Terms and conditions

LOBS (Liberty Online Booking System)

1. In order to start bookigs with LOBS, the agency is obliged to sign an agreement with Lobs that contains the following Terms and Conditions as well as payment conditions that will be specified for every Agency separately.
2. The website may contain some more conditions and restrictions which may be imposed on the users. The signed agreement together with the conditions stated in the website shall contain all valid provisions between the parties.
3. For more details please contact our office:

Terms of Bookings

4. The Agency requests to have access to Liberty Online Booking System, and to make Bookings through it.
5. The information obtained through the XML API or contained on the Website is supplied by third parties, and LOBS is not responsible for its accuracy, completeness or currency. The website and its contents, including the accuracy of the content, are provided as “AS IS” with no warranties whatsoever from LOBS or its suppliers. All express, implied and statutory warranties, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of proprietary rights, are expressly disclaimed to the fullest extent permitted by law.
6. The Agency is aware that the performance of Bookings through the Website or XML API does not exempt The Agency from providing the end customer with complete information, including the general conditions and the provisions of any relevant law.
7. Bookings requests shall be treated as offers to enter into formal legally binding contracts which shall be deemed to have been accepted by LOBS only when LOBS have transmitted The Agency with a final confirmation of the Bookings. Bookings are confirmed by an “Okay” response without an asterisk or other remark. Prices are confirmed when a Voucher is issued or issue able.
8. The Agency undertakes to check the accuracy of the Reservation listed on the Voucher.
9. The Agency is aware that it has been assigned a password and username for the purpose of making Bookings through the Website.
10. The Agency is aware that the password and username identify The Agency on entering the Website and allow The Agency to make Bookings.
11. The Agency is aware that confirmation of the Bookings through the Website constitutes in all respects acceptance of the transaction, establishing the duty of the Agency to pay the full consideration therefore.
12. The Agency is also aware that the Vouchers issued to the customers will need to be printed and delivered by The Agency to The end customers.
13. The Agency undertake to cover the full cost of all Bookings made through the Website by The Agency password and username, cancellation fees and other charges stemming from the Bookings.
14. The Agency undertakes to change its password and username from time to time and to cancel it in any case of change of its employees dealing with the system.
15. The Agency is aware that revealing the password and/or username or password to third parties, or failure to change The username and password from time to time, or failure to cancel the username and password in case that the Agency changed its employees in charge, as well as failure to take other reasonable security measures, may cause severe damage to LOBS. The Agency shall be liable for any damage that may occur for this improper use of which may also arise to fundamental breach of this Agreement.
16. LOBS may update the Terms and Conditions by posting updated Terms and Conditions on its Website. If The Agency continues to use the Website following the posting of updated Terms and Conditions, The Agency will be bound by the updated Terms and Conditions.
17. LOBS owns the copyright in any and all parts of the Website. The Website and its contents are and shall remain the exclusive property of LOBS, and no license is given to the Agency or the Website or its contents hereunder including, but not limited to, any ownership rights, or express or implied right to use any copyrights, trademarks, patents or trade secrets information of LOBS, except as otherwise provided herein.

Usage of the Website

18. The Agency may provide access to the Website to its employees by giving them a password. The Agency shall sign a written agreement with its employees stating that they are aware to the fact that the password and username is LOBS' property and that they are not entitled to do any use of the password and username other for the purposes of this agreement.
19. The Agency may not provide access to the Website to anyone else' other then its own personal' without LOBS’ prior written permission.

Confidentiality

20. Under no circumstances will The Agency disclose LOBS’ confidential information to anyone except its employees. Such confidential information to include, without limitation, the prices or other information on the Website and the terms of this Agreement. The Agency will not, without obtaining LOBS prior written consent, disclose to any third party or use for any purpose other than the performance of obligations or rights under this Agreement any of our confidential information.
21. LOBS is entitled to enforce the obligations of the Agency according to this Agreement by seeking immediate injunctive relief, in addition to any other rights and remedies available to LOBS by law or under this Agreement.
22. LOBS may terminate this Agreement, effective immediately, upon a breach of these confidentiality provisions.
23. The Agency will inform its agents and other employees, and advisors of the confidentiality requirements set forth in this Agreement, and will be liable for breach of these confidentiality requirements by such parties.

System requirements

24. In order to access the Website, The Agency need to use a computer that runs a Windows 2000 operating system (or above), has an Internet connection and Internet Explorer version 5.0 (or above). The system requirements may be modified from time to time according to LOBS discretion.

