1. Definitions
In these conditions of contract:
"Portman" means Portman Travel Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Acts (Registered Number 00620104) and having its Registered Office at:- Royal London House, 22-25 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1DX and/or its subsidiaries and/or its associated companies and/or its authorised agents appointed in writing by Portman.
"Customer" means any person, firm or company with whom Portman contracts for the provision of Travel Arrangement Services by Portman.
References to “you”, “your” etc, are references to the Customer, authorised representatives of the Customer or those for whom travel is requested by the Customer.
"Passenger" means any Passenger in respect of whose travel Portman provides the Travel Arrangement Services on the instructions of the Customer.
"Travel Arrangement Services" means Portman's services in recommending, booking and/or otherwise arranging, negotiating and reporting of the supply of travel by air, land or sea, accommodation, car hire, travel insurance or other related travel services by Third Party Suppliers to the Customer.
"Third Party Suppliers" means any third parties who supply any travel by air, land or sea, accommodation, car hire, travel insurance or other related travel services to the Customer.
"Materials" means all or any expertise, business systems, documentation, programs and all other Materials owned by or available to Portman and which existed before the Project was commenced.
"Project" means the establishment of an on-line booking system for a Customer with such functionality (or the making of amendments to any existing such system) as are agreed in the order by both parties.
"Work Product" means any articles, apparatus, Materials, items, data, goods, software, hardware, system, supplies, equipment or any other Materials Portman provides to the Customer in relation to the Project.
"Consolidator Ticket" means any Travel Arrangement Service arranged on behalf of the Customer by Portman with a Third Party Supplier on a wholesale basis, or as agent, at a rate below the published rate.
"Corporate Net Ticket" means any Travel Arrangement Service arranged on behalf of the Customer by Portman with a Third Party Supplier on a wholesale basis, or as agent, at a rate agreed in advance between the Customer and a Third Party Supplier.
"Wholesale Ticket" means any Travel Arrangement Service arranged on behalf of the Customer by Portman with a Third Party Supplier on a wholesale basis at a rate available to the general public.
"Published Price Ticket" means any Travel Arrangement Service arranged on behalfof the Customer by Portman with a Third Party Supplier as agent at a rate available to the general public.
"Booking Channel" means the method by which the Customer communicates to Portman its requirement for Portman to supply the Travel Arrangement Services (e.g."Offline" means by personal visit, telephone call, letter, fax, and/or e-mail, "Online"means by making the booking on Portman’s online booking system).
"Booking Fee" means the fee levied by Portman to the Customer for supplying the Travel Arrangement Service and any ticketing/confirmation (which for the avoidance of doubt is in addition to the amount quoted or charged to the Customer by Portman on behalf of itself or the relevant Third Party Supplier in respect of the underlying travel, accommodation or other services supplied).
"Management Fee" means any fee levied by Portman to the Customer for services such as alternative fare quotes, local and/or international account management, management information including any Electronic Data, credit account, management of credit/charge cards systems, travel policy advice, travel policy management, Customer internal spend authority management, volume pricing negotiation and/or monitoring, electronic quality control, best buy fare guarantee, delayed ticketing option, etc.
"Payment Method" means the method that the Customer uses to pay Portman (E.g.Credit Card, Charge Card, Credit Account, etc.).
2. General
a) The conditions shall be deemed to be incorporated into all contracts made by Portman with the Customer to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions and all work undertaken by Portman shall be deemed to be carried out on the terms of these conditions unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by Portman.
b) Portman shall provide such Travel Arrangement Services to the Customer as may be requested by the Customer from time to time. In the absence of any express written instructions to the contrary, Portman may accept (and the Customer shall be bound by) any requests made by any employee, agent or other representative of the Customer.
c) By making a booking, the Customer is entering into a legally binding contract with the relevant Third Party Supplier in respect of the goods and/or services to be provided by such Third Party Supplier and which is subject to the terms and conditions of that Third Party Supplier (copies of which are available to the Customer on request). For the avoidance of doubt, Portman shall not be responsible for any default or failure in any supply by any Third Party Supplier or for any loss, claim, cost, damage or injury incurred by the Customer or any Passenger (directly or indirectly) as a result thereof. Portman is not a fiduciary of the Customer and does not assume any fiduciary duties to the Customer. The Customer will choose whether or not to accept a price quoted by Portman for any Travel Arrangement Services based on its satisfaction with the amount quoted for such Travel Arrangement Services.
d) No Passenger or any other third party will have any rights against Portman, whether pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.
e) Buy Smart - 30 minute Price Guarantee
Portman believes that the prices sourced on the Customers behalf are amongst the keenest in the market. So if the Customer can find a better offer for the same * Travel Arrangement Service within 30 minutes after having accepted the Portman quote for your journey, Portman will refund the price difference.
