Terms and Conditions

Booking, deposits, payments in full

To safeguard flight and safari holiday bookings you will need to confirm in writing (letter, fax. email) the verbal agreements we have made with you and payments when asked to do so.

If the bookings by then have become unavailable we will notify you and deposits for that portion of the safari holiday will be returned. Our written confirmation, together with agreed itinerary, quote and brochures and your written confirmation become a a binding contract between us which is governed by English law, with English courts taking precedence. Future correspondence will be sent to the signatory of the booking correspondence, unless you request otherwise.

Air tickets have to be paid when ordered to secure seats on the chosen flights at the stated price. The safari holiday is normally paid for eight weeks before departure. If the full price for either is not paid within the stated price we reserve the right to treat this as a cancellation and apply cancellations charges (see page 2)

If you confirm your booking in writing more than eight weeks before departure 50 percent of the full safari price must accompany the booking and the balance must be received by us eight weeks before departure. If you confirm your booking in writing less than eight weeks before you leave the full safari price is required when you book.

If the full price is not paid within the period specified by us at the time, we reserve the right to treat this as a cancellation and cancellations charges (see below) will apply.

Reservations

For some camps and lodges only bookings made several months in advance will secure reservations. Often, bookings have to be made by us before we are able to offer clients firm prices. Reservation fees paid in advance following client instructions are non-refundable deposits. They are part payments and accepted by us as an intent by clients to take the service or product at a later date and to pay the remainder of the full price of the service or product when known.

Our obligation is to organise a reservation in accordance with your instructions. If unforeseen circumstances mean the reservation has to be altered in any way we will do our utmost to comply with your wishes but we cannot be held responsible if these efforts prove fruitless.

Travel Insurance

In every instance we must have documentary evidence that you have insurance cover for cancellation, curtailment, medical expenses, loss of personal luggage and emergency evacuation before we can accept deposits or bookings.

Cancellations and alterations

Cancellations must be made in writing by letter or fax by the person who made the booking and must state specifically what is being cancelled. They will be effective from the day we receive them. We have to make a charge for cancellations to cover our costs and those of operators downstream of us. Cancellation charges are:

Received 57 or more days before departure 40% of full safari price

Received 15 to 56 days before departure 80% of full safari price

Received 14 or less days before departure 100% of full safari price

Cancellations charges apply to individuals. Cancellations may result in unavoidable alterations to arrangements for the remainder of the party. It is a condition of booking with King & King that clients accept that client cancellations or alterations may give rise to price and itinerary changes, including the need to charge single room supplements and other charges.

If a booking has to be cancelled because of illness, death of a close relative, jury service or unexpected employer’s requirements it may be transferred to another person who must accept in writing the previously booked arrangements. Once accepted the price and any increase in price must be paid in the time stipulated. This facility attracts one alteration fee of £50. Both parties will be held responsible for payment until payment is made.

Cancellations and alterations after bookings have been accepted

Clients may seek to alter an itinerary after it and the price have been fixed or seek to transfer a booking to another person or group. King & King will always try to accommodate such client wishes, conditional on clients accepting that these changes may attract supplementary fees, over some of which we will have no control.

If we are forced to cancel a holiday, or parts of it, we will spare no effort to make alternative arrangements to match the original but you retain your right to accept or reject the new arrangements. If you accept them you accept the new price and any increase must be paid in the time stipulated. If the price is reduced we will refund that portion of the fee or reduce balances accordingly.

Refunds and force majeure

When force majeure (see page 5) results in cancellation or curtailment of a safari holiday we may not be able to make alternative arrangements in a timespan to suit you. In those circumstances we cannot be held responsible not held liable for any resulting inconvenience. Notwithstanding which, we will always try to meet client wishes, whatever the circumstances.

Prices and price increases

Prices quoted in our written confirmation of your booking are fixed and will not be increased except where surcharges occur without warning in the following: transportation and/or fuel cost increases, local embarkation/disembarkation tax increases, local sales tax increases, exchange rate fluctuations, all of which may alter the price of service or product yet to be supplied before or after payment.

King & King will absorb up to 2% increases of the safari holiday price, excluding insurance premiums and amendment/alteration charges.

Surcharges above 2% will be passed on and we will notify clients in writing which element of the safari holiday will be affected, and by how much and what the resulting price increase will be, backed by a supplementary invoice.

Surcharges which increase the overall price of safari holidays by more than 10% may be considered a significant alteration. In these circumstances clients are entitled to cancel safari holidays and obtain a full refund - excluding insurance premiums and amendment/alteration charges.

King & King liability

In accordance with travel regulations we accept our obligation to provide the safari holiday you have chosen, whether we or others supply the services chosen. Our liability is subject to exceptions when failure to provide the agreed services is attributable to unforeseen or unavoidable default by third parties; when unforeseen or unavoidable events intervene, when failure to provide the product or service is due to the action of clients or in the event of force majeure.

Registering complaints

While we always try to ensure your safari holiday destinations meets our exacting standards, individual management may fail on a given day. Complaints should always be registered with management of camp, lodge, hotel, travel operator, bus or taxi company, vehicle hire company or airline at the time. If the problem is not resolved satisfactorily please address your complaint at once to our ground handling agent nominated for that holiday. Their details are always given in your safari holiday notes and final working itinerary. It is important to register with us a serious complaint within 30 days of your return home, otherwise your legal rights may be prejudiced.

Minimum numbers

If a safari holiday is dependent on a minimum number of participants who have not materialised King & King reserves the right to cancel the safari holiday and refund all sums paid.

Client responsibilities

Immigration, customs and health advice is provided before departure but it is the client’s responsibility to ensure that passports do not expire until six months after return to the UK, and to arrive at travel departure destinations in good time, and to check travel documents. Adding an hour to the estimated time it takes to reach international airports is a good habit and gives everyone peace of mind.

Similarly, it is the individual's responsibility to obtain required documents, including
visas, act prudently at all times and to comply with safety and health requests made by guides and operators.

Post departure alterations

Major alterations to your safari holiday rarely occur once you begin your safari holiday. If this does happen we will do all we can to make suitable alternative arrangements, without extra cost to you, and have you informed as soon as possible. Should the altered arrangements result in accommodation, tours, or other specifics substantially inferior to those booked, King & King will make a cash refund for the amount of the difference.

Goodwill and client protection

By placing your business with us you trust King & King to deliver the service or product you ordered. The best of intentions will not afford you with protection, however, in the unlikely event of our insolvency or that of operators who provide us with their products. Airline booking protection is provided by the ATOL system. Whoever King & King negotiates with on clients' behalf for air tickets has to be an ATOL holder and the details of that ATOL holder are made available to clients. Payments are made to an ATOL holder or direct with the airlines. Payments for the safari holiday itself are held in separate customer accounts until the money is required to pay our own representatives in Africa or operators providing a relevant service.

Force Majeure

In these terms and conditions, force majeure means war or the threat of war, terrorist activity or the threat of terrorist activity, civil strife, industrial disputes, natural disasters and bad weather which could not be avoided in the prevailing circumstances but which affect technical and mechanical maintenance of aircraft, safety and security of people and places included in the safari holiday itinerary.