LA DOLCE VITA HOLIDAYS TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Please read the following terms and conditions carefully as they are the terms and conditions between you and La Dolce Vita Holidays. We act as booking agents only for the suppliers of the holiday we organise between you and our relevant supplier and will be subject to that supplier’s conditions.
1. PAYMENTS
Bookings are confirmed, except for last minute bookings, on the condition that a non-refundable deposit, of a minimum of 20% of the total package price is paid to La Dolce Vita Holidays within 72 hours of confirmation of your booking. At the time of making your booking we will advise you what payment is required for your particular booking. The balance of your payment must be paid no less than 6 weeks prior to your departure. If your booking is made less than 6 weeks prior to your departure then the full payment will be required on confirmation of your booking.
Please note failure to comply with payment dates will result in automatic cancellation of your booking.
For any credit card payments, in accordance with IATA we need a signed and validated Credit Card Charge form with the signature of the card holder.
Payments made by cheques or travel agency cheques we will require 7 working days for the cheque to clear in our account before any documents will be released.
Cash or EFT payments are accepted and we require proof of this payment sent to our office before any documents will be released.
2. LATE BOOKING FEE & ADMIN EXPENSES
In the event of a booking being made less than 7 days prior to departure La Dolce Vita Holidays reserves the right to charge for any extra communication expenses.
3. PRICE CHANGES
The costs cannot be guaranteed until we have received full payment in our office. The reason for this being due to currency fluctuations and it is impossible for us to predict these movements in advance. When you book a package with La Dolce Vita Holidays, we reserve the right to adjust the package price to cover any currency fluctuations as well as any air fare increases and any increase in fuel and security charges, taxes or fees at port or airports prior to us receiving your full payment which may be passed onto us by the airlines or our agents.
Air fares are subject to the price and conditions of the airlines used and cannot be guaranteed until the air tickets have been issued. The onus is on you to check that there have been no changes in these prices before making your full payment to our office.
4. INSURANCE
We would strongly recommend that all passengers take out insurance against cancellation, curtailments, illness, loss of baggage and default at the time of booking. You can contact us to get details of the cost for this insurance as this is not included in our prices. Should you not want the insurance cover La Dolce Vita Holidays will not be liable for any costs due to passengers having inadequate insurance cover. Please ask for information on this when you make your booking.
5. FLIGHT RECOFIRMATION
It is your responsibility to ensure that you reconfirm the departure date and times of all your flights at least 72 hours prior to your departure. This is particularly important in respect of subsequent journeys once leaving South Africa and La Dolce Vita Holidays exclude any liability for any delay and/or loss of your failure to reconfirm any flight and/or connecting flight.
Flight timings are provided by the airlines and are subject to change due to Air Traffic Control restrictions. All means of transportation are subject to weather conditions, the need for constant maintenance, and the ability for passengers to check-in on time. There is no guarantee that flights, ferries, ships, trains or coaches will depart at the time stated on any itinerary or ticket which you receive from La Dolce Vita Holidays. All timings are estimates only and we do not accept liability for any delay or for any schedule changes.
6. DOCUMENTS
Documents will only be prepared once we have received your full payment together with our booking form and this will take at least 24hours after we have received your payment. Should your payment be late and we need to make use of a courier service this will be for your own account.
It is important that you check all your documents before leaving South Africa. La Dolce Vita Holidays will not be responsible or liable for any delay or loss of any inaccuracies on any travel documents one you are in receipt of your documents and once you have left South Africa.
7. CHANGES TO YOUR BOOKING
If you wish to make any changes to your booking we will endeavour to assist you wherever this is possible. You will be liable for any additional costs involved in these changes imposed by the airlines or the suppliers that may be charged prior to your departure. In most cases the airlines will not allow us to make any name changes to any tickets already issued which results in you having to purchase a new ticket, at your own cost, the old ticket will be sent in for a refund and cancellation/amendment fees on the incorrect ticket will be charged accordingly. The refund of this ticket could take up to 2 months in some cases to come through.
For each change/amendment to existing bookings once confirmed before your departure will incur a fee of R100.00 per person.
After your departure any extra expenses incurred as a result of any change will be for the passengers own account and any unused services will not be refunded.
Amendments and cancellations en route must be made with our agents directly.
In the unlikely event of there being an unscheduled extension to your holiday caused by flight delays, bad weather, strikes or any other causes which is beyond our control it is understood that the expenses relating to these unscheduled extensions will be for the account of the passenger. La Dolce Vita Holidays accepts no liability for charges, omissions or delays before or during the course of any holiday occasioned by any of the above reasons.
8. CANCELLATION
If you wish to cancel your booking your must advise your agent or La Dolce Vita Holidays immediately. You will be liable for any cancellation charges where the airline will charge for cancellation on any special fares. In some cases 100% charge may be levied by the airline regardless of when the booking is cancelled.
All cancellation charges for accommodation will be for your own account.
La Dolce Vita will also charge a cancellation fee of 10% of the package price on any finalised booking; however we reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee of up to 100% of the total package, in its sole discretion depending on the circumstances. Any monies which you have paid to us will be taken as part payment of any cancellation charges or where the cancellation charge is 100% the monies paid will be used for the cancellation charges.
