Terms & conditions

By placing a booking with Portugal Coach Hire Ltd, the Customer or the Hirer acknowledges that they have read, understood and agree to accept the Terms and Conditions as detailed below. In the following terms and conditions, ‘the Company’ refers to Portugal Coach Hire Ltd, its subsidiaries, brands or identities under which the company may trade, ‘the Customer’ and/or ‘the Hirer’ refers to the person and/or organisation making the booking and ‘the Driver’ refers to the driver or drivers of the coach, the coach operator or supplier of the vehicle. The Company provides a transport booking and management service, working closely with operators licensed by the appropriate licensing authority in the relevant jurisdiction or State. The Company manages the booking process, allocation of bookings to service operators, and the overall quality of the service provided to customers. Service operators are responsible for providing vehicles and drivers fully compliant with the terms of their operating license and with the Company’s service quality standards. 1. Application These Standard Terms and Conditions shall apply whether the agreement is verbal or written and shall enter into force immediately upon the Company accepting a booking via the Company’s Transporters system. The Hirer shall at all times remain solely responsible for the acts and/or omissions of the passengers permitted to travel by Hirer (whether directly or indirectly) and therefore any additional costs incurred by the Company during the performance of the contract shall be borne by the Hirer irrespective of whether the Hirer travels. 2. Pricing and Quotations All prices are valid for a period of 7 days from the date of issue, subject to vehicle availability and can be withdrawn or varied without notice. Price changes may occur by reason of matters outside our control which increase the cost of the product or service. Such factors include adverse currency fluctuations, fuel surcharges, taxes and other relevant cost increases. Please contact your consultant for up-to-date prices. Amendments to your original quote (or subsequent booking) such as a change of vehicle size, extra kilometres, extra hours, extra drop-offs or pick-ups may require us to provide you with a revised quotation. Additional costs such as (but not limited to) the provision of trailers, child restraints, tolls, airport parking fees etc may also affect your quote. Where an obvious error has occurred with the quoted/accepted price, we reserve the right to advise the customer of the error and provide an amended price for the journey and void the booking confirmed or accepted. 3. Payment All Payments must be paid in full 7 days prior to the performance of the booking unless expressly agreed by the Company in writing. If any outstanding payments are due, the company reserves the right to collect the payment due from the original credit/debit card used by or for the hirer at any time or start collection activities. The Hirer also agrees that no chargeback will be raised to any credit/debit card issuing company with regards to the booking payment. In the event that the deposit is not paid on time or balance is not paid by the due date (normally 7 days before travel unless expressly agreed in writing) the Company reserves the right to cancel the booking and any payment paid will be forfeited and the full balance will be due. If payment has not been received within the agreed timescales then the Company can no longer guarantee the quoted price and may be required to revise its quotation. All bookings made using credit or debit cards will incur a processing fee, unless otherwise agreed by the company in writing. In the event that a refund is due, please provide us with your BSB, account number and full account name to avoid further financial institution processing fees. We will only refund (a maximum) of the booking value. 4. Invoices Where the Company has agreed to a credit arrangement or account facility with the customer, invoices will be issued in accordance with the agreed arrangements and may include additional charges for credit and payment charges. All invoices are to be paid within seven days from the date of the invoice unless otherwise agreed in writing. Any queries relating to Company invoices must be raised in writing by the Customer within 7 days from the date of the invoice. If no query is raised by the Customer within this period it will be deemed as having been accepted in full. 5. Booking Confirmations and Amendments It is the responsibility of the Customer to check the Booking Confirmation, once received, for its accuracy and completeness, any discrepancies found in the Booking Confirmation should be communicated to the Company as a matter of urgency If a Customer requires amendment to a Booking, the amendment will only be considered as implemented when the Customer has it confirmed in writing and the Company has acknowledged said amendment with a new Booking Confirmation. If an updated Booking Confirmation has not been received by the Customer with the updated details the Customer will be subject to the terms of the original Booking Confirmation. No amendment can be agreed with the Driver and the Driver does not have the authority to bind the Company in any manner whatsoever. It is the Customer’s responsibility to ensure that all trip details are complete and correct and at no time should verbal amendments be considered as confirmation of a change to an existing booking. The Company cannot be held responsible for any delays in arrival at a destination caused by traffic problems and/or adverse weather conditions and these factors should be taken into account by the Customer when requesting a collection time when making a booking. The Company shall have no liability to the Customer for failing to arrive at a destination on time and shall bear no liability for late arrival at performances or events and the Customer shall have no claim against the Company for any reimbursement to the cost of any tickets for any such performance or event. Depending on the nature of the booking amendment, additional charges may be required. 