Terms & Conditions
Please read these terms and conditions carefully before submitting your booking request. We strongly advise that you retain a copy of these terms and conditions as well as a copy of the booking form for future reference.
1) DEFINITIONS
- a) In these conditions all references to “we,” “us” and “our” refers to Mercurius Travel.
- b) The terms “you” and “your” refer to the person who enters into a Contract with Mercurius Travel for the provision of services.
- c) “Infant” means a person below the age of two years and “Child” refers to a person between the ages of 02-12 years.
- d) “Contractor” / “Supplier” means the supplier of any infrastructural facility and shall include hotel managements, airlines, caterers, restaurants, places of entertainment like theme parks, showrooms, museums, art galleries etc., shipping companies, railway, ferry, cruise, coach who are to provide the services to the client.
- e) Tour means trip, package, holiday, course, or otherwise inclusive arrangement booked by you.
- f) “Tour cost” means the price/cost of the tour mentioned in the booking form / brochures / online and other payments such as taxes, surcharges etc. payable by the client to the Company.
- g) “Brochure” means printed brochure, website, itinerary, leaflets, booklet and price grid.
- h) Written or in writing refers to any correspondence, either by mail or post, between you and Mercurius Travel or by notification on the relevant brochure.
2) BROCHURE / WEBSITE ACCURACY DISCLAIMER
- a) All the inputs in the brochure and website have been done with the available information at the time of publication. However, we are not responsible for any printing or typing mistakes.
- b) As the brochure may have been printed much earlier than your booking we reserve all the right to change any information from the brochure / website.
- c) We reserve the complete right to change any brochure / website information before or after your booking the tour, due to unavoidable circumstances. We therefore ask you to confirm the current information by contacting us.
- d) Some the itinerary routing may have changed; the products and services displayed may have changed. The photos of meals / sightseeing / properties etc. are for reference only and may differ from the actual. The distance between places and temperatures are approximate and can change depending on travel, road conditions and climatic changes.
- e) Hotels may have to be booked on the outskirts of the city, far from the central place.
3) CHANGES IN THE ITINERARY
- a) We reserve the right to alter, amend, change or modify the tour package and itineraries before or during the tour. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you promptly of such changes / events sufficiently in advance during booking or prior to departure of the tour. If such changes / events occur during the tour, our tour professional or local representative will inform you of the changes during the tour, and we solicit your full cooperation in accepting such circumstantial changes. Therefore, no grievance regarding any itinerary / service change which we are constrained to make will be entertained from the clients during or after the tour.
- b) Please note that promotional offers may have different terms and conditions which will be in addition to these terms and conditions and the requirements of the booking deposits, payments, deadlines and mode of payment may be defined in such promotions which will be over and above these terms and conditions.
- c) Changes may be necessitated due to factors beyond our control such as Force Majeure events, strikes, fairs, festivals, sports event, weather conditions, traffic problems, overbooking of hotels or flights, cancellation or rerouting of flights or railway, closure of / restricted entry at a place of sightseeing, etc. Generally, we try to avoid dates when big Fairs, Exhibitions, Olympics, etc. and other events are held in certain cities since hotels are fully booked several months ahead. If the group travels on such dates, you may have to stay in alternate hotels or hotels in other cities.
- d) Due to airline’s requirements the points of entry and exit in a country may change. We may operate more than one coach per departure date and might, for convenience, reverse the direction or amend the itinerary.
- e) Change in itinerary may also be required or necessitated on account of actions, inactions, defaults or condition of tour clients in the group.
- f) We shall not be liable to refund any amount, pay any compensation / damages on account of any change in itinerary. In case the alternate arrangements made are materially superior as compared to the ones described in the brochure, we may charge extra for the same at the time of booking or during the course of the tour.
4) BOOKING A TOUR
- a) Please read carefully and understand the contents of the Tour Brochure / website itinerary the ‘Terms and Conditions’, Price Grid and such other documents as may be applicable, as all these will form part of your contract with us.
- b) We may require you to sign the Booking form and such other documents as we may deem fit including (without limitation) the “Terms and Conditions,” rules and Price Grid.
- c) Upon executing the booking documents and on payment of the prescribed non-refundable interest-free booking amount, a binding contract shall come into existence.
