Bolt Package Booking Terms and Conditions - Beta Product

Bolt Services UK Limited: Package Booking Terms and Conditions

Important Legal terms applicable to your booking

You can download an offline version of these Terms for your record and future reference here ↗.

Date when these Package Booking Terms were last updated: 6 June 2023.

This document (which is referred to as the "Package Booking Terms") and your booking confirmation together set out the terms applicable when you book a Package with us. By booking a Package with Bolt, you must agree to these Package Booking Terms. If you do not agree to these Package Booking Terms, please do not make a Package booking with Bolt.

Glossary:

“Bolt” means Bolt Services UK Limited (a limited company incorporated and registered in the United Kingdom with company number 11063356, having its registered office at Leather Market, Unit J, Taper Studios, 175 Long Lane, London, SE1 4GT).

"Bolt Parties" means Bolt, its group companies, licensors or its employees.

“Bolt Platform” means the platform through which you can request to buy the Services from Bolt.

“Package” shall be construed as defined in the Package Travel Regulations (Regulation 2(5)); in these Package Booking Terms the term describes when, during a single booking process, you have bought from us a transport and accommodation package together for the same trip (and paid for them together).

“Package Booking Terms” means these package booking terms setting out the special terms that apply when you purchase a Package from Bolt.

“Package Travel Regulations” means The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

“Services” means the services bought and resold to you by Bolt as principal via the Bolt Platform.

“Service Provider(s)” means Bolt Platform users who access the Bolt Platform to sell Services to Bolt, which excludes the Bolt Parties.

“Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances” means a situation beyond the control of the party who seeks to rely on such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include:

a. warfare and other serious security problems such as terrorism;

b. significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination; or

c. natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or extreme weather conditions where such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances make it impossible to travel safely to the destination.

“we”, “our” or “us” means Bolt.

“you” means the party entering into these Package Booking Terms with us.

1. Important legal terms applicable to your package

a. Please review these Package Booking Terms carefully. These Package Booking Terms, along with your booking confirmation and all other information on our website, set out the terms and conditions of the contract between you and Bolt. You will know if you have booked to buy a Package from with us as your transport and accommodation booking confirmation will confirm when your booking is a “Package”.

b. There are two other relevant sets of terms and conditions that apply when you purchase a Package from us:

i. The General Terms and Conditions for Passengers setting out the terms and conditions applying to and governing the usage of the Bolt Platform (see “Terms and Conditions for Passengers”). In the event of any conflict between the Terms and Conditions for Passengers and these Package Booking Terms, these Package Booking Terms will apply.

ii. The terms covering the accommodation part of your package (“Accommodation Booking Conditions”). In the event of any conflict between the Accommodation Booking Conditions and these Package Booking Terms, these Package Booking Terms will apply.

c. Because you have bought a Package from Bolt you will benefit from all the rights applying to Packages under the Package Travel Regulations. Bolt will be fully responsible for the proper performance of the Package as a whole. We have protection in place to refund your payments and, if applicable, to ensure your repatriation in the event that we become insolvent whilst you are abroad.

d. Note you will not always benefit from “Package” protection when you book transport or accommodation from us. Instead, the combination of transport and accommodation you purchase may be classified as a “Linked Travel Arrangement” (“LTA”). If you have bought a Linked Travel Arrangement, we will tell you. Please note LTAs offer less legal and financial protection than Packages. When you buy a LTA from us we will let you know what legal and financial protection comes with it at the time of purchase.

e. Bolt is acting as a tour operator in selling the Package which it buys in from the Services Providers. VAT will be charged by Bolt on the margin in accordance with the Tour Operator’s Margin Scheme.

2. Buying your package from us

a. All bookings for Packages are subject to availability at the time of booking. We will inform you as soon as possible after you place a booking if, for any reason, the Package you have sought to buy from us is no longer available. A Package booking will only come into existence between you and us when you have paid the price payable on booking and we have issued our booking confirmation to you.

b. If you have any special requests relating to your Package you must let us know during the booking process. We will try to accommodate reasonable special requests but we cannot guarantee that such requests will be met.

c. If you have a medical condition or a member of your party is a person of reduced mobility, please let us know before making a booking so we can ensure that the Package is suitable for you.

