Booking Terms and Conditions
Velstana is a simplified joint stock company with company number 909 283 624 RCS Paris; registered as a travel operator – with licence number IM075220015; with a capital of €20,000 and having its registered office at 6, rue d’Armaillé, 75017 Paris, France.
These Booking Terms and Conditions form the basis of your contract with Velstana, which is not subject to the right of withdrawal in accordance with Articles L. 121-16 and L. 121-21-8 of the Consumer Code.
Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations.
If any part of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Booking Terms and Conditions will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable.
Velstana reserves the right to modify its Booking Terms and Conditions at any time. These will be applicable immediately once Velstana customers have been notified of the changes.
Hereafter Velstana is referred to as ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’. Any legal or natural person engaging Velstana to provide a service and named on the booking form for that service (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date) is referred to as ‘you’ and ‘your’.
Your Party means the people on whose behalf your booking with Velstana is made.
1. Reservation
At the time of booking, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Booking Terms and Conditions.
We will reserve all agreed elements of your holiday upon receipt of your signature of the quotation issued by Velstana, payment of a deposit of 30% of the total value of your holiday or payment of the total value of your holiday, and the registration form. Travel insurance must be paid in full upon registration.
Your contract with Velstana becomes binding and these Terms and Conditions become effective as soon as Velstana has confirmed the reservation of your holiday – upon receipt of the signed quotation and registration form and once you have paid your deposit – by sending a ‘Booking Confirmation’ email.
We will normally confirm your booking within 3 working days, although in some circumstances it may be possible that due to a problem confirming with a supplier, it takes a little longer. If, for any reason, Velstana is not able to confirm your holiday, and you are not satisfied with our proposed alternative, your deposit will be refunded in full.
Cancellation charges and the application of these Terms and Conditions shall be effective as soon as the signed quotation is received.
You are responsible for full payment to Velstana of the total cost of the holiday as stated in the Booking Confirmation for you and your Party. You warrant that you are authorised to enter into a contract with Velstana on behalf of all members of your Party and that all of them agree to be bound by these Booking Terms and Conditions. You must ensure that all information provided to us is accurate and complete. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation invoice or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracies (for which we are responsible) in any document within 10 days of our sending it out. We will do our best to rectify any mistake notified to us outside these time limits but you may be required to meet any costs involved in doing so.
Special requests should be indicated on the registration form at the time of booking. Although we will try to arrange for reasonable special requests to be met, we cannot guarantee that they will be, and we will not be held liable if any special request is not met.
Your booking is only accepted on the understanding that you realise that we cannot be held responsible for the consequences or effects of flight cancellations, strikes, riots, sickness, adverse weather conditions, mechanical breakdown or any other unpredictable or unforeseen circumstances that may have a consequential or material effect on the contents or timing of your holiday.
2. Payment
A deposit of 30% of the total cost of your holiday is payable to Velstana at the time of booking.
The balance of the cost of your holiday is payable to Velstana no less than 30 days before the first day of your holiday.
If your reservation takes place 30 days or less in advance of the first day of your trip, the full cost of your travel must be paid to Velstana at the time of booking.
The entire premium for the travel insurance offered by Velstana is payable upon acceptance of the quotation.
In the case of a group of more than 10 people, the 30-day period indicated above is extended to 60 days.
If the final payment is not received 30 days before the first day of your holiday, Velstana is entitled to assume that you wish to cancel your booking and, therefore, we are entitled to cancel the contract, retain your deposit and apply the cancellation charges as set out in our section entitled ‘Cancellation of your booking by You’.
You may pay for your booking by credit or debit card or by bank transfer.
All prices are quoted in Euro (EUR or €).
The quoted cost of your holiday will include any tax we are required to charge you at the time of booking. In accordance with the law, in the event there is a change to the level of tax that we are required to charge, Velstana reserves the right to charge you the additional tax. In the event you refuse to pay the additional tax, Velstana is entitled to assume that you wish to cancel your booking and therefore our cancellations policy (as set out in our paragraph) will apply.
3. Travel insurance
Velstana requires you and your Party to take out a comprehensive travel insurance at the time of booking that covers the entirety of the period of your holiday with Velstana. It is your responsibility to ensure that your travel insurance is adequate to cover for any medical and hospitalisation expenses, cancellation or curtailment of your holiday, repatriation expenses, evacuation expenses, personal belongings/baggage, personal liability and for all activities that you intend to undertake as part of your holiday.
