Terms & Conditions
The nitty gritties
Booking Terms and Conditions
Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. You must not make any booking unless you understand and agree with the following terms and conditions.
Travel Encounters Ltd (also trading as Golf Encounters & Africa Encounters) is a Travel Broker contracted to the Travel Managers Group. References to “us”, “we”, “our” and/or Travel Encounters Ltd or Travel Managers Group in these booking terms and conditions shall mean Flight Centre (NZ) Limited. Where bookings of travel products are made on your behalf through Infinity Holidays, references to “us”, “we” and/or “our” in these booking terms and conditions shall also mean and include Flight Centre (NZ) Limited trading as Infinity Holidays.
These terms and conditions apply to bookings you make with our Travel Consultants (in person, over the phone or by email).
We will rely on the authority of the person making the booking to act on behalf of any other traveller on the booking and that person will bind all such travellers to these terms and conditions.
Passports & Visas
All travellers must have a valid passport for international travel and many countries require at least 6 months validity from the date of return and some countries require a machine-readable passport. When assisting with an international travel booking, we will assume that all travellers on the booking have a valid New Zealand passport. If this is not the case, you must let us know. It is important that you ensure that you have valid passports, visas and re-entry permits which meet the requirements of immigration and other government authorities. Any fines, penalties, payments or expenditures incurred as a result of such documents not meeting the requirements of those authorities will be your sole responsibility (except to the extent caused by fault on our part). If you need information regarding visas, passports and other travel document requirements for your trip, please let your Travel Consultant know. We can provide you with general information on visa and passport requirements that apply to international travel bookings you make with us. Our Travel Consultants can also obtain more specific information from an external visa advisory service provider on your behalf (if you wish, we can assist you to obtain visas through this external service and fees will apply). We do not warrant the accuracy of information provided by any external service and accept no liability for any loss or damage which you may suffer in reliance on it (except to the extent caused by fault on our part). We do not accept liability should you be refused entry into any country regardless of having a visa, except to the extent caused by fault on our part.
Some countries now require you to register online for an e-visa prior to travel. New Zealand passport holders will not be able to enter these countries without a valid e-visa. It is your responsibility to ensure you have the correct documentation to enter a country. Please ask us if you require advice on what visas may be required to enter the countries you are travelling to.
Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend that you take out appropriate travel insurance to cover your travel arrangements. Travel insurance is also strongly recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for all overseas travel.
We are an authorised representative of CoverMore Insurance Services Pty Ltd (ABN 95 003 114 145) (“Cover-More”) and receive financial and non-financial benefits when you buy travel insurance products through us. We and Cover-More are authorised to provide you with general advice about, and arrange, travel insurance products on behalf of the insurer, Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (ABN 13 000 296 640, AFSL 232507).
You must read the Combined Financial Services Guide & Product Disclosure Statement before you decide to buy the travel insurance product you are considering purchasing to ensure it meets your needs and financial situation. The Combined FSG/PDS also contains information about the conditions, limits and exclusions that apply to the insurance, the 15 working day cooling off period, and how you can access Cover-More’s Privacy Policy and complaints handling procedures.
Please contact your Travel Consultant to take out travel insurance through us or if you have any questions about Cover-More’s travel insurance products. We also offer other Travel Insurance providers policies. The Terms and conditions and policy wording applies and it is important to disclose any information required to ensure your cover is adequate for your circumstances and pre-existing health conditions.
If you purchase travel and decline travel insurance, you may be required to sign a disclaimer.
Travel Advice
We recommend that you contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or visit their website at www.safetravel.govt.nz for general travel advice, as well as specific advice (including safety alert levels) relating to the destination you wish to visit. You can also register your travel plans with SafeTravel, so that you may be more easily contacted in an emergency.
Health
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of any health requirements for your travel destinations and to ensure that you carry all necessary vaccination documentation.
Prices
All prices are subject to availability and can be withdrawn or varied without notice. The price is only guaranteed once paid for in full by you. Please note that prices quoted are subject to change. Price changes may occur by reason of matters outside our control which increase the cost of the product or service. Such factors include adverse currency fluctuations, fuel surcharges, taxes, supplier tariff increases and airfare increases. Please contact your Travel Consultant for up-to-date prices.