- d) We advise you to ensure, before making a booking, that you have and/or you will be able to provide all the required valid and genuine documents and your professional qualifications to enable you to apply for visas, insurance, etc.
- e) In the event you are booking through us a tour or travel service of any third party operators, the terms and conditions of such third party operators, including their payment schedule, cancellation, refund etc. shall be applicable to you in addition to these Terms & Conditions.
- f) In case of one or more but not all tour clients named in the Booking Form sign the booking documents, it shall be deemed that the signatories have been duly authorized by all such tour clients to sign on their behalf assuming full responsibility and accordingly it shall be deemed that all such tour clients have signed the booking documents.
- g) Where clients are booking through a travel agent, if such travel agent signs the booking documents, it shall be deemed that such signature is for and on behalf of all the tour clients named in the booking form assuming full responsibility. It shall be deemed and construed that all such tour clients have duly authorized the said travel agent to sign the booking documents on their behalf.
- h) Please note that there is no contract between the Company and the tour clients until the booking documents are signed and received by us and the Company has also received the specified non-refundable, interest-free booking amount.
- i) The full payment must be received in accordance with the prescribed payment schedule. If not paid in accordance with said schedule, the Company reserves the right to cancel the booking with consequent forfeiture of booking amount and apply a scale of cancellation charges as mentioned in the brochure.
- j) Any payment that, you make to your Travel Agent would not constitute payment to the Company until the same is remitted to the account of the Company.
- k) The company shall not be responsible if the guests are unable to travel on tour booked by them because either they could not get their visa in time or due to an error on the part of the embassy / consulate, an incorrect visa is issued to them, then in such case the cancellation charges as mentioned in the clause of CANCELLATIONS will apply. Please note that for the purpose of ascertaining the applicable cancellation charges, the cancellation would be deemed to have been made on the date the company receives written intimation of visa rejection from the guest.
- i) Please note that guest other than bonafide booked guest, are not to be allowed on tour by any booked guest and they are not allowed to use any of the services of the tour.
5) CANCELLATIONS
- a) We reserve the right to revise or cancel the tour booked by you, without conveying any reason. Such revisions or cancellations may be due to circumstances beyond our control. In such cases, we will offer you alternative tour dates / tours, or you would have the option of traveling as individual travelers, not as part of the original group tour. If the alternative tour / date is not acceptable or you do not wish to travel as individual travelers, we would refund the money paid by you without interest after deducting any costs incurred by us on your behalf, within a period of 45 days from the date of revision or cancellation. However, we would not be responsible or liable to pay any reimbursement or damages or substantial loss or to refund any other expense incurred by you, if you cancel the booking.
- b) If you wish to cancel your booking, you must inform us in writing. Such notification shall be deemed to have been given to us only on the date of the receipt of your email / letter since we can act only on receipt. Any claims must however be made direct to your insurance company.
- c) The following cancellation charges shall apply irrespective of the reason for cancellation. You understand and acknowledge that these charges are a genuine pre-estimate of the damages that we suffer on account of cancellation. You understand that these damages are called liquidated damages in legal language, which are payable without proof of actual damages. You agree not to dispute such deductions or to demand proof of actual damages.
- i. After registration and up to 46 days or before departure the tour is under cancellation - booking deposit will be forfeited in case tour canceled.
- ii. 45 - 30 days or more prior to the departure of the tour – cancellation charges will be 50% of the tour cost.
- iii. 29- 22 days or more prior to the departure of the tour – cancellation charges will be 75% of the tour cost.
- iv. 21 days or less prior to the departure of the tour – 100% of the tour cost will be charged.
- v. ‘No-show’ on the tour – 100% of the tour cost will be applicable.
- d) In case of visa rejection, you would be deemed to have canceled on the date of intimation of such rejection. Please see our Visa Guidance section for further details.
- e) If you fail to pay the tour costs in time or if you commit any other default in relation to your booking, we may treat such failure or default as a cancellation of the booking by you. In such case, the cancellation charges shall be shall be computed with reference to the date on which we issue you a notice of cancellation.