Velstana cannot be held responsible for any losses suffered by you or costs incurred by you if you take out an inadequate insurance policy or if you fail to notify your insurance company of any factors affecting your particular requirements for cover.
If you wish, you have the option of taking out travel insurance with CHAPKA Assurances. You must specify this to us for the preparation of your quotation so that we take care of taking out the requested insurance option(s) on your behalf. Options include the following:
- Travel cancellation cover. For further information, please read the following documentation : Table of benefits, General conditions, Information document.
- Multi-risk travel insurance cover includes inter alia assistance to ill and injured persons, medical and hospitalisation expenses, curtailment of your holiday, repatriation expenses, personal belongings/baggage, and personal liability. Note that it also includes a travel cancellation cover as an option. For further information, please read the following documentation : Table of benefits, General conditions, Information document.
Note that only EU residents are entitled to take out Chapka travel insurance. If you are a non-EU resident, you have the option of taking out a world cover. For further information, please read the following documentation : Table of benefits, General conditions, Information document.
Note: if you or any member of your Party participates in extreme sports or activities where there is a greater level of risk involved, it is also a condition of booking that your insurance covers this.
4. Amendments to your booking by You
We will do our utmost to accommodate you should you wish to amend or change any part of your holiday, after it has been confirmed in the Booking Confirmation, ii.e. after receipt of the signed quotation, deposit payment and registration form. However, we cannot guarantee we will be able to meet any such requests. Where we can, amendments to your booking after it has been confirmed in the Booking Confirmation will be subject to a €30.00 administrative fee per person if it is made more than 30 days before the first day of your holiday, and to a €50.00 administrative fee per person if the amendment is made within 30 days of departure. It will be payable together with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers.
Alterations to some travel arrangements may not be possible after a booking has been made and any alteration request be subject to cancellation charges from a supplier of that service, which we will advise you of at the time of the change.
In accordance with article L.211-11 of the French Tourism Code, if any member of your Party is prevented from travelling, the person(s) concerned may transfer their place to someone else (introduced by you) provided we are notified not less than 2 weeks before departure. The request must be made by email to hello@velstana.com.
Where a transfer to a person of your choice can be made, all costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers, as a result together with an amendment fee of €75.00 per person must be paid before the transfer can be effected.
5. Cancellation of your booking by You
Should you or any member of your Party cancel your booking after you have received your Booking Confirmation, the Party leader who made the booking and/or signed the quotation must immediately inform Velstana in writing. Your notice of cancellation must include your booking reference number, which can be found on your Booking Confirmation.
As we incur costs from the time we accept your booking, the following cancellation charges will be payable, depending on the number of days prior to departure when we receive your notice of cancellation:
| Date prior to departure | Cancellation fee |
| More than 30 days | Deposit only |
| Between 29 and 16 days | 50% of total holiday price |
| Between 15 and 8 days | 75% of total holiday price |
| 7 days or less | 100% of total holiday price |
Note that when part cancellations occur, the amount payable by the rest of the Party may increase.
Should you have to cancel your holiday due to illness or certain other unavoidable circumstances, we strongly advise that you contact your insurers to determine whether you can claim any costs incurred.
You are reminded that once a deposit has been taken and we have confirmed the booking, a contract exists and that we are entitled to make a claim in law for the above cancellation charges even if you have not completed payment of the balance of the holiday cost.
6. Alteration by Velstana
While we will always do our utmost to avoid making any amendments to your holiday following its confirmation, there are circumstances beyond our control that require us to do so and we must reserve the right to do so. In those circumstances, we will notify you of any necessary changes as soon as possible and discuss alternative options with you.
For instance, we may have to change an accommodation for reasons beyond our control. In this scenario, we would endeavour to move your booking to a hotel of at least the same standard and within the same town or city. In the case of a supplier cancelling an activity or excursion booked through us, we will give you the option of an alternative activity or a refund to the value of that activity on your holiday. If in the very unlikely event that we have to change any locations on your itinerary or move you to a lower standard of accommodation for any element of the holiday, we will notify you as soon as possible and offer you the choice of the alternative locations we have suggested, let you choose a different itinerary – where we would refund you the difference if your new itinerary is less expensive than your original itinerary.
