TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The booking terms and conditions (T&C) of Helanka Vacations (PVT) Ltd (hereafter referred to as “we”, “us” and “our”) are detailed in this document. All the services provided by us to you are subject to the below T&C which are required by the law at all times. By making a booking with us you are agreeing to those T&Cs. In the event of a contradiction between the T&Cs mentioned here, on our itineraries and travel documents, or those posted on the websites of Helanka Vacations, the latter shall prevail.
BOOKING & PAYMENT
All bookings are handled by our team of Travel Advisors/ Tour Executives by email, whatsApp, or via our websites. Bookings are finalized only upon full payment and receipt of the travelers’ details. Final payments are due 30 days prior to the arrival so that we may secure your reservations and make all arrangements for your trip. If booked less than 30 days from the arrival, payments need to be made upon receipt of the invoice. Bookings are finalized only upon full payment and receipt of the travelers’ details. There will be no binding contract for your holiday until Helanka Vacations has received payment.
Payments can be made by a bank transfer to the bank account mentioned in the invoice or by credit card (Visa/ Master Card) via our bank’s online payment portal.
PLEASE NOTE: Hotel reservations are confirmed only by making an advance payment to the hotel. We can pre-book your hotel at each destination till you make the payment ONLY if we are not in the cancellation period. If the booking is within the cancellation period, we require the full payment to proceed with the reservations.
CHANGES TO THE BOOKINGS & CANCELLATION POLICY
Changes to bookings can incur charges. These charges can be up to 100% of the cost of the booking, regardless of whether your trip has commenced. We will return all recoverable costs for cancellations whenever possible.
You may cancel your booking by notifying your travel insurance company and us in writing, explaining the reason for the cancellation. Any cancellation fees will be calculated according to the date of receipt of the written advice of the cancellation of your booking. Please read your travel insurance policy carefully and contact your insurance to find out about the conditions and level of coverage you are entitled to as well as documentation required to obtain full reimbursement of your trip by the insurance. Helanka Vacations will provide all relevant documents whenever required by your insurance.
Cancellation fees for all confirmed bookings where a Booking Confirmation has been issued and a deposit received by Helanka Vacations are detailed below:
- If cancellation is received between 30 to 21 days prior to arrival: 25% of the Trip value will be retained by Helanka Vacations.
- If cancellation is received between 20 to 14 Days prior to arrival: 50% of the Trip value will be retained by Helanka Vacations.
- If cancellation is received less than 14 days prior to arrival: 100% of the Trip value will be retained by Helanka Vacations.
- No show: 100% of the Trip value will be retained by Helanka Vacations.
- You will be advised of any hotels that have a cancellation policy of over 30 days, at the time of booking.
During peak season cancellation one month before the tour starts may incur the cost of up to 100% of the package. Exact dates, details will be advised at the time of booking.
Please notify Helanka Vacations of any changes regarding your travel plans in writing as early as possible. Most hotels, airlines, and suppliers charge a 100% cancellation fee for changes.
Exceptionally, and provided you have given sufficient notice to Helanka Vacations you find yourself unable to travel, transfer of your booking to another person and full payment of additional costs arising from that transfer by the client, if any, will be considered.
Generally, it should be noted that all travel documents issued are non- transferable. Such documents may include but are not limited to, airline tickets, hotel vouchers, tour vouchers, or any other document used to confirm an arrangement with a service provider. Such documents may also be subject to conditions such as, but not limited to, being non-refundable, non-date-changeable and subject to cancellation or amendment fees.
For a partial cancellation (valid for fixed departure group itineraries). If one or more participants registered on the same trip cancel their participation in a tour that will still be maintained for the remaining participants, the cancellation fees mentioned above will be calculated on a prorate basis and subject to the cancellation policy.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
When making a booking, you will be asked to provide certain information about each traveler including full legal name, gender, date of birth, and passport information to provide the services purchased. We require the mobile numbers and email addresses of all the travelers so we may reach each one of you in case of a last-minute itinerary change or an emergency.
Passports and Visas
All travelers listed on the Participant Information form must have a valid passport and relevant visas. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have valid travel documentation, including but not limited to passports and visas, which meet the requirements of immigration and other government authorities at every destination. Please refer to your nearest Sri Lankan Consulate for more information regarding visa requirements. If your itinerary includes travel to any other country besides Sri Lanka, please check on visa requirements for each country that you will visit. All passports require at least 6 months of validity. Any fines, penalties, payments or expenditures incurred as a result of such documents not meeting the requirements of the authorities will be your sole responsibility.
Health
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of any health requirements for your travel destinations and to ensure that you carry all necessary vaccination documentation.