The following conditions apply:
Offer excludes normal Portman administration fees, Booking Fees and/or Management Fees.
*Same Travel Arrangement Services means an exact like-for-like customer requirement, including Booking Channel and Payment Method.
Evidence of alternative price to be submitted by email within 30 minutes to 30minuteguarantee@Portmantravel.com quoting Portman booking reference
"Accepted the Portman quote"’ means booking confirmed and committed/ticketed by Portman.
This offer may be amended or withdrawn at any time in which case the remainder of the Portman standard terms and conditions still apply.
f) Subject to prior agreement Portman can arrange for pre payment by credit card of hotel and other Travel Arrangement Services. The Customer accepts that subsequent delays in receiving supporting documentation from Third Party Suppliers may result in delays by Portman in billing. Any delay does not change the obligation to Portman. Portman will charge a service fee at the rate of 1.5% per month on all overdue sums until paid.
3. Payment
a) Portman shall contract with the Third Party Suppliers on behalf of the Customer and the Customer shall pay to Portman on demand all costs, fees, taxes etc invoiced by Portman to the Customer in respect of items contracted with the Third Party Suppliers.
b) If credit account facilities have been made available by Portman to the Customer then all sums due by the Customer to Portman shall be payable as set out in paragraph 3(d) below. Portman reserves the right to decline credit account facilities or to withdraw such facilities. Should no such credit account facilities be made available by Portman to the Customer or should these facilities be at any time withdrawn then Portman reserves the right to request an advance payment from the Customer in respect of all contracts to be entered into on behalf of the Customer.
c) Upon the withdrawal of credit account facilities all monies owing to Portman will become immediately payable.
d) Payment by the Customer of monies outstanding upon credit accounts is due as cleared funds on the 15th day of the month following the date of the invoices, excluding invoices for foreign currency or travellers cheques which are due for payment by the Customer upon receipt of the invoice.
e) Portman confirms that it does pass information with respect to the Customer account to a third party for credit reference purposes in the course of financing its business and the Customer consents to this.
f) The Customer shall pay Portman’s current administration fee (details on request) in respect of any Consolidator tickets and/or Corporate Net Tickets and/or Wholesale Ticket plus any credit card merchant fees or other like fees incurred by Portman in addition to any Booking Fee and/or Management Fee.
g) The Customer shall pay Portman’s current delivery fee (details on request) in respect of any items that are physically delivered to the Customer by Portman.
e) Portman reserves the right to charge an administration fee for amendments or cancellations of any bookings, including where no additional documentation is required, if deemed by Portman to be excessive.
f) The Customer is responsible for the accuracy of all data supplied to Portman. In the event that such information is found to be incorrect additional costs may apply to correct such data. More details on request.
g) Travel Arrangement Services not ticketed/committed to by the Customer at the time of booking may incur a higher fee. Until the booking is confirmed and committed to by the Customer the price cannot be guaranteed and is subject to change. In addition the Travel Arrangement Services may be subject to cancellation by the Third Party Supplier without prior notice. It is important to note that some Third Party Suppliers may apply a charge for Travel Arrangement Services not cancelled in advance of the departure date.
h) All calls may be silently monitored and recorded for training and quality purposes.
i) Where payment for Travel Arrangement Services is made using a Portman Travel credit card the Customer indemnifies Portman Travel from any misuse of the card by any current or past employee. An additional charge per transaction may apply when such a card is used. In making such bookings Portman Travel acts as an intermediary on behalf of the Customer and for the avoidance of doubt, Portman shall not be responsible for any default or failure in any supply by any third party or for any loss, claim, cost, damage or injury incurred by the Customer or any Passenger (directly or indirectly) as a result thereof.