3. Changing your booking before departure

a. If you wish to make a change to your booking after we have issued our booking confirmation, please contact us. We do not have a legal obligation to make such changes but we may, at our sole discretion, try to accommodate your request. Please understand that it is often not possible for us to do so as changes may depend on availability of transport and accommodation and the Terms and Conditions of Passengers as well as the Accommodation Booking Conditions. Costs of changes tend to increase the closer to the departure date that the change is made. Please refer to Bolt’s Terms and Conditions for Passengers.

b. You may transfer your Package to another person (a “name change”) subject to you paying any fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer and provided that person satisfies all of the conditions applicable to the package. In order to take advantage of this possibility, you must contact Bolt’s Customer Support team (see “How to get in touch with Bolt’s Customer Support team”). You will need to give us reasonable notice of this change so that we can make the necessary arrangements. We consider 7 days or more before the day on which the package starts to be reasonable.

4. Cancelling your booking

a. As we may have incurred costs in relation to a cancelled booking (including, without limitation, charges which are imposed on us for your transport or accommodation), you will be charged a cancellation fee per person which reflects the losses and costs which we incur in cancelling the booking as follows (please ask if you would like to understand how these charges are calculated):

(i) If you cancel more than 24 hours after booking, we will charge you a cancellation charge equal to 50% of the price of the Package, less any cost savings or recoveries from the transport and/or the accommodation.

(ii) If you cancel less than 24 hours after booking, we will charge you a cancellation charge equal to the price of the Package less any Bolt charge on the cancelled Service (see Bolt’s Terms and Conditions of Passengers) and less any cost savings or recoveries from the transport and/or the accommodation.]

b. In addition to the cancellation right set out above, you will have the right to cancel your booking before the start of the Package without paying any cancellation charge in the event of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances occurring at the place of destination or in its immediate vicinity (and we have confirmed that such circumstances will significantly affect your trip or that they will significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination). If you cancel in these circumstances, we will give a full refund of any payments made in relation to the booking but you will not be entitled to any sort of compensation for damages for the cancelled trip.

c. We shall provide you with any refund of payments made under the booking, less any cancellation charges due to us, as soon as we can and in any event within 14 days of cancellation.

d. All cancellation charges which are calculated by reference to our losses and costs will include our irrecoverable VAT

5. When we make a change to your booking

a. From time to time we may need to make a change to your Package. We reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes are likely to be minor changes, however, occasionally we have to notify customers of a significant change that we are constrained to make to the main characteristics of the Package, or where we cannot fulfil any special requirements which we have accepted.

b. In the unlikely event that we have to make a significant change to your Package, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible. You will then have the option to:

i. Accept the proposed change. If this results in a Package of lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with paragraph 7 below;

ii. reject the proposed change and terminate your Package with a full refund; or

iii. reject the proposed change, terminate your Package and take an alternative one if we decide to offer this.

If you decide to take an alternative Package, we will inform you of the impact on the price of your booking. We will give you a reasonable period of time to make your decision, which will usually be 7 days from notification of the change. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, we shall send a reminder to you, following which we shall be entitled at our discretion to terminate the Package after a further 7 days and provide you with a refund.

c. If you decide to reject the proposed change and terminate your Package with a full refund, you may also be entitled to compensation for damages you have suffered.

d. We may not give you any of the above options in the event that a change to the purchased Package is a minor change. Please note that a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard usually qualifies as a minor change.

6. When we need to cancel your booking

a. On rare occasions, we may have to cancel your Package and we reserve the right to do so. If we have to do so, we will notify you as soon as possible. We will also offer you an alternative Package if we are able to do. If we cannot offer you an alternative, we will provide you with a full refund for the Package and, unless the cancellation was for Unavoidable and Extraordinary circumstances or more than 14 days before your departure, you may also be entitled to compensation for damages suffered.

b. If we are unable to ensure your return to your place of departure as agreed in your Package because of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances, we will bear the cost of necessary accommodation, if possible, of equivalent category, for a period not exceeding three (3) nights per passenger. This three-night limit on accommodation will not apply to persons with reduced mobility and any person accompanying them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, as well as persons in need of specific medical assistance, provided that we had been notified of their particular needs at least 48 hours before the start of the Package.