6. Customer Service The Company operates a customer service improvement programme to make sure that any service issues are dealt with promptly and trigger an improvement to the procedures used. Bookings are tracked at each stage of the process and written and telephone communications are recorded to assist with service improvement. A copy of the Company’s customer service procedure is available on request. Any complaints must be made in writing in a speedy and timely manner, the Company will be unable to accept any complaints or apply compensation for complaints received more than 30 days after the date of travel. Any remedies or compensatory measures offered (if any) by the Company are at the strict discretion of the management of the Company. The Hirer also agrees that in the event of a dispute arising from a booking, a charge back request will not be raised through the card issuer or bank. The Hirer agrees to have a fair independent hearing with a licensed mediator if an agreement cannot be made between the Hirer and the Company with both parties to split the cost of such mediation equally. Any complaints regarding the condition of the vehicle supplied or its facilities should be supported by photographic evidence. 7. Additional Charges and Surcharges Unless it has been agreed otherwise, the hire price will not include tickets, admission charges, ferries, road tolls or parking and these and any other extra charges not included in the Quote will be the sole responsibility of the Hirer unless otherwise agreed to in writing with the Company. However, the Company may make these arrangements, on request, on the Customer’s behalf and would do so acting as an agent for the Customer. This means that any terms and conditions applicable to that transaction by that supplier (i.e. those relating to payment, cancellation, refunds etc.) would be as binding on the Customer as if they had made these arrangements directly. Details of such are available upon request, the Company will not enter into any arrangement on the Customer’s behalf until payment from the Customer to the Company has been made. All bookings at the point of quotation will be based on the use of a single Driver however, for longer journeys in terms of hours it may be necessary to employ the services of a second Driver in order to comply with the regulations regarding Driver’s hours and therefore the Company reserves the right to review the quotation should this be the case and should there be a need for additional charges the Hirer will be advised at least (where possible) 7 days prior to the journey date. Irrespective of clause 4 above, should the customer instruct the Driver to, or otherwise make changes to the booking and these changes incur additional costs and charges, either before or during the booking, the Customer accepts full liability for said charges. For some journeys, it may be necessary to accommodate the Driver/s, these costs will be borne by the Hirer and will be paid in advance of the journey’s commencement. Where Driver’s accommodation is arranged by the client, it must be a single occupancy room with its own bathroom for each driver and a minimum of 3.5 stars. Our operations team will advise where and when required. The quotation is given with regard to the operating costs at the time of the quotation. If more than 14 days elapse between the date of the quotation and its performance, the Company reserve the right to pass on any increase in the cost of fuel or any other increased costs to the Hirer. The Company reserves the right to charge for damage to vehicles made by the hirer and/or the passengers. Monies will be collected from the Hirer. Any taxes or charges imposed by any Government or other authority which the Company is obliged to pay in order to fulfil the booking will normally be included in the quotation or confirmed booking price. However, if any such tax or charge is introduced or increased after the booking has been made and before travel, the Company will pass that cost onto the Customer and the Customer will be obliged to pay it prior to departure. Failure to make such requested payment will be regarded as cancellation by Hirer and subject to the provision of clause 12 below. If actions by a customer mean that an upcoming journey is affected the customer is liable for the costs. E.g. If the vehicle is soiled by customers and we have to organise another vehicle to cover the next booking. Then the party responsible are liable for the cost of the new driver and vehicle. 8. Vehicle Photographs On request the Company can provide a photograph of the type of vehicle being supplied. In this case the photograph supplied is an illustrative guide only and may be a different make/model with different livery and appearance to that actually supplied to the booking. 9. Luggage and Passenger Numbers The vehicle supplied by the Company will take account of the amount of luggage as well as the number of passengers specified at the booking time. The Customer must ensure they specify the correct information at the time of the booking and inform the Company as soon as possible if there are any changes. 10. Cancellation by Hirer All cancellations must be made in writing. Should the Hirer wish to cancel a booking where the Hirer has paid in either full or part for the booking the following refund terms shall apply:

