1.General
Below you will find the general conditions for participation in organized excursions from the general tourism office “Explosivo Travel Agency” (hereinafter “office”) based in Thessaloniki, at 115 Tsimiski Street and Registration Number EOT 09.33.E.60.00.00635.01. By participating in any organized excursion of our office you accept the terms of participation.
2.Contractual obligations of the travel agency
Our travel agency is committed to offering you the various services that are part of your trip, making every effort to better process and implement its programs more consistently. Our travel agency is the intermediary between the supplier and the buyer of the tourist product that is the journey, while our product consists precisely in the services we provide at this stage and until the completion of the trip. The buyer of the tourist product is the customer while suppliers are airlines, hotels, shipping companies, travel agencies, shipping companies etc. Although our travel agency is trying to adhere to our package travel schedule in firmly, by designing it in detail some time in advance, there is the possibility of modifying it, for reasons due to the fact of the third party (suppliers), who may not meet their obligations and on which our office does not have direct control. Our travel agency is committed to making every effort to address any problems that may arise in order to make the planned trip. However, we reserve the right to amend the predefined program only and if necessary. Most of these changes are of minor importance. If there is a change of great importance (airline change, change of hotel-accommodation of the same category, etc.) we are committed to contacting you directly. Our office is not responsible for irregularities in the travel schedule, which are not due to its own fault, such as accidents, losses, theft or damage to luggage and things, delays of any kind or other adverse situations due to exceptional circumstances or force majeure. All our organized trips, except in the cases listed in the program as “vacation” or “hotel only”, are accompanied by an experienced partner of our office, who coordinates the details of the program so that the program can be executed correctly. The head-escort of our office has the right to amend the program only when appropriate and in order to improve your journey or if the conditions so require. Our travel agency in application of P.D. 339/1996 has been insured for the risks of professional-civil liability related to the performance of the travel contract and the repatriation of travelers in the event of bankruptcy.
3.Implementation of the travel schedule
Before the departure of the trip, in case of substantial modification of the schedule, change of itinerary, limitation of duration, change of hotel category, variation of participation price, the traveler may cancel his participation and the money he has paid, without any other claim on his part. However, if he accepts the modification and participates in the trip, he is not entitled to claim compensation for this reason from our office. In the event of an increase in the price due to an exchange difference, an increase in airport taxes, an increase in visas and port fees, it is not justified to cancel the participation without withholding cancellation fees. Any change in the time of departure of the air excursions due to a change of flights, from morning to noon or afternoon and vice versa as well as a change of the time of boarding on the bus or boat as part of a road – ferry trip, is not considered a change of the Program. During the excursion, the head-escort of our office has the right to make substantial modifications if an emergency or force majeure is to be dealt with (weather conditions, declaration or threat of war, revolutions, policies turbulence, strikes, extremist actions, technical circuits of air traffic, closure of airports, cancellations of routes, etc.), all exceptional costs for the use of another more costly means shall be borne by travelers, if they are it was obvious that it was impossible to predict them. Therefore, if for some of the above reasons of force majeure, the journey in its development is interrupted, our office makes every effort to refund the service that was not provided (hotels, transfers). On multi-day road trips, the organizer issues a change of seat card for each traveler, which is given on departure. Changing positions is mandatory.
4.Hotels – Airlines
The hotels in which travelers reside have been selected by our office (or the organizer) with the criteria of quality, cost and location, i.e. they can be simple and affordable or luxurious and expensive. The category of hotels mentioned is in line with the classification of the local Tourism Organization. However, since there is no single internationally accepted criterion for classification, it makes sense for different hotels to differ even if they belong to the same category. In the event of a hotel cancelling our reservation for the customer, not complying with its obligations to our office, and we are forced to change the reservation to a smaller-class hotel, we undertake to refund you the difference that the two values. Hotels deliver rooms at 14:00 and remain at guests’ disposal until 12:00 on the day of departure. Hotel rooms are double and it is recommended to avoid triple rooms, which are generally double with the addition of a third additional bed. For single rooms there is a charge on the price of participation in the excursion, which is obliged to be borne by the traveler.
