About the Facility
This website can be accessed at www.travelbuddy.travel (“the Facility) and is made available by Travel Buddies Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, registration number 2014/225444/07 (“the Agent”).
The Facility enables you to enter into transactions directly with certain third party suppliers (“the Suppliers) for their travel products and services, whose content appears on the Facility. The Agent is not responsible for those Suppliers or the products or services they offer.
The Facility includes links to booking engines such as Expedia or First Car Rental / Sixt Car Rental, which are not owned by the Agent or under the Agents control and for which products you acknowledge the Agent is not responsible in law .As such, you acknowledge that the part of the material accessible through these products on the Facility, is provided by such third parties, and the Agent is not responsible for this material.
Important Notice: Terms binding on you
By making use of the Facility or any part thereof, you agree to the terms and conditions contained in this document and on the Facility, in particular those terms and conditions specified in relation to the products and services that you book (“the Agreement”).
The Agreement contains certain terms and conditions which appear in similar text style to this clause and which:
- may limit the risk or liability of the Agent or a third party;
- may create risk or liability for you or a third party;
- may compel you to indemnify the Agent or a third party; and/or
- serves as an acknowledgement, by you or a third party, of a fact.
Your attention is drawn to these terms and conditions because they are important and should be carefully noted.
Your use of the Facility including effecting on-line reservations on the Facility is subject to these terms and conditions.
Nothing in these terms and conditions is intended to or must be understood to unlawfully restrict, limit or avoid any rights or obligations, as the case may be, created for either you, a third party or the Agent in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 (“the CPA”) of South Africa.
It is strongly recommended that you take out appropriate travel insurance.
Products and Services and Agents Role
The Agent provides services in the form of access to and use of the Facility and acts as an intermediary for the Suppliers whose products and/or services are marketed and/or sold through the Facility. To the extent that the Agent acts as an intermediary for Suppliers or third parties it is obliged to make certain disclosures in accordance with the CPA of South Africa, which disclosures are set out in these terms and conditions.
The Agents role as an intermediary, in relation to your travel arrangements, is limited to facilitating your booking and arranging travel documentation, payments and refunds as applicable.
The Agent is not the Supplier of the products and/or services marketed and/or sold through the Facility and you acknowledge that a separate legal relationship exists between yourself and the relevant Supplier whose products and/or services you purchase through the Facility or whose products and/or services are marketed to you through the Facility.
Supplier Terms & Pricing
Airlines and other Suppliers impose different terms and conditions on the sale of their specific travel products or services featured on this website. You should carefully read all the terms and conditions specific to the product or service you are booking before finalising your transaction.
The products and services of each Supplier are sold subject to the Suppliers Terms. You acknowledge by your continued use of the Facility that you will be bound by the relevant Suppliers Terms made in respect of the products and services you choose to contract for. Examples of these Supplier Terms are:
- Airfares and prices displayed on the website may not include taxes or airport charges and are subject to availability of the Product or service.
- Airline/hotel/car availability, fare conditions and class of travel can change at any time.
- Routing restrictions and other special conditions may apply.
- Taxes, airport charges and any additional costs will be advised to you when your booking is confirmed.
- Suppliers may change their prices without notice.
- No refunds/credits for “no shows” or unused services.
- In the event of there being an unscheduled extension (including a curtailment or cancellation to the products or services) caused by a Force Majeure event, including volcanic ash, bad weather, war, terrorism, strike or any other cause that is beyond the control of the Supplier/s, any expenses relating to these unscheduled extensions (hotel accommodation, etc.), will be for your sole account and there shall be no right to any refund in respect of the curtailed portion of the travel arrangements.
Prices indicated, do not include any items or services not specified in the product or service description and examples of excluded items are e.g.: airport taxes, surcharges, transfers, telephone calls, laundry, meals and beverages, etc.
Moreover, bookings specifically exclude peripheral requirements, e.g. the cost of obtaining visas/passports.
Bookings (Online& Offline)
In making a travel reservation through the Facility, it is your responsibility to:
- read the Supplier Terms;
- to carefully check the details of your reservation and any confirmation thereof received via the Agent;
- convey all information set out in those terms and conditions to any other parties covered by any booking you make.
The Agent accepts no responsibility or liability for your misunderstanding or error whatsoever in this process.
Certain bookings will be processed and confirmed immediately on payment via the payment gateway. This is the case for most low cost R.S.A. airline bookings.