9. LOST/STOLEN DOCUMENTS
The loss or theft of an air ticket must be reported to La Dolce Vita Holidays immediately. Certain airlines may not authorise us to issue a new ticket – if such a ticket that is lost or stolen before the passenger departs from South Africa you will be required to purchase a new ticket, at your own cost, until such time as La Dolce Vita receives authority from the airline to make any refund to you which could take up to 12 months to receive from the airlines. Should the airline authorise La Dolce Vita Holidays to re-issue a new ticket this will be done and the re-issue fee per ticket will be for your own account.
Should your ticket be lost or stolen while you are abroad it must be noted that certain airlines will not issue a duplicate ticket and it will be your responsibility to purchase a new ticket abroad at the local fare. Upon your return to South Africa you can apply to La Dolce Vita Holidays for the amount you paid on the lost/stolen ticket, but it is specifically recorded that any refund will be entirely at the discretion of the airline concerned which again may take up to 12 months to receive and authorisation.
It is the client’s responsibility to report any lost/stolen ticket to the police and to provide La Dolce Vita Holidays with the proof of such a report if asked for.
10. CHANGE OF TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS BY LA DOLCE VITA HOLIDAYS
Should there be any reason whatsoever to change your flight bookings or hotel accommodation before your departure La Dolce Vita Holidays undertakes to advise you of this as soon as reasonably possible.
Every effort will be made by La Dolce Vita Holidays to adhere to confirmed itineraries, however we reserve the right to make changes to your travel arrangements when it becomes necessary to do so. Travel arrangements are made in advance but due to the fact that La Dolce Vita is reliant on suppliers such as airlines, hotel and receptive operators, changes to itineraries and travel arrangements may occasionally become necessary.
Should any travel component be confirmed by La Dolce Vita Holidays and this component is cancelled by the supplier for whatsoever reason, then in such instances La Dolce Vita Holidays will accept no liability for the cancellation thereof.
11. REFUNDS
Refund policies operated by the various airlines vary from airline to airline. You must return your unused ticket to La Dolce Vita Holidays who will in turn send this to the relevant airline for a refund. This will be entirely up to the airline to refund any money on this ticket. Should the airline refund this ticket we will refund you less any cancellation/administration charges.
If payment for the ticket was made by credit card to La Dolce Vita Holidays then the refund will automatically be credited to your credit card.
Any refund which is authorised for part used or return halves of tickets will be less than the pro rata rate on the face value of the original ticket. Refunds may take up to 12 months to process and this is beyond the control of La Dolce Vita Holidays.
Tickets older than 1 year from date of issue will be regarded as expired by the airline and will have no value to refund.
12. COMPLAINTS
In the event that you have any reason/experience to complain about anything on your holiday whilst you are away please inform our supplier immediately, you can do this verbally but it would also be advisable to follow this up in writing to the supplier as soon as possible.
If you are still not satisfied you must notify us soonest so that we can take steps from our side to resolve the problem – it is always easier if you as the client can take up the issues with the hotel while you are staying there than come back and complain and the hotel asks why the passenger did not bring this to anybody’s attention while they were staying at the hotel and why only now on their return do they complain.
Failure to give us the opportunity to resolve any problem at the time it occurs will result in either a reduction, or complete extinction, of any rights which you may have to claim compensation from La Dolce Vita Holidays.
Whilst every effort will be made by La Dolce Vita Holidays to resolve your complaint it must be noted that we do not accept liability for any claim that you may have in respect of your claim whatsoever.
13. INSURANCE
We would recommend that every passenger takes out sufficient insurance to cover any medical bills or lost baggage etc. Please contact La Dolce Vita office to get information on the cost for insurance, as although you may think that paying by credit card you are covered, this cover is very limited and should anything untoward happen on your holiday this will not be sufficient cover.
14. PASSPORTS AND VISAS
It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all others travelling with you have a valid passport. This will also apply for any necessary visas. La Dolce Vita Holidays are more than happy to assist with visa requirements and all relevant fees will be for your own costs. Passport and visa requirements change all the time so we would like to recommend that you check this information before your departure.
La Dolce Vita Holidays accept no liability should you or any other member of your party not have the correct documents at the time of travel.
15. AIRPORT TAXES
We will advise you of all taxes which you must pay before your departure, however many countries charge departure taxes that can only be paid in their local currency on departure from that country. It is therefore recommended that you read your itineraries and have sufficient local funds to pay for this departure tax where applicable.
16. FORCE MAJEURE
Events that include war or a threat of war, industrial dispute, cyclones, natural disaster, nuclear disaster, fire and similar events beyond our control we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation if you suffer any loss or damage.
17. RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY
La Dolce Vita Holidays act as agents only for local and international operators as well as all airlines and therefore cannot accept liability for loss, damage or injury, delays, accidents or delays or any other irregularities. We will however, make every effort to ensure that all the arrangements made on your booking will be carried out as booked, and in the most efficient way possible. However, we do not have any control over the provision of the services of the suppliers we use but they are all selected with the utmost care and also to ensure you have the best holiday experience. We cannot accept any liability for error or omission of the suppliers.
This document together with La Dolce Vita standard booking form as well as our invoice/itinerary constitutes the sole record of the agreement between the parties. No party shall be bound by a representation, warranty and promise of the like not recorded herein. No addition to the La Dolce Vita standard booking conditions shall be of any effect unless received in writing and signed by the parties.
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