RAE SAFARIS TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE AND ENGAGEMENT
- BOOKING YOUR SAFARI AND HOLIDAY
THESE TERMS, CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES ARE ON OUR WEBSITE AND THUS YOU WILL ALREADY BE AWARE OF THEM
Once you have agreed with us an itinerary that we have supplied , our Booking Form must be fully completed and your deposit must be paid to us within seven days of accepting and agreeing to be bound by the itinerary to secure your booking. It is deemed that as you are making the booking either on your behalf or a group all persons in the party will have read and accepted these booking conditions for themselves. The deposit required is 50% per person, which will be calculated by us with the proposed itinerary, and please remember the balance of full payment is then due EIGHT weeks prior to intended departure date. Bookings made within SIX weeks of intended departure must be accompanied by the payment in full to secure the booking. No booking will be considered definite or contract made until your booking form and your deposit is received as cleared funds to our bank account. Once accepted by us a confirmation statement and invoice will be issued.
If your booking is not accepted your deposit will be returned to the named individual on the form. No provisional booking is guaranteed until we have received a completed booking form and accompanying payment. A confirmation notification will be sent to you as soon as your deposit or final payment is received and cleared. We, or our agents, reserve the right to decline any bookings at our discretion upon the receipt of the proposed itinerary.
- AMENDMENTS & CANCELLATIONS BY YOU
If you wish to make any changes to, or cancel the land content of your safari after a contract has been agreed by us and come into existence we will require such requests in writing, signed by the signatory of the Booking Form, your nominated Party spokesman. If you wish to change any details of the land content of your safari (eg. accommodation types or even parts of the itinerary) we will do our best to help, however there will be an amendment fee levied of 20% of tour price per person. If you wish to cancel your holiday, the following cancellation charges will be applied from the day written request of cancellation is received by us, or our agents.
We take no responsibility for non-delivery or non-receipt of the notification from you and the onus is on you to ensure that we have received the cancellation advice note. We will confirm your cancellation in writing upon receipt of your correspondence to us.
Period before scheduled departure within which written instructions are received by Rae Safaris
The amount of cancellation charge (shown as a % of total cost of land content of safari)
More than 12 Weeks 75% of your Deposit.
12 – 8 Weeks 50% of your Deposit.
8 Weeks to 30 Days 50% of your Deposit.
30 Days – Non arrival 100% of Payment.
- AMENDMENTS & CANCELLATIONS BY US AND OUR LIABILITY
Due to the nature of the countries we will travel through in we reserve the right to make minor changes (e.g. places of accommodation, route changes) to the itinerary without notification to you as long as the changes we offer are of equal or similar standard/value. We must reserve the right to cancel an experience. Should we have to cancel for some reason other than failure to pay on your part we will offer you the choice of purchasing another experience from us (with you paying the difference if it is more expensive or receiving a refund if it is cheaper) or receiving a full refund of monies paid to us.
For scheduled trip departures your booking is accepted on the understanding that you realise the hazards involved in this kind of travel / safari, including injury, disease, loss or damage to property, inconvenience and discomfort. The whole philosophy of this type of journey is one, which offers alternatives and a substantial degree of on-trip flexibility. The outlined itineraries given for each holiday must be taken as an indication of what each group should accomplish and not as a contractual obligation on behalf of our Company.
All tailor made safari bookings are subject to a minimum number of paying clients as specified per each itinerary. Very rarely, we may be forced to change your holiday before or after departure. We will of course fully explain the reasons why the changes have been necessary. These may arise due to events such as a local political situation, flight cancellation, mechanical breakdown, weather, border restriction, sickness or other unforeseeable circumstances. We may also have to cancel a holiday where a force majeure situation (such as those described in clause 5) arises. In this situation, we regret that we cannot make any refunds, pay any compensation or be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by you as a result of these events.
We also reserve the right to cancel a holiday but not less than SIX weeks before your holiday if on a scheduled trip minimum number of group size is not reached. An alternative or full refund will be given to you we will ensure the best option is available for you.
Bookings are accepted on the understanding that you (and each and every member of your party) appreciate the risks inherent in this type of safari adventure. You all travel at your own volition and free will. We accept responsibility for the services we have contracted to provide to you directly subject to the limitations in these Booking Conditions. We are not responsible or have any control over the acts or omissions of third parties (such as those providing excursions or other activities that you do not book through us). We will use our best endeavours however to use only fully accredited third parties, however.
- PAYMENT OF YOUR HOLIDAY
The balance of your holiday is due EIGHT weeks prior to your arrival. We reserve the option to take your money closer to our departure date but confirm that cancellation fees will apply in full. Payments made by your bank transfer to us must include all bank fees. If we do not receive the full payment we reserve the right to cancel your booking and cancellation charges will apply as per booking conditions. Should the booking be made less than SIX weeks prior to departure then payment is due in full at the time of booking and any costs incurred by booking so close to the departure date shall be notified to you straight away.
- “FORCE MAJEURE”
We regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by reasons or circumstances amounting to force majeure.
