Amakuna: Terms & Conditions

We are Amakuna Travel Ltd, a limited company incorporated in England trading as Amakuna (company number 09550692, VAT no. 233727608) whose registered office is at Grove House, 2 Woodberry Grove, London, N12 0DR, United Kingdom (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’). We are specialist travel organisers for holidays in Colombia.

Contact us : Email: info@amakuna.com – Tel: +44 (0)20 7193 7582 / +1 646 736 7582 – Opening hours: 9am to 6pm, Mon-Fri

Application of these terms and conditions

These terms and conditions, together with any further terms and conditions notified to you by us prior to your entering into a contract with us, including any terms and conditions in our brochures or on our website which are relevant to your booking and any other terms which we both otherwise agree will be binding on Amakuna Travel and you once a contract is made between us (Our Terms). A contract will exist between us once you have made your booking with us, paid your deposit and we have issued you with our booking confirmation. Our contract with you is also subject to any air carriers’ terms and conditions of carriage which you agree will be deemed incorporated in our contract. You should read these terms and conditions carefully. You should note in particular the content of paragraph 5: ‘our liability to you’, which contains certain limitations and exclusions. If any part of Our Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of them will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable.

English Law

The contract between us will be governed by English Law and any dispute will be resolved exclusively by the English courts. Our Terms do not affect your statutory rights.

Data Protection

We observe the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) in respect of all personal data held by us at any time. 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. If you wish to find out more about the personal data we hold relating to you, please write to us at info@amakuna.com.

Website Content

We take reasonable care to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on our website. However, content is subject to change, often due to the actions of our suppliers (eg. airlines, hotels, activity providers, car hire companies etc). We will endeavour to notify you of any change known to us and affecting your holiday prior to issuing you with our booking confirmation and after that, as soon as we are notified by our Suppliers. We do not generally use linking or framing. We are not responsible for the content, policies and services of any sites linked to or accessible via our website.

Packages

A ‘package’ is a pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following, booked by you through us at an inclusive price, and where the combination lasts for a period of more than 24 hours or involves overnight accommodation: (a) transport; (b) accommodation; (c) other services not ancillary to transport or accommodation and a significant part of the booking. Where the arrangements which you make with us for your holiday do not amount to a ‘package’ (as defined above) our obligation is limited to using reasonable skill and care in selecting a suitable supplier for the component you have booked e.g. accommodation and your contract will be with the supplier and not us, who will act as an agent.

Booking Conditions

All holidays are subject to availability. When you make a booking with us you are making an offer to us to buy some of our advertised services. We reserve the right to refuse to accept and/or not to proceed with any booking at any time in our sole discretion. Once the contract is made between us we will use reasonable skill and care to perform our obligations to you in accordance with our Terms & Conditions. All bookings must be made by a person aged eighteen years or over. Where your booking is for more than one person, the first-named person in your party aged eighteen years or over will be treated by us as the ‘lead name’ for your booking. The lead name will be responsible for making all payments due to us in accordance with our contract. The lead name will also be the only point of contact unless informed of the contrary in writing. Payment of your initial deposit will be treated by us as confirmation that you have read, understood and accepted all our Terms & Conditions. It is important that you accurately complete all documents, notices and other information relating to your holiday. It is your responsibility to ensure that the details which you supply to us are correct.

1. Payment

On your enquiry you will pay us a minimum non-refundable Retainer Fee (RF) of £250. Under certain circumstances this fee will be higher. This RF covers the cost of researching your bespoke trip. You will be notified at the time of booking of the price of your holiday. You will be required at the time of booking to pay us a non-refundable deposit, typically 50% of the quoted holiday price, and the full holiday price of a booking should be made at least 60 days prior to departure. In certain circumstances (depending on the nature of the booking) we will require a nonrefundable deposit in excess of the usual 50%. On occasions, our suppliers require additional amounts up to full payment in advance (for example for Christmas bookings). On these occasions we will require additional payment in advance. Unless you are making a late booking, the balance owing must be paid to us no later than 60 days before your date of departure. If we do not receive the balance by this time then we will treat the booking as cancelled by you and you will be liable to pay our cancellation charges (see paragraph 3.2). We accept payment via American Express and direct bank transfer. If your booking is made so close to the departure date that it is necessary to issue your documents on departure or send them to you by special delivery, there will be an administration charge payable by you of £25 per booking. An administration charge also applies to any changes carried out by us at your request (see paragraph 3.1).