7. Our responsibility for the performance of the package and if something goes wrong

a. Under the Package Travel Regulations we have a responsibility to you for the performance of all elements of the Package. We will want your customer experience to be a positive one but we acknowledge that very occasionally things go wrong. If you have any issues with the Package not being delivered to you, as advertised, if the problem is with the transport element of your trip, please in the first instance take the matter up with our Customer Support team. If however, the problem is with the accommodation element of your trip, and you are on your trip, please contact the accommodation’s customer services first. If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, then please contact our Customer Support team.

b. If you feel that there has been a failure to perform the Package or improper performance which adversely affects the performance of the Package (“Serious Complaint”), please tell us immediately. This will give us the opportunity to resolve the Serious Complaint whilst you are still on your trip or make suitable alternative arrangements for you. You may only reject any alternative arrangements we offer to you if they are not comparable to what was agreed in the booking. If you reject the alternative arrangements we offer, then you may still be entitled to a price reduction in the trip or legal damages compensation for losses suffered.

c. If a Serious Complaint substantially affects the performance of the Package, and we have failed to remedy it within a reasonable period of time, you may decide to continue with your Package or terminate your booking without paying a termination fee. If you decide to terminate we shall also repatriate you with equivalent transport without undue delay back to your place of departure and at no extra cost to you. You may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation for damages too.

d. Alternatively, if we do not resolve a Serious Complaint, or, for very good reason you cannot wait for us to sort out the problem, then alternatively you may resolve the Serious Complaint yourself and request reimbursement of reasonable expenses from us. However, note your right to rectify the problem yourself will not arise if remedying the Serious Complaint means us incurring disproportionate costs. In that case, your only right will be to seek legal damages compensation from us (for losses suffered) or a proportionate price reduction.

e. Please note if you do not advise of a Serious Complaint whilst on the trip, as described above, you deprive both Bolt and the person that Bolt has acquired the accommodation from of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem. This may affect your rights under these Package Booking Terms.

f. You will be entitled to an appropriate price reduction for any period during which there is a Serious Complaint, unless the Serious Complaint is attributable to you.

g. You shall be entitled to receive appropriate compensation from us for any damage you sustain as a result of a Serious Complaint except where the Serious Complaint is:

i. attributable to you;

ii. attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services included in the Package Holiday and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or

iii. due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances.

h. We will also not be liable to pay damages compensation to you where there are international conventions which limit the extent or the conditions under which compensation is paid. These international conventions include the Geneva Convention (in respect of travel by road). We shall have the full benefit of any limitations of compensation in any relevant international conventions or applicable laws.

i. As permitted by Regulation 16(6) of the Package Travel Regulations, our liability to you will in any case be limited to a maximum of three times the cost of Package, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we or the person that Bolt has acquired the accommodation from, have caused such damage intentionally or with negligence.

j. If you are granted compensation (or a price reduction) from a third party in relation to a Serious Complaint, that compensation will be deducted from any compensation (or price reduction) you will receive from us pursuant to these Package Booking Terms.

k. As stated above, we will always be responsible to you for the following:

i. death or personal injury arising as a result of Bolt's negligence;

ii. fraud on the part of Bolt;

iii. any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

l. Other than as explained in (k), we are not responsible to you for any damages, losses or costs relating to your use of Services in a way that is not permitted under these Package Booking Terms.

m. Otherwise, we are only responsible to you for any damages, losses or costs which result from us not performing our obligations under the Package Booking Terms and which could have been reasonably foreseen by any of the Bolt Parties and you when entering into these Package Booking Terms.

n. We do not make any guarantees that the Bolt Platform, its content and functionality will be fully available at all times. We will not be responsible for any losses suffered by you as a result of the Bolt Platform not being fully available at all times.

o. No Bolt Parties make any promises that access to the Bolt Platform will be uninterrupted or error free.

