As an independent tour operator we have faced numerous challenges since COVID-19 began impacting all our lives back in March 2020. Throughout this period, we have worked compassionately & professionally with all our customers; as well as protecting all our staff members both here in the UK and abroad.
Moving forward we have taken the necessary decision to build into our terms of booking a strictly non-refundable admin fee of £150.00 per person. This non-refundable admin charge has been introduced simply to protect our staff & partners to cover our most basic & essential administration costs, in light of any pandemic or Covid-19 related scenarios that may result in us being forced to cancel a holiday.
What happens if we have to cancel your holiday?
If you are booked onto a holiday program which we must cancel, then we will contact you and explain the options available to you. These will be:
1 . Consider an alternative destination
As we operate in both Croatia & Slovenia it may be possible to transfer your holiday if circumstances are significantly different in either of these destinations. If this is feasible for us & your family, and you decide to do this, we will transfer the money you have already paid to your new booking. If the alternative holiday is cheaper, we will refund you the difference. If it is more expensive you will need to top up this amount up to match the new price.
2. Defer your holiday
If you support us by deferring your holiday, then this will be appreciated and in turn we will guarantee to hold the same price, as per your receipt for the corresponding dates the following summer. If you would like to change your dates then we can do this for you, subject to availability of course, and we will honour the corresponding price from when you originally booked.
3. A refund less our non-refundable admin-fee
If you are unable to transfer to a new destination or defer your holiday to a new date, then we will arrange a refund for you less our non-refundable admin-fee of £150.00 pp . The non-refundable admin fee will come out of your balance payment. FYI – The non-refundable admin-fee will be used to cover our basic administration and essential staffing costs as well support us with any un-recoverable liabilities to our partners. This is a policy we have simply had to implement to protect our future.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If we are booked for a country that has a travel ban. when will we know if the trip is operating or not?
As per industry guidelines we will be regularly monitoring the FCDO status of your holiday. We will contact you at the latest, 14 days prior to departure to advise your options at that stage. We will also provide earlier updates and throughout you are of course welcome to check in on the status of your holiday; but it will be two weeks before departure that we make a final decision.
What happens if the travel advice for my destination changes whilst i am on holiday?
If the FCDO change the travel advice whilst you are on holiday we will inform. Of course this is something outside of our control so although we will always do our best to assist you this would be dealt with as per our standard booking terms and conditions. As such, any loss would need to be reclaimed from your travel insurance policy so please check the wording carefully and ensure you are satisfied with the level of cover.
What happens if there is a quarantine on my return to the UK?
In this instance, if there was no advice against travelling from either the UK or your destination’s local government then we would operate the holiday as originally planned. As a quarantine upon your return to the UK would be out of both our own and our local partners’ control and it does not impact on our ability to provide the holiday. Therefore, in this situation our standard cancellation terms would apply. If this scenario arose and you would like to change your travel dates to postpone to a different time, then we will try to do everything we can to assist this, and minimise any non-recoverable costs.
What happens if the flights I have booked are cancelled?
If you have booked your own flights and they are cancelled, then first step would be to contact the airline to discuss the options available to you. Once you are aware of all of your options please contact us +44 (0)1926 330 223 and we will try and do what we can to assist you e.g. advising on alternative flight options if appropriate, re-arranging your travel dates or doing our best to negotiate a suitable alternative with our local partners.
How would a ‘local’ lockdown affect my holiday?
The local lockdowns which have been put in place previously in England and Scotland so far have not prevented people from going on holiday as planned. The advice has been different in Wales where lockdown specifically has prevented people from going on holiday. If this does happen in the future and you are prohibited from going on holiday due to local restrictions, then your first call should be to your travel insurer so please ensure you have a policy which covers such an eventuality. If you are unable to reclaim your money through a travel insurance policy, then we will work with our local suppliers to try to refund any recoverable costs. However, as nothing is preventing us from running the holiday for other guests and the local suppliers are able to provide it in full, we will be unable to refund any irrecoverable costs. The only way to ensure a full refund if you are prevented from travelling due to a local lockdown would be through your travel insurance.
I’m travelling from a country outside of the UK – what happens if I’m banned from travelling?
Green World Holidays [Vamos Travel Ltd] is based in the UK and we take our guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other UK government bodies. As we do not handle flights your contract with us starts at the agreed meeting point in the destination country (e.g. typically at the airport arrivals or at a pre-defined meeting point). If there are no national UK border restrictions preventing us from operating your holiday (i.e. unless the FCDO advise against all but essential travel to Croatia or Slovenia) OR the destination government bans all arrivals from the UK then we will continue to run the holiday as planned. For anyone who is prevented from joining the trip as planned due to medical reasons or government advice changing from a country other than the UK or the destination of your holiday, then this cancellation by you would be dealt with as per our standard booking terms and conditions. As such, any loss would need to be reclaimed from your travel insurance policy so please check the wording carefully and ensure you are satisfied with the level of cover.
Travel insurance?
Travel insurance is a mandatory condition of travelling with us. Purchasing a comprehensive travel insurance policy should be the first thing you do after booking your holiday with us. Your insurance needs to cover your general travel requirements plus your activities. In light of a pandemic or Covid-19 it’s also important to choose a travel insurance policy which covers you for a wide breadth of eventualities. COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of a comprehensive travel insurance policy. If you, or any member of your party, are diagnosed with COVID or affected by a pandemic whilst you are on holiday then you need to be satisfied that your insurance policy will cover any medical costs incurred including testing, self-isolation and treatment. We would suggest choosing a policy which would allow you to claim for any elements of the holiday you were not able to take part in.