2. Prices

In the event of any change in our prices to those stated we will notify you prior to accepting your booking. Our prices can be quoted in GBP £ Sterling, EURO € or US $ Dollar.

(a) Packages: We guarantee the price of your holiday stated in our booking confirmation. We may however pass on to you certain additional charges resulting from increased transportation costs (including the cost of fuel), dues, taxes, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports or fluctuations in the exchange rate. We will not pass on any such charges occurring within 30 days of your scheduled date of departure.

(b) Other holiday arrangements: We reserve the right to pass on any charges levied on us from time to time by our suppliers in respect of any other holiday arrangements made by us on your behalf:

Return transportation costs including luggage allowance as confirmed
Overseas transfers/transportation
Accommodation, meals
The services of a representative, tour guide or an appointed local agent, including a 24-hour emergency contact (except cruises)
All UK departure taxes, fees and passenger charges
Any applicable overseas port charges
Child discounts

Our holiday price does not normally include:

Visa fees, overseas airport departure charges payable locally, porterage, personal expenditure, hotel extras, fuel and extras for car hire
Taxes or compulsory charges introduced by Governments, regulatory bodies or airlines after you have booked
Security charges introduced or increased after you have booked relating to transportation costs
Holiday insurance

The price payable by you for your holiday and what this price includes will be confirmed to you by us at the time of booking and set out in our booking confirmation.

(c) Group bookings and discounts: Some bookings or prices are dependent on the number of participants or occupants and if this applies to your holiday arrangements you will be notified by us at the time of booking. We reserve the right to make further charges where numbers fall below those required to qualify for the discount offered or price otherwise appropriate. We also reserve the right to cancel such a booking in the event that numbers fall below the required number at any time up to 30 days prior to your due date of departure.

3. Changes or cancellation by you

3.1. Changes (a) Transfers: Where you are or any member of your party is prevented from travelling for any reason (including death, illness or jury service) we will transfer your booking to any other person satisfying all the requirements relating to your holiday notified to us by you in writing a reasonable time prior to your due date of departure. (b) Other changes: If you wish to make any other change to your booking at any time after our booking confirmation has been issued, we will try but cannot promise to meet your request. On some occasions, if members of a group booking withdraw, there are fixed costs which mean the remaining travelling party must pay more per person. We require your authority in writing before we can make any change. In the event that any change is requested in relation to a group booking we require the authority in writing of the lead name before we can make the change. (c) Administration fee: In each of the above circumstances, an administration charge will be payable of £30 per person where your request is received by us 60 days or more prior to your date of departure and £50 per person where the request is received less than 60 days prior to your date of departure. This charge is non-refundable. However if an air ticket has already been issued and the flight cannot be changed to another name then the full cost of that ticket will be due. (d) Treatment of changes by our suppliers: Many of our suppliers, particularly airlines, do not permit us to change names or travel dates and impose full cancellation charges. We will pass these on to you in addition to our administration charge, where applicable.

3.2. Cancellations If you wish, following the issue to you by us of our booking confirmation, to cancel your booking or any part of it relating to any person (in the case of a group booking), we will require your authority in writing or (in the case of a group booking) the authority in writing of the lead name to do so.

Our cancellation charges will apply (see the table ‘cancellation charges’ below). These are calculated with reference to the date on which we receive your authority in writing. We will not refund to you any deposits, administration charges, insurance premiums or any other fees or charges made by us and paid by you relating to your holiday in the event of cancellation by you.

We incur costs from the time you make your booking and you agree that if you cancel your booking you will compensate us for our losses and expenses, as per the table below. Our cancellation charges increase the nearer the cancellation is made to your departure date as we may not be able to resell your holiday without making significant price reductions, or at all.

We strongly recommend that you take out insurance cover for cancellation adequate to cover the value of your holiday. For further details please refer to paragraph 8.

