When you are ready to book, please read the following conditions, which will form part of your contract of agreement with Hello Africa Travel.

Contract and agreement with you
If we book only one component of a holiday (e.g. accommodation but not car hire), then Hello Africa Travel acts only as a booking agent for the supplier concerned and accepts no liability for the provision of the service involved. In all other cases your contract will be with Hello Africa Travel Ltd. Your booking is made on the terms of these booking conditions and is subject to English Law and the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

Confirmation invoice and payment
When you make a booking and pay a deposit, a contract will exist as soon as we issue a confirmation invoice, and until then we shall be under no liability to you whatsoever . It is your responsibility to check the confirmation invoice carefully and let us know if there are any errors or discrepancies. When you make your booking you undertake that you have the authority to accept these booking conditions on behalf of yourself and everyone travelling with you. When you make a booking you must pay a deposit of 15% or the full amount if the booking is made within 8 weeks of departure. For certain holidays and services a higher deposit is required and you will be notified at the time of booking. Please note that your accommodation, tours, transfers, car hire, etc. will be requested once your deposit has been received. Your confirmation invoice will indicate the cost of your requested package. All quotes are subject to alteration due to availability at the time of booking, currency fluctuations, rate increases, government action, war, etc.

Your completed booking form including the names of all travellers must be accompanied by the deposit shown on the booking form or advised to you at the time of quotation. This your only commitment until 8 weeks before departure unless, in exceptional circumstances, an interim payment becomes necessary to protect a particular reservation. The balance of the price must be paid at least 8 weeks before your departure unless an earlier date is quoted at the time of confirmation. If a booking is made within 8 weeks of departure the full payment is due on confirmation and should accompany the booking form. If the deposit and or balance are not paid on time we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid on time we shall retain your deposit. The contract shall be deemed to have been made at the time of posting the confirmation. Due to unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances, it might be necessary for us to add a surcharge to your trip when the balance of the payment becomes due.  Surcharges can be due to, for example, airline increases and exchange rate fluctuations – unforeseeable and unavoidable costs forced upon us.  Should you wish to pay the full amount at the time of booking, this risk can be avoided.

Payment is accepted by:
Bank Transfer, Cheque (allow 10 days from posting for clearing), Debit cards and Credit cards (Visa and Mastercard. Please note all card payments incur a charge of 2%. Because of the fees imposed on us by the card companies, and in order for us to maintain our highly competitive prices, we have had no option but to try and recover part of the extra costs incurred when accepting payments in this way.

Amendments and cancellations by you
Once your booking has been confirmed, changes (where permitted and possible) will incur a £50 amendment fee per alteration to cover administrative costs. Any additional charges passed on to us by suppliers will also be added. Changes within 8 weeks of departure will be deemed a cancellation and re-booking and will incur the cancellation charges set out below. If you or any of your party is forced to cancel your holiday once it has been accepted, a valid cancellation can only be made if you give written instructions direct to Hello Africa Travel. The person who signed the original booking form must sign the instruction. The effective date for cancellation will be the date we receive the written instruction. A cancellation charge (being agreed damages to cover our estimated loss) calculated on the scale set out below becomes payable by you, the signatory of the booking form.

When written notification of cancellation is received by the company more that 56 days before departure, the deposit will be forfeited; between 56-42 days the cancellation charge will be 40%; 41-29 days, 75%; 28-15 days, 90%, 14 - 0 days, 100%. These charges are a percentage of the total holiday cost. Special conditions apply for some operators, you will be made aware of these on your itinerary, prior to confirmation. (Our standard travel insurance policy does not cover these special conditions, please make sure you take out additional cancellation insurance in these circumstances.)

We regret that no refund is possible for unused services provided in the cost of the holiday. If you decide to alter your travel arrangements whilst abroad, this is your own responsibility and we are not responsible for any extra costs that may arise.

Amendments and cancellations by the Company
We plan these arrangements many months in advance and, occasionally, circumstances oblige us to make minor changes to your tour itinerary. The company reserves the right to modify or cancel any accommodation or part of the itinerary at our discretion. Any change we make to your holiday will be either major or minor. A major change includes a change to a lower category of accommodation. Any other change is a minor change. If there is a minor change, we will do our best to notify you of this, but we are not under any obligation to do so or to pay you compensation. If there is a major change, we will advise you as soon as is reasonably possible. Every effort will be made to operate all tours as advertised, but we reserve the right to cancel your holiday. In this event, we will offer you the choice of either a refund of the monies you have paid us or an alternative available holiday of at least comparable standard, (and where this is of a lower price, we will refund the difference, but where it is of a higher price, you must pay the difference), excluding any amendment charges. In addition, in appropriate cases, (on the assumption that the full balance has been paid) we will pay you compensation on the scale shown below. Compensation will not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a major change has to be made as a result of force majeure (as defined below). In addition, on the assumption that the full balance has been paid) and where such cancellation is not due to force majeure (as defined below), we will pay compensation on the following scale, per booking:
Period before departure date within which major change/cancellation is notified to you: More than 57 days Nil; 56-29 days £10; 28 - 15 days £20; 14 - 0 days £30.

We accept no liability for consequential financial loss or incidental expenditure beyond the holiday price stated on the confirmation invoice.

Force majeure is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers or other similar events beyond our control.

In the unlikely event that we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services you have booked after you depart, we will make alternative arrangements for you to continue your holiday at no extra charge, or, if this is impossible, or you do not accept these alternative arrangements for a good reason, we will provide you with transport back to your point of departure. In addition, if appropriate, we will pay you compensation of an amount as mentioned above. Compensation will not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a major change has to be made as a result of force majeure (as defined above).