• Any cancellation requests must be acknowledged by us via reply email from one of our representatives. You must email your cancellation request through and ensure that you receive a reply email from us confirming that your journey is cancelled. We will accept no responsibility for cancellation requests made via phone, message service or email that has not been acknowledged by Portugal Coach Hire
• Portugal Coach Hire reserves the right to charge you, the client, a cancellation fee of:
• 20% of the total booking amount if you cancel for any reason (this is the non-refundable deposit).
• 25% of the total booking amount if cancelled within 7 days of your first journey (business days only).
• 50% of the total booking amount if cancelled within less than 96 hours (business days only) of your first journey but not less than 48 hours
• 100% of the total booking amount if cancelled within less than 48 hours (business days only) of your first journey.

NOTE: The cancellation fee will be automatically charged to your card if your journey is cancelled within these terms. Cancellation of an event or holiday or “reason for travel” does not affect the Hirer’s liability for the above cancellation fees and the monies will be due as if the vehicle was travelling. Should the Customer not have paid the amount set out above at the time of cancellation the balance shall become due immediately and shall be a debt owed to the Company. The Company may, at its sole discretion, engage the services of a debt collection agency to recover any unpaid amount together with interest and any debt collection charges and legal fees. 11. Cancellation by the Company In the event that the Company is unable to provide a vehicle or vehicles to meet all or part of the Customer’s booked requirements due to reasons of emergency, vehicle unavailability, or other reason, the Company will take all reasonable measures to provide a replacement or alternative solution. If this is not possible, the Company retains the right to return all monies paid and, without liability, cancel the booking providing the Customer with as much notice as possible. In such circumstance the Company shall have no liability for any inconvenience or loss incurred and will not be liable for any direct or consequential loss howsoever arising. It is strongly recommended that the Customer should consider insuring against this risk. 12. Purpose of Journey The Company must be notified of any bookings for sporting events, music festivals or political demonstrations and rallies at the time of booking, as there may be specific legal or other requirements that could affect the booking. Failure to notify the Company correctly of the nature of the journey will be construed as breach of contract and at the Company’s absolute discretion may lead to termination of the booking without compensation or refund. 13. Force Majeure Neither party shall be liable in damages or have the right to terminate this Agreement for any delay or default in performing here under if such delay or default is caused by conditions beyond its reasonable control including, but not limited to Acts of God, Government restrictions (including the denial or cancellation of any export or other necessary license), wars, insurrections, strikes, including, without limitation, failure of suppliers, subcontractors, and carriers, bad weather, and/or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the party whose performance is affected to substantially meet its performance obligations under this Agreement. 14. Use of the Vehicle The Hirer cannot assume the use of the vehicle between outward and return journeys nor will the vehicle remain at the destination for the Hirer’s sole use unless this has been expressly agreed in writing by the Company. The Company reserves the right to levy additional charges for timings or mileage over and above the original agreement on a pro rata basis as confirmed to the Hirer at the time of booking. The Customer hereby acknowledges that no luggage may be left on the vehicle unless specifically agreed with the Company. Should the Customer be late for any pickup as set out in the Booking Confirmation the Customer will be liable for any additional costs incurred by the Company in providing the Service including, without limitation, the costs of obtaining a replacement vehicle if the original becomes unavailable, and obtaining additional Drivers. Overtime charges:

• If the actual departure time is made within 10 minutes of the scheduled/confirmed pickup time no overtime charges will be levied.
• Any departures that take place 10 minutes or later than the scheduled/confirmed pickup time overtime charges may be levied (from the scheduled/confirmed pickup time) at the following rates:
  • Rate of €5.00 + VAT per 15 mins (€50.00 per hour)
• It is NOT the responsibility of the driver or Company to inform or warn you or your group of any impending charges including overtime, damage, or extra kilometres, etc, regardless of the circumstances on the day of your journey. It is your responsibility to manage your group’s requirements on the day and be aware of any extra charges that could be incurred.
• Where the booking is to collect passengers from an airport and the Customer has provided a scheduled arrival time, the scheduled pickup time for the booking will be adjusted by the Company to allow 30 minutes for the passengers to disembark the flight, reclaim luggage and clear customs. In the event that the Customer requires a fixed pick up time, this allowance will not apply. Where flights are delayed and the cumulative delay shall exceed this allowance; the clause below shall apply. It is strongly recommended that the Hirer take out travel insurance to cover this eventuality.
• For the avoidance of doubt a Driver will wait for a maximum of 30 minutes from the scheduled time of pick up or such shorter period as may be determined by the Driver that will adversely affect his/her Driver’s hours. Should the Customer not have arrived for pick up within this period the Company shall be relieved of any obligation to provide the service and shall have no liability to the Customer for any costs incurred by the Customer in completing their journey. Not with standing the fore going, the Company shall use reasonable endeavour’s to complete the journey at full cost to the Customer.
• If there are extensive delays to the departure times, Portugal Coach Hire cannot guarantee that it will be able to fulfill the booking if vehicles are committed to other charters.