7. Cancellation by Velstana
If you fail to pay the balance of the holiday price at least 30 days before departure, we will treat your booking as cancelled and levy the cancellation charges set out in our section entitled ‘Cancellation of your booking by You’.
If we are obliged to cancel your holiday after you have received your Booking confirmation due to force majeure such as adverse weather conditions, fire, flood, industrial disputes, transportation problems, riots, civil disobedience, terrorist activities, pandemics (and their impact such as travel restrictions and the measures being taken by governments, public authorities and businesses to control and manage their effects), or any of other events outside our control, we will do our utmost to offer an alternative date in the future for your holiday or we will offer you a full refund. However, we will be entitled to deduct from your refund any reasonable expenses that we may have incurred.
You will not be entitled to any compensation and no liability beyond offering the above-mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances such as a force majeure beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care.
No compensation will be payable if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these Booking Conditions entitling us to cancel such as paying on time or where any change is a minor one.
8. Car hire
If your tailor-made holiday includes booking car hire through Velstana, you are entering into a contract with the car hire company having their own standard terms and conditions, which will apply to your contract with them. A copy of the car hire company’s terms and conditions is made available in the quotation documents upon request. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the car hire company’s own terms and conditions and to advise Velstana if they are in breach of any of these conditions.
By asking us to confirm your booking – i.e., by signing the quotation sent by Velstana and paying a deposit – you are accepting that the Terms and Conditions of this agreement (and the conditions of any contract made with your suppliers) apply to your booking and the car hire arrangements you have booked.
Velstana does not accept any responsibility if you should be denied car hire due to non-fulfilment of the car hire company’s terms and conditions.
If you need to change or cancel your car hire after it has been confirmed in your Booking Confirmation, it is your responsibility to notify Velstana immediately in writing of such request. Should your request be met, we will be entitled to levy administrative fees and costs or charges incurred or imposed by the car hire company, in accordance with our amendment and cancellation policy as set out in sections 4 and 5.
Alterations to some travel arrangements may not be possible after a booking has been made, and any alteration request is subject to cancellation charges from a supplier of that service, which we will advise you of at the time of the change.
As Velstana acts as an agent, this will mean that Velstana will have no contractual liability to you regarding the car hire operation. This means that in the event of you suffering personal injury, illness, or death as a result of any act or omission of your car hire company or you having any complaint about the quality of the services provided or having any other complaint at all, your sole right of redress will be against the car hire company which provided such service and that we will be under no liability at all (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise).
We shall not be liable for any indirect, special, or consequential loss, including economic loss, which term shall include loss of profits, loss of use of profits, business, revenue, and goodwill or anticipated savings.
9. Responsibilities and liability of Velstana
We commit to making sure the holiday arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide as part of our contract with you are made, performed or provided in the manner to be reasonably expected of a competent tour organiser.
However, we cannot accept liability for any losses, costs, expenses or other sums of any description which:
- were caused either directly or indirectly as a result of an action or omission by you or any member of Your Party or from the breach of these Terms and Conditions.
- which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers and sub-contractors.
- on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you or your Party would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you.
- were caused as a result of force majeure (see section on Cancellation by Velstana).
We cannot accept liability for any services that have not been booked directly through us and therefore do not form part of your contract with us. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities that you obtain directly from any other supplier, whether or not that supplier is the provider of accommodation or other services arranged for you by Velstana.
Although we consider that any third party suppliers we recommend have excellent levels of service, we cannot accept liability to you for the actions of third party suppliers with whom you contract directly, whether recommended by Velstana or otherwise.
We cannot accept liability for any sums which are recoverable under any policy of insurance of yours.
10. Your Responsibilities
Travel documents and Passports
It is your responsibility to ensure that you and your Party have all the required documentation and identification required for entry, departure and travel to each country or region you visit on your holiday. This includes a valid passport and all travel and health documents required by the relevant governmental authorities including all visas, permits and certificates (including but not limited to vaccination or medical certificates) and insurance policies. Your passport must be valid 3 months after the last date of travel as set out on your itinerary. You accept full responsibility for obtaining all such documents, visas, permits and certificates prior to the start of your holiday, and you are solely responsible for the full amount of costs incurred as a result of missing or defective documentation. You agree that you are responsible for the full amount of any loss or expense incurred by Velstana that is a direct result of your failure to secure or be in possession of proper travel documentation.