- f) If on your failure of payment or other default, no cancellation is issued by us but your payment or default remains outstanding on the date of departure, the booking shall be deemed to have been canceled by you without any advance notice, inviting the highest cancellation charge. You expressly agree to abide by the foregoing terms and conditions.
- g) If you wish to amend or change your booking, you have to communicate your request to us in writing, such requests for change or amendment will be accepted subject to availability.
- Please note that:
- i. The altered or changed booking will be regarded as a new booking;
- ii. An alteration fee of INR 2,500 per person is payable in case of every alteration or change; and
- iii. In case the alteration is carried out within the cancellation period, then a cancellation charge will apply as if a cancellation was made on the date the request for alteration or change is made. Please note that the cancellation charges specified in the preceding section of Terms and Conditions shall apply.
- h) A request in writing for transfer from one tour to another 45 days prior to the departure shall be treated as cancellation on that tour and a fresh booking on another. In these cases, a transfer fee of INR 5000 per person will be applicable in addition to the costs for re-processing your visas, air tickets, hotels etc. due to the transfer to another tour. In case you transfer within the cancellation period, then the cancellation policy as per Terms and Conditions shall apply.
6) REFUND AND R.O.E.
- a) Refunds (if any) for changes and/or cancellations will be paid directly to you for bookings made directly with the company’s office. For bookings routed through our Preferred Sales Agent (PSA) or your Travel Agent (TA), the refund will be routed through them. It would take at least 30 working days to process refunds.
- b) Refund will not be payable for any unutilized or partially utilized services (e.g. Airline tickets, meals, entrance fees, optional tours, hotels, sightseeing’s etc.). The refund for the foreign exchange component of the tour will be refunded in INR only and will be at the current day’s rate of exchange of the Company.
- c) Third party refund i.e. airlines, cruise, overseas suppliers, etc. could take between 30-90 working days, provided relevant supporting documents are provided to the company.
- d) If a tour is canceled by the Company, then all monies will be refunded after taking into consideration the actual expenses incurred for Visas, other services etc.
7) OUR EXTENT OF SERVICES
- We are travel and holiday organizers only, Mercurius Travel works as an Agent between clients and various service providers. We inspect and select the services to be provided to you. However, we do not own, operate or control any airline, shipping company, coach or coach company, hotel, transport, restaurant, kitchen caravan or any other facility or provider, etc. that is engaged to provide you services during the course of your tour. Therefore, please carefully note that:
- i. you will need to adhere to the conditions, rules and regulations of each service provider;
- ii. if you cause any injury or damage affecting the service provider, then you may be liable to the service provider and if the service provider recovers any monies from us for such injuries or damages, we shall separately charge you for the same;
- iii. we cannot be held responsible / liable for any delay, deficiency, injury, death, loss or damage etc. occasioned due to act or default of such service providers, their employees or agents.
8) MEALS AND SPECIAL REQUESTS
- a) The menus are pre-set menus provided for meals on the tour. The types of meals are clearly indicated in the brochure. Unlike an airline, we cannot provide a special meal.
- b) We can not guarantee a special diet to the client, except to the extent mentioned in the brochure and preferred by you. We however reserve the right to change the meal arrangement if circumstances make it necessary to do so.
- c) In the event of whatsoever reason, the client misses any meal, breakfast offered to him by the company, then no claim can be made for the meal which has been missed and not utilized.
- d) Special requests for room allocation, diet consideration on tour / cruise / flight etc. must be made in writing at the time of booking, but all such requests shall be subject to availability. The Company will not be held responsible for claims of damages or loss if the Company is unable to process such requests due to unavailability.
9) ACCOMMODATION
- a) We select hotels which are convenient and comfortable, in order to reduce traveling time and based on sightseeing they may be located away from the city center.
- b) Also due to favorable conditions in Europe, most of the hotels do not have air conditioners or fans.
- c) All baggage and personal effects are at all times and under all circumstances your responsibility. We will not be responsible or liable in case of loss of such items from the hotel premises / coach / airport/ during travel or at sightseeing venue. Some hotels offer the facility of safe deposit lockers, which can be availed by you at your own cost and risk. The company will not be liable for any loss or theft from the same.
- d) Hotels in Europe / USA / Canada / South America have some of the modern facilities e.g. attached toilets with showers / bathtubs are provided and they may / may not have room service facilities.