15. Change of Vehicle The Company reserves the right to subcontract to another operator to perform the hire or to supply replacement vehicles with the same number of seats. In the event that a vehicle of differing specification is supplied, the Company’s liability will be limited to the value of the specific journey within the booking. If for operational reasons the Company is compelled to supply a larger coach than required this will be at no extra charge (unless the number of passengers is increased from the original booking). 16. Route Unless the hirer has advised of a particular route and specified it at the time of booking, the route taken will be entirely at the discretion of the Company or Driver according to road, traffic and weather conditions at the time of travel. The vehicle will depart at the times agreed by the Hirer at the time of the Booking Confirmation; no price discount shall be given if the route chosen is not actually the shortest. All pick-up and drop-off locations and routes of travel must be 1) legal points for embarkation and disembarkation and 2) suitable for the vehicle utilised. Where that is not the case, the driver will advise the client of the nearest pick-up or drop-off location that meets this requirement, or take the route of travel required to meet this requirement. Stops will be made at suitable points to satisfy legal requirements regarding breaks and rest for Drivers. It is the Hirers’ responsibility to account for all passengers at those times. The Company cannot accept liability for any losses incurred by passengers who fail to adhere to the Hirers’ instructions. Any changes requested to the route by the Customer shall be at the Driver’s sole discretion and the Driver may charge an additional fee if additional drop-off points are requested and agreed by the Driver. 17. Breakdown or Delay The Company may give advice on journey times in good faith, but cannot guarantee that the journey is completed by a specific time and cannot accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever for traffic congestion, road accidents, adverse weather conditions, compliance with requests of the police, customs or other government officials and security services or other matters outside its reasonable control and will not be liable for any inconvenience or loss incurred caused by a breakdown or unforeseen delay be that in-route to pick up the Hirer or in-route to the booking destination as a result. It is strongly recommended that the Hirer should consider insuring against this risk if journey times are particularly crucial, for example for the commencement of an event. 18. Driver’s Hours Driver’s Hours (Fatigue management) and rest periods are strictly regulated by Portugal federal government law and the Hirer accepts responsibility for timings agreed at confirmation of booking. The Hirer accepts that neither they nor their passengers shall delay or interrupt the journey in such a way as to cause the Driver to breach Driver’s Hours regulations and must adhere strictly to all collection times contained in the Booking Confirmation. If any breach is likely to occur the hirer agrees to pay any additional costs incurred. If delays occur for whatever reason, the Company may take whatever action is deemed necessary for the Vehicle in order to comply with the law. Where delays do occur, the Company cannot be held responsible for any losses arising as a result of those delays or non-performance of the services unless they are due solely to the negligence of the Company. 19. Property & Baggage The vehicles are subject to statutory safety restrictions on the carriage of luggage and the Driver has sole authority to decide whether the property is suitable to be carried on that vehicle. Our Baggage allowance policy is mandatory, for your safety and to meet legal requirements in the safe transfer of passengers. When the vehicle is fully occupied each passenger may carry:

• One soft sided overnight bag or suit sack, weighing no more than 10 – 20 Pounds.
• One of either briefcase / laptop / camera bag / normal sized handbag or similar baggage normally cannot be carried in the cabin, apart from small personal items such as moderately sized briefcases, laptops, handbags or similar capable of being placed beneath your legs in your seated position during the journey or at the direction of the driver.
• All items must be capable of being stowed in the baggage holds or being placed beneath your legs in your seated position, unless they can be secured into unoccupied passenger seats.