No warranties

25. The Agency understands that the Website may undergo upgrades, improvements or maintenance from time to time, and that the Website, for this or other reasons, may not be available at all times.

Limitation of Liability

26. The Agency understands that LOBS only acts as an intermediary for Bookings. LOBS is not liable for any mistakes, damage, non-performance or defective performance of hotels or other suppliers, or for damage to The Agency customers due to accident or sickness, damage to luggage or any direct or indirect damage caused to the customer in the course of the trip by reason of an accident, violence, robbery, theft, loss of luggage, documents, flight tickets or passports, hospitalization, medical expenses or otherwise.
27. The Agency expressly understands and agrees that under no circumstances will LOBS be liable to The Agency or any Agent or customer on account of The Agency or The Agency Agent’s use or misuse of and reliance on the Website. Such limitation of liability shall apply to prevent recovery of direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, and punitive damages (even if LOBS has been advised of the possibility of such damages). Such limitation of liability shall apply whether the damages arise from use or misuse of and reliance on the Website, from inaccuracy of the Website’s contents, inability to access the Website, or from claims in connection with the Bookings. Such limitation shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Shortening of Statute of Limitations

28. The Agency agrees that after three months from the date of the customer’s return or scheduled return, the earlier, to the customer’s country of origin, neither The Agency nor the customer shall be entitled to lodge any claims against LOBS, whether on the basis of contract, tort or otherwise, and this provision shall be deemed as limiting the statute of limitations period to six months.

Links to Third Party Sites

29. The Website may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by third parties. Such hyperlinks are provided for The Agency for reference only. LOBS do not control such third party websites and is not responsible for their contents.
30. The inclusion of hyperlinks to such websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or any association with their operators.

Term and Termination

31. This Agreement will commence on the date on which The Agency sign below and will continue for one year thereafter. The Agreement will be renewed automatically for additional one-year period, unless either party gives notice to the other party thirty (30) days before the end of the initial term or any renewal term. Notwithstanding the above, either party may terminate this Agreement at any time by giving ninety (90) days notice to the other party.
32. This Agreement may be terminated by either party, provided that there has been a material breach of this Agreement by the other party and such party fails to cure the breach within thirty (30) days after written notice thereof. The written notice will specify in detail the material breach claimed.
33. This Agreement may be terminated by either party, effective immediately, upon the insolvency, bankruptcy or liquidation of the other party; the making an assignment for the benefit of its creditors; the appointment of a receiver, liquidator or similar official for the other party; or an attempt to impermissibly assign this Agreement.
34. Upon termination of this Agreement, The Agency will promptly return to LOBS all of our confidential information that is in The Agency possession or control or that of The Agency advisors, and will certify that neither The Agency nor The Agency advisors have retained any of our confidential information.
35. LOBS’ right to payment will survive any termination of this Agreement, as to all then accrued amounts due and as to any additional amounts due which will thereafter accrue hereunder. In addition, the Section which deals with Confidentiality will survive any termination.

Payment

36. The payment type and terms are subject to one of the following as agreed:
    1. Floating deposit: As soon as your deposit of ... EUR has been received in our bank account, your access to our booking system will be opened. This deposit it to remain untouched. The value of the deposit acts as a balance against which we put the value of the invoices raised for bookings that have travelled. We issue and post invoices on the first working day of each week after the travel date – for example bookings that travelled in the week 01–06 January 2008 inclusive were invoiced on Monday 07 January. As soon as the total value of invoices raised reaches approximately 70% of the value of your deposit we will contact you to request payment of the invoices. We will send you a statement to illustrate the amount required. Please do not send another deposit – send the exact amount of the value of the unpaid invoices. In this way the value of the deposit remains 100% intact. Please note that if the level of your bookings rises to a point that your initial deposit is not of a sufficiently high level to cover the invoices, we reserve the right to require the payment of an additional deposit to ease the situation.
    2. Credit card payment: Travel Agency making bookings via the Lobs website can pay by CC for every booking. In such case an additional pre-payment agreement has to be signed as an integral part of this Online Booking Agreement between Lobs and the Agency. All payments made by credit card will be subject to a non-refundable 3 % charge. Visa and Master Card are accepted.
37. Late payments will incur interest at the rate of either (a) 18% per annum or (b) the highest amount allowed by law whichever is the greatest. The Agency agrees to bear any costs incurred in the collection of any owed monies, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Payments Dispute