Change and Cancellation Fees
We are unable to provide a refund to you until we receive the funds from the relevant supplier. Any refunds will be returned on the same card, same person(s) and same proportions as the original transaction. Cancelled bookings will incur charges. These charges can be up to 100% of the cost of the booking, regardless of whether travel has commenced. Service fees and charges will also apply where a booking is changed or tickets or other travel documents are re-issued. Where we incur any liability for a cancellation fee or charge for any booking which you cancel, you agree to indemnify us for the amount of that fee or charge in addition to any service fee your Travel Consultant charges.
Supplier Change and Cancellation Fees: Cancelled bookings may also incur supplier fees, which can be up to 100% of the cost of the booking, regardless of whether travel has commenced. Supplier fees may also apply where a booking is changed and when tickets or documents are re-issued. Where we incur any liability for a supplier cancellation fee for any booking which you change or cancel, you agree to indemnify us for the amount of that fee. Where you seek a refund for a cancelled booking for which payment has been made to the supplier, we will not provide a refund to you until we receive the funds from that supplier.
Deposit and Final Payment
You will be required to pay a deposit or deposits when booking. Your Travel Consultant will advise you of how much that will be. All deposits are non-refundable for changes of mind or cancellations by you (subject to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act). Final payment is required no later than 6 weeks prior to departure unless otherwise stated. Some airfares or services must be paid in full at the time of booking.
Payments by Credit Card
Credit card surcharges will apply when paying by credit card. These may vary between 2% and 4% depending on what card you use to make your purchase with. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Q Card, Q MasterCard and Flight Centre MasterCard. When applying for Q Card Finance, establishment and merchant fees will apply. You authorise us to charge all fees incurred by you in relation to the services provided to the credit card designated by you. If payment is not received from the card issuer or its agents for any reason, you agree to pay us all amounts due immediately on demand.
Payments by Cheque
Payments by cheque are no longer accepted by us, due to the banks withdrawing cheques from day-to-day banking facilities.
Taxes
Certain taxes are mandatory in various countries. There may also be an additional local tax charged at some airports. All taxes are subject to change without notice. Airline taxes will be confirmed at the time your airline ticket is issued.
Service Guarantees
Our booking and advisory services come with a guarantee that:
- they will be provided with reasonable care and skill;
- they will be fit for the particular purpose;
- they will be charged a reasonable price (when the price is not set); and
- they will be completed within a reasonable time.
Agency
We act as an agent for and sell various travel related products as an agent on behalf of, numerous transport, accommodation and other service providers, such as airlines, coach, rail and cruise line operators, as well as all of our wholesalers. Any services we provide to you are collateral to that agency relationship. Our obligation to you is to (and you expressly authorise us to) make travel bookings on your behalf and to arrange relevant contracts between you and travel service providers. We exercise care in the selection of reputable service providers, but we are not ourselves a provider of travel services and have no control over, or liability for, the services provided by third parties. All bookings are made on your behalf subject to the terms and conditions, including conditions of carriage and limitations of liability, imposed by these service providers. We can provide you with copies of the relevant service provider terms and conditions on request. Your legal rights in connection with the provision of travel services are against the specific provider and, except to the extent a problem is caused by fault on our part, are not against us. Specifically, if for any reason (excluding fault on our part) any travel service provider is unable to provide the services for which you have contracted, your rights are against that provider and not against us.
Liability
To the extent permitted by law, neither Flight Centre (NZ) Limited nor any of its related bodies corporate, directors, employees or agents accept any liability in contract, tort or otherwise for any injury, damage, loss (including consequential loss), delay, additional expense or inconvenience caused directly or indirectly by the acts, omissions or default, whether negligent or otherwise, of third party providers over whom we have no direct control, force majeure or any other event which is beyond our control or which is not preventable by reasonable diligence on our part. Our liability will also be limited to the extent that any relevant international conventions, 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, limit the amount of compensation which can be claimed for death, injury, or delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. Under circumstances where our liability cannot be excluded and where liability may be lawfully limited, such liability is limited to the remedies required of us under applicable law (including the Consumer Guarantees Act). This liability clause is subject to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act and nothing in these terms and conditions is intended to limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act or the Fair Trading Act.
Special Requirements
Please liaise with your Travel Consultant regarding any special requirements you may have for your travel arrangements such as special meal and seating requests, room type or disabled access. Requests may be made, but we cannot guarantee that a supplier will provide any requests.
Frequent Flyer
When booking with one of our Travel Consultants, please let them know your frequent flyer membership details (or other applicable loyalty program details) for inclusion in your booking. Please check your frequent flyer program (or other applicable loyalty program) for the specific terms of your membership. We cannot guarantee that the supplier will credit you with points for your booking. It is your responsibility to retain all boarding passes to allow verification of your travel if required.
