Solos Holiday Types

Solos Specials

Solos Holidays Booking Agreement

It is our wish that you thoroughly enjoy your Solos holiday and therefore we would urge you to read the following booking conditions and important information before booking your holiday. Your holiday contract will be with Solos Holidays Limited trading as Solos Holidays whose registered office is 46-54 High Street, Ingatestone, Essex, CM4 9DW. Solos Holidays is fully bonded under Air Travel Organisers Licence number 0559. If there is anything you do not understand or want to know, please contact us as soon as possible. The following conditions, together with the relevant information set out in the brochure, will form part of your contract with Solos Holidays.

Your Financial Protection When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package and flights from us you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us (or via our authorised agent through which you booked) confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 0559. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. £2.50 per person of the total cost of this air holiday package as indicated on your invoice is paid to the Civil Aviation Authority to provide ATOL Protection to you. This amount is subject to change at any time as advised to Solos Holidays Limited by the CAA. This means the money paid for these arrangements is fully protected. For more information visit www.atol.org.uk.


1. Your Booking When you make a booking, you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept the terms of these booking conditions. Your contract with Solos Holidays is made once the following steps have been fulfilled:


a) You have paid the required deposit together with the correct insurance premium (if required)


b) Solos Holidays confirmation invoice has been sent to you. Your contract with Solos Holidays Limited commences on the date of issue of your confirmation invoice. You must check your invoice carefully and raise any queries with Solos Holidays immediately upon receipt. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts.


2. Your Payment For all events and holidays, full payment must be made to Solos Holidays
at least 56 days prior to departure except for ocean cruises which will be 70 days prior to departure. If you book less than 56 days prior to departure you must pay the full price when you book. Payment may be made by cash, cheque, bank transfer, debit card or credit card. Cheque payments may not be accepted within 14 days of departure. Payment by Visa, MasterCard or American Express is acceptable subject to a 2% surcharge. Please note, failure to pay on time will result in cancellation. If purchasing Solos Travel Insurance the premiums due will be payable at time of booking.


3. Late Bookings See Important Information


4. If You Alter Your Confirmed Booking If you wish to alter or transfer your booking to another date or holiday, after we have sent you the confirmation invoice, we will do our best to arrange this, but we regret that it may not always be possible. You must e-mail or write to us with details of the alteration requested at least 56 days before departure. If a transfer is possible, there will be an administration charge of £20 for UK holidays and events, £30 for European holidays and £60 for long-haul destinations. Should you wish to transfer from a cruise to another holiday, this will incur a full loss of deposit. If you have taken holiday insurance through us, this will no longer be valid and no refund will be made as cover under the policy will already have been provided. New insurance will need to be acquired for the alternative holiday. You will also be required to pay any additional costs or price differences arising. Changes made 55 days or less before  departure will incur cancellation charges, see paragraph 7.


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. 


5. Sightseeing and Excursions These include, but are not restricted to, any sightseeing trips,
events or other tours either attended in resort or land-based ‘shore’ excursions for which additional payment is required. Sightseeing and Excursions can either be booked in resort or on board (“More to Explore” or “Optional Excursions” items) or pre-booked and paid for when you book your Package with us ( “Look What’s Included” items). All Sightseeing and Excursions are supplied by third party suppliers and are subject to the relevant sections of these conditions. We accept, subject to these conditions, responsibility for pre-booked Sightseeing and Excursions. However, Sightseeing and Excursions booked in resort do not form part of your Package and are not governed by the Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tours Regulations 1992. We do not have any responsibility or liability whatsoever for anything which may go wrong on a Sightseeing and Excursion booked in resort. We, our Tour Leaders, suppliers, employees or agents are acting, depending upon the actual Sightseeing and Excursion booking, either as agents for the relevant resort Sightseeing and Excursion supplier or as agent for you. In any event, the contract for any resort-booked Sightseeing and Excursion booking is between you and the Sightseeing and Excursion provider. It is your responsibility to note carefully any conditions of contract contained in any resort-booked Sightseeing and Excursion, literature, ticket or receipt you are given. For resort-booked Sightseeing and Excursions, you may be subject to the laws and any relevant safety standards of the country in which you take your excursion and may be required to bring any disputes or claims before the Courts of that country also.