8. Providing prompt assistance

a. We will provide you with appropriate assistance without undue delay if you are in difficulty, in particular by providing appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance; and by assisting you to make distance communications and helping you find alternative travel arrangements. Typically, we do not charge for this assistance, although we do reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for such assistance if the difficulty has been caused intentionally by you or through your negligence.

b. If you are in difficulty and you need our assistance, please contact us at Bolt’s Customer Support team or, if outside of customer service hours and the problem is with the accommodation, then contact the accommodation’s customer service.

9. Excursions

It may be possible for you to book a local excursion during your Package, such as a local tour, experience, concert, activity, sports or adventure experience. These will be bookable and payable by you locally. Unless we tell you in writing otherwise, you will be entering into a contract directly with the excursion provider and so these extra services will not form a part of your Package. We do not have any responsibility for these excursions, nor do we accept any liability if you suffer loss or damage whilst on a local excursion.

10. Your behaviour

a. It is important that you behave responsibly and with consideration for others during your Package. Accordingly, to the extent that we or the person that Bolt has acquired the accommodation from believe that your actions on the trip could or have caused disruption or annoyance, or a risk of safety, or damage to property, to us, or other customers, or if it is believed that you are not fit to travel, then we may cancel your Package without further liability to you. In these circumstances, the compensation provisions above will not apply.

b. In the event that your behaviour causes loss or damage to any person or property for which we are liable, you agree to compensate us for such loss and damage, together with any legal costs which we may incur in pursuing a claim against you.

11. Your financial protection

a. As required under Part 5 of the Package and Travel Regulations, we are required to obtain insolvency protection which covers:

i. any payments made for packages, taking into account the period between any down payments and when the final payment is made and when the holiday is completed; and

ii. the estimated costs for repatriations in the event of insolvency and to pay for any necessary accommodation prior to repatriation if necessary.

b. We provide this security by way of a trust account. All monies you pay to us are held on our behalf by an independent trustee until the contract has been performed. The independent trustee will pass the money to us once we provide evidence that the contract has either been fulfilled, we have repaid a portion of the money to you or you have forfeited the money by cancellation.

12. Travel information

a. Please note that we can provide general information about the passport and visa requirements for your trip, but your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant embassies and/or consulates. Any information supplied by us on these or related matters (such as climate, when to travel, clothing, baggage, personal items etc.) is given as general guidance and in good faith but we do not accept liability for any decisions made on the basis of the information supplied.

b. The passport, visa and health requirements at the time of booking can be viewed on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all members of your party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents, and in compliance with any other immigration requirements, before you travel. Neither we, nor the person that Bolt has acquired the accommodation from, accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. Please ensure that all your travel, passport, visa and insurance documents are in order and that you arrive in plenty of time at your point of departure.

13. Insurance

It is important that you have sufficient insurance in place to cover you (and your group) whilst you are away. Please ensure that you have a valid travel insurance policy in place from the time of booking, to cover you for the countries and activities you may be undertaking on your trip. You should contact us to discuss this if you do not already have insurance in place.

14. Resolving disputes

Should you have any dispute, conflict, claim or controversy with Bolt, the Bolt Platform, any Services or Service Providers (for example, disputing a payment), you should first contact us at Bolt’s Customer Support team web page. We will then discuss and agree with you the most effective way of resolving the dispute.

15. Other important terms

a. The Laws of England & Wales will apply to all disputes and the interpretation of these Package Booking Terms. The Courts of England & Wales shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from or related to your use of the Bolt Platform or these Package Booking Terms.

b. If any section of these Package Booking Terms is held to be illegal, the rest will continue to apply. Even if you or we delay in enforcing any of these Package Booking Terms, the section can still be enforced later.

c. Nobody else has any rights under these Package Booking Terms – these are between you and Bolt.

d. Bolt shall account for VAT on the Package in accordance with the Tour Operator’s Margin Scheme.

ENDS