Vietnam holiday Online Booking Conditions

Vietnam holiday's fair-trading contract with you.

It is our intention to set out clearly and simply the responsibilities which we at Vietnam holiday (hereafter referred to as Vietnam holiday, us or we) have to you and which you, in turn, have to us when a contract is made between us. You should therefore read and understand the contents

1a) You must be at least 18 years old to book on one of our tours. We reserve the right to decline a booking request from you should we think you are not suited to our trips.

1b) A contract will exist as soon as we issue a confirmation invoice in response to your request for a booking and the subsequent deposit paid to us. On our part we have obligations to provide you with the trip you have booked on the terms clearly stated below and within this Site.

Booking your holiday
2. Bookings should be directed with us and should be secured with a minimum deposit of US$ 100.00 per person paid at time of booking. This deposit is non-refundable.

If you are booking within 14 days of departure, then full payment is required. Your booking is taken to be confirmed, and accepted, in respect of all persons travelling when we issue a confirmation invoice.

We will supply you with the details and SWIFT codes of intermediary banks that you can use to expedite your payment - it should take no more than a couple of days. However, please check if your bank uses its own intermediate bank, as that can extend the transfer time considerably.

In the event of the full payment not reaching our account by the due date, we reserve the right to cancel all bookings and the contract between us.

Please note that, for convenience, we price in United States dollars. Where price equivalents in VND or any other currency are given, they are for guidance only and must not be taken as firm prices. Both deposit and final payment must be made in US dollars or in your chosen international currency. If you choose to pay in a currency other than US dollars, the price in the invoice will be at the exchange rate prevailing on the day we issue it.

If you ask for changes to be made after you have paid in full, but before your date of departure, any increase in the price must be settled by cash or credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) upon your arrival in Vietnam. If changes result in a reduction of the price, you will be reimbursed in VND upon arrival less any costs that we have reasonably incurred.

Please note that all credit card payments in Vietnam are subject to a surcharge, currently 3% for Visa and MasterCard

Children discount:
Under 2 years: Free of Charge
From 2 to 5 years old: Free of charge if sharing bed with parents
From 5 to 12 years: 75% of adult fare.

3. Alterations or cancellations by you after your booking has been accepted will be subject to the provisions of clauses 5 and 6 of these conditions.

4. Guarantee of Price. The prices of the hotels/ resorts/ holidays on this website are based on American dollar. No surcharge in respect of costs or exchange rates fluctuations will be made once you have paid your deposit. We reserve the right to alter trip prices at other times for reasons of fuel prices, changes in Government taxes, or currency fluctuations. The price shown on your invoice will be the price of your holiday unless you, or we, subsequently change your Vietnam holiday arrangements.

5. You must clearly state all your requirements at the time of booking. If you want to change any aspect of your booking you must tell us as soon as possible, (we recommend in writing). We will do our best to accommodate your changes but you will have to pay an amendment fee. This will be informed and advised. You will incur the fee if you wish to change to a trip of shorter duration or different departure date. If an amendment is made less than four weeks before departure, normal cancellation fees will apply (see point 6) unless transfer is to an earlier departure of the same trip, where an amendment fee is payable. If any changes have occurred a new invoice will be issued and cancellation/amendments charges will be shown.

Cancellation by you
6. Cancellation of a booking by you must be made in writing; a verbal message is insufficient. This avoids any misunderstanding. We will not treat a booking as cancelled until written notice is received by us. (Fax or email is acceptable). If the cancellation is received six weeks or more before departure the deposit is forfeited. If the percentage loss is less than the deposit, the deposit is forfeited. If the cancellation is within four weeks of departure then the following charges will apply. This is applied for the booking of FIT groups – Small groups. The cancellation policy for GIT groups – Big group/ Incentives/ Meetings/ Conventions/ Events will be notified seperately.

