In this charter the Company shall mean Bowen Travel Limited and the Passenger shall mean the persons being carried by Bowen Travel Limited or persons for whom the Company makes any travel arrangements.

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU

 Financial Security

The Company is fully bonded with the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK Bonded Coach Holiday Scheme. You can therefore be totally confident that in the unlikely event of our becoming insolvent there is a fund of money to repay you or repatriate you.

The completion and signing of the Booking Form and the payment of the deposit requested will indicate that an agreement to buy the holiday specified on that booking form has been requested. The Company will assume that the person signing the Booking Form has the authority to act on behalf of all the persons included on the Booking Form. Any person attempting to reserve a holiday should be aware of the binding nature of the contract conditions and should have read and understood them before signing the Booking Form.

The Company's acceptance of the booking shall be indicated by the issue of a Booking Confirmation normally within 7 days of the receipt by us of the Booking Form. This confirmation, which contains all the relevant details of the holiday reserved, will be sent either directly to the address of the first named passenger on the Booking Form or the passengers Booking Agent. It is the passenger's responsibility to ensure that the details included on the Booking Confirmation meet with their requirements in every respect and to notify the Company immediately if that is not the case. By the issue of its Booking Confirmation the Company confirms its intention, subject to there being sufficient numbers of bookings for an economical operation, to provide you with the holiday as booked in accordance with the itinerary published in the brochure.

If you have any special requests, which are not included in the holiday price i.e. low floor or special diets etc., you MUST include this request on the Booking Form and ensure that it is noted on the Booking Confirmation when received. Your request will be passed on to the hotel(s) concerned, however we cannot guarantee that they will be able to comply. The Company will not therefore accept any booking, which is conditional upon a special request being satisfied. Requests made direct to hotels will not be considered.

Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports, and exchange rates, mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agent's commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on you final invoice.
We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or re-use your policy.
Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
The price of your holiday was calculated on 1st September 2009 based on an exchange rate of 1.15 Euros to one-pound sterling, for Summer 2010 brochured holidays & on 31 March 2009 based on an exchange rate of 1.1 Euros to one-pound sterling for Winter 2009/2010 holidays.

Each operation company maintains an emergency telephone line. The number you will require will be printed on your final itinerary which will be sent to you approximately two weeks before departure. However, for information purposes we can list the numbers as follows:

B reference BOWENS operated tours 01827 300 000
A reference APPLEBYS operated tours 07764 278 466
Y reference YORKS operated tours 01604 890 210
J reference JEFFS operated tours 01295 768 292
N reference NOTTINGHAM CITY COACHES operated tours 01509 600 338

This facility could be particularly helpful to passengers who experience a problem on day of departure. Please make a note of the appropriate number and keep it safe, it could prevent unnecessary worry and hassle.

The arrangements for your holiday are usually made many months in advance and changes are sometimes unavoidable. Most of these changes are likely to be minor and our representatives and we will endeavour to keep you informed. However, where before departure we have to alter significantly an essential term in this contract such
as price, (if price changes are allowed in the contract), resort, quality of main hotel (not including overnight hotels on touring holidays), or
tour itinerary changes involving a destination being eliminated, we will notify you of the change as soon as possible. In such circumstances you will be given the following options.
a) to accept the changes to the contract.
b) to take a substitute holiday of equivalent or superior quality if we are able to offer you one.
c) to take a substitute holiday of lower quality if we are able to offer you one and to recover from us the price difference between the substitute and original holidays.
d) to have repaid to you as soon as possible all the monies paid by you under the contract.
Whichever option you choose you will also be entitled to compensation on the following scale:

Claims for additional compensation to cover specific types of losses incurred as a result of the enforced change will only be considered where such losses were foreseeable by both parties when the contract was formed. Compensation will not be payable if we are forced to in any way change your holiday due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised.
 

It is necessary in order to operate any holiday that a certain level of passenger numbers is achieved. If this number is not achieved before the balance due date the holiday may be cancelled and an alternative holiday offered at a discounted price. You will then have the choice of accepting this alternative or receiving a refund of all monies paid in respect of your booking. The Company guarantees that under no circumstances will the cost (including the discount) of any specific alternative holiday offered exceed that of the original holiday even though the alternative offered may be of superior quality.
The Company undertakes not to cancel any holiday after the balance due date except (i) where you have not paid the full amount due, or (ii) as a result of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised.