6. Included in Your Holiday/Event Price Details of what is included in your holiday/event can be found in the “Useful Information” section on the brochure page or on the website. The following items are examples of what is not included: holiday insurance, personal expenses, visa fees, overseas airport taxes, excess baggage charges, gratuities, sports equipment carriage, local charges for facilities and equipment, any new government compulsory charges, sightseeing and excursions booked in resort and some airline in-flight meals.


7. If You Cancel Your Booking Should you wish to cancel your confirmed booking, notification by email or in writing must be received at our offices from the person who made the booking. Verbal notification is not sufficient. The following charges will apply from the date on which written notification is received by Solos Holidays to compensate Solos for estimated losses and expenses. For scheduled flights, regional flights and flights with no-frills airlines, 100% cancellation charges may apply regardless of the time you tell us.

If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy (whether arranged through Solos or otherwise) and you follow the procedure laid down by the insurers, you may be able to reclaim the cancellation charges, subject to any policy excess.

Cancellation Charges:

The figures are expressed as percentages of the total price excluding insurance, administration charges and ATOL levy which are forfeited in full.

UK Events 1 night, Solos Balls & Dances

More than 28 days prior to departure – loss of deposit
15 – 28 days 50% of the total cost of the event
6 – 14 days 80% of the total cost of the event
1 – 5 days 100% of the total cost of the event

UK Events 2 Nights or More & Overseas Holidays

More than 55 days prior to departure – loss of deposit
36 – 55 days 35% of the total cost of the holiday
22 – 35 days 50% of the total cost of the holiday
11 – 21 days 80% of the total cost of the holiday
1 - 10 days 100% of the total cost of the holiday

Ocean Cruises, Solos for One & Discovery Tours to China, Vietnam & Cambodia

More than 60 days prior to departure – loss of deposit
42 – 60 days 45% of the total cost of the holiday
16 – 41 days 75% of the total cost of the holiday
1 – 15 days 100% of the total cost of the holiday
After departure 100% of the total cost of the holiday
NB. Cancellation charges may be higher for upgraded cabins
 
8. If You Have A Special Request If you have a special request that does not form part of the arrangements described in the brochure, please check at booking and inform us in writing. We will pass on your request(s) to the relevant supplier but cannot guarantee that requests will be met and they do not form part of our contracted obligations. Special requests for inflight meals etc. should be made at the time of booking. We will make every effort to comply with your requests but cannot guarantee that they will be provided and strongly recommend that you repeat your request to the airline or hotel at the appropriate time.
 
9. If You Have A Complaint If you have cause for complaint whilst away, this must be brought to the attention of the Solos Holidays Tour Leader or local representative and the relevant supplier (e.g. hotelier, airline) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. Failure to report your complaint in this way may jeopardise any claim you subsequently make and possibly reduce or even extinguish any compensation or refund entitlement you may have had. Should the Tour Leader, local representative or relevant supplier be unable to resolve the problem in resort, you may be asked to complete a written report. Details of the complaint should in any event be notified to Solos Holidays in writing at our UK head office within 28 days of the end of the break, quoting your booking number.
 
10. Solos Prices Prices published in this brochure supersede those printed in all previous editions of the Solos Holidays brochure but may, themselves, become superseded. For current prices, (subject to availability) please visit www.solosholidays.co.uk or contact reservations on 0844 815 0001. We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays/ events shown in our brochure or on our website. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday/event that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed. 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. In this case we will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent of 2% of the price, which excludes insurance premiums and any administration 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 agents’ commission (if applicable). If this means paying more than 10% of the price you will be entitled to cancel your holiday/event with a full refund of all monies paid, except for any premium paid to us for holiday insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on the latest invoice. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. All prices quoted in the brochure are calculated and bought on rates of exchange in existence at the time of publication.
 
11. If Solos Holidays Alters Your Booking Whilst everything will be done to provide the holidays/events shown, Solos Holidays may occasionally have to change your holiday arrangements or part of them. Solos Holidays reserves the right to do so at any time. Most alterations are minor and should not affect the overall enjoyment of your break. In the case of minor alterations, we will do our best to notify you before departure. If we have to make significant alterations to your arrangements we will notify you as quickly as possible.
 