Over 30 days Deposit
14 - 29 days 40%
06 - 13 days 60%
02 - 05 days 80%
00 - 02 days 100%

7. Cancellation or Modification by us
a) Every effort will be made to operate all holidays as advertised but it must be remembered that our trips are planned up to twelve months in advance. We therefore reserve the right, at our discretion, to modify or cancel any holiday, flight schedule, accommodation or arrangement at any time outside two weeks before departure. We will notify you as soon as possible of any changes and if you accept them they form part of the contract. In the case of any material modification or cancellation, we will, if possible, offer alternative arrangements, or if these are not acceptable, a full refund of the monies paid for your Vietnam holiday trip.
b) A material modification is one, which has a serious effect on your holiday such as a change of departure date, point or airport, or change of departure time of more then twelve hours, which would cause a substantial inconvenience to you.
c) We will endeavour to not materially modify or cancel the holiday within two weeks of the date of departure unless compelled to do so because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control. If material modification or cancellation is made within two weeks of the departure date for reasons other than force majeure (see clause 10) or non-payment, and you wish to accept these changes, (which may alter the holiday price up or down), you will receive compensation.
d) We reserve the right to alter or substitute the type of vehicle mentioned in the brochure, depending on the number of clients carried, which vary from trip to trip.

Our liability to you
8a) Although Vietnam holiday has no direct control over the services provided to you by independent suppliers, we do promise to make sure that all parts of the holiday we have agreed to arrange, perform or provide as part of our contract are arranged, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. Please note: a) Any transport arrangements forming part of the holiday arrangements will be subject to the conditions of the relevant carrier whether such transport is by air, sea, road or other. It should be noted that such suppliers are entitled to limit their liability in accordance with international conventions.
b) We accept responsibility should the services which we contract to provide you with, prove deficient or not of a reasonable standard, or are not carried out with reasonable skill and care; such acceptance extends to any arrangements made during the course of your holiday through one of Vietnam holiday's nominated representatives.
c) You must appreciate that in certain countries, services provided in hotels, campsites and restaurants cannot be expected to be of the same standard and the term 'reasonable standard' must be interpreted by reference to the country in which the service is provided.
d) We accept subject to the limit of our liability referred to in 8a) liability for physical injury or death caused by the negligence of our employees, agents, suppliers and subcontractors acting within the course of their employment and the scope of their authority in the provision of arrangements you contracted with us. We do not accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by the actions or negligence of third parties in the provision of any arrangements not contracted through us. You should note that all Vietnam holiday’s representatives on the holiday will usually be independent contractors over whom we have taken great care in selecting.
e) Your booking is accepted on the understanding that you appreciate the possible risks inherent in adventure travel and that you undertake the trips featured on our Site of your own volition. Every effort will be made to operate all trips featured on this Site but because of the number of countries visited on trips there may be a necessity to vary the itinerary to that stated on the Site, or delays may occur for a variety of reasons beyond our control. The need for a flexible attitude to this type of travel is stressed in our publication.

9. No refund can be made for services not used once the trip has begun, howsoever this eventuality may be occasioned. The final decision on the itinerary and the content of the trip will be taken by the Trip Leader/ Tour guide, as appointed by us in the interest of the group as a whole.

Exclusion of Liability
10. Force Majeure - a) We do not accept liability for any loss, damage or expense resulting from war or terrorist activities, threatened or actual, civil unrest, industrial action, threatened or actual, weather conditions, fire, flood, drought, closures, unforeseen alterations to public transport schedules, rescheduling of aircraft or boats, or any other event outside our control which either delays or extends the holiday, or compels a change in the holiday arrangements. b) We will not accept responsibility for any Client who contravenes any law or regulation of any of the countries visited while on the trip.

11. Health and Medical Conditions. If you, or any member of your party have a medical condition or disability which may affect your holiday, we ask that you please tell us before you confirm your holiday booking so we are able to advise as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements. In any event, you must provide us with full details in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feel we are unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person concerned, we reserve the right to decline the booking or ask for the person to be accompanied by a person who is able to provide full assistance to them throughout their trip.