- e) We cannot guarantee the availability of adjoining rooms, interconnecting rooms, non-smoking rooms or rooms on the same floor etc.
- f) Since the rooms are comparatively small, we would recommend only 2 persons in one room for your own comfort. Triple rooms are usually no larger than twin rooms and the third bed is often a rollaway cot put in a twin room for the duration of your stay.
- g) A double room has either a queen-sized bed or two separate single beds. If you request for a room with a queen-size bed, the same would be provided subject to availability as most of the hotel rooms in Europe are twin-bedded. In case of non-availability of a room with a queen size bed, a room with a twin bed shall be given.
- h) The hotels will either be those shown in the itinerary or of the same category. Due to trade fairs, conventions or sports events in the cities the hotels may be sold out for the corresponding dates more than 02 years in advance. In view of this you may have to stay in hotels further away from the cities and itineraries may have to be altered or amended.
- i) Facilities like the mini-bar, pay-per-view television channels, laundry service, telephone etc. are not complimentary and these facilities, if used by the client, have to be paid for directly by the client directly to the hotel and such charges are not included in the tour cost. The client will have to abide by the check-in and check-out times of the hotel.
- j) Any damages caused to the hotel rooms / coach / restaurant / sightseeing venue etc. during your tour shall be borne and payable by you, and the company will not be accountable for the same.
- k) The Company is not accountable if there is sudden disruption of telephone, internet services and other amenities while staying at the hotels. The Company will also not be responsible for the facilities provided or not provided in the room / bathroom / hotel premises etc. by the hotel or its staff.
- l) Actions of the hotel staff does not come under the direct purview of the company and the company will not be responsible for the same.
10) VISAS
- a) Please check with the Sales Staff if there is sufficient time to process the visa for the departure date chosen by you.
- b) You will be required to submit along with your application a set of documents as mentioned in the documentation checklist given to you at the time of booking.
- c) The company would not be responsible in any way for any clerical error regarding names, attachment of wrong photographs, duration, type of visa (single / multiple entry) that may occur in the consulate / embassy.
- d) Please note that as it is, entirely at the discretion of the concerned Consulates / Embassy / Authorities to grant / reject your visa and immigration clearance. We shall neither be responsible for non-granting of visa nor liable for any delay, denial or other related act/omission or for any loss, expense, damage or cost resulting to their decision.
- e) Further the company shall not be held liable in case of loss of documents given by you to us in support of your visa application as the same are forwarded by us to the concerned consulate / embassy through third parties.
- f) In such case we will take our best efforts to trace the lost documents and if still the same are not traceable we will not be responsible in any manner for the same.
- g) The cost of processing these visas may or may not be included in your tour price. If you already possess the said visa/s or are doing visa/s on your own, the Company’s visa service charge will still be applicable, while only actual visa/s cost will be refunded. Further there will be no refund of visa service charges in respect of visa rejection.
11) COACH AND SEATING
- a) We generally take air-conditioned / air cooled coaches. At times due to weather extremity the air conditioner may not work or may not be very effective. We are not responsible for any malfunction / defect in the coach or even the behavior of the coach captain.
- b) As far as seating is concerned it will be on rotation basis for which our tour professionals will assist you.
- c) Some of the coaches may have the facility of an onboard washroom, which may only be utilized in extreme / emergency conditions only.
- d) The Company will not be responsible in any way for lost valuables left behind in the coaches.
- e) The coach drivers are bound by restrictions regarding maximum driving hours per day and per week, and the itineraries are planned according to that. It is necessary that you should follow the timings / itineraries / schedules to make sure that all the services entitled will be provided. If due to any reason the same gets interrupted there will be no responsibility from our side and shall not be liable for any kind of refund.
- f) Please note that smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages and snacks is strictly prohibited on coaches.
- g) Damage to the coach in any form from you is payable to the bus company.
12) AIRLINES
- a) In any situation we are not liable to you or any person for loss of baggage by the airline, failure to provide meal of your choice by the airline, denied boarding despite having confirmed tickets, quality of meals offered by the airlines, flight delay, change in flight schedule / routing or you miss the flight etc.