You may then:
a) accept the change and the contract will be varied to incorporate the change.
 
b) take an alternative break subject to availability. If the alternative is of a lower price than that originally confirmed, the difference will be refunded to you.
 
c) withdraw from the booking completely in which case Solos Holidays will make a full refund of all monies paid by you except for any administration charges paid. We will also consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid to Solos Holidays if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Where any compensation is due, this will be agreed on a reasonable basis and, where appropriate, the terms of International Conventions will apply. Compensation will not be payable if we have to make a significant change due to reasons of force majeure, see paragraph 12. Significant changes include the following: change of UK departure airport other than between Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City. Change of time of departure or arrival by more than 12 hours; change of resort; change of accommodation to that of a lower category.
 
12. If Solos Holidays Cancels Your Booking Cancellation may be necessary in exceptional circumstances and Solos reserves the right at its absolute discretion to cancel your booking at any time. If this occurs, you will be offered an alternative booking of comparable standard (if available) together with a refund of any price difference or a full and prompt refund of all monies you have paid, except for any amendment charges. Other than for reasons of force majeure or where you fail to make payment in whole or in part, will your booking be cancelled within 4 weeks of departure. Force majeure means unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond Solos Holidays control or the control of our suppliers, the consequence of which neither Solos Holidays nor its suppliers could avoid even with all due care, including, but not limited to, war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, (actual or threatened), industrial dispute, unavoidable technical problems with transport, machinery or equipment, power failure, changes imposed by rescheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, flood, drought, adverse weather conditions, epidemics or outbreaks of illness and level of water in rivers. Solos Holidays will not pay any compensation, nor be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by you as a result, including any additional accommodation, flights, car hire, equipment hire or excursions booked by you.
 
13. Minimum Numbers All holidays and events are based on a minimum number and Solos Holidays reserve the right to cancel a tour if such numbers are not reached (ocean cruises will operate with only one passenger not accompanied by a Solos Tour Leader and cancellation will be subject to the appropriate charges). You will then have the choice of booking an alternative break with us, changing your departure date at the appropriate additional cost or a reduction depending on cost, or a full refund, including the cost of insurance premiums paid, but excluding any amendment charges paid.
 
14. Solos Holidays Responsibility To You
a) Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility on your holiday/event, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities and, where we or our supplier are actually providing the service or facility, to provide them with reasonable skill and care. Compliance with any applicable regulatory requirements (for example, those of the Civil Aviation Authority) will be proper performance of our, and our suppliers’, obligations. Health and Safety standards applicable to the services provided by us under this contract should meet the local standards applicable to your holiday destination. However you should note these standards vary widely across our programme and may not match those standards applicable in the UK. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim.
 
b) For claims which do not involve death or personal injury, we accept liability, subject  to a) above and e) below, should any part of your holiday not be as described in the brochure or elsewhere by us before you leave the U.K. If we have liability, we will, subject to paragraphs c) and f) and paragraph 15 below, pay you reasonable compensation. However, the maximum we will pay you in any circumstances is twice the price of the holiday. This maximum will only be payable when every aspect of your holiday has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit. Any sums received by you from suppliers, will be deducted from any sum paid to you as compensation by us.
 
c) Where a flight ticket is downgraded or a flight cancelled, delayed, or boarding is denied by any carrier in circumstances which would entitle you to compensation under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) (the “Denied Boarding Regulations”), then you are obliged to claim the appropriate sums pursuant to those Regulations from the carrier. Any sums received by you in this respect constitute the full amount of your entitlement to compensation for all matters flowing from the carrier’s actions and which fall within the scope of the Denied Boarding Regulations. If, for any reason, you do not claim against the carrier and make a claim for compensation from us, you must, at the time of payment of any compensation to you, make a complete assignment to us of the rights you have against the carrier in relation to the claim that gives rise to that compensation payment.
 
d) For claims which involve death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part of your holiday/ event, we have liability subject to paragraph a) above and e) below. If we accept liability, we will, subject to paragraphs f) and g) and paragraph 15 below, pay you reasonable compensation.
 
e) We accept liability in accordance with paragraphs a), b) and d) above and subject to paragraphs f) and g) and clause 15 below except where the cause of the failure in your holiday or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on our part or that of our agents or suppliers, and is either attributable to you, or attributable to someone unconnected with the Package and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or 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, or an event which neither we, nor our agents or suppliers could have foreseen or forestalled.
 
