Terms & Conditions

1. Your Holiday Contract

These are the conditions of the contract between you ('you') and P Teubler trading as Baltic Holidays ('Baltic Holidays'). A contract is made when we or your travel agent confirm your booking. When you make a booking you accept these booking conditions on behalf of your party and accept responsibility for paying for the whole holiday. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions and is governed by English law. Any disputes may be dealt with by the English courts. If you booked your holiday in Scotland or Northern Ireland any disputes may be dealt with by those courts and will be subject to the law of those countries.

Our address for all correspondence is Baltic Holidays, 40 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DE

2. Your Financial Protection

The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked from our brochure/website and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. We provide this security by way of a bond held by the Civil Aviation Authority under ATOL number 5532 and a bond held by ABTA

This means the air holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not left stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at http://www.atol.org.uk.

3. ABTA

We are a member of ABTA, membership number W5202. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract. Further information on the Code of Conduct and arbitration can be found at www.abta.com

4. Prices

The prices in our brochure and on our website are quoted per person in £ sterling and are based on 2 people sharing the accommodation. The prices were calculated using an exchange rate of EUR 1.46 based on commercial rates at the time we costed our supplies (30th January 2006). We reserve the right to increase or decrease the prices of unsold holidays at any time.

5. Right to Surcharge

Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fee chargeable for services such as landing taxes 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 per person together with the amount to cover agent’s commission. If this means that you will have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price 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 any more, but if it is of a 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 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 using exchange rates quoted in the Financial Times Guide to World Currencies on 1st September 2006 in relation to the following currencies, Euros, Dollars, Rubbles, Lats, Litas and Kroon (EKK).

6. Mobility

It is your responsibility to inform us of any special requirements or any mobility problems you may experience before you book your holiday, to ensure we can select the appropriate accommodation, products and services to suit your needs and requirements. Failure to do so until after booking, during or on return of your holiday, will mean we cannot be held responsible for any dissatisfaction experienced. If you inform us after booking but before your departure date then any resulting cancellation will be treated as a normal cancellation and our cancellation procedure will be followed - please see clause 9.

7. Payment

If you book your holiday more than 10 weeks before departure, you must pay a deposit of £100 per person. If we book your flight at the time of booking you must pay the full cost of this plus £50 deposit per person plus any insurance premium. You must pay this at the time of booking. You must pay the balance of your holiday payment 10 weeks before departure. If we do not receive all payments due in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you. In this case the cancellation charges set out in clause 9 below will apply.

8. If You Change Your Booking

If, after we have confirmed your holiday, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes must be in writing to us from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £20, in addition to any further costs we incur or are imposed on us in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made, so you should contact us as soon as possible.

Note: Certain travel arrangements (e.g. Apex Tickets) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

9. If You Cancel Your Holiday

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Cancellation charges will reflect deposits or services paid for that are, non-refundable, non-exchangeable and non transferable. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices before cancellation will be effected. Since we incur costs from the time that we confirm your booking and we may be unable to re-sell your holiday, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown below:

Cancellation Charges for all holidays apart from City Breaks for individual tourist, but including city breaks for groups of 8 or more.

City Breaks Cancellation Charges (definition of city break is a one centre holiday in a hotel in a Baltic Capital) for individual Tourists and excluding groups of 8 or more

Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

10. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to or cancel your travel arrangements. However, we do occasionally have to make changes to, and correct errors in the brochure/website both before and after bookings have been confirmed. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. However, we promise we will only cancel your confirmed booking 10 weeks or less before departure where you have failed to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time) or where we are forced to do so as a result of "force majeure" as defined below. We will not cancel after this date for any other reason

Most changes are minor but occasionally, we have to make a significant change. If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of the following options:-

(a) (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements or

(b) purchasing an alternative holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally booked if available (if the chosen alternative is less expensive than your original one, we will refund the difference but if it is more expensive, we will ask you to pay the difference unless we have been unable to offer you an alternative of similar standard and price) or

(c) cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will receive a full and quick refund of all monies you have paid to us.