3.3. Cancellation charges Number of days left before your due date of departure when your authority in writing is received by us. Cancellation charge (expressed as a percentage of the total holiday price):

60 days or more Deposit only
59 – 43 days 60%
29 – 42 days 75%
7 – 28 days 90%
6 days or less 100%

4. If we have to change or cancel your holiday

We will take reasonable care to deliver the holiday which we are contracted to provide to you. As we put in place the arrangements necessary to enable us to offer our range of holidays many months in advance, we may occasionally have to make changes and reserve the right to do so at any time.

(a) Packages: Our obligation to you depends on whether the changes are considered ‘minor’ or ‘major’. A ‘major’ change is one which results in a significant alteration to the essential terms of the contract between us. ‘Major’ changes include:

price
your departure airport
your city/resort/place of destination
your accommodation to a lower star grading
your scheduled departure time from point of origination or the duration of your holiday by more than 12 hours (excluding delays outside of our control following check-in)

Minor changes:

A minor change is any other change which is not a major change. We will try to tell you as soon as reasonably possible prior to your due departure date about any minor changes, although we are not obliged to do so. We are not obliged to compensate you for any ‘minor’ changes made.

Major changes:

If we have to make a ‘major’ change we will notify you as soon as possible and you will have one of the following options:

to agree the changes and accept their impact (including any on price)
to transfer to another holiday offered by us (subject to availability) of equivalent or superior quality
to transfer to another holiday offered by us (subject to availability) of lower quality and receive a refund for any difference in price
to cancel your holiday and receive a refund of all monies paid by you to us (including all deposits and administration charges)

(b) Other holiday arrangements: We will try to tell you of any changes as soon as possible prior to your due departure date, although we are not obliged to do so. We are not obliged to compensate you. However, in the event that we are forced to cancel your holiday for any reason other than our insolvency or any circumstances beyond our reasonable control we will refund to you the full price paid by you for your holiday.

(c) Circumstances beyond our control: We will not pay compensation or accept any liability where any change is due to circumstances outside of our reasonable control, including (without limitation) any strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action; labour disputes; acts of God; war; riot; civil commotion; pandemic; epidemic; endemic; malicious damage; compliance with any law or governmental order, rule regulation or direction; impossibility of the use of any means of public or private transport or any action of any government or regulatory body; accident; break-down of plant and machinery; fire; flood or storm; other adverse weather conditions (including heavy rainfall, hail, snow, fog or frost) affecting any airport, port or any other transport link, embarkation or disembarkation point and their operation; flight delays; other matters affecting air traffic control (including failure of equipment, systems and software); siege; acts of terrorism; police or security alerts or precautionary measures taken.

5. Our liability to you

(1) We accept responsibility for ensuring that the holiday arrangements that you book with us are supplied as described in the itinerary provided, and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. If you feel that your holiday arrangements are not as described in your itinerary, you should notify our appointed local supplier or us (where no local supplier is appointed) as soon as possible and provide us with details in writing.

(2) We endeavour to keep the website up to date, but cannot guarantee its accuracy and, if there is any inconsistency between the information on our website and the itinerary details provided to you, the itinerary details prevail.

(3) We accept responsibility for our suppliers and local representatives, provided that such suppliers and representatives have acted at all times within our authority and in accordance with our instructions. We do not accept responsibility for: travel by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation, to which the terms of the relevant travel provider shall apply; or holidays, activities or other bookings or arrangements made directly with our suppliers, local representatives or any other third parties.

(4) Under no circumstances will we accept responsibility for any indirect or consequential loss whatsoever arising under or in connection with our provision of your holiday.

(5) Nor do we accept responsibility for any injury, illness, death, loss (including loss of enjoyment and loss of business, profits or employment), damage, expense, cost or other claims or liability of any description whatsoever which results from: (a) any fault of you or any member of your party, (b) any fault of any third party unconnected with us and the provision of the services for which you have contracted with us; (c) any force majeure circumstances (as described in Paragraph 4 above) which are beyond our or our suppliers’ reasonable control.

(6) Our total liability to you in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with the Contract, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise shall not exceed the value of your booking (including taxes and deposit).

(7) Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall limit or exclude our liability where such exclusion is not permitted under applicable law.