f) You are obliged to assist us in recovering from any third party any sum which may compensate us for any sums we pay you. In particular, you are obliged to assign to us any rights that you may have against any other person whose acts or omissions have caused or contributed to our legal liability to pay you compensation. You must also provide us with all assistance we may reasonably require. Finally, you must follow the procedures for the notification of complaints set out in the clause above entitled ‘If You Have A Complaint’.
 
g) Should you become ill while on your holiday, you must, in addition to reporting your illness to your accommodation provider, consult a local doctor and also consult your GP upon your return to the UK. Should you then wish to make a claim against us as a result of that illness, you must provide us with details of both the local doctor whom you saw and your GP, together with written authority for us to obtain a medical report from both those doctors. 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 as set out in paragraph 15 below. You can ask for copies of the transport companies’ contractual terms, or the international conventions by contacting us at our registered office.
 
15. International Conventions If any international convention applies to or governs any of the services or facilities arranged or provided by us, or provided by any of our suppliers, and you make a claim against us of any nature arising out of death, injury, loss or damage suffered during or as a result of the provision of those services or facilities, our liability to pay you compensation and/or the amount (if any) of compensation payable to you by us will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to that provided for by the international convention concerned (in each case including in respect of the conditions of liability, the time for bringing any claim and the type and amount of any damages that can be awarded). International Conventions which may apply include: in respect of international air travel, the Warsaw Convention 1929 (including as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955 and by any of the additional Montreal Protocol of 1975) or the Montreal Convention 1999; in respect of rail travel, the Berne Convention 1961; in respect of carriage by sea, the Athens Convention 1974; in respect of carriage by road, the Geneva Convention 1973; and, in respect of the provision of accommodation, the Paris Convention 1962, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. You can get copies of the relevant conventions if you ask us. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitations of compensation contained in any of these conventions or any other international conventions applicable to your travel arrangements.
 
16. Accommodation Whereas it continues to be our basic principle to provide accommodation for single occupancy (without supplement) there are certain parts of the world, North America for example, where there is a significant difference in the price for single and double occupancy (they sell a room not a bed). Therefore in order to keep our holiday costs as low as possible, we do sometimes quote both single and sharing prices. However, where shared accommodation is the option chosen and it is not possible to match equal numbers then we reserve the right to charge a single supplement to the last person booked.
 
17. Brochure Accuracy The brochure is planned and produced many months in advance of its commencement of validity. Every effort is made to ensure that the details, description and prices contained in the brochure are correct, based on inspections, or information passed to Solos by its suppliers. However, changes do occur, sometimes at short notice and therefore we will advise you at the time of booking, or if after booking as soon as possible of any such changes to our published information. It is not always possible for Solos Holidays to control all elements of the holiday/events whereby advertised facilities can sometimes become unavailable at short notice due to inclement weather conditions, lack of demand, emergency repair works, etc. For the latest information on our holidays and the current Terms and Conditions, please see our website www.solosholidays.co.uk.
 
18. Itineraries Many of these holidays involve travelling, touring, local flights or cruises, sometimes large distances and across borders. Whilst we make every effort to adhere to the itinerary printed it should be understood that changes may be necessary once the holiday has commenced due to influences such as weather, political, or transportation conditions. NB.Solos Holidays will email you all itinerary and travel documents (except for Discovery Tours).
 
19. Changes Made After Travel If, after your departure, a significant part of your Package cannot be provided, you will be offered a suitable alternative, if possible. If it is not possible  to offer you a suitable alternative or, for good reasons, you do not accept the alternative arrangements, we will return you to the place of your UK international departure. If appropriate, we will also pay you compensation, unless your return has been due to circumstances beyond our control. The amount of compensation will be reasonable, taking account of all the circumstances.
 
20. E-Borders New Government legislation requires all carriers (air, sea and rail) due to arrive in or depart the UK to submit detailed passenger information prior to travel. This means that Solos Holidays will need to collect passport information from all travellers prior to travel so that all air, sea and rail tickets can be issued. For further information about e-borders please visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
 
21. Solos for One Solos Holidays Limited acts as an agent for Wendy Wu Tours, Neilson Active Holidays and from time to time, other products which we may offer in our programme, notified at the time of booking. The terms and conditions of these companies will be applicable on all Solos for One holidays and a copy is available on request.
 
If any part of these Booking Conditions is found to be invalid, or unenforceable, then the remainder of the conditions will not be affected, and remain valid and enforceable.