Governing Law
If any dispute arises in relation to the agreement between you and us as constituted by these terms and conditions or otherwise, the laws of New Zealand will apply. You irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand and waive any right that you may have to object to an action being brought in those courts.
Travel Documents
Travel documents include, without limitation, airline tickets, hotel vouchers, tour vouchers or any other document (whether in electronic form or otherwise) used to confirm an arrangement with a service provider. Travel documents may be subject to certain conditions and/or restrictions including, without limitation, being non-refundable, non-changeable and subject to cancellation and/or amendment fees. Travel documents cannot be transferred to another person to use. All airline tickets must be issued in the name of the passport/photo identity holder. An incorrect name on a booking may result in an inability to use that booking and the booking being cancelled. Please review your travel documentation carefully and advise us immediately of any errors in names, dates or timings. It is your responsibility to collect all travel documents from us prior to travel. As a general rule your travel documents will be available for collection 2 weeks prior to departure, however this will depend on your individual arrangements. Please contact your Travel Consultant to confirm when your travel documents are ready for collection.
Schedule Changes
We recommend that you contact the airline to confirm your scheduled departure time 24 hours prior to your flight.
Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting your personal information and agree to handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which is available online at http://travelmanagers.co.nz/privacy-policy. By providing personal information to us, you agree that our Privacy Policy will apply to how we handle your personal information and you consent to us collecting, using and disclosing your personal information as detailed in our Privacy Policy. In particular, you agree that in certain circumstances (such as where you request us to book international travel for you), we are permitted to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients. Such recipients may include the overseas travel service providers (e.g. airlines, accommodation or tour providers) with whom you make a booking. These travel service providers will in most cases receive your personal information in the country in which they will provide the services to you or in which their business is based. We may also disclose your personal information to our overseas related entities (including those in Australia, the USA, the UK, South Africa, Canada, India and Hong Kong) and to service providers who perform services for us within and outside of New Zealand. Generally, we will only disclose your personal information to these persons in connection with facilitation of your travel booking and/or to enable the performance of administrative and technical services by them on our behalf. Where we disclose your personal information to any person (including any overseas recipients), you agree that we will not be required to ensure that person’s compliance with New Zealand privacy laws or otherwise be accountable for how they handle your personal information. When used above, “disclose” includes to transfer, share, send, or otherwise make available or accessible to another person or entity.
Monies Not Held On Trust
All monies paid by you to us will be the property of Flight Centre (NZ) Limited and will be a debt due and payable to the travel service provider once the services to which the money relates have been provided (except for monies paid for flights with an IATA airline, which might be held on trust for that IATA airline). You agree and acknowledge that such monies will not be held by us on trust for and on behalf of you and we may hold such monies in any account as we see fit, including with its own and/or other customer monies.
Assistance
For all queries related to you booking, please contact your Travel Consultant directly.
Children travelling alone
To provide for the wellbeing of children travelling alone (otherwise known as Unaccompanied Minors), airlines have specific requirements. To make a flight booking for an unaccompanied minor please contact your Travel Consultant who will advise the conditions for the airline of your choice.
The following information relating to general rules for Unaccompanied Minors is a guide only and may vary from airline to airline:
- Any child aged 5 to 11 years (inclusive) travelling alone on a flight must be booked as an Unaccompanied Minor.
- If your child is under 12 years of age and is not booked as an Unaccompanied Minor, then the child must be accompanied by another person 15 years of age or older.
- Any child aged 12 to 15 years (inclusive) may also be required to travel as an Unaccompanied Minor if required by the airline (as airlines rules may differ) or requested by the parent/legal guardian.
- Children between 5-11 years of age attempting to travel alone and who have NOT been booked as an Unaccompanied Minor may be denied travel by the Airlines until they have been provided with all relevant details in relation to the child’s travel arrangements.
- An Unaccompanied Minor Form will need to be completed by the parent/legal guardian for this service. Also, there may be a fee involved for this service by the airline.
Travelling on Jetstar
Jetstar requires that passengers are able to travel independently. The airline does not have the systems, staff or facilities required to assume responsibility for assistance and supervision of passengers. Children requiring supervision will not be regarded as able to travel independently on the basis that they may cause a disruption or endanger themselves or others if travelling unaccompanied. As a guide, children who are not yet attending secondary school will be regarded as unable to travel independently and will not be eligible to travel unless they are accompanied by an appropriate Accompanying Passenger. An Accompanying Passenger generally will be at least 15 years old.
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