INSURANCE & LIABILITY
Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend that you subscribe to a personal travel insurance policy covering cancellation, postponement, disruption, and repatriation clauses as well as good medical coverage to be protected against most eventualities. cover for the above-mentioned risks. Helanka Vacations does not constitute a substitute for travel insurance. You are required to provide your travel insurance details and mention them in the Participant Information form at the time of booking. As per our QHSSE procedure, we also request that you provide emergency contact details and make sure you have a copy of your travel insurance policy with you at all times. You are responsible for lodging any claims to your travel insurance policy (our guides and local staff will assist you if required).
Liability: Under circumstances where liability cannot be excluded, liability is limited to the value of the purchased travel arrangements. We do not accept any liability in contract, tort or otherwise for any injury, damage, loss, delay, additional expense or inconvenience caused directly or indirectly by force majeure or any other event which is beyond our control or which is not preventable by reasonable diligence on our part. In particular, but without limitation to these conditions, we accept no responsibility for any loss, damage or injury you suffer as a result of terrorism, war (including civil-war), coup, riot, civil disturbance or any type of criminal act. It is your responsibility to inform yourself about the safety and security situation in the places you are travelling to.
Helanka Vacations does not accept any liability of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort or otherwise in the following circumstances:
a.Loss or flight tickets or other vouchers or travel documents by the traveler,
b.for the acts, omissions or default, whether negligent or otherwise, of any service provider, over whom we have no direct control
c.Invalid or inadequate Travel Insurance, identification, passport, visa or vaccinations.
d.Any loss, damage or injury you suffer as a result of unforeseeable and insurmountable incidents or events including but not limited to: terrorism, war (including civil-war), coup, riot, civil disturbance or any type of criminal act, strikes external to Helanka Vacations, technical or administrative failures external to Helanka Vacations, obstruction of airspace, bankruptcy of a supplier or partner of Helanka Vacations, bad weather, natural disaster, delays, including delays in postal services in the case of sending replacement plane tickets, passports etc, breakdowns, loss of luggage or other personal effects or misconnection of flights or other modes of transport. Any delays or necessary changes to an itinerary due to the above mentioned causes will be at the expense of the traveler. Helanka Vacations will not provide any compensation or refunds in such situations. Possible additional expenses related to any of the situations mentioned above including but not limited to taxes, hotel, car park fees or replacement and /or reissue of travel documents will remain the responsibility of the traveler.
e.Helanka Vacations reserves the right to change the dates, schedules or routes of itineraries, or cancel bookings to ensure the safety of the travelers and/or at the injunction of an administrative authority, as necessitated by unforeseeable and insurmountable incidents or events as mentioned above. In this case HVPL will calculate the unused portion of travel and deduct cancellation fees. The remaining amount will be held in credit for future use by the participant. If the credit is not enough to cover any new travel bookings, the difference will be paid by the participant.
Your refusal to pay any reasonable adjustments to the price of your itinerary will be regarded as a cancellation of your booking.
PRIVACY
We assure you that the personal information provided by our travelers (clients) will be strictly confidential and we will take all reasonable precautions to protect such information from reaching any third party.
We will not use or disclose its travelers (clients) personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected for without the travelers (clients) explicit consent or as required by law. Customer information is retained for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected.
Exclusions: Confidential Information does not include information that is or becomes generally known by the public through no action by the traveler or anyone else bound by obligations of confidentiality with respect thereto or becomes available from an independent source that is not bound by obligations of confidentiality with respect thereto
PRICE REVISION
The price of your holiday will not be subject to surcharges except in the following cases:
- Unforeseen, unavoidable fuel increases that may affect transport costs
- Exchange rates fluctuation.
- Government tax and entry ticket increase.
Helanka Vacations will absorb any increase equal to up to 2% of your holiday price without price modification or surcharge for the client. If the increase exceeds 2% a surcharge will be applied to your holiday package and a revised invoice will be sent to you. You may decide to cancel your booking within 14 days of the date of receipt of the revised Invoice and obtain a refund following the cancellation policy.
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS DETAILS
When designing and quoting your trip schedule, we may not have the complete specifics of your overseas flights. If you fail to provide your flight details and agree to the itinerary, the subsequent changes that will be required will be at your full expense.
AGENT
Helanka Vacations acts as a travel agent only and is a mere intermediary between you and the service providers. We sell various travel related products on behalf of numerous transport and accommodation service providers, such as airlines, coach/rail and cruise line operators. We have no responsibility for these services, nor do we have authority to make any warranty or representation regarding their standard. All bookings are subject to the T&C and limitations of liability imposed by these service providers. Where a third party or other Tour Operator is used, their Terms and Conditions supersede the ones set out in this contract and the client is bound by those.