Summer Cost Saver Glimpses of West USA Tour

ELIGIBILITY..

Persons fulfilling the criteria set by relevant provisions of law relating to foreign exchange in India and RBI Rules, whose passport is valid for at least six months subsequent to the date of departure of the tour and have been granted relevant visas to reach the point of commencement of the tour and travel throughout with the group are eligible to book on the tour.

BOOKING AMOUNT

At the time of booking you must be in possession of original passport(s) valid for travel. You are urged to read complete details of the tour, itinerary, price inclusions, exclusions, terms and conditions and the like in the brochure/Website before filling and signing the official Booking Form. On payment of the nonrefundable interest free booking amount mentioned on the Booking Form you will be issued an official receipt from us. The Booking Form, Invoice and the Receipt shall be binding on the parties and shall constitute a contract between the parties. The interest free non-refundable booking amount paid by you will be adjusted towards the cost of the tour. Please also refer to relevant section of booking conditions for rules of forfeiture of booking amount.

All payments for the tour including booking amount should be made in favour of ‘SOTC Travel Limited’ when you book at SOTC Holiday World Outlets, Franchisee outlets, ASO or PSA. If you book through your own travel agent you remit just the booking amount through the Travel Agent and pay the balance amount directly to and in the name of SOTC Travel Limited

Payment Procedure Minimum Per Person Payment to be made by the client

*For Air tickets being issued / blocked on time limit: Full INR component to be collected before issuance,else price will be subject to change.

*For Air tickets being issued / blocked on time limit: Full INR component to be collected before issuance,else price will be subject to change.

INVOICE & BALANCE PAYMENT

Your invoice will mention the due date for payment of the balance tour cost including the foreign exchange component of the tour. Your travel documents and airline tickets can be released only after receipt of full and final payment including the foreign exchange component of the tour cost. Delay in adhering to the final date advised to you for full payment would result in the cancellation of your seat on the Tour and levy of Cancellation Charges. Hence the balance payment has to reach us as per the schedule mentioned in your Invoice or at least 45 days prior to departure of your tour whichever is earlier.

SECURE YOUR BOOKING AMOUNT

You can secure your non-refundable booking amount by a paying a nominal fee of Rs. 1,500 per person. In the unlikely event of you cancelling the tour 31 days prior to the departure this scheme protects your booking amount based on the respective destinations against cancellation charges. This scheme does not cover your booking amount if the cancellation is done under 31 days prior to the departure. Secure your Booking amount scheme covers you for the following events only and documentary proof may be required by company to refund your booking amount.

•      Death in the immediate family (your parents, spouse and child/children)

•      Major accident to self or immediate family member (your parents, spouse and child/children)

•      Major Sickness to you where travel is not permitted under medical advice

•      Acts of God like Tsumani and the like

•      Terrorist Activities like 9/11

•      Any Travel barred guidelines to the destination country by WHO like SARS

•      Any Political Turbulence in the destination country. Kindly note that visa rejection by Consulates/Embassy/Authorities is not covered under the scheme.

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

It is your responsibility to hold valid travel documents such as Passport, Visa & confirmed Air ticket to be able to travel. Your passport should be valid for a period of at least 6 months from the date of travel & for Visa it is convenient & safe to have the application/s to Consulates /Embassy/ Authorities routed through us. However, for certain visas including the visas for USA and UK, you may be required to attend personal interview at your expense at the discretion of the consulate concerned.

Please check with the outlet where you book if there is sufficient time to process the visa for the departure date chosen by you. 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. 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. 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 therefrom. Further the company should 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. In such case we will make our best efforts to trace the lost documents and if still the same are not traceable we will assist you in obtaining alternative / certified copies of the thus lost documents from concerned authorities. 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 no refund of visa service charges in respect of visa rejections.

INTERNAL AIR TICKETS

It is mandatory to have the internal air tickets for travel within USA issued through SOTC to avails group transfers. For any additional sectors issued over & above the tour itinerary, a service charge of Rs. 2,500 per person is applicable.