In all other instances, the website booking (“Offline Bookings) constitutes a request only. The Agent does not guarantee the booking request or the fare quoted until the Offline Booking is confirmed by the Supplier in question. The Agent will then confirm your Offline Booking to you by email or telephone call (“the Booking Confirmation).
The Facility will advise you whether your transaction is a Robotic Online Booking or an Offline Booking.
Fees
You acknowledge that the Agent:
- will raise fees for the administration and facilitation of your travel arrangements through the Facility and for the services rendered by the Agent to you in this regard (“the Agent’s administration fees”) from you for using the Facility and for the Agents services; and
- may also receive commission, consideration fees, charges or brokerages from the Supplier or other third parties in respect of the intermediary services rendered by it from transactions entered into using the Facility from the Suppliers or other third parties. Details of such commission, consideration fees, charges or brokerages will be made available on your request.
Where the booking is a Robotic Booking, the Agents administration fees will be specified on the website as part of your summary of transaction/shopping basket prior to you proceeding to payment through the payment gateway.
Where the booking is an Offline Booking, the Agents administration fees will be specified in the quote/Booking Confirmation prior to you proceeding to make payment.
You acknowledge that you will pay the Agent’s administration fees. You further acknowledge that the Agent’s administration fees relate only to your use of the Facility and the services rendered by the Agent to you in this regard and the payment of the Agent’s administration fees does not constitute payment for any part of the travel products and/or services you purchase from Suppliers.
Payment by Credit Card
Only those credit cards which are indicated as accepted on the Facility as part of the Robotic Booking process may be used to effect payment for Robotic Bookings.
Only those credit cards and other forms of payment (EFT, cash, etc.) which are indicated as accepted on the quote/Booking Confirmation may be used to effect payment for Offline Bookings.
It is your obligation to ensure that your credit card is valid and that you have sufficient credit on your credit card account, to meet all charges for all the products and services you book through the Facility and the Agent’s administration fees.
Credit card payment transactions for Offline Bookings will only be processed on receipt of a faxed or scanned/emailed authorization form and a copy of the cardholders identification, accompanied by a copy of both sides of the credit card. If the cardholder is not one of the passengers who will be travelling, the Agent requires the cardholder to physically present the credit card and his/her identification to the Agent in the Agents office. Once you have faxed or emailed through your credit card authorization, please make the Agent aware that the fax or email has been sent so that the Agent may check that we are in receipt of it.
Booking Confirmation & Payment
Robotic Bookings will be confirmed immediately by email to your email address or by SMS to your cellular phone once the transaction of your credit card payment has been processed successfully through the payment gateway.
For Offline Bookings:
- Acknowledgement of your booking request will be sent via e-mail or telephone call within 2 (two) business days of your request being received. Please ensure you check your e-mail regularly; and
- Payment must be received within 24 hours of the Booking Confirmation unless otherwise specified by the Agent in writing. Failure to pay for tickets within this time results in automatic cancellation of the booking without further notice to you.
- The Agent accepts no responsibility for loss incurred due to automatic cancellation or failure of e-mail delivery, save where such loss is caused by the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or authorised representatives.
Booking Cancellation and Amendment Charges
Certain fees may be payable in respect of the cancellation or amendment of transactions entered into using the Facility, as notified at the time of the relevant transaction.
Subject to the terms and conditions applicable to the relationship between you and the Supplier, in the event of cancellation of a reservation or booking, the Supplier who you contracted with to provide the goods and/or services may charge a reasonable cancellation fee, calculated in accordance with the provisions of the CPA of South Africa.
Subject to the terms and conditions applicable to the relationship between you and the Supplier, in the event of amendments to a reservation or booking, the Supplier who you contracted with to provide the goods and/or services may charge an amendment fee.
In the event of the cancellation or amendment to a reservation or booking the Agent may charge a reasonable administration fee in respect of administering the cancellation or amendment to the reservation or booking.
Travel Documentation
Passport, Visa and Health requirements are the responsibility of all individual travellers.
Passports are required for all travellers departing South Africa. Permanent residents travelling on a foreign passport must hold a South African Re-entry Visa.
Many countries require that foreign nationals entering hold a passport with at least six months validity from the date of departure of the country visited.
The Agent may, at its sole discretion, assist you offline in providing information in respect of the requisite travel documentation based on the information supplied by you in the booking engine.