- b) If in the event that the client is booked on a particular Airline on a particular date and due to certain reasons beyond the control of us, the client is not allowed to board the flight, the client shall not hold us responsible for the same and no claim whatsoever can be made by the client against us.
- c) Airport taxes / Airport Development Fee as applicable to be paid over & above the Tour Cost should there be a rise post the printing of the brochure. All the booking / cancellation / change of the airline ticket and the travel on such airline ticket will be subject to the terms and conditions of respective Airlines and the same may be provided to the client by us upon request, if available.
- d) Every airline has their own set of rules and regulations about the weight restrictions and they keep on changing this regularly. So you are requested to please check the updated baggage rules of the individual airlines. Please check with our sales staff for correct details.
- e) We are not liable, in any way, if you are unable to carry any baggage or if you have to pay any extra-charges due to restrictions imposed by the airline. You shall be liable to pay all such charges directly to the airline. Also, we are not liable for any loss or damage to baggage while it is in the custody of the airline.
- f) It may be possible you are booked on a group fare ticket, please note that seat allotment will be made only when you physically report at the airport check-in counter. You are advised to report at the airport check-in counter at least 3 to 4 hours prior to the departure time. Seat allocation is a matter of airlines discretion and availability of seats is not in the control of Mercurius Travel. So we shall not be held responsible if you do not get seats together or do not get your preferred seats.
- g) In case you are returning on a later date after the tour ends, the responsibility / liability to re-confirm air tickets 72 hours prior to the departure would be solely yours.
13) DEVIATIONS
- a) If you wish to travel in advance i.e., before the published departure date as mentioned in the brochure or like to come back on a later date after the tour ends, there will be an additional charge i.e. Deviation charges and Fare Difference as applicable (subject to availability of seats for the given dates & ticket validity) which will be advised to you by your sales staff /travel agent. Kindly note, the deviation will be actioned only 30 days prior to departure date.
- b) The request for deviations should be given in writing to the company at the time of booking as these requests are subject to availability and we are not holding seats for the same.
14) PAYMENTS
- a) All payments towards the tour cost must be made by the client to the company in accordance with the procedure and time frame mentioned herein below. All payments made within 15 days prior to the tour departure date will have to be paid in Cash/Demand Draft.
- b) The PAN Card copy will be required when payments amounting INR 25,000/- or above are made by cash.
- c) Payments made towards the foreign exchange component of your tour will be calculated as per the ROE (rate of exchange) of that given day. The foreign exchange component of the tour cost entitled under one’s Basic Travel Quota (BTQ) is mandatory to be availed from the Company. The client is required to pay the total tour cost component in Indian Rupees by way of a demand draft in favor of the Company / Bank. The pre-printed Basic Travel Quota Form has to be duly signed & completed by the client and submitted for request of requisite Foreign Exchange. The Company would forward the said form to the Authorized Dealer / Full Fledged Money Changer to release the amount of required foreign exchange to the Company for the cost of the tour as a part of the Basic Travel Quota of the Client. As per the prevailing guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, all residents holding Indian passports are entitled to avail a maximum amount of USD 10,000 or its equivalent per person in one calendar year for one or more private / leisure visits under the Basic Travel Quota. All individual travelers holding an Indian Passport are entitled to avail a maximum amount of USD 25,000 or its equivalent per visit while traveling on business. In both the above cases the traveler cannot avail in excess of USD 2,000 or its equivalent by way of cash component.
- d) Full payment must made be in accordance with the procedure as mentioned below. In case of non-compliance thereto by the client, the company reserves a right to cancel the tour / booking of the client with subsequent loss of deposit and apply and recover the cancellation charges as mentioned herein.
- e) Payment Procedure: Minimum per person payment to be made by the client:
- i. 60 days or more, prior to the date of departure Booking Deposit / INR 50,000/- per pax.
- ii. 59 - 45 days prior to the departure of the Tour, 50% of the Total Tour Cost.
- iii. 44 - 30 days or less prior to departure of the Tour, 100% of the Tour cost.
- f) GST as applicable on the amount paid needs to be collected while taking the second installment.
- g) Rate of exchange will be calculated on the date of final 100% payment collection for Foreign exchange component.
15) HEALTH AND INSURANCE