38. If The Agency customer leaves a hotel early, The Agency may be charged a cancellation fee, or even for all the nights booked. LOBS will invoice THE Agency in accordance with the hotel's invoice to LOBS.
39. In order to avoid disputes as to the date and time of departure, The Agency customer must always obtain from the hotel a written confirmation of the departure date and time.
40. If The Agency dispute any charge in an invoice, The Agency must provide full details of the dispute to LOBS in writing prior to the 15th day of the month after issuing the disputed invoice. Failure to bring to LOBS attention full details of any dispute concerning any invoice within that period may result in The Agency being precluded from seeking any discount or other claim against LOBS.
41. For the sake of clarity, invoices are payable at the prices set forth therein even if The Agency client claims to have seen a rate inside or outside a hotel which is lower than the rate set forth in the invoice.

Prices

42. Prices on the Website will be quoted:
    1. as Net Price, which is the price that will appear on the web site and which LOBS will charge the Agency.
    2. as Gross Price, which is the price that will appear on the web site. This will include the amount LOBS will charge the Agency and the Agency's commission if the Agency wishes to work on commissionable bases.
43. Prices are specified in EURO unless indicated otherwise, and are subject to change without advance notice.
44. LOBS does not guarantee that the price appearing on the Website is the lowest price.
45. The Agency understand that the price of the Reservation, when a Voucher is issued or issuable, is the binding price, even if the customer claims to have set a rate inside or outside a hotel which is lower than the rate set forth in the invoice.

What Prices Includes

46. The price includes accommodation and the type of meals, if any, as indicated on the Website and in the Voucher. Unless otherwise noted, the prices on the Website include local taxes, as well as the handling and booking fees of all the parties involved in arranging the Booking.

FIT Reservation Procedures

47. The Agency may use the Website to make Bookings for FITs (for 9 or fewer individuals) only. If The Agency tries to circumvent this restriction by splitting groups to make them appear as FITs, hotels will be within their rights to levy group cancellation, and possibly other charges, and the Agency will have to pay these in full.
48. Reservation requests for more than 9 people must be sent to LOBS by fax or email. LOBS may cancel Bookings that the Agency has made through the Website, if they appear to LOBS to be group bookings and not genuine FIT bookings.
49. The Agency' customers may be charged directly by the hotel at the rack rate if they fail to present a valid Voucher. It is The Agency' responsibility to ensure that, if the reservation is for more than one room and if any of the members of The Agency' customer’s group have different surnames, the names of all members of The Agency' customer’s group must be printed on the Voucher. Names such as “TBA” or “X & Party” will not be accepted. If members of The Agency' customer’s group are arriving at different times, they must each carry their own Voucher. They may also be charged directly by the hotel if the customer’s Voucher does not carry the booking reference we have confirmed.
50. Bookings may be made only in bona fide LOBS reserves the right to cancel Bookings when they appear to be made with the intention simply to hold space.
51. LOBS shall not be liable for and shall be indemnified by the Agency and the Agency' Travel Agency in respect of any loss (direct, indirect or consequential) or third party claims (including any cancellation fees) suffered as a result of any incorrect or incomplete details in The Agency' Reservation.
52. LOBS require at least one name for each room.
53. When additional nights are required for bookings already confirmed to the Agency, the Agency should modify the original reservation. If the Agency do not follow this procedure, any resulting problems will be the Agency' responsibility.

Exhibitions and Fairs

54. During exhibitions, fairs, holidays and special events, there will be changes in the published prices, and a remark to this effect generally appears on the Website. The binding price will be given at the time that a Voucher is issued. In most cases, the price will be higher than the hotel’s official rate.
55. The Agency therefore must check with The Agency' customer that they will pay the higher price and, if not, The Agency should request different dates.
56. Any offers based on stay for a certain number of nights and pay for another number of nights do not apply during fair periods.
57. When a Booking on request is made for a trade fair period, the bookings may have a reconfirmation advised at the time of confirmation. If The Agency reconfirm the Agency' reservation, The Agency will be totally committed for all nights and no refunds will be given. Cancellations received after LOBS has received The Agency' reconfirmation will incur full charges.

Triple Rooms

58. In the case of a triple room Reservation, the Agency should be aware that many hotels put a third bed or foldout sofa into a standard double room. The third bed may also be a foldaway bed. In the LOBS, rooms generally contain a wide double bed or 2 single beds and will be presented as “Double room with extra bed”. A triple room with 3 beds will be presented like “Triple room”
59. In any case of a triple-room reservation, this refers to the accommodation of three persons in a two-bed room. In a room for two adults plus a child, many hotels put in a third, child’s bed. Such room will be presented as Family room + 1, if rooms can accommodate 2 children, will be presented as Family room + 2. A baby’s crib may be requested, but there is no guarantee that one will be provided even if ordered in advance. In any event, payment for a baby’s crib will be made directly to the hotel.