This information as well as other related information supplied by the Agent and any links within the site are supplied in good faith; however should be treated as a guideline only. The final responsibility for ensuring documentation is correct is that of the individual traveller.
The posting/couriering of travel documentation is at your sole risk.
The Agent will not be held responsible for tickets and/or documentation lost by a third party. Any charges associated with reissue and resending of tickets and/or documentation will be at your cost.
Your User Password
You must keep secure any means of identification that the Agent provides to you in order to access the Facility.
You must not permit any other person, other than adult members of your household or others with your express permission and under your personal supervision, to use your user identification to access the Facility.
You are strictly responsible for all use of the Facility, and all transactions entered into by means of the Facility, using your user identification.
You indemnify the Agent from and against all loss, damage, actions, claims, suits, demands, liabilities, costs or expenses arising out of or in any way connected to the use of your membership identification or password, save where the such loss, damage, actions, claims, suits, demands, liabilities, costs or expenses are due to the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or its authorised representatives.
Privacy policy, use of your personal information and Cookies
In order to facilitate your use of the Facility, the Agent may collect and process your personal information (i.e. your name, e-mail and physical / postal address and / or other contact details and/or any other personal identifier). The Agent confirms that it is committed to the protection of your personal information and that it has reasonable safeguards in place to protect your personal information.
As a user of the Facility including the use of the booking engine, you agree and consent that the Agent may process your personal information and share such information with the Suppliers, their representatives or any other third party for the purposes of making the Facility available to you in accordance with all applicable laws.
You consent to the Agent sharing your personal information which may be subject to further processing by Suppliers, other agents or subcontractors performing services in relation to the Facility, including the cross border transfer of your personal information to third parties outside of the Republic of South Africa.
This website may utilise “Cookies”, web beacons and other technologies for data analysis and potential personalisation of the website and Facilities offered so that the Agent can better serve you with more customised information when you return to our website. These technologies may vary, but in many cases may involve a small file stored locally on the device used to access the www.travelbuddy.travel website, and may be used to store and collect information relating to your use of the www.travelbuddy.travel website.
“Cookies” are used to enhance your interactive experience and generally improve the Facilities to you. You can set your browser to notify you when you are sent a “Cookie”, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. If you do accept a “Cookie”, you thereby consent to our use of any personal information collected by the Agent using that Cookie.
Your email address will also be added to our travel newsletter database for purposes of sending you regular newsletters and specials on offer. You may, free of charge, unsubscribe from receiving such newsletter and specials on offer by following the procedure set out on the newsletter.
The Agent will use reasonable efforts to keep accurate records of the personal information provided by you to us. We will provide you with information in regard to the personal information which we hold about you and will also allow you access to your personal information in certain circumstances. Upon request, the Agent may correct your personal information that you state is incorrect or remove your personal information from our records, after you have verified your identity to the Agent. To request access or a correction or cancellation, send an e-mail to the Agent’s Information Officer whose details are set forth in our Promotion of Access to Information Manual.
Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
The use of this Facility is entirely at your own risk and you assume full responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from use of this website or reliance on any information on this website, save where such loss or damage was caused by the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or its authorised representatives.
All travel information, listings and pricing on the Facility, are subject to amendment at any time without notice. The Agent publishes such information in good faith. You acknowledge and accept that the Agent, as an intermediary, cannot and has not checked the accuracy of all information provided by Suppliers. Suppliers are requested and encouraged to correct and update their information regularly and as needed.
The Agent will not be responsible for errors, omissions or misleading information in any travel information and listings. You should make your own evaluation of the accuracy or completeness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Facility.
You are solely responsible for the suitability of any travel services which you purchase by means of the Facility.
In particular, the Agent is not liable for any inconvenience caused or any expense, loss or damage incurred as a result of any unsuitability of travel services for use in association with other travel services, save where such expense, loss or damage was caused by the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or authorised representatives.
The Agent disclaims all liability where any failure in the services is due to circumstances beyond its control and in no way attributable to the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or authorised representatives.
The Agent accepts no responsibility or liability for any failure or delay on the part of any Supplier or third party in providing travel services to you where your booking has been properly processed by it; nor is the Agent responsible for any acts or omissions of Suppliers or other third parties in the course of delivery of such travel products and services.
Where refunds are due to you from the Suppliers of the travel products or services in question, the Agent will provide reasonable assistance to you in claiming such refunds from the Suppliers. Please understand that this process is generally a slow and lengthy one.
