Four Seasons exclusive collection of traditional American accommodation, lodgings and rentals in New England

TERMS OF BUSINESS

In these conditions 'The Company' is Four Seasons in New England and the term 'The Client' is the person who has made arrangements with the Company as the principle contact or party leader and is named on our booking form and confirmation invoices. The 'Travel Agent' is the agent of the Client, until a booking has been confirmed by the Company to the Client, or to the Travel Agent as the case may be. Thereafter, the Travel Agent shall be the Agent of the Company.

Your contract with us

1. How to make a reservation. Before we can accept your booking, your party leader must read these conditions and sign the booking form where indicated. The person who signs the booking form does so on behalf of all members of the party and binds them jointly and severally to these booking terms and conditions. When you ask us to confirm your booking, we will allocate you your chosen holiday and confirm your booking by issuing a confirmation invoice on receipt of the initial payment. This will be the only invoice issued unless you request a change in the holiday booked. This agreement is governed by English law with English Courts having exclusive jurisdiction. All payments to be in £ Sterling unless otherwise agreed.

2. Initial payment. At the time of confirming your booking you will be asked to pay an initial payment of either 50% of the total amount of the holiday, or as indicated by us (plus insurance premium in full if applicable, see insurance requirements - item 8). If this payment is not received within seven days your booking will be automatically cancelled. This payment is your only commitment until eight weeks prior to departure.

3. Payment of balance. The balance of the holiday cost must be paid at least eight weeks prior to departure. If this payment is not received within that time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled, in which case you could be liable to pay us the cancellation charges detailed in paragraph 6 below. If you arrange your holiday within eight weeks of travelling then full payment is due with your booking.

4. Refundable security deposit. At the same time as the balance is paid a security deposit is required of £200 per property. This will be refunded within 14 days of your return less any costs incurred, such as accidental damage to the property and any contents, extra cleaning costs if the property is left in an unreasonable state, loss or non return of keys or long distance telephone charges. If there are any additional charges over and above the security deposit, you will be expected to reimburse the property owner accordingly through Four Seasons in New England. Country Inns and B & Bs do not require a security deposit and some resorts take a credit card impression - we will advise.

5. If you alter your booking. If you decide to alter any details after your booking has been confirmed by us, providing that we are informed not later than eight weeks prior to departure, these will be treated as changes and a £25 administration fee will be charged. However, any change requested within eight weeks will be treated as a cancellation and could be subject to the charges outlined in paragraph 6 below.

6. If you cancel your booking. If you wish to cancel your booking you must do so by sending written confirmation. The person who signed the booking form must also sign the letter. In the event of a cancellation and to compensate for the expense of processing your booking and for any loss that may result from being unable to re-sell the holiday, we charge cancellation fees as set out below.

Period before departure within which cancellation notice is received	Amount of cancellation fee (as % of holiday cost excluding insurance premium)
More than 56 days	Initial Payment
56-43 days	60%
42-29 days	75%
28-0 days	100%

The amount payable depends upon when we receive the written confirmation of cancellation. The more notice you give, the less we charge. Insurance premiums will not be refundable. Please note that in the case of a cancellation made after travel documents have been issued, we will be unable to make a refund until all unused travel documents and tickets have been returned.

7. If you wish to complain. If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the property management company (from whom you collected the keys) or accommodation provider immediately, and they will endeavour to correct the matter. If the problem cannot be completely resolved locally and within a reasonable time, please contact Four Seasons in New England whilst you are in USA and follow this up in writing within 14 days of your return home giving your original booking reference and all relevant information. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem to the accommodation provider or property management company, whilst you are renting their house, and Four Seasons in New England. If you fail to do this, we cannot accept responsibility as we have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem.

8. Insurance Requirements. Holiday and Travel Insurance, including cancellation cover, is essential for your own protection and you must be suitably insured either through us or with an insurance company of your own choice. If you are taking our insurance, the premium should be sent with your holiday deposit. As cover is immediate upon acceptance of your booking, the insurance premium is not refundable. Make certain that your insurance cover includes loss of initial payments.

9. Party Size. At no time must any more persons occupy a property than stated on the booking form, except with prior written agreement. Property owners or their agents reserve the right to refuse admittance if this condition is not observed.