On receipt of your travel documents, you have a responsibility to check all the names and details are correct and correspond with your passports. Any errors or corrections must be reported to us as soon as possible. We cannot accept liability for incorrect details on your travel documents unless caused by our negligence.
Health and Covid-19
By paying a deposit to confirm your booking of the holiday, you certify that you do not have any physical condition or disability that would create a hazard for you or other travellers.
Please ensure that you and your Party are aware of the government guidelines regarding Covid-19, including those relating to social distancing, personal hygiene, testing and reporting health issues, and adhere to these during your holiday.
You and your party acknowledge that travelling while the virus is still active is increasing your risk of infection and Velstana has no liability for any related losses, costs, expenses or other sums of any type.
Itineraries may need to be changed as a result of ongoing Covid-19 disruption, government advice, or other reasons beyond Velstana’s control and Velstana reserves the right to do so.
If you have any of the recognised symptoms of Covid-19 you must follow the guidance in place from the government in relation to self-isolation.
Insurance
Before travelling on a holiday, we strongly recommend that you review your personal insurance and health insurance to ensure you have coverage appropriate to meet your needs, and the needs of your family and dependents, in case of any loss of property or illness, injury or death.
Special requirements
It is your responsibility to notify Velstana at the time of booking of any requirements that you or any member of your Party have that may affect the service provided by Velstana, its suppliers or sub-contractors. For example, it is very important that you notify us at the time of booking if any member of your Party has any physical disabilities or if you are travelling with small children.
Punctuality
It is your responsibility to arrive at places at the correct time to take up pre-booked travel, excursion or event components of your itinerary. We cannot take responsibility for you and your Party missing transportation if you fail to check-in or arrive on time for travel or failing to go to a pre-booked excursion or event. No credit or refunds will be given if you fail to take up any component of your holiday. No credit or refund will be given for lost, mislaid or destroyed travel documents. If your outbound flight is delayed, please contact us and we will do our utmost to help you to make any rearrangements necessary to your itinerary. However, we cannot guarantee that this can be done, or that it will incur no extra cost to you.
Personal property
All baggage and personal property are at all times your own responsibility and we do not accept any liability for theft or damage to your personal property.
Accomodation use
Accommodation booked on your behalf by Velstana may only be used by those people specified in the Booking Confirmation. You and your Party are required to adhere to the rules (if any) of all accommodation providers, which will be explained to you upon arrival or during your stay. It is your responsibility to arrive at all accommodation at the appropriate date and time to take up your accommodation. No refund or credit will be given for a failure to take up any part of your holiday.
Behaviour
It is your responsibility to ensure that you and your Party will behave in a reasonable and responsible manner at all times throughout your holiday. You must not do anything that causes offence, danger, damage or distress to others, or risks damage to property belonging to others, voids any contract of insurance or breaches these Terms and Conditions. Should we and/or our agents and/or suppliers consider that you or any member of your Party has behaved irresponsibly, we and/or our agents and/or suppliers may take appropriate action in order to ensure the safety and well-being of other customers and their property and that of our agents and suppliers and reserve the right at all times to cancel or terminate your holiday completely or any part of it. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave the accommodation or other service. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.
Additional costs
You will be responsible for any costs incurred by you or any member of your Party that do not form part of this contract. This includes any costs incurred at accommodation, such as for food and drink or leisure services, and payment for these additional services should be made directly to the accommodation provider. The accommodation provider may require credit card details from you at the time of check in to cover any additional costs that you may incur.
Parking
In a limited number of cases, car parking is charged in addition to the room rate for accommodation. Where this is the case, you will be notified at the time of booking. Payment for car parking should be made directly to the accommodation provider. Cars are parked at your own risk and Velstana does not accept any responsibility for the theft of or damage to any vehicle, or the theft of items from inside the vehicle.
11. Transportation
Rail, road and other departure times are supplied by the transportation suppliers. There is no guarantee that departures will take place at the times shown on your tickets or in your travel book provided by Velstana. The timings are estimates only. Velstana does not have any liability to you for any delays which may arise.