4. Refunds
a) Credit notes or refunds (if any) for Travel Arrangement Services not used may only be issued upon the return of the relevant documentation relating to the travel service concerned and are subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant Third Party Supplier. Failure to return the said documentation will imply an acceptance of the invoice for the travel services and payment will become due as per the standard payment terms set out in Clause 3 above.
b) In the event that any cancellation or refund requires the consent of or calculation by the relevant Third Party Supplier then the account issued shall remain due and payable in terms of Clause 3 above and any sum refunded by the Third Party Supplier shall only be credited to the Customer's account on receipt of same by Portman from the Third Party Supplier.
c) Documents for Refund must be sent to Portman by registered mail.
d) Without prejudice to the generality of Clauses 4(a) and 4(b) above, the Customer acknowledges and agrees that:
e) Any credit notes or refunds in respect of rail travel services can only be issued provided the relevant documentation is returned within one month of date of the issue of the said documentation (or on any other terms relating to the ticket issued in respect of the rail services in question); and
f) Not all tickets may be refunded or altered and that any refunds made may be liable to any fees, which Portman and/or the Third Party Supplier may from time to time levy.
g) If the Customer is unsure as to the cancellation and/or refund provisions of any particular ticket or the charges levied then clarification should be sought from Portman at the time of booking.
h) Portman operates an e- ticket refund tracking service on behalf of all clients, on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, terms and conditions apply.
5. Late Payments
In the event that any sums due by the Customer to Portman are not paid when due then, without prejudice to any other remedies of Portman, Portman may at any time:
a) Suspend all or part of the provision of Travel Arrangement Services to the Customer; and/or
b) Charge a service fee at the rate of 1.5% per month on all overdue sums until paid; and/or
c) Cancel (without any liability to the Customer or to any Passenger) any bookings made on behalf of the Customer, with any cancellation fees incurred as a result thereof being for the account of the Customer.
6. Liability
a) In the event of a claim by the Customer or by any Passenger in respect of the supply of the Travel Arrangement Services or any other liability whatsoever for which Portman is responsible in law, Portman's maximum liability is in any event restricted to the lesser of (i) the total amount paid to Portman by way of fees for the supply of the Travel Arrangement Services concerned by the claimant and (ii) any additional expenses incurred by the claimant.
b) Subject to Clause 6(a) above, Portman shall incur no liability whatsoever to the Customer or any Passenger in respect of any direct, indirect or consequential losses (howsoever incurred).
c) The Customer acknowledges and agrees that it is reasonable and prudent for the Customer (and/or any Passenger) to put in place a policy of insurance in respect of any loss, claim, cost, damage or injury incurred in connection with the Travel Arrangement Services or any travel resulting therefrom. Portman shall use all reasonable endeavours to assist the Customer and/or the Passenger in obtaining such a policy of insurance from an insurer on the express request of the Customer and on payment of the appropriate premium. The Customer agrees to make each and every Passenger aware of the provisions of this Clause 6.
d) Nothing in these terms and conditions limits Portman's liability in respect of death or personal injury where such liability cannot by law be excluded.
7. Waiver
In the event that Portman should at any time expressly or by implication waive any of its rights contained herein such waiver shall not be deemed to prejudice in any way the enforcement of such rights by Portman on any subsequent occasion.
8. Variation
Portman reserves the right to vary the terms of these Standard Conditions at any time; such variation shall take effect immediately and will be available to view online.
9. VAT
VAT will be charged where applicable at the rate in force on the date of supply.
10. Data Protection
Each party shall ensure that it complies fully with the requirements of Data Protection Legislation and the Customer shall ensure that any communication of personal employee data to Portman and the Third Party Suppliers has been properly authorised by the employee concerned. The Customer acknowledges that Portman may store the Customer's and employee's data outside of the European Economic Area, and consent is hereby granted to this. The Customer consents to Portman sharing data with those suppliers who hold reservations you have made and beyond this details will only be disclosed if a legal requirement.
A copy of personal information, which we hold, about you and the people for whom you make travel arrangements can be requested by you or them at any time.
11. Confidentiality
Each party undertakes to the other to keep confidential all information (written, oral, or in electronic form) concerning the business, business systems, methodologies, and affairs of the other that it shall have obtained or received as a result of engagement in the Project.
12. Affiliations
IATA
All Portman ticketing locations are licensed by IATA (International Air Transport Association) to issue scheduled airline tickets. To be licensed by IATA an agency must satisfy strict security, financial and training requirements.
For further information see http://www.iata.org/about/index
ATOL
The Civil Aviation Authority grants an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers License) to companies selling packaged air travel arrangements in the UK. An ATOL license provides consumer protection against supplier failure.
Our ATOL number is 3312
For further information see www.atol.org.uk
ABTA
Portman are members of ABTA giving the reassurance the company is financially sound and stable.
