are sometimes used in order to facilitate departures from regional airports and if availability on scheduled airlines is limited.  Any supplementary costs for flying from regional airports will be advised to you at the time of booking.  Flight timings and carriers given in the price guide are subject to change and are given as guidance only.

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Booking Conditions

The following Terms and Conditions form the basis of your contract with Light Blue Travel. Please ensure that you read this information carefully.  There is no right to vary or cancel the contract other than as set out below.

All air inclusive holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority (Light Blue Travel's Air Travel Organisers Licence number is 5489). Accommodation only holidays are protected by ABTA (Light Blue Travel's Membership number is V9324).

OUR OBLIGATION TO YOU

1. Your Holiday Contract
Whatever method you use for booking and payment (postal, telephone, credit card, cheque, etc) your contract is made when we issue your invoice thereby accepting your booking. The contract is governed by English law.

2. The Holiday Price
Surcharges will only be made to take account of increase in transportation costs including fuel, changes in dues, taxes, landing taxes or embarkation fees. and exchange rate fluctuations affecting the package price. No surcharges will be made on the holiday price after the 30th day prior to the start of your holiday.  We will absorb the first 10% increase in the holiday price (which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment changes). Amounts in excess of this 10% will be surcharged plus an administration charge together with an amount to cover agents commission.

If this means you are paying more than 10% extra then you will be entitled to cancel your holiday and receive a full refund of all money paid except for any premiums paid to us for holiday insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this you must do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on the invoice.

3. Alterations by us 
Circumstances may require us to make alterations to brochure and holiday details both before and after you have booked your holiday. Most alterations will be minor and will not affect the contract between us.

Occasionally we have to make significant alterations to booked holidays. Significant alterations include change of your departure point (except as between Gatwick and Heathrow airports), change of date or time on length of holiday by more than 12 hours (except in the case of curtailment as dealt with in paragraph 5 below), a change of villa, or the withdrawal of any swimming pool at your villa for an extended period.  Where there is a significant   alteration we will then offer you the choice of

A. Accepting the changed arrangements as notified to you or
B. Purchasing another holiday with payment of refund in respect of any price difference or
C. Cancelling your holiday and receiving a full and immediate refund of any monies paid by you. In the event of a significant alteration we will, in addition, pay you compensation in accordance with the following scale except where the alteration arises from unusual, unforeseeable and/or unavoidable circumstances beyond our control or force majeure as described in paragraph 6(1)D.  
Within 2 weeks of departure: £30 per person Within 8 weeks of departure: £10 per person Within 4 weeks of departure: £20 per person 8 weeks or more before departure: £5 per person
No compensation is payable in respect of minor changes.

4. Cancellation by us
We reserve the right to cancel your holiday.  We will only do so however, after the final balance falls due, where either you default in payment in whole or part or we are forced to do so as a result of circumstances outside our control including but not limited to those amounting to force majeure as described in paragraph 6(1)D.  Where your holiday is cancelled (other than due to default in payment) we will offer you the choice of

A. Purchasing another holiday with payment or refund in respect of any price difference or
B. A full and immediate refund of any monies paid by you.  We will, in addition, pay you compensation in accordance wirh the scale set out in 3 above but subject to the same exceptions.

5. Termination of holiday
Your holiday will only be curtailed after the date of departure where circumstances arise amounting to force majeure as described in paragraph 6(1)D. If so no refunds or compensation can be paid.

6. Our responsibility
(1) We accept responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our agents, subcontractors and suppliers (providing they were at the time acting within the scope of their employment)   and for the provision of the services which we have contracted to supply to a reasonable standard subject to the following provisions:

A. The acceptance of liability under this paragraph does not apply to death, bodily injury or illness (dealt with in paragraph 6(2) below)
B. Our liability so far as air and sea carriers are concerned is limited to that of the conditions of that carrier within the appropriate international conventions.
C. In all cases our liability under this paragraph is limited to twice the holiday price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) of the person(s) affected in total.
D. We do not accept liability where the performance and/or prompt performance of our contract with you is affected or prevented by reason of circumstances amounting to force majeure. Such circumstances include but are not limited to war or threat of war, natural or nuclear disaster, government action, terrorist activity, civil strife, riot, industrial disputes, fire or adverse weather conditions and all similar circumstances outside our control.
E. We are not liable for matters beyond our control including (but not exclusively) inconvenience, interruption to public utilities, annoyance, nuisance or other local disturbance.

