Terms and Conditions
“Tailor Made Rail” is a trading name of Tailor Made Rail Ltd. Subject to clause 19 these are the conditions of the contract between you (“you”) and Tailor Made Rail Ltd (“Tailor Made Rail”), a company incorporated in England, registration number 08816522 and with its registered address at 34 – 36 Grays Inn Road, London, WC1X 8HR. As soon as you book and make a deposit or full payment for a rail package, a contract is formed.
Tailor Made Rail is a member of the Travel Trust Association (TTA), with a membership number Q2542. This is a trust scheme that provides the client with financial protection in the unlikely event of our insolvency.
Tailor Made Rail has classified hotels according to various criteria including facilities, standard and location. In most cases, this rating is the same rating as that given by the relevant regulatory authority, occasionally this is not the case, as the standard varies by country. Tailor Made Rail does not warrant the availability of published or indicative amenities or facilities that are the responsibility of the relevant supplier
It is a condition of your contract with us that you must take out suitable travel insurance cover, which should ensure that you are sufficiently covered against any unforeseen cancellation costs or costs that may arise whilst on holiday. This may include loss of personal effects or money as well as personal liability claims.
It is your responsibility to read and understand the insurance policy and ensure that it is suitable and adequate for your particular needs. Please read your policy details carefully and take them with you on holiday. If you choose to travel without adequate insurance cover, we will not be liable for any losses suffered by you in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available.
If you want to amend any element of your booking, we will strive to assist as much as possible, but we do not guarantee any desired changes to your itinerary. If it is possible, no administration charges will be made for ONE change to the dates of the itinerary before the balance due date, with only any non-refundable elements or cancellation fees by the relevant suppliers to pay. Once your balance is paid, the following administration charges will also be made:
More than 14 days before departure date – £25 per person
Less than 14 days before departure date- up to 100% of the full amount paid
Amendments are not permitted on Orient Express Holidays.
Packages are subject to the following cancellation charges:
90 days or earlier before departure – loss of deposit, or 20% of total package price, whichever is greater
From 28 to 89 days before departure – 50% of total package price
From 15 to 27 days before departure – 75% of total package price
14 days or less before departure – 100% of total package price
For packages including private trains such as Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Rocky Mountaineer or the Blue Train, cancellation charges are as follows:
90 days or earlier before departure – loss of deposit, or 20% of total package price, whichever is greater
From 45 to 89 days before departure – 50% of total package price
From 21 to 44 days before departure – 75% of total package price
20 days or less before departure – 100% of total package price
Depending on the reason for your cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your own travel insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.
It is highly improbable that we will need to make any modifications, however on occasions it may be necessary to switch your accommodation to an alternative in the same category or amend the time of your rail journey due to circumstances outside our control. We will make you aware at the earliest possible time about this type of change, however we are not able to pay compensation. If we have to effect what we consider to be a significant amendment to your itinerary for example, an change to the departure time greater than 12 hours or a change of hotel to a lower category, we will let you know straight away and offer you the choice of a full refund or a different package. If you opt to proceed with the amended booking, you will be eligible for compensation of up to £25 per person, excluding infants.
We cannot give any compensation or refund of any nature whatsoever for amendments and cancellations arising out of circumstances beyond our control which could not have been avoided, even if all reasonable measures were taken. These circumstances include threat of war, war, civil strife, riot, terrorism, industrial action – strikes (including, but not limited to, strikes and official or unofficial industrial action by train operators, train operating companies, track operators or otherwise), industrial disruption, adverse weather conditions, natural disaster, government action, fire or other events outside our control.
If the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises not to enter or remain in a specific country or region after a booking has been made, this will be regarded as ‘force majeure’.
Tailor Made Rail is an agent of the transport providers. Therefore, the conditions of carriage of the relevant transport carrier are applicable to your journey. If transport carriers make minor amendments to their original schedule we will let you know at the earliest possible opportunity, however, if you opt to cancel as a result, normal cancellation charges apply as outlined in Clause 6.