Please note, the above options are not available where any change made is a minor one. If we have to make a significant change or cancel 10 weeks or less before departure, we will pay you the compensation set out below subject to the following exceptions. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care. No compensation will be payable if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as paying on time).

Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (e.g. bad weather, airport closures, industrial action, epidemic, civil strife or terrorist activity, fire, flood, war, threat of war, natural or nuclear disaster) to change or terminate your holiday after departure but before the scheduled end of your time away. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.

11. Complaints and Disputes

If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) and our resort representative immediately who will endeavour to put things right . Any verbal notification must be put in writing and given to our representative and the supplier as soon as possible. If your complaint is not resolved locally, you must write to us at our Customer Services Department at Baltic Holidays, 40 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DE within 28 days of your return to the UK giving your booking reference and full details of your complaint. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract

Disputes arising out of or in connection with, this contract may be referred to arbitration if you so wish. The arbitration scheme is arranged by ABTA and administered independently by the chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from www.abta.com.

The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness of their consequences. The Scheme can however deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element.

The application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with nine months of the date of return from holiday. Outside this time limit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if the company agrees, but the ABTA Code of Conduct does not require such agreement.

12. Our Responsibilities

If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of [three] times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to

(a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and

(b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.

If you suffer injury or illness due to unforeseeable or unavoidable circumstances or brought about by a third party not connected with our holiday arrangements. We may offer to assist you with any claim you make against the person responsible and we may assist you with legal costs (to a maximum of £5,000), provided you tell us about the incident within 90 days of its occurrence.

13. Unreasonable Behaviour

If someone in authority believes you are unfit to travel or likely to disturb or harm others they may prevent you from travelling. Likewise if a hotel manager considers your behaviour to be unacceptable you may be asked to leave. In either case, your contract with us will end immediately and you will be responsible for any costs you incur and you will not be entitled to any refund.

14. Transport

Under EU law you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 6. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted from this amount. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users' Council on 020 7240 6061 www.auc.org.uk

You can ask for copies of the transport companies' contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our offices (Baltic Holidays, 40 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DE 0845 070 5711.

This brochure/website is our responsibility, as your tour operator. It is not issued on behalf of, and does not commit the airlines mentioned herein or any airline whose services are used in the course of your travel arrangements. Please note that in accordance with Air Navigation Orders in order to qualify for infant status, a child must be under 2 years of age on the date of its return flight.

15. Insurance

You must have suitable insurance cover, preferably from the moment you book, so you benefit from cancellation cover straightaway. It is your responsibility to find a policy that is correct for the type of holiday you have booked and to apply. .

16. Passports, visas and health requirements

The passport, visa and health requirements applicable at the time of printing to British citizens for the holidays we offer are shown elsewhere in this brochure. It is your responsibility to have a valid passport and entry visa if necessary which must be valid for 6 months beyond your date of return to the UK. For further information, please contact the passport office on 0870 521 0410. We also recommend that you check recommended health precautions with your GP, practice nurse or travel health clinic. Visa requirements for non-British Citizens may differ and it is your responsibility to contact the relevant consulate before booking. We cannot accept liability or offer refunds for customers who cannot travel because they do not hold the correct documentation.

17. The 1998 Data Protection Act

Information you provide to us may be held on our files and may be passed to holiday providers, insurers, border control authorities both in the UK and abroad. We may use your details to contact you by phone, post or e-mail with details of our products that may be of interest to you. We may also monitor/tape your telephone conversations for security and training purposes.

18. Flights

The flight timings given on booking are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timings will be shown on your confirmation invoice. However, the actual flight times will be those shown on your tickets which will be despatched to you approximately two weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been despatched - we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.

We are not always in a position to confirm the airline, aircraft type and airport of destination which will be used in connection with any flight included in your holiday. In accordance with EU regulations we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by listing carriers to be used or likely to be used as follows:

Air Baltic, Fly LAL (Lithuanian Airlines), British Airways, SAS, Ryan Air, Easyjet

Any changes to the actual airline after you have received your tickets will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding gate. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change.

19. Delays

We regret that we are not in a position to offer you any assistance in the unlikely event of delay at your outward or homeward point of departure. The provision of meals or overnight accommodation is entirely at the discretion of the carrier.