For further information see www.abta.com/benefits.html
RADIUS
Portman is a founding member of RADIUS the global travel company. For more details see: www.radiustravel.com
GTMC
Portman are members of the Guild of Travel Management Companies. For more details see: www.gtmc.org
13. Jurisdiction and Governing Law
These terms and conditions, any supply of the Travel Arrangement Services to the Customer and/or the Passenger and any contracts between Portman and the Customer shall be governed by the law of England and shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the English Courts, without prejudice to the right of Portman to seek recovery of any sums due from the Customer before any court of competent jurisdiction.
If Trading Online with Portman Travel the following Supplementary Terms and Conditions apply.
The following terms and conditions constitute additional terms to the the agreement between Portman Travel Limited (“Portman”) and the Customer (“the Customer”) (“this Agreement”).
1. Projections and Completion
Portman makes any written order or oral statements or opinions about a Project and any result of the Project in good faith but Portman cannot guarantee their fulfilment. Portman makes no representations, undertakings or warranties about any results achievable by or consequences of the Project.
Portman will make all reasonable efforts to meet any date or time frames set out in the order but such dates and timeframes will constitute estimates only and Portman will not be liable for any delay or failure in meeting them.
2. Portman’s Commitment
Portman undertakes to use all reasonable efforts to perform the Project in accordance with good industry practice. This is subject to the Customer performing its obligations and providing Portman with the information required in accordance with the agreed timetable.
3. Payment in respect of Project
In consideration of Portman’s performance of the Project, the Customer agrees to pay the charges agreed separately and quoted initially in respect of online bookings. These charges are valid for three months from the date of the order. If the Project has not commenced in this time Portman reserves the right to revise the charges. In addition, the Customer agrees to reimburse Portman for its reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred in connection with performance of the Project.
Unless otherwise agreed the charges are estimates and do not constitute an offer to perform the Project for a fixed price.
The charges are exclusive of VAT and other sales taxes or duties, which will be paid by the Customer in the manner and at the rates from time to time prescribed by law.
4. Warranties
Portman warrants that the Project will be performed with reasonable care and skill. In relation to any Work Product which is manufactured or licensed by a third party the Customer shall be entitled to the benefits of the applicable third party warranty but Portman have no liability or responsibility itself.
5. Use of the sites
The websites are operated by or on behalf of Portman
Your use of the online site, and any travel arrangements made using the site will be subject to these terms and conditions.
Portman reserves the right to deactivate any site that has experienced no trading for three continuous months.
This agreement makes the assumption that approval has been sought and obtained from the appropriate department to allow web access to the Portman systems utilised and that use will not be inhibited by company firewall or other security measures.
6. Copyright
The content of the site (except where otherwise stated) is copyright © Portman. This includes, but is not limited to any text, scripts, images or graphics used on the site. You may print or download the content of this site for you own personal use only but all such prints and/or downloads should acknowledge that the material is copyright © Portman Travel Limited where appropriate.
The distribution or copying of the content of the site or any part of the site for any commercial purpose is specifically prohibited other than with the express written consent of Portman. A written licence for commercial distribution or copying may be obtained on request on such terms and at such costs as we may determine.
Any trademark, service mark or other intellectual property contained in or relating to this site, including but not limited to the online service mark, are, unless otherwise explicitly stated, the property of Portman. The use of such trade marks; service marks or other intellectual property by users or viewers of this site is strictly forbidden.
7. Security
The site has taken reasonable steps to put security measures in place to protect your data. Our server uses SSL (secure sockets layer) data encryption to help keep your data secure. Personal information entered is encoded before it is sent to us, protecting it as it is transferred over the Internet.
8. Privacy
Information on you and the people for whom you make travel arrangements and details of any such travel arrangements is collected and held by or on behalf of Portman. This information is used by Portman to help make your travel reservations and for related purposes. We may also use this information for marketing purposes.
This information will not be used by Portman for any other purposes. It will only be passed on to those suppliers who hold reservations that you have made and, beyond this, will only be disclosed by Portman where we are legally required to do so.
9. Hyperlinks
This site may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by other parties. These links are suggested for information only and our inclusion of hyperlinks to such websites does not imply any endorsement of views, statements or information contained in such websites. Care is advised when visiting any external sites linked from this Site. Portman accepts no liability for any information contained on any external site. If you consider that the content of any external site linked from this site is illegal, immoral or offensive please advise Portman by sending e-mail to info@livewire.co.uk.