(2) We accept responsibility should you or any member of your party suffer death, personal injury or illness as a result of any failure to perform or improper performance of any part of our contract with you by any of our employees, agents, subcontractors and suppliers (providing they were at the time acting within the course of their employment) except where the failure to perform or improper performance was due to:

A. your own acts and/or omissions or
B. those of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday and which was unforseeable or unavoidable or
C. an event which neither we nor the supplier of the services in question could have foreseen or forestalled with all due care.
Our liability so far as air and sea carriers is concerned is limited to that of the conditions of that carrier within the appropriate international conventions.

(3) It is a condition of this agreement that you notify us of any claim in writing within 4 weeks of your return from holiday and where any payment is made to you that you cooperate fully and that you assign to us or our insurers any rights you have to pursue any third party.

YOUR COMMITMENT TO US

7. Booking
When booking you accept these conditions. None of our representatives, servants or agents has any authority to waive or modify these conditions. NB - when you travel with any carrier their conditions of carriage will apply, some of which may limit or exclude their liability to you. Copies of their conditions of carriage will be forwarded on confirmation.

8. Deposit
On booking you must pay a deposit.
Deposits payable per person 1 Week 2 Weeks
Air Inclusive Holiday £200 £250
Accommodation Only Holiday £175 £200

Please note scheduled flights are fully payable at the time of booking. All payments by Credit card will be subject to a 2.5% handling fee (no fee for Debit cards)

9. The balance
You must pay the final balance of the holiday price plus any property inventory and telephone deposits where appropriate not later than 8 weeks before your departure date. If you fail to pay you will lose your deposit and will remain liable for the balance unless we are able to reduce losses by selling the holiday elsewhere.  In that case we will make allowance for monies received on any such re-sale less any reasonable administrative costs, but in any event you will have forfeited your deposit.

10. Alterations by you
Where you wish to alter the booking of your holiday we will arrange and agree those alterations where possible but we are not obliged to do so.  Where we are able to comply there will be an additional charge of £25 for each change of each element.

11. Cancellation by you
If you wish to cancel your booking, the person who signs the booking form must notify us in writing.  The cancellation will take effect from the date when it is received by us. Please note you will remain liable to us (except in circumstances covered by Clause 3.C.) and cancellation charges will be payable as follows:

Period between receipt of cancellation letter and departure date (inclusive): Cancellation charges expressed as a %
 of total holiday cost, excluding insurance
More than 56 days Deposit only
42 - 56 days  70%
0 - 42 days  100%

12. Problems during your holiday
In the unlikely event of a complaint you must follow this procedure:
A. Give full particulars of the complaint to our local representative as soon as possible and provide him/her with a written record of the complaint as soon as possible thereafter.
B. If the local representative cannot be contacted in a reasonable time then give the particulars to our Cambridge Overseas Department.
C. Give our local representative sufficient opportunity to act upon complaints and remedy defects (and bear in mind that this can take longer in some foreign countries).
D. You must, in addition, notify the supplier of the services in question where it is possible to do so.
E. If on your return home you have any continuing complaint or claim put it to us in writing within 28 days. An investigation while the facts are fresh can facilitate an early settlement.
lf you fail to follow the above procedure then we will rely on that failure in any subsequent procedures.

13. Your responsibility
It is your responsibility to avoid causing nuisance or offence to others and to avoid damages to our reputation. lf you behave in a manner which results directly in us not being able to renew our rental contract on the holiday property with the owner then we will take legal   action for damages against you.
You must take good care of the property and its grounds and ensure that it is in a clean and tidy condition prior to your departure.  Any loss or damage caused by you must be paid in full to our local agent immediately or we may terminate the holiday without further obligation to you. Damages not paid to our local agent will be subject to the jurisdiction of the UK courts.
In some instances a refundable property deposit is payable with the balance payment of your holiday.  This will be refunded to you approximately 15 days after your return subject to confimation from the overseas agent that no damages have been incurred.

SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

14. Arbitration/Mediation
Disputes arising out of or in connection with this contract which cannot be settled amicably may, if you wish, be referred to arbitration under a special scheme which, though devised by an arrangement with the Association of British Travel Agents, is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

A. This scheme provides a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with a restricted liability for costs.
B. This scheme does not apply to claims for amounts greater than £1,500 per person or £7,500 per booking form or to claims which arise solely or mainly from physical injury or the consequences thereof.
C. Details of the scheme will be supplied on request.  Alternatively we will arrange for mediation/arbitration through Independent Mediation Ltd.

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