If you are dissatisfied with the standard of accommodation or any services provided by us, you should inform the owner/manager of the property in question immediately. If they do not resolve the matter to your satisfaction and the enjoyment of your holiday is affected, we ask you to get in touch with us by telephone on 020 3322 7741 so that we can attempt to resolve the issue while you are on holiday. If we are not provided with the opportunity to address grievances while you are still on your holiday, refunds or partial refunds will not be considered. An emergency phone number is provided on your travel documentation and is in operation after office hours up until midnight (UK time) daily. If you have any written complaints, these must be made to us within 4 weeks of your return from the holiday.
Information provided by you will be maintained in the Tailor Made Rail database and could be used for reservation information, insurance, prevention of fraud and for getting in touch with you about any specifics of our product range and services. We may also record and/or monitor telephone conversations between you and Tailor Made Rail staff for security reasons and to make sure that our customer service levels are consistent, which includes staff training. We do not store personal or financial data while your payment is processed, nor do we share this data with any third parties.
You can request copies of the data and information that we are holding about you from the assigned Data Controller at the registered office of Tailor Made Rail Ltd. There is no charge for this service.
The contract between you and Tailor Made Rail is based on the booking conditions outlined here and all supplementary information found on our website, which are under the jurisdiction of the laws of England and Wales. However, if you have completed your holiday booking in Scotland or Northern Ireland, any disputes may be addressed in Scottish or Northern Irish courts. These will be subject to Scots Law or Northern Irish Law as appropriate.
You are responsible for ensuring that you hold a valid passport and visa if appropriate. Visa requirements may vary for holders of non-UK passports. We cannot accept liability for any loss you may suffer as a result of not being in possession of the correct travel documents. It is also your own responsibility to ensure you meet all entry requirements for the destinations on your holiday. Our staff may be able to give general advice to aid your trip planning. However, regulations are constantly changing and we strongly advise you to check with the relevant embassy or consulate for up-to-date visa information and entry requirements.
We will undertake all reasonable action to make sure that any travel activities you book with us are provided as outlined on our website. Additionally, we will always endeavour to ensure the fulfilment of any special requests you may have, however we never guarantee these special requests. If for whatever reason, any element of your holiday arrangements is not supplied as promised, and we agree this has reasonably affected the enjoyment of your holiday, we will pay you relevant compensation. Tailor Made Rail accepts responsibility in the event that you or any member of your travelling party suffer personal injury or death solely resulting from any failure by us to perform our contract. This excludes instances where the failure to perform was due to:
- Actions or omissions by yourself.
- Third party actions unconnected with the provision of your holiday that were unforeseeable or unavoidable.
- An event that could not have been foreseen or avoided even with all due care.
In all cases (except in personal injury or death), our liability will be restricted to a maximum of your travel arrangement costs, excluding amendment charges and insurance premiums. However, in respect of carriage by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation, our liability is further limited in the manner provided by the appropriate conditions of carriage and international conventions. It is a condition of the acceptance of liability above that you notify us of any claim in accordance with the condition relating to complaints. Where any payment is made to you or any members of your party, that person must assign to us or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party. They must further more agree to fully co-operate should our insurers or we wish to enforce those rights.
During your holiday, you may take some services provided by independent contractors. Tailor Made Rail accepts no liability of any kind to you relating to acts or omissions in connection with or arising out of services provided by such independent contractors.
You must advise us in writing at the time of booking, of any special requests you may have. Whilst we will endeavour to communicate reasonable requests to the appropriate supplier, we regret we are unable to guarantee any such request will be fulfilled, except in cases where we have, in writing, specifically confirmed this. Confirmation from us that a request has been noted and communicated to the supplier, or the mention of the special request on any documentation is not confirmation that the request will be fulfilled. All special requests are subject to availability, unless and until specifically confirmed in writing. Unfortunately we cannot accept conditional reservations, that is, any booking that is identified to be conditional on the fulfilment of a particular special request. Bookings of this nature will be considered “standard” bookings and will be subject to the above details on special requests.
All full names of those in the travelling party must be correctly provided at the time of booking. Extra charges may occur to name changes at a later date. If you are paying for or arranging a holiday on behalf of another person you must make sure you have each passenger name as denoted on their passport. If you fail to provide us with the correct passenger names, name changes will not be allowed and you will need to make new travelling arrangements, subject to availability.