Air travel is made with economy class tickets and is based on group fares that require a certain minimum number of participants and are subject to accommodation and stopover restrictions. Airlines may modify the schedules on which the departures of the excursions are determined without any prior notice. Under no circumstances can our office (or the organizer) be imposed on the airline to limit any stopovers and waiting times for connections. The responsibilities of airlines are regulated by the Warsaw Treaty.
5.Contractual obligations of travelers
Each traveler is responsible for obtaining the travel documents (passport, visa) necessary for his/her travel. If you do not manage to have the correct documents and are ultimately denied entry to the country you are visiting, our office is not responsible. In this case we reserve the right to ask you for the costs you ending the trip. Our office, however, intends to assist you in securing these documents, but is not responsible for any delay or inability to issue them. Each traveler is responsible for the purchase, declaration and genuine ness of the declaration of his tourist currency.
In order for the registration to participate in an organized excursion to be valid, the required deposit must be paid. The minimum deposit for the participation is 40% of the value of the trip. The balance of the trip’s value is paid 10 days before departure, otherwise our office reserves the right to cancel the reservation, without any obligation to compensate the traveler. If you sign up for a package less than 10 days before departure, then you must pay the full value of the trip at the time of booking.
Each traveler is responsible for their timely arrival at the departure of the excursion and the gatherings for the various events during the excursion. In case of delay, the head-escort of our office is entitled to leave with the other tour operators, performing the program, resulting in the delayed runner, the loss of the excursion, travel or other service without compensation.
Every traveler can have a suitcase and a hand luggage and is responsible for taking care of their own luggage as long as they are not secured by our travel agency. On air travel the weight of the baggage may not exceed 20 kg, any overweight shall be borne by the traveler himself with the appropriate amount set by the airline. In the event that your booking was made by your travel agent, you must follow all procedures set by our office with these terms of participation. Any information given to you by your travel agent and not related to our travel data, is the responsibility of the agent and our office is not responsible for not being properly informed about your trip.
6.Cancellation of participation by the client
Our travel agency for the making of the trip, is committed to its partners with whom it enters into agreements (hotels, airlines, ferry companies, travel agencies), which it must compensate in partial or total cancellation. Management costs are also created during the booking for our office. For this reason our office is obliged to withhold the following amounts in case the customer cancels his participation: a) cancellation of participation up to 22 days before departure the deposit is refunded, except for the amount of 30€ per person for management costs of the office, b) cancellation of participation from 22-11 days prior to departure entails withholding of the deposit (40% of the total value of the excursion), c) cancellation of participation from 10 days prior to departure until the day of departure (non show) implies withholding the total value of the excursion. The customer has the right to assign his seat up to 5 working days prior to the departure of a road trip and up to 10 working days before the departure of an air trip. In the case of charter flights and regardless of the time before departure, it entails withholding the total value of the excursion.
In the event that a stricter special cancellation policy is provided (e.g. special conditions of air, ultra-high hotel season), this takes precedence over the above. In case of group bookings different cancellation conditions apply and there will be the corresponding update. Our office has the right to claim the cancellation money of the excursion by any legal means.
7.Cancellation of an excursion from the office
Our office reserves the right to cancel any excursion if there are reasons that impose it, such as insufficient participation, safety reasons, and for any reason deemed appropriate. If the trip is finally cancelled, the customer has the following alternatives: a) another trip provided that in the event that a more expensive selling price applies, the difference will be borne by the customer, b) a full refund. Our office (or the organizer) has no other obligation to compensate other than the above.
8.Dealing with complaints
It is possible during the trip to have complaints, omissions or problems in the execution of the program. The traveler has an obligation to immediately inform the representative of our office in order to resolve the problem as soon as possible in the best way possible. Failure to notify our representative and make ex post complaints is a practice that is not permitted by the relevant legislation. Any complaints that were not met during the trip must be made in writing to the office within one week of the date of return. The submission of complaints and opinions in any other way (e.g. social media) and beyond the aforementioned time limit is not acceptable in accordance with the relevant legislation. The above-mentioned relevant legislation is the Greek and competent courts determine the courts of the seat of our office in Thessaloniki.
9.Acceptance of terms of participation
We ask travelers to read the above-mentioned terms of participation carefully before proceeding with their registration on our scheduled trips.