You should remember that when you link to another site, the terms of use of the external linked site will apply and not the terms of use of this Site.
10. Booking terms and conditions
By making a booking using our online systems, you are entering into a legally binding contract with the relevant Third Party Supplier. That contract is governed by, and you will be subject to, the terms and conditions of that Third Party Supplier (copies of which are available to you on request). For the avoidance of doubt, Portman is not a party to that contract and shall not be responsible for any default or failure in any supply or any defects in performance by any Third Party Supplier, or for any loss, claim, cost, damage or injury incurred by you (directly or indirectly) as a result thereof. A fee applies to every booking made through the system.
You are solely responsible for inputting the details of the travel services, which are to be arranged and have sole responsibility for ensuring that the details of those services are correct and meet your requirements. Portman shall not be liable for any errors, which you make when inputting the details of the travel services to be arranged.
11. Ticketing
Tickets will be issued immediately a booking is made unless alternative arrangements, which may carry a supplement, have been made. Portman will issue e-tickets wherever possible. Where an e-ticket or ticketless travel is not available a ticket on departure will be arranged. Certain airlines do charge an extra fee for tickets on departure.
Reservations will be held and documents issued by Portman from our Fulfilment Centre at Suite 7, Level 8, East Kilbride, G74 1LW.
12. Prices
Prices cannot be guaranteed until full payment has been received and tickets have been issued. Prior to this all prices are subject to change without notice. Our prices are based on a minimum number of bookings being achieved per month or additional charges will apply. Details will be given in advance of the site being built.
All prices are stated exclusive of any VAT, taxes, duties, levies, service charges or fees of whatever nature except where expressly indicated to the contrary.
13. Cancellation charges
Any Travel Arrangement Services booked by you will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Third Party Supplier service provider. Some providers may charge a fee for cancellations or changes to Travel Arrangement Services and some providers may not issue any refunds for cancelled or altered arrangements. Portman has no control or influence over such matters.
Please make sure you are booking the correct ticket type, as you will be responsible for charges imposed by suppliers for cancelling or changing these tickets after booking. You should make yourself aware of the Third Party Supplier’s terms and conditions prior to booking.
14. Changes and refunds
In the event that you do have to cancel or alter your travel arrangements, changes and cancellations can be done online. If you have any queries on refunds please call the helpline.
15. Billing
Payment will be by credit card or, by prior arrangement only, against a credit account subject to a credit limit to be determined at Portman’s sole discretion. For credit card transactions, in the event that charges to the card are subsequently rejected you will ensure that we receive payment on demand of all monies outstanding plus an administration fee calculated as 1.5% per month of the value of the transaction.
16. Training
For all sites various types of charged for training is available and details of costs will be provided and must be agreed prior to training taking place. Charges for training are invoiced separately by the Portman online training department, to a single account, is not subject to discount and cannot be included in Management Fees.
17. Modifications
Changes to the system prompted by a Customer will incur charges. A formal application should be submitted using the appropriate form and charges as well as details of the time required to complete the work and carry out testing will be supplied and must be agreed in advance.
18. Exclusion of Warranty
Portman takes, and will continue to take, reasonable steps to ensure that the information displayed on and provided by the site is accurate. However we cannot guarantee the accuracy of site content.
The information, which we display, has been made available to us by Third Party Suppliers and, whilst we will use reasonable endeavours to deal only with reputable Third Party Suppliers, errors may occur from time to time. Also, in seeking to provide the best coverage for our Customers, Portman connects to the most common travel databases, such as general distribution systems. Some providers however do not maintain real time availability in these databases and so a booking may be cancelled by the provider following the initial arrangement.
Portman make no warranty of any kind regarding this site and/or any materials provided on this site, all of which are provided on an “as is” basis. Portman do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, currency or reliability of any of the content or data found on this site.
19. Limitation of Liability
Portman shall not be liable for any loss or damage which may arise from reliance on information, material or data contained on the site, or from your inability to access the site, except where the loss or damage arises directly as a result of our negligence in which case our liability to you shall be limited to the lesser of the total amount paid to Portman in respect of that transaction by you or any additional expenses incurred by you.
20. Indemnification
You agree to fully indemnify Portman from and against any and all liability, claims, losses, damages, injuries and expenses (including legal fees) which we incur as a result of any action brought by or on behalf of a Third Party Supplier arising (whether directly or indirectly) from your use of the site.