6. Your responsibility

(a) It is your responsibility to ensure that you and everyone travelling with you have valid passports, appropriate visas and vaccinations. Some countries (particularly in South America) require your passport to have two blank pages for a visa stamp. As a result if you are travelling in more than one country that requires this you will need to have more blank pages. If you have any doubts about the number of pages required, we advise erring on the side of caution, even if this means applying for a new passport. Please ask us for clarification. Women 28 weeks or more into pregnancy at the time of return travel must have a doctor’s certificate confirming that they are fit to travel (note airlines normally require certification at 32 weeks). We are not liable for any costs, delays or illness resulting from your failure to meet requirements.

(b) You are responsible for ensuring that any existing medical conditions or disabilities which may require assistance are declared to us before you book your holiday or, if newly diagnosed, before your due date of departure so that we can pass these details on to our suppliers in good time. We are not in any circumstances liable if any carrier refuses you or any member of your party as a passenger as a result of any medical condition or disability.

(c) You are responsible for your behaviour and that of your party. We and our suppliers reserve the right to refuse your booking or the right to board or the right to travel and to remove you and/or any member of your party from any transport, accommodation or any part of holiday if you or any member of your party is drunk or under the influence of drink or drugs; if you are or we reasonably believe that you are in unlawful possession of drugs; or are behaving violently, disruptively, dangerously or irresponsibly or in any manner whatsoever which presents a risk to others or is causing a nuisance or annoyance to others. No refund will be given or compensation paid and no costs or expenses for which you become liable or which are incurred by you will be made by us or be recoverable by you from us in such circumstances. You may also become the subject of police inquiry or security measures or investigation and liable in the event that any offence is committed to criminal prosecution and penalties whether in the UK or in any other country having jurisdiction in respect of the alleged activity. You must fully cooperate with and follow any safety procedures and instructions given by any organisation which is running the activities which you do while on holiday. It is possible that such organisations will require you to sign a waiver form in respect of the activity being carried out.

(d) Despite our best endeavours to ensure your holiday runs as smoothly as possible, problems can occur. If you do experience difficulties that cannot be dealt with at the time by the hotel, lodge or camp you are staying at, then please contact us on our 24-hour emergency number (+44 20 7193 7582). Please remember that we will be unable to help if you only mention the issue on your return from holiday. If you have a medical emergency, you must notify your travel insurance providers on their 24-hour emergency telephone number (which should be visible on the cover note). If you cannot make contact, please ring us and we will attempt to reach them.

(e) Many of our trips take place in destinations where local conditions vary enormously, and the people we deal with on the ground may be less time-conscious or meticulous in planning than ourselves, and while we will do our best to ensure that the holiday goes according to plan, we ask that those who travel with us do so with a spirit of adventure, in a positive frame of mind, and in good humour.

7. Dealing with complaints

If you have a problem during your holiday, please immediately inform the relevant supplier whose service is involved (e.g. your hotelier) and our local representative(or if none, Amakuna Travel), who will endeavour to put things right. It is unreasonable and in breach of your contractual obligations to us to take no action whilst on holiday, but then to write a letter of complaint upon return. If the problem cannot be resolved locally and you wish to complain, full details must be sent to Amakuna Travel in writing to arrive within 28 days of your return giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to our representative without delay and complete a report form while on holiday. 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 on holiday and this may affect your rights under this contract resulting in reduced or no compensation if any was merited.

8. Insurance

You must be fully insured for your holiday and must make sure that all of the activities which you will be carrying out are covered by such insurance. This insurance must include adequate cancellation insurance to the value of your holiday, emergency evacuation and repatriation costs in respect of all of your activities. Please note that the travel insurance provided by some credit card providers often only offers the minimum coverage and, whoever your insurer, you should always check for any exclusion of activities that you might be undertaking. In response to public concern, some insurers now offer specific insurance against cancellation, delay and abandonment due to volcanic ash disruption. This can be taken out as an add-on to some travel insurance policies or as stand-alone cover.

9. Updates

Our Terms & Conditions are updated from time to time. The terms and conditions which will apply to your holiday are those on our website at the time of booking. There may be additional terms and conditions which apply to our special offers, promotions and discounts from time to time. These will be notified to you at the time of booking should you inform us that you would like to take advantage of them.

10. Copies

A copy of our latest terms and conditions can be viewed on our website www.amakuna.com where you can print off a copy for your records. By proceeding with any booking, you confirm you have read and agreed to our Terms & Conditions. © Amakuna Travel Ltd 2022. All rights reserved. Date of issue: January 2022.