Our Contract with you

1. Your Holiday Reservation. When you request confirmation for your holiday booking we allocate your chosen holiday to you and give confirmation at that moment. That confirmation acts as our acceptance of the booking under these Terms of Business and your holiday is confirmed from that moment. Subsequently we will send you a Confirmation Invoice verifying the details of the holiday that you have booked. This is the only invoice that you will receive, unless you decide to alter any details of the holiday booked. All holidays in this brochure are subject to availability.

2. Your Price Guarantee. We guarantee that the price of your holiday will not be subject to any surcharges once you have paid a deposit and received written confirmation. However, we reserve the right to increase or decrease brochure prices at any time. The price of the holiday shown on your confirmation invoice will not increase unless you amend the booking after confirmation is issued. All prices are based on US $1.75 to £1 sterling. We reserve the right to alter this exchange rate. In the event of consumer levies or VAT being introduced on holidays in our brochure, this will not be subject to our surcharge guarantee.

3. lf We Change Your Holiday. On occasions it may be necessary to amend the arrangements you have selected and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Where such changes are considered to be a significant alteration of an essential item of your contract, we undertake to advise you as soon as is reasonably possible. Where a major change occurs (such as a change of destination or a lower standard of accommodation), and provided it does not arise from circumstances amounting to Force Majeure (see below), you will have the choice of either accepting the alternative arrangements or, once instructions have been received in writing from you, you will receive a refund of all monies paid, less any insurance premiums. Force Majeure. Compensation payments do not apply where performance of our contract with you is prevented by risk of war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, technical problems of transport, closure or congestion of airports or ports, cancellations or changes of schedule by scheduled airlines and any events beyond our control.

4. If We Cancel Your Holiday. Although it is unlikely, we reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday. In this event we will inform you as soon as possible and you will be offered the choice of an alternative holiday of at least comparable standard if available, or a refund of all monies paid, provided it does not arise from reasons of Force Majeure, as set out above.

5. Our Responsibility For Your Holiday. We accept responsibility for any loss or damage which you may suffer on holiday as a result of the negligence of the company and its employees, acting in the course of their employment. This liability is limited to the company and its employees only. The accommodation is provided by independent suppliers, over whom we have no direct control. The company accepts no liability for loss or damage due to any fault by a travel agent, property management agent or property owner. However, subject to the note below, if you or any members of your party suffer death, bodily injury or illness arising from the negligence of our suppliers (claims will be limited in accordance with the International Conventions which govern such services), sub-contractors, servants or agents, we will accept responsibility provided that they were acting within the scope of, or in accordance with, their employment when the accident happened. Such responsibility shall be limited only to the equivalent of such damages as you or any member of your party would be entitled to receive under English Law in an English court for any personal injury including illness or death caused by negligence as understood in English Law. Note: should any payment be made to you or any member of your party by us, under any of the circumstances as stated above, you must assign to us any rights against the supplier or any other person or party you may have in relation to the claim. We reserve the right to claim in you, place against the supplier or person responsible for causing illness, injury or death. This means that you must assign that part of your rights to us and we will be subrogated to those rights.

6. Property Standards. We have carefully selected the managing agents who are responsible for all the properties on our books to uphold the high standards that we have laid down, and we have inspected a representative sample of their houses but cannot accept any liability for any misrepresentation by the property management agency or any change made by the owner since our inspection or any failure by the owner/agent to keep the property clean, dry, in good repair and well maintained and the contents in good and working order. We accept no liability due to any loss or damage which you may suffer due to the state of repair or the condition of the property. We cannot anticipate the standards required for each individual holiday-maker and therefore cannot accept liability for disappointment in this connection.

Passports and visas.
It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that all travel documentation is valid as airlines will not permit passengers to travel who do not have the correct documentation and who cannot comply with all regulations. You must have a full, 10 year British Passport, that is machine readable and valid for six months beyond your return date. Children under sixteen (on date of return) may travel on their parents' passports. If you are a British Citizen, hold a full British Citizen Passport and have the right of abode in the U.K., you will not need a visa. You will have to complete a visa waiver form before landing in the U.S. This will be provided by the airline. If you do not have a British Citizen Passport, you will probably require a visa, and you should check with the American Embassy Visa Unit on their website www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/us/visitus.htm.
Visa Restrictions: Holiday makers may be denied entry due to previous convictions. If a traveller has been arrested or convicted they must apply for a separate visa to gain entry or may be ineligible altogether. Immigration will photograph and finger print all people entering USA. Check with the American Embassy Visa Department.

Health Requirements: There are currently no vaccinations required for entry into the USA.