These circumstances may include any event for which we the supplier of the service(s) in question and could not, even with all due care and attention, have foreseen and thus avoided such as, war or threat of war, civil strife, natural or nuclear disaster, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, adverse weather conditions, fire, guidance from the relevant government guidance to their citizens for the countries we are visiting and all similar events.
- YOUR RESPONSBILITIES – PASSPORT, VISA, PARTICIPATION ETC.
Under terms of this contract, all members of your party are required to purchase suitable travel insurance on payment of the deposit. This must cover the full duration of your holiday and include, but must not be limited to; costs of medical assistance, injury, death and repatriation (including helicopter rescue and air ambulance). It is also the responsibility of each member of your party to ensure that they are each in possession of a current passport with at least SIX months unexpired validity, sufficient empty pages and all other travel documents required for your safari (eg. valid visa and health documents). We will not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.
Any information supplied by us on these or related matters (such as climate, when to travel, clothing, baggage, personal items etc.) is given as general guidance and in good faith but we do not accept liability for any decisions made on the basis of information supplied or not supplied. Our company will not be liable if any member of your party fails to do so and you will be responsible for meeting any and all additional costs incurred by reason of such failure. No refund by our company will be offered in these instances. Unless we have booked flights for you, you are responsible for arranging your own flights to your destination and we therefore do not accept any liability for any delay in your transportation from your home or point of departure whether the cancellation loss or delay is caused by adverse weather conditions, rescheduling by transport supplier, airline, airport authority and/or action by air traffic controllers, industrial actions etc. time, no refunds are given by us and you should contact your airline if this occurs and check what cover and compensation you have in your travel insurance, if any.
We are not liable for any payments in such circumstances. Our responsibility does not commence until the appointed time of the holiday itinerary, and we shall not be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by you prior to that start time. If you are delayed and that matter is outside your control you should seek compensation from your holiday insurance. The costs of meeting up with a trip if you are late will not be borne by us and must of course remain your sole responsibility.
- OVERSEAS STANDARDS EXPECTATIONS
We ask your party to note that standards in certain overseas countries, for example restaurants, bars and accommodation houses on tour are often quite different from those accepted as the “norm” in modern first world countries, especially in third world countries. Do not expect first world countries standards overseas. Expect the relative ‘norm” found at your country of destination, often best explained in the many good travel guides at bookshops. There can be no monetary compensation in the case of such scenarios or disappointments. Come with an open mind.
- IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT HERE IS WHAT YOU MUST DO
In the event you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the Company’s arrangements, you must communicate the problem with the Company’s representative/group leader or representative straightaway both verbally and in writing so that it may be aware of the difficulty and make sure the remedy can be provided and / or corrected or at least reduced during the trip. If the problem cannot be resolved locally, you must send the full details in writing to Rae Safaris to be received within SEVEN days of the completion of your trip. It must include all relevant information, photographs, statements and details of how you have attempted with us to resolve matters whilst on safari in accordance with this clause. It is unreasonable to take NO action whilst on your trip and then write a complaint upon return. In all such cases no complaint may be entertained. And our discretion will prevail.
- BEHAVIOUR AND PARTICIPATION
In accepting the booking conditions, you and all of your party agree to accept the authority and decisions of our employees, tour leaders and agents whilst on safari with us. We reserve the right in our absolute discretion to terminate without notice the safari arrangements of any client or member whose behaviour in our opinion is such that it is likely to cause distress, damage, danger or annoyance to our other clients, employees, property, any third party, to the animals or to themselves. If you are prevented from travelling, because in the opinion of any person in authority you appear to be unfit to travel or likely to cause discomfort or disturbance to other passengers we reserve the right to cancel your holiday in full and our responsibility for your safari there upon ceases.
We will not be responsible for any extra costs incurred or any travel costs. Examples of this but not limited to include the following – any member of your party is unable to travel for medical reason; failure to check in early enough for a flight; mislay or lose holiday or flight documentation etc.
Full cancellation charges will apply and we will be under no obligation whatsoever for any refund, compensation or costs you may incur.
- SPECIAL REQUESTS INCLUDING MOBILITY
If you have any special requests including but not exclusively dietary requirements these must be noted on the Booking Form at the time you confirm the booking on behalf of all your party. We shall do our best to meet your party’s requirements but we cannot guarantee that they will be provided although we will do our utmost to meet them and will alert our team and chosen contractors to your needs.
- MARKETING
Unless you provide us with written notice to the contrary at the time of booking, any likeness or image of you secured or taken on any of our safaris and adventures may be used by us without a charge by you in all media (whether now existing or in the future invented) for bona fide promotional or marketing purposes. Please rest assured your identity will never be disclosed and the images we use will always be in good taste.
- PRIVACY POLICY
We collect information from you and your party for operational purposes: to help process your bookings, to distribute our brochure and obtain availability requests and to help us provide you all with a more personal service in keeping with the specialist area of tourism that we cover. Of course we will need to disclose your information to third party providers of tours and accommodation establishments and our trusted agents and team leaders etc. but not for any other purpose. We always respect our customers privacy and will not sell, rent, trade or give away any of your personal information for any other purpose.