URGENT VISA FEES

All your documents for processing your visas must reach us 31 days prior to your departure date. Failure to do so would attract an Urgent Visa Fees of Rs. 1,500 per person. The same is also applicable for all fresh bookings done within 31 days of departure. However, payment of Urgent Visa fee does not guarantee issuance of Visa.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

It is highly recommended and extremely important for you to be in possession of valid Overseas Travel Insurance for the duration of your tour to secure your life, health and property as may be advised by your insurance agent to cover any eventualities associated with your overseas travel including health, accidental injury, loss, liability and the like depending on your assessment of your risk potential. Insurance if any, included in the tour price may be the standard travel care insurance policy provided by a third party insurance service provider and the scope of the cover may be limited in nature, the details of which shall be provided to you at the time of confirmation of your booking. You are advised to discuss your insurance needs directly with your insurance agent before proceeding on the tour and at your own cost procure any additional cover as may be advised. Please note, Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation, please read the terms and conditions of the insurance document carefully before finalizing your desired insurance cover. Insurance coverage may be age related. Kindly get the complete details from the insurer. You will need to carry the insurance policy document with you on the tour. Please note that you would have a direct contractual relation with the insurer and the Company is only a facilitator. You shall therefore check the accuracy and correctness of the insurance policy and in case of any error or lapse report the same to the Insurer directly and get the same rectified by them, as the Company would not be responsible for the same.

BASIC TRAVEL QUOTA

As per the current guidelines of RBI, all residents holding Indian Passport are entitled to avail an amount not exceeding US$ 2, 50, 000 or its equivalent in one financial year for one or more private/leisure visits under the Basic Travel Quota (BTQ). However, the traveler cannot avail in excess of US $ 3,000 per visit or its equivalent in cash, except as specified in the exceptions provided by the RBI guidelines.

It is mandatory for you to avail the foreign exchange component of the tour cost from under your BTQ entitlement from an authorized dealer licensed to provide such services as per the guidelines issued by RBI from time to time. You shall pay the foreign exchange component of the total tour cost at the prevailing rate to the dealer along with signed BTQ form & A2 form. You can draw foreign exchange for your personal use on tour from the same authorized dealer from your balance BTQ entitlement. This is as per GOI rules & regulations. You may carry this partly in currency, partly in traveler cheques (TC) which are safer and easily encashed for a small service fee. They can also be replaced if they are stolen or lost, if you record TC numbers and retain counterfoil subject to the rules applicable.

AMENDMENTS

After the initial booking on a particular tour and relative services, in the event of any amendment you wish to make; such as change of destination, change of departure date, addition or deletion of services, change in passenger numbers or such other change you will need to make a written request and obtain an acknowledgment on the same from our sales officer. The amendments may invite further cost which will have to be borne by you. Further such requests are accepted by us subject to availability.

HANDOVER OF DOCUMENTS

After receipt of your full and final payment, you will be delivered our docket containing, Air Ticket, Travel insurance (if availed through us), Final invoice (Tour Confirmation Voucher) which lists services you are entitled to on the tour. You will be provided with a briefing sheet containing important / emergency contact details for your use. Ensure that you are carrying the above documents and your passport with all necessary visa endorsements before leaving on your tour.

AIRLINE TICKETS

Where you purchase your Air Tickets through us, the confirmations on airline and / or class of travel as requested (Economy/First/Business class etc) will be subject to availability of the same for the destinations chosen by you. Air tickets can only be delivered along with other documents provided we have received full payment including foreign currency component.

AIRLINE “CHANGE IN RESERVATION FEE”

It is absolutely necessary to have your return air seats to India confirmed prior to your departure from India. Passengers wishing to change their return reservations to India after departure will have to pay “Change in Reservation Fee” directly to the airline, subject to availability of seats in the same booking class.

TRAVELLING IN ADVANCE AND/OR RETURNING ON YOUR OWN

We are a Packaged Tour Company and hold airline seats as a group for passengers for the date of published departures from India and return reservations back to India after the tour. If you wish to travel in advance i.e. before the published departure date as mentioned in the brochure/Website or like to come back on date later than the date on which the tour ends, you are required to pay an “Airline Seat Rebooking & Reservation Fee” of Rs.10,000/- per person, per sector, per change depending on the airlines (subject to availability of seats in the same class & ticket validity). In case non-availability of seats in the same class you have booked, you are liable to pay differential cost in the class you are booked and the cost of higher class where seats are available. Further it will be your responsibility to reconfirm your return tickets at least 72 hours prior to departure time.

TRANSFER FROM ONE TOUR TO ANOTHER

Transfer from one tour to another 45 days prior to the departure will be treated as cancellation on that tour and a fresh booking on another. In these cases, Transfer Fee of Rs.10,000/- per person will apply.