12. Withdrawal
In accordance with article L.121-20-4 of the Consumer Code, the customer does not have a right of withdrawal once the quotation has been accepted by email.
13. Complaints
In the unlikely event that you have any reason to make a complaint about any part of your holiday with Velstana, you must immediately inform the supplier of the service(s) in question. Any verbal notification must be confirmed in writing to the supplier as soon as possible.
If you are unable to resolve your complaint by communicating with the accommodation or service provider, you should contact us on +33 187420365 or email us on hello@velstana.com as soon as possible and we will do our utmost to resolve your dispute.
If you remain dissatisfied, you must write to our Customer Relations Manager at Velstana, 6, rue d’Armaillé, 75017 Paris, France, within 28 days of the end of the holiday arranged for you by Velstana providing your booking reference and full details of your complaint.
For all complaints and claims which do not involve death, personal injury or illness, we regret we cannot accept liability if you fail to notify the complaint or claim entirely in accordance with this clause.
14. Data protection policy
In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements, we will need to use the information you provide us (such as name, address and special needs, etc.) and to pass relevant information on to our accommodation, transport and other suppliers. 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 will take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. By making a booking with Velstana, you consent to this information being used and passed on to the relevant third parties where necessary or where required by law. However, we will not pass any information on to any person not responsible for any part of your travel arrangements. You are entitled to a copy of the information held by us, if you would like to see this, please contact us at hello@velstana.com.
15. Law and disputes
The contractual documents and these Booking Terms and Conditions are governed by French law.
If any part of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Booking Terms and Conditions will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable.
Disputes arising out of, or in connection with your booking which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to the Paris Commercial Court only.
ANNEX: Traveller’s rights
The combination of travel services that is offered to you is a package within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 and article L.211-2 II of the Tourism Code.
Therefore you will benefit from all EU rights applying to packages, as transposed into the Tourism Code. Velstana will be fully responsible for the proper performance of the package as a whole.
Additionally, as required by law, Velstana has protection in place to refund your payments and, where transport is included in the package, to ensure your repatriation in the event that it becomes insolvent.
Key rights under Directive (EU) 2015/2302 transposed into the Tourism Code
- Travellers will receive all essential information about the package before concluding the package travel contract.
- There is always at least one trader who is liable for the proper performance of all the travel services included in the contract.
- Travellers are given an emergency telephone number or details of a contact point where they can get in touch with the organiser or the travel agent.
- Travellers may transfer the package to another person, on reasonable notice and possibly subject to additional costs.
- The price of the package may only be increased if specific costs rise (for instance, fuel prices) and if expressly provided for in the contract, and in any event not later than 20 days before the start of the package. If the price increase exceeds 8 % of the price of the package, the traveller may terminate the contract. If the organiser reserves the right to a price increase, the traveller has a right to a price reduction if there is a decrease in the relevant costs.
- Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee and get a full refund of any payments if any of the essential elements of the package, other than the price, are changed significantly. If before the start of the package the trader responsible for the package cancels the package, travellers are entitled to a refund and compensation where appropriate.
- Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee before the start of the package in the event of exceptional circumstances, for instance if there are serious security problems at the destination which are likely to affect the package.
- Additionally, travellers may at any time before the start of the package terminate the contract in return for an appropriate and justifiable termination fee.
- If, after the start of the package, significant elements of the package cannot be provided as agreed, suitable alternative arrangements will have to be offered to the traveller at no extra cost. Travellers may terminate the contract without paying any termination fee, where services are not performed in accordance with the contract and this substantially affects the performance of the package and the organiser fails to remedy the problem.
- Travellers are also entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation for damages where the travel services are not performed or are improperly performed.
- The organiser has to provide assistance if the traveller is in difficulty.
- If the organiser or, in some Member States, the retailer becomes insolvent, payments will be refunded. If the organiser or, where applicable, the retailer becomes insolvent after the start of the package and if transport is included in the package, repatriation of the travellers is secured. Velstana has taken out insolvency protection with APST (the entity in charge of the insolvency protection, e.g. a guarantee fund or an insurance company). Travellers may contact this entity or, where applicable, the competent authority if services are denied because of Velstana’s insolvency.