General Terms and Conditions

These General Terms and Conditions govern the use of services provided to you by Mcube Limited (“Mcube”) and they will prevail in the event of any conflict or inconsistency with any other communications, including advertising or promotional materials, with the exception of the Reservation Form that you will need to sign. If you disagree with any part of these General Terms and Conditions, you may not use Mcube’s services in any way.

By mean of the Contractual Terms and Conditions present in the Reservation From, Mcube will notify you, before confirming your booking or purchase, of any amendments and/or supplements required to these General Terms and Conditions to reflect the cancellation and payment policies for the specific travel arrangements proposed and the terms of engagement with any suppliers.

1. Reservations

Reservations can be made by telephone or email to our office or to our appointed Mcube travel agent and will be confirmed the same day whenever possible. A reservation is not deemed to have been made until it is confirmed by a Mcube staff, sales representative or associated agent. Same day reservations must be paid the same day. Reservations cannot be accepted for the same day if payment cannot be made that day.

2. Airlines and other transports

The carriage of passengers and their baggage is subject to provisions of the Warsaw convention (as amended if applicable), national legislation and the carriers conditions of carriage. Please note that airlines have their own rules and regulations with regard to e-ticketing. We cannot be held responsible for non-compliance with these regulations and strongly recommend that you check these details with your airline in advance of travel.

When specifically requested by the customer, the booking of international flight tickets for UK residents will be made and confirmed by ATOL holding travel agencies which Mcube collaborates with. ATOL is a UK financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority that ensures that customers who booked and contracted with the ATOL holder for an air holiday package or a flight, do not lose the money paid over or are not stranded abroad.

Mcube or its suppliers in the region are not responsible for the consequences of any delays or changes in schedules of airlines, trains, or other public transport.

3. Passport and visa requirements

The traveller is responsible for having proper travel documents, such as a valid passport with at least one completely blank visa page and expiry date at least six months after the exit from the country visited, the proper visas and, where applicable, the necessary passport pictures.

Visa requirements for travellers holding an ordinary British or EU-countries passport for each of the applicable countries where Mcube sells its tours are fully specified in the standard itinerary and personalised proposal documents that will be made available to you at our associated travel agents or directly by an Mcube representative.

4. Health requirements and formalities

The traveller is responsible for having proper health certificates and for fulfilling health formalities, if these are required.

The risks to health whilst travelling will vary between individuals and many issues need to be taken into account, e.g. activities abroad, length of stay and general health of the traveller. It is recommended that you consult with your General Practitioner, who will assess your specific health risks before recommending vaccines and/or anti-malarial tablets. This is also a good opportunity to discuss important travel health issues, including safe food and water, accidents, sun exposure and insect bites. Many of the problems experienced by travellers cannot be prevented by vaccinations and other preventive measures need to be taken. For further advise on recommended vaccinations and possible endemic diseases, please visit: http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations.aspx. We also advise that all travellers are fully insured for medical emergencies including repatriation for medical causes.

5. Price validity

All prices quoted are on a net basis and are valid for the length of time specified in the standard itinerary and/or personalised proposal. If no date is specified, this means that the prices shown are valid 30 days from the date of the proposal. Mcube warrants that the prices are correct at the time of issuance of the standard itinerary and/or personalised proposal and/or invoice but are subject to change without prior notice in case of variations in transports costs (including fuel cost), rights or taxes on some services and currency fluctuation. If the price increases overall by more than 10%, the traveller has the right to withdraw at no penalty from the contract by notifying Mcube in writing within 2 business days of receiving notice of the increase. Notwithstanding the above terms, no price increase may be made in respect of variations that would produce an increase of less than 2% of the total invoiced price and anyway within 30 days before departure.

6. Payments

For Free Individual Traveller (“FIT”) bookings, an advance payment of 30% of the total invoiced price is due upon reservation if this is made more than 30 days before departure.

For Group bookings (whereby a group is defined as a party consisting of at least five clients), an advance payment of 30% of the total invoiced price is due upon reservation if this is made more than 60 days before departure and a further advance payment of a further 20% is due a minimum of 60 days before departure (or a total advance payment of 50% of the total invoiced price is due upon reservation if this is made more than 30 days before departure but no more than 60 days before departure).

For both FIT and Group bookings, if the reservation is made less than 30 days before departure, the total payment will need to be made upon your acceptance of the itinerary. In case of advance payment, balance payment is due a minimum of 30 days prior to departure.