Under no circumstances will the Agent be liable for direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages including but not limited to lost profits or savings or damages in respect of dissatisfaction with the goods and/or services provided by Suppliers or third parties, save where such damages was caused by the gross negligence of the Agent, its employees or authorised representatives.
You acknowledge and accept that, due to the nature of the services and the Facility, the Facility may not meet your subjective requirements or be entirely uninterrupted, complete, timely, secure or error free.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Agent grants no warranties, express or implied, regarding the website and any service or facilities provided including the booking engines and payment gateways.
Where the Agent is liable to you, for a breach of warranty, under these terms and conditions its liability will be limited to providing the relevant booking services again or to refunding money paid in relation to services not provided because of the Agent`s default, in accordance with the CPA of South Africa
The Agent may at any time it sees fit, change or modify all or any part of these terms and conditions with notice to the users of such change.
Indemnity
As a condition for your use of the Facility you indemnify the Agent from and against any liability, damage or loss that the Agent incurs or suffers as a result of any action, inaction or omission on your part.
Intellectual property rights
The content of the Facility including the website, Trippi and booking engine, are the property of the Agent who is the licensor and / or provider of this site. Unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights, including copyright, rest with the Agent.
You must not modify, copy, transmit, display, perform, publish, license or create derivative works from any information or software accessed by means of the Facility. Where copying or transmission is expressly permitted, you must not change or delete any author attribution or copyright notice.
General Provisions
These terms and conditions are governed by the laws in force in the Republic of South Africa.
In the event of any dispute arising between you and the Agent, you consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the South Gauteng High Court notwithstanding that the quantum in the action or proceedings may otherwise fall below the monetary jurisdiction of that court. Nothing in these terms and conditions should be understood to prevent you or the Agent from taking any dispute to any court, tribunal, commission, ombud or other body of competent jurisdiction.
The Agent may legally assign any of its rights and obligations under this agreement at any time by giving you notice.
The Agent may, in its sole discretion, at any time and for any reason and without prior written notice, suspend or terminate the operation of this Facility or any of its contents or your right to use this Facility or any of its contents.
You must not resell any products or services accessed by means of the Facility.
You agree that you shall only use this Facility for lawful purposes and shall not modify, distribute or exploit the contents of this website without the Agent’s prior written consent. You also agree that you shall not abuse or misuse this website or its contents in any manner whatsoever.
Industry Association Details
The Agent is a member of:
- ASATA (the Association of South African Travel Agents), Agents registration number SEE200; and
- IATA (International Air Transport Association), Agents registration number 96050441.
and adheres to their Codes of Conduct and Regulations.
The contact details of:
ASATA
Tel: +27 (0)11-327-7803
Fax: +27 (0)11-327-7827
Email: general@asata.co.za
Physical Address: Ground Floor, Block C, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg, South Africa
Postal Address: P O Box 3062, Parklands, 2121, South Africa
IATA
Tel: +27 (0)11-523-2700
Fax: +27 (0)11-523-2701/2
Customer Services: +962 6 5939922 (Monday-Friday 10h00-13h00)
Log an enquiry: www.iata.org/customer
Website: www.iata.co.za
Physical Address: Sandown Mews, East Block Ground Floor, 88 Stella Street, Sandown, 2196, Johannesburg, South Africa
Postal Address: Postnet Suite 970, Private Bag X9, Benmore, 2010, South Africa
About the Agent as an Intermediary
The Agent is Travel Buddies Holdings (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2014/225444/07, acting through its www.travelbuddy.travel division. The Agents details are as follows:
Tel: +27 (0)82 615 1787
Fax: +27 (0)86 662 1248
Email: keith@travelbuddy.travel
Physical Business Address: 55 The Stables, 29 Fountain Road, Beverley, Sandton, South Africa
Postal Address: PO Box 10002, Fourways East, 2055 South Africa
Formal notices and legal processes should be delivered to the Agents chosen domicilium citandi executandi being: 55 The Stables, 29 Fountain Road, Beverley, South Africa.
The Agent’s public officer is Keith van Heerden and he can be contacted on +27 (0)82-615-1787 and at the address as indicated above.
The Agent discloses that it has never been placed under liquidation, judicial management or business rescue.
The Agent will keep the prescribed records of all transactions, in respect of intermediary services rendered by it, for a period of three years.