Our responsibility
Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities and, where we or our supplier is actually providing the service or facility, to provide them and to do so with reasonable skill and care. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for example, safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout the transport and destinations that your holiday may involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK. The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs.

Our Liability
We will pay no compensation if there has been no fault on our part or our suppliers and the reason for failure in the holiday arrangements was your fault, the actions of someone unconnected with the holiday arrangements or could not have been foreseen or avoided by us or our suppliers even if all due care had been exercised. Where you suffer death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part of the holiday arrangements booked with us, we accept responsibility unless there has been no fault on our part or our suppliers and the cause was your fault, the actions of someone unconnected with the holiday arrangements or one which neither we nor our suppliers could have anticipated or avoided even with the exercise of all due care. If you suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of the foreign inclusive holiday arrangements arranged through us, we cannot accept responsibility for this and you will have to deal directly with the party concerned.

If you choose to issue court proceedings in respect of a claim against us, you must do so within 2 years of your return from holiday or within 2 years of first discovering the matters giving rise to the claim, if this is later. If you do not, then our liability to you will be limited in all cases to a sum of £100.

Your responsibilities
We reserve the right in our absolute discretion to terminate your holiday if your behaviour is likely, in our opinion or that of our employees or suppliers, to cause distress, damage, annoyance or danger to our employees or to any third party, or their property. If you are prevented from travelling on an aeroplane because in the opinion of any person in authority at the airport, you appear for whatever reason unfit to travel, we have no further responsibility for your journey or your holiday. We will impose full cancellation charges and will not give any refunds. Furthermore, we will be under no obligation whatsoever to pay you compensation or cover any costs you may incur as a result of having to make alternative arrangements.

Travel Documents
It is the responsibility of all passengers to ensure they have a valid 10 year passport, valid for at least 6 months after the expected date of return from travel. You may need a visa for certain destinations and you should check with the relevant Consulate as you will not be allowed to travel without correct documentation. Although we might give advise and assist as best as possible with information, all passport, visas and health requirements are entirely your responsibility. If you do not obtain a visa, where this is required, or your passport or any other travel documentation is not in order and you are unable to travel as a result, you will be liable to pay the cancellation charges. Furthermore, we will not accept any responsibility or refund any money in cases where you are unable to travel because of an invalid or mislaid visa or passport.

Health and Safety
We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that your travel arrangements are performed as safely as possible but standards of health and safety vary overseas and you should naturally take precautions as you would at home. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office may have issued advice about your destination and you are advised to check this information at www.fco.gov.uk/travel or telephone 020-7008 0232.

Total Flexibility
Unlike most of our competitors we do not charge you administration fees for booking accommodation or car hire separately. Your holiday arrangements have complete flexibility in that you may book any number of nights of accommodation, car hire, day excursions, tours and add-ons.

Insurance
We consider adequate travel insurance to be an essential aspect to booking a holiday. In addition, we recommend that you purchase travel insurance that properly covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. If you decide not to purchase our insurance, you must provide us with details of your alternative insurance on the booking form.

Our travel insurance has been designed to specifically meet your needs on your Hello Africa Travel holiday. The cover is underwritten by Travel & General Insurance Company plc, except for Section K (Legal expenses), which is underwritten by DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited. Both Insurers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. A dedicated sales team at Travel & General Insurance Company Limited t/a tagconnect will provide fulfilment of the policy.
Go to travel insurance policy details and costs.

Website Information
We have compiled information on the website as accurately as possible. However, content is subject to change from time to time, often due to the actions of our suppliers (eg. hotels, tour companies, car hire companies). We reserve the right to change any of the prices, services or other particulars contained in this website at any time. A facility may be altered or withdrawn for reasons outside our control during your own particular holiday. For example, the operation of certain facilities and amenities may be subject to changes in local licensing laws or religious holidays. We will endeavour to notify you of any change known to us affecting your holiday prior to issuing you with our booking confirmation. Our suggested itineraries are prepared many months before the start of your holiday and the prices quoted in them are for your guidance only. If at the time of booking the price has changed from that shown in our suggested itineraries, you will be told of the revised price applicable to the travel arrangements before you commit yourself.

Special Requests
Although we will make every endeavour to meet special requests made in writing and shown on your booking form, no guarantees can be given.

If you have a problem
In the unlikely event that there is something not to your liking whilst you are on holiday that is in our direct control you must immediately report this to our local agent/ representative. This gives us the opportunity to correct the matter so that it does not spoil your holiday. Unless there is a valid reason why you fail to report your complaint we will not consider ourselves liable for complaints that were not registered at the time. If the matter cannot be put right on the spot, details of your complaint should be sent to us, in writing, within 28 days of the completion of your holiday. We will not accept liability in respect to claims received outside this period.

Flights
Hello Africa Travel holds an Air Travel Organiser's License (ATOL 6744) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, with which the company is fully bonded. In the unlikely event of the company becoming insolvent, you are financially protected and would be repatriated if abroad, or receive an appropriate refund.

For Your Financial Protection
Hello Africa Travel holds an Air Travel Organiser's License (ATOL 6744) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, with which the company is fully bonded. In the unlikely event of the company becoming insolvent, you are financially protected and would be repatriated if abroad, or receive an appropriate refund.

Data Protection
We will not use any personal data relating to you, which we hold at any time for any purpose other than in connection with your booking. We will not pass on such data to third parties save where this is necessary in connection with the performance by us of our contract with you or as otherwise authorised by you. We may use such data to notify you of our services, offers and promotions from time to time. If you do not wish us to so notify you please tick the appropriate box on our booking form.

Modifications of these terms and conditions
We reserve the right to change the terms, conditions and notices under which this Web site is offered without prior notice.