Your liability to us
12) You must comply with all Government laws, customs and foreign exchange regulations of each of the countries visited whilst on trip. Should we detect any contravention you may be asked to leave the trip without a refund of the trip fee. No passenger will be permitted to embark or continue on the trip while their mental or physical condition is, in the opinion of any representative of the company, such as to render them incapable of caring for himself or herself, or whereby they become objectionable to other passengers, or they become a hazard to themselves or other passengers. The company will not be responsible for expenses resulting in such persons being precluded from completing the trip for any reason, nor will we be able to refund you any part of your trip cost. In all cases we will notify you of the situation and the reasons why we have taken this action. We will have no obligation to arrange for your return to the point of the trip departure. Further, if the trip involves travel by air, the captain of your aircraft can refuse to allow you to fly on the aircraft if he believes that you could be disruptive in which event you will not be allowed to continue on the trip and you will not receive any refund of the trip cost paid by you.

Travel Documents
13. Please ensure you carefully read your confirmation invoice, tickets and all other documents we send to you as soon as you receive them, and contact your travel agent, or us if any information appears to be incorrect. We regret that we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracy in any document within 14 days of us sending them to you or your agent. While we will do our best to rectify any changes made outside this time, it is your responsibility for any additional costs which may be involved, except in the case of an error made by Vietnam holiday and where there is reason for you not contacting us within the specified time. Each passenger is responsible for ensuring that all necessary travel documents (eg. passports, visas, vaccination certificates etc.) are valid and effective. We strongly recommend that you verify current information.
Note: At the time of publishing: Vietnam visa & Cambodia visa is required for most of nationalities, exception for asean pastport holders. Passports must have an expiry date of at least six months after completion of the tour.

Insurance
14. You must take out comprehensive travel insurance before you travel on your Vietnam holiday trip. Your insurance must include cover for cancellation, medical and repatriation expenses, personal accident, personal baggage, money and public liability. Insurance cover offered by credit card companies or reciprocal medical cover agreements are often not comprehensive. Your travel insurance should be taken out at time of payment of deposit.

15.You also agree to indemnify us against all third-party actions taken against us for actions, accidents or damages caused by you arising from your participation in the holiday.
In the event of you making a claim against us for services rendered on your trip, you agree to sign over to us, any rights to take action against the supplier or any other person or party that you have the complaint against and co-operate fully with us should we or our Insurers wish to enforce those rights which have been assigned to us.

Complaints
16. In the unlikely event of any dissatisfaction with the accommodation or any other service provided by us, you must report it immediately to the Trip Leader/ Tour Guide so that action can be taken to remedy the problem. Failure to notify the Trip Leader/ Tour Guide of any problem immediately may result in your ability to claim compensation from us being extinguished or at least reduced. Any complaint made to us after the holiday should be made in writing within 28 days of holiday completion. In the event you do not notify us in writing within 28 days, this may affect the company's ability to investigate your complaint and may impact on the way that your complaint is dealt with.

Data Protection
17. Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal booking information held by us. However, in order to make your booking and ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly, we need to use the information you provide and pass on to the operator or other relevant suppliers. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. We will only pass your information on to persons responsible for your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities or dietary/religious requirements. (If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons.)

Smoking
18. We operate a non-smoking policy on our coaches (although we make frequent stops for breaks), trains, cruises and in some of our accommodation, including all tented accommodation.

Luggage
19.There are strict weight limits for coaches when fully loaded. Therefore you are only entitled to one piece of main luggage of standard size and not weighing more than 20kg. In addition you may bring a sleeping bag (where required) and a daypack.

General
20. No servant or representative of the Company has any right to alter, vary or waive any of these conditions, nor undertake any liability whatsoever on behalf of Vietnam holiday unless such be in writing and signed by a duly authorised person.

21. Bonding arrangements
As a licensed international tour operator, we are legally bound to maintain a substantial bond in a holding account for your protection. This will be used to compensate you in the event of business failure or our failure to carry out any or all of the terms of the contract, subject to the conditions that follow. It's an easy matter to request confirmation of a company’s legitimacy from VNAT (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism). Its contact details are:

Vietnam National Tourism Authority (Tourism Department)
web site: www.vietnam-tourism.com
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: (0084 4) 822 3744
Fax: (0084 4) 942 4115