When the vehicle is not fully occupied, spare seats may be utilised for extra baggage, provided that it can be secured by the seatbelt.  When making a booking it is important thing is for the passengers to specify their proposed needs, and for you to discuss them with us. We will advise you of feasibility, and work out a solution with you. Without this process, you run the risk of the Operator(s) being put in the position of having to reject items at the point of departure. The Operator(s) is/are responsible for your safety at all times. Should you arrive with more than that specified in the booking, there is a real chance that we will not be able carry it without offloading passengers or passenger luggage. Passenger and crew safety are our priority and our baggage allowances are for these reasons. Whilst the Company will take all reasonable care with passenger’s property it cannot accept liability for any damage to, or loss of that property being carried on the vehicle and the Company strongly recommends that no valuables should be left on the vehicle at any time, even if that vehicle is locked. Nor can the Company accept responsibility for any loss of or damage to property left on the vehicle after hire. Property found on the vehicle after hire will be held at the vehicle operating base for a maximum period of 30 days. It is the Hirers’ or the passenger’s responsibility to collect the property and any costs incurred to collect the property are to be borne by the Hirer or passenger. Property is to be collected at a time agreed by the Company and the Hirer or passenger. 20. Passenger Conduct It is incumbent upon the Hirer and the Hirer’s party to behave in a proper manner for the duration of their journey. The Driver is responsible for the safety of the vehicle and as such may refuse to allow a passenger or passengers to board the vehicle or eject them from the vehicle if, in his sole discretion, he considers them unfit to travel for whatever reason (for example, being intoxicated, aggressive or abusive). The Driver may refuse to continue a journey if, in his sole discretion, he considers any passenger to be behaving in such a way as may compromise the safety of other persons, the contents of the vehicle or the vehicle itself. In such event, at the Driver’s sole discretion, the journey may continue once the passenger or passengers have been removed from the vehicle, but should passenger conduct result in summary termination of the journey, the company reserves the right to cancel any other parts of a booking, and in such circumstances the forfeiture of any monies paid, and no claims for compensation or refund in either whole or part shall be entertained. Any damage caused to the vehicle by the Hirer or any of the passengers shall be the responsibility of the Hirer and the Hirer shall be liable for all costs related thereto. 21. Alcohol, Tobacco or Drug Consumption No alcohol (opened) or glass products are allowed in the vehicle at any time. All vehicles are strictly non-smoking by law. Non-compliance with a Driver’s request for passengers to refrain from drinking alcohol, the smoking of tobacco or consumption of illegal narcotics may result in summary termination of the journey, cancellation of any other parts of a booking and, in such circumstances, the Customer shall remain liable for any sums due under this Agreement and the Company shall have no liability to the Customer and no refunds shall be provided. 22. Limitation of liability Subject to the remaining provisions of this clause, the Company’s liability to the Hirer under or in connection with this Agreement for all and any direct loss or damage arising from any one incident or series of connected incidents is limited to the booking value (excluding any additional Charges arising by way of these terms and conditions. Neither the Company nor the Hirer excludes or restricts in any way its liability under or in connection with this Agreement for death or personal injury caused by its negligence or to any extent not permitted by law. The Company shall not be liable to the Hirer (whether in contract, tort, under statute, for misrepresentation or otherwise including in each case negligence) and whether or not the Hirer was advised in advance of the possibility of such loss or damage, for:

• (a) any of the following types of loss or damage whether direct, indirect or consequential howsoever arising under or in connection with this Agreement or any part of it: loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of anticipated savings, loss of opportunity, loss of business, wasted expenditure, loss from business interruption, loss or destruction of data, loss of contracts, loss from expenditure of time by managers and employees, liability to third parties, pecuniary losses arising from goodwill, or loss of or damage to goodwill; or
• (b) any indirect or consequential losses whatsoever. Nothing in this clause or in this Agreement excludes or limits the Customer’s liability to pay (without set off) the charges or any Additional Charges

23. Animals With the specific exception of recognised assistance dogs, (which includes guide dogs), no animals are permitted to be carried on any vehicle booked under the terms of this agreement, unless specific permission has been obtained in writing from the company a minimum of three working days prior to the commencement of any journey. The inclusion of this clause should not be taken to imply that permission will be given for the carriage of animals other than recognised assistance dogs, and specific requirements may be given with