Special Requests; Run of the House Accommodation

60. LOBS will make its best efforts to pass on special requests to hotels such as non-smoking, adjoining, superior or interconnecting rooms, but these requests cannot always be confirmed or guaranteed. Rooms described as “Disability-access Rooms” or similar expressions usually have wheelchair access but do not necessarily include features for more seriously disabled customers.
61. Bookings are made for an unspecified hotel room. LOBS is unable to guarantee customers a room in a certain part of the hotel or a on certain floor or on a certain side of the hotel building. In most hotels, double rooms contain two single beds, and a double bed cannot be guaranteed, even if ordered in advance. Rooms are assigned on basis of availability. Some hotels have, in addition to a central building, various wings, villas and bungalows, which form an integral part of the hotel. LOBS is unable to guarantee that customers will be accommodated in the central building. Accommodation in the national parks is in lodges or cabins.

Late Arrival and Non-Arrival

62. If the customer plans to arrive at the hotel and/or place of accommodation after 18:00, The Agency must advise LOBS of this in advance, at the time of making the Reservation. Should the Agency fail to so advise LOBS shall not have any liability towards the Agency or the customer in the event that no room and/or other accommodation has been reserved for the customer after 18:00.
63. If LOBS invoice a no show but the hotel later confirms The Agency' customer did stay, Lobs will raise a supplementary invoice to The Agency or the Travel Agency, which must be paid.

Hotel Procedures

64. Lobs will make its best efforts to pass on special requests to hotels for early check-in or late departure, but these requests cannot always be confirmed or guaranteed. The Agency is advised to make customers aware of the procedure at hotels regarding room entry and departure times. Rooms usually become available starting no earlier than 14:00, and sometimes as late as 16:00 and must be vacated by 11:00, regardless of the flight times, since the rooms have to be prepared for the arrival of new guests.
65. The Agency must provide its customers with the Voucher which includes the supplier booking reference number. All extras incurred by The Agency' customers must be paid directly to the hotel before their departure. LOBS will not pay hotels for The Agency' customer’s personal hotel charges.
66. LOBS is not accountable for the day-to-day running of the hotel, including the functionality of its systems, the air-conditioning operating hours, or other matters. The hotel’s grade and the level of its services are often certified by the local tourism ministry or trade association in each country. The ranking in the Official Hotel Guide (O.H.G.) or by any other official grading body shall determine the ranking of the hotel.
67. Some of the services offered by the hotel are seasonal and those are not available year-round. The hotel’s management is entitled at any time to close down any of its facilities or to discontinue the provision of any service, and we are not be liable for such decisions.. Lobs is not liable for renovations and/or construction in or near the hotel.
68. LOBS function is to book a hotel room through a supplier or directly from the hotel, as the case may be.
69. Overbooking may arise in the hotels listed on the Website. In such a case, the customer should present the Voucher and the supplier and/or the hotel management is supposed to refer the customer to another hotel of the same grade, and the customer shall not be entitled to any compensation in this regard. If the customer is transferred to a lower-grade hotel, Lobs will refund to the Agency the difference between the original sell price and the price of the accommodation actually provided. Lobs is not liable for any overbooking by the supplier or the hotel.

Cancellation of Bookings

70. The Website indicates cancellation information and deadlines.
71. Any cancellation of a booking by The Agency after the deadline or otherwise not in conformity with the cancellation procedures will result in charging The Agency the amount Lobs is charged in such circumstances. Lobs minimum charge is the cost of one night’s accommodation plus LOBS handling fees, as determined by LOBS.
72. A cancellation made by The Agency or The Agency' customer directly with the hotel will not be recognized. If The Agency or The Agency' customer claims to have cancelled a reservation directly with a hotel, a minimum of one night’s charge will be levied if the hotel later charges LOBS.
73. LOBS reserves the right to be indemnified by the Agency in full against all loss, costs, damages, charges and expenses incurred by LOBS as a result of any cancellation for any reason.

Clarifications and Refunds

74. Clarifications and refunds in connection with a stay at a hotel must be received at LOBS office not later than 30 days from the date of the customer’s arrival at the hotel. Clarifications and refund requests received thereafter will not be handled.