Failure to pay these amounts by the dates specified constitutes a breach of contract such as to give rise, on the part of Mcube, to the right to cancel the contract, except if otherwise agreed by the parties.

In case a minimum number of people is required for a travel arrangement, Mcube will provide this information in the standard itinerary or personalised proposal documents together with the deadline for informing the customer in the event of cancellation due to lack of minimum number of people.

7. Withdrawal, partial cancellation and amendments by the customer

Any total or partial cancellation and any amendment by the customer before or after departure should be made in writing to the address info@mcubetravel.com. Cancellation and amendment charges may be payable by the customer if a booking or other purchase is cancelled or amended by the customer after it has been confirmed. The feasibility of any amendment will be evaluated by Mcube and any charges communicated to the customer on a case-by-case basis.

The traveller may withdraw from the contract, without penalty, in the following instances:

• the price increases by more than 10%; 
• significant changes are made to one or more parts of the contract that is/are objectively fundamental to the enjoyment of the travel package as a whole and these are offered by Mcube after the contract has been concluded but prior to departure but are not accepted by the traveller.

In the cases listed above, the traveller has the right to either:

• make use of the alternate travel package of equivalent or superior quality, without being required to pay a supplement or receiving a refund of any difference in the price, provided that the alternative travel package costs no more than the original package; 
• make use of an alternate travel package of lower quality if Mcube is able to recover the difference in price from the service providers; 
• receive a refund of any sums already paid. The refund must be made within 7 business days of receipt of the request for a refund.

The traveller must notify Mcube of his decision (to accept the change or withdraw) no later than 2 business days of receiving notice of the increase or change. Failure to provide an express decision within such time period shall be treated as acceptance of Mcube’s proposed changes

In case the traveller withdraws from a FIT booking for reasons not contemplated in the above scenarios, the following cancellation charges will be applied by Mcube to the total travel arrangements invoiced price (any insurance premium or registration fee are excluded) and a refund made for the difference. Please note that these charges refer to the accommodation, ground transports and activities portion only and are additional to any other charges, which will be duly communicated to the client, applied by airlines (if applicable). These penalties also refer to the general case whereby a total cancellation is made by all travellers occupying a reserved room. The penalties shown here below might be subject to change in the standard itinerary or personalised proposal documents as required by the specific travel arrangements.

In case of Group bookings, these cancellation charges will be duly and clearly communicated in the standard itinerary or personalised proposal documents.

8. Cancellation and amendments by Mcube

Mcube may rightfully cancel the package and not compensate the customer if payments have not been made within the specified dates, by reason of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of Mcube itself, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or if the number of persons who agree to take it is less than the minimum number required as specified in the documentation.

Before departure, if Mcube needs to modify significantly the price (as per terms set in paragraph 5) or other items of the contract, it shall give immediate notice in writing to the customer, indicating the type of modification and price variations. If these amendments are not accepted, the customer may rightfully withdraw from the contract at no penalty and exercise his/her rights as specified in paragraph 7.

If after the departure Mcube is unable to provide for any reason, except for a reason imputable to the traveller, an essential part of the services covered in the contract, will provide alternative solutions at no extra cost to the customer and/or compensate the consumer for the difference of the services supplied and those not supplied. If it is not possible to make such arrangements or these are not accepted by the consumer, Mcube will, where appropriate, compensate the consumer and provide a means of transport at no extra cost for the return to the place of departure or at any other place agreed.

9. Transfer of booking

The traveller may substitute himself with another person for the purposes of carrying out the contract provided that:

• Mcube is notified in writing of the substitution and the information concerning the replacement traveller at least 4 business days prior to the date for the start of the trip; 
• the replacement traveller satisfies the specific requirements for the trip, especially any passport requirements, visas and health certificates; 
• the replacement traveller compensates Mcube for all additional costs caused by such substitution that shall be indicated prior to the substitution; 
• the original and the replacement traveller are jointly and severally liable for the payment of the balance of the price as well as the amounts indicated in the bullet point immediately above.

10. Obligation to provide assistance

Mcube must provide assistance to the traveller as required by the standard of professional care solely with regard to the obligations imposed on it by law or contract.