YOUR COMMITTMENT TO US

 Signing the booking form & paying the deposit

By completing and signing a Booking Form and paying the appropriate deposit you are binding all persons included on that form to the terms of this Travellers Charter. All monies paid by you to a Travel Agent are held by him on your behalf until such time as we issue our Booking Confirmation; thereafter the Travel Agent holds the money on our
behalf.

The date of payment of the holiday balance will be clearly stated on the Booking Confirmation email and on your Booking confirmation. Any booking received after the balance due date will require payment in full at the time of booking. If the balance is not paid by the due date we reserve the right to cancel the holiday and levy cancellation charges on the same scale as stated in the "If you cancel your holiday" section of this Charter. In such circumstances the decision to cancel will not be taken less than 14 days before departure thereby limiting charges to a maximum of 45% of the total holiday value. Any Travel Agent requesting payment of the balance earlier than the balance due date shown on your Booking Confirmation will hold that money as your agent until such time as payment is deemed due per the contract.

You or any member of your party may cancel your holiday at any time provided that the information is conveyed in writing to the Company by the party signing the Booking Form. Any such cancellation will incur cancellation charges on the following scale.

Alternatively you have the right to transfer the booking to another person provided that they satisfy all the conditions applicable to the package and that you give the Company at least seven days notice of your intention to do so. Both you and the person to whom you transfer the booking will be responsible for payment of any outstanding monies and in addition there will be an administration fee of £25 for each person substituted.
NB: Special cancellation terms administered by Premier Holidays apply to tours to Jersey; please see details in our Channel Islands section.

Minor changes prior to the balance due date such as additional requests, joining point amendments etc. necessitating the issue of a new Booking Confirmation will be allowed subject to the payment of £10 per person amendment fee. After the balance due date whilst we will attempt to accommodate minor changes on the same basis, no guarantee can be given. For major changes such as transfer to a different holiday or departure date after the balance due date we reserve the right to treat such changes as cancellations and levy the cancellation charges as set out in the "If you cancel your holiday" section of the contract.

In the unlikely event that you or any member of your party has cause for complaint about any aspect of your holiday, it is essential that our driver/courier or representative is informed immediately and given the opportunity of resolving the problem. If this is not possible you must complete a "Holiday Report Form" available from your driver/courier or representative with full details of your complaint. You will be given a copy of this report and a reference number which should be quoted in any correspondence regarding the complaint which must be sent within 28 days of your return from holiday to the Public Relations Officer, 104 Mariner, Tamworth, Staffs B79 7UL.

The Company will attempt to settle any complaint amicably, if this is not possible then you may, if you wish, have the matter referred to arbitration under a special scheme, which though devised by arrangements with the Association of British Travel Agents is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5000 per person or £25000 per booking, neither does it apply in respect of claims that are solely or mainly regarding physical injury or illness or the consequence of such injury and illness

Air and sea carriers have their own conditions of carriage and when you travel with them as part of your holiday you will also have a contract with them based upon those conditions, which may permit them to limit their liability to you under national law or international convention. Copies of these conditions are available from the Company upon request.

You should ensure that you allow sufficient time (currently 8 weeks from posting correctly completed application form) to apply for a passport.
a) UK citizens travelling on holiday abroad must have a passport, valid for at least six months after the date of return, before they leave the UK. At present, visas are not required by holders of British Passports to any of the destination countries offered in this brochure.
b) Non-EC citizens: Holders of non-EC passports may well be subject to varying visa requirements for certain countries visited on our holidays, and they should check with their Travel Agent or with the appropriate embassies or consulates to ascertain any visa requirements and the likely time needed to obtain them. We cannot accept responsibility for a customer who is in difficulties because they do not have the correct travel documents with them. We strongly advise all customers to keep their passports securely on their person or locked in a hotel security safe throughout their holiday with us.
c) European Health Insurance Card (EHIC): Passengers travelling to the continent should carry an EHIC card which entitles you to free or reduced cost emergency state medical treatment within the EC. To apply, please pick up an application pack from the Post Office, apply on line at www.dh.gov.uk or telephone EHIC applications on 0845 606 2030.
d) At present there are no special health requirements, such as inoculations, for any of the European countries featured, for UK citizens. As health recommendations vary from time to time you should seek medical advice prior to departure on a European holiday