Booking Conditions

These are the standard Booking Conditions of International Friends, part of the GTI Travel Group Ltd.

1. Contract
By contracting with GTI Travel Group or any of our trading brands (International Friends and GTS Tours)  (referred to in these booking conditions as "we or us") you will be accepting these booking conditions on behalf of yourself and all other persons using our services pursuant to a booking made by you.

2. Payment
Full payment is required at time of booking. We accept payment by credit or debit card. We can also accept payment by cheque, BACS, CHAPS or cash. Full payment is required
before your booking can be confirmed.

Online promotion code discounts are only valid as advertised. If you are not entitled to to use a specific discount code, your booking will not be treated as confirmed until the correct booking value has be paid

Cancellation by us on the grounds of your non-payment by you will incur the cancellation fee of 50%, referred to in paragraph 8 below.

3. Financial Protection
As participants of the International Passenger Protection Scheme, we offer financial protection for package tours (in line the European Package Travel Regulations) in the event of our becoming insolvent.

If you are booking with an agent or re-seller, it is your responsibility to check that they provide Financial Protection, in accordance with the Package Travel Regulations. Our financial cover only extends to clients or companies who have contracted directly with us. This means we cannot provide cover should your agent or re-seller experience financial difficulties or cease trading. In such circumstances, we would treat affected bookings as cancelled.

4. Children and Infants
In some cases we can offer discounts for children aged between 3 and 11 years old. Discounts vary depending on the tour you choose. We also accept infants aged between 0 and 2 years (inclusive) for a small supplement of £10 per infant. Infants are not entitled to an individual seat and each infant must be accompanied by at least 1 adult. We cannot accept a greater number of infants than adults on any individual booking, for safety reasons during road transportantion. 

5. Insurance
You are advised to take out insurance, which would cover you in the event that you have to cancel your booking or compensate you for delays and/or damage to your property.

6. Check-in/Departures
It is your responsibility to leave ample time for your journey to the nominated departure point.   Please ensure that you are at your stated departure point at least 15 minutes prior to the departure time.  We cannot refund or rebook for you missing tours, trips or services as a result of delays on other transport services such as traffic, underground, buses and/or railways.

7. Travel Documentation
You are responsible for ensuring that you are in possession of the required travel documentation such as visas and passports and that they are valid and effective for all countries passed through en-route. We cannot be held responsible for expenses incurred if travel documentation does not meet the required criteria. If you are in doubt, please contact the relevant embassy or consulate.

8. Refunds/Cancellations Policy
You must inform us in writing (by post/fax or email) as soon as possible if you wish to cancel a tour or other booking in whole or in part, returning to us any tickets already issued. On cancellation we will charge you a percentage of the total price as follows, unless your nationality, or any named person on your booking requires a visa to travel to your chosen destination, where we will require a copy of your visa refusal letter before we can offer any form of refund or amendment to your booking. Failure to produce to do so, may result in the individuals concerned being reported to the appropriate authorities.

• Cancellation notified and tickets returned more than 28 days prior to departure - 20% of total value
• Cancellation notified and tickets returned between 27 and 15 days prior to departure - 50% of total value
• Cancellation notified and tickets returned within 14 days and day of departure - 100% of total value.
All date amendments or name changes to confirmed bookings prior to departure are subject to a £10.00 per person administration, plus or minus any price difference. Date amendments are not possible within 28 days of travel and will be subject to cancellation charges as above.

9. Variation of Brochure
We reserve the right, before you book, to vary the services described in our brochures, including prices and departure dates and times and characteristics and categories of transport. You will be notified of these changes before you are committed to the tour.

10. Alterations
If we must change your hotel or other details of the tour, which may be for reasons beyond our control, we will notify you as soon as possible and give you the information as to the alterations. If the change significantly alters an essential term of the contract, you will have the right to withdraw from the contract in which event we will repay all money already paid by you to us or the appropriate proportion if only some of the party withdraw. Alternatively you will have the option to:
a) Take a substitute tour of equivalent or superior value if we are able to offer you such a substitute,
b) to take a substitute tour of lower value if we are able to offer you one, when we will reimburse or allow you the difference in price of the tour contracted for and that of the substitute tour.

You undertake to let us know as quickly as possible your decision in the event of our having to advise you of any such alteration.

11. Force Majeure
Where we cancel the whole tour before departure because of unusual or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, then we will refund all money already paid by you but you will not be entitled to any compensation for the loss of the tour. Where the tour is interrupted to a significant extent by circumstances beyond our control we will refund what is deemed to be a fair proportion of the cost of the tour.

12. Behaviour
You will be responsible for the conduct of yourself and all members of your party and you will indemnify us against any liability for damage caused by you or any members of your party. We reserve the right to terminate the tour in the event of behaviour deemed to be unreasonable by our staff.

13. Complaints
Should you have a complaint during your tour, contact your tour leader and our staff will do their best to rectify your problem. If we cannot resolve your complaint at the time, you should make a written record of your complaint and hand it to your tour manager or send it to us at GTI Travel Group Ltd, Unit C Ronald Rolph Court, Wadloes Road, Cambridge, CB5 8PX  within 21 days of the end of the tour. We will not be able to deal with any complaints unless we are told in that way and by that time.