Mcube and the seller are exempt from their respective liabilities when the failure or imprecise performance of the contract is the fault of the traveller or is due to a third-party event of an unforeseeable or unavoidable nature, chance or Force Majeure. Force Majeure is defined as: 'Any circumstances beyond the reasonable control of a party which prevent or impede the due performance of services, including but not limited to war or hostilities; riot or civil commotion; epidemic; earthquake, flood or other natural disaster'.

11. Liability

Mcube will at all times adhere to the highest professional standards and will engage only with highly reliable third parties in providing your travel arrangements.

Mcube is liable for the improper performance of the obligations under the contract and for any damage caused to the traveller due to its total or partial failure to provide the contractually agreed services, whether provided by Mcube personally or by a third-party service provider, unless it is shown that the incident was the fault of the traveller (including actions undertaken autonomously by the traveller while the travel services are being provided), of a third-party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for or arose from events unrelated to the provision of the agreed services, from chance events, from Force Majeure or from events that Mcube itself could not, using professional care, have reasonably foreseen or resolved.

In case the customer is delayed at the outward point of departure, if this causes no extra cost to Mcube, we and our service providers will make the best effort to provide the contractually agreed services, but cannot in any way be held liable for the interruption of the contractually agreed services or extra charges. In case the customer is delayed at the homeward point of departure, for example in case of late arrival at the airport for the international flight back home, Mcube will take full responsibility of any cost that may arise unless the delay has been caused by Force Majeure, by an airline, train or other public transport or by the customer himself/herself.

12. Limitation on compensation

Compensation for damages to persons shall not in any case exceed the limits established in the international conventions to which UK and other European Union countries are parties with regard to breach of services for which a travel organiser is liable.

13. Arrangements for the security of money paid and repatriation in case of insolvency

Mcube will ensure that the equivalent of all monies paid over by a consumer in contemplation of a contract for a relevant package are held in the UK by a person as trustee for the consumer until the contract has been fully performed or any sum of money paid by the consumer in respect of the contract has been repaid to him or has been forfeited on cancellation by the consumer. In the event of insolvency of Mcube, the monies held in trust by the trustee shall be applied to meet the claims of consumers who are creditors of Mcube of contracts for packages in respect of which the arrangements were established and which have not been fully performed. In the event of insolvency, Mcube will also ensure the traveller’s repatriation by mean of fully pre-paying all contracted services, including airlines and ground transportation, before the departure date.

14. Insurance policies

The traveller, at his/her own discretion and independently from Mcube, may take out insurance policies to cover the cost of cancellation by the traveller himself/herself, the cost of delayed or faulty baggage handling or the cost of assistance, including repatriation, in the event of accident or illness. Mcube will clearly inform the client on a case-by-case basis if we believe that for a specific travel arrangement some or all of the above insurances should be taken out.

15. Claims and complaints

The traveller must immediately notify Mcube, its local representative or tour leader of any failure to perform under the contract so that the failure may be timely remedied. The traveller must, upon penalty of forfeiture, also lodge a complaint by sending an e-mail to Mcube no later than 10 business days from the date of return to the point of departure. Mcube will make prompt efforts to find suitable solutions.

16. Data Protection

In making a reservation with Mcube, you consent to treatment of personal information such name, address, any special needs, disabilities, dietary or religious requirements, etc. In fact, in order to process your reservation and to ensure that your travel arrangements meet your requirements, we will need to use the information you provide and pass it on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies, etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law. We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information and we will not pass any information onto any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements. Please note that, where your holiday is outside the European Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protection at a local service provider may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. Your data controller is Mcube Ltd. You are entitled to a copy of your information held by us, please contact Mcube if you would like to see this.

17. Miscellaneous

Mcube Limited is a company registered in England. Its registered office is at 8C High Street, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 2DH, UK.

Our business and services offered are governed by the applicable laws of England and Wales. No warranties, promises and/or representations of any kind, express or implied, are given as to the suitability or otherwise of any services offered by us or on our behalf and to their compliance, or compliance of any information provided by us in our documentation, with any laws of any other country which do not, in any event, affect or apply to the same. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage of whatever nature (direct, indirect, consequential or other), which may arise as a result, directly or indirectly, from the use of any of the information or material supplied by Mcube. If any of these exclusions, in whole or part, is found to be unlawful, void or for any other reason unenforceable, that exclusion or part of it shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the other exclusion(s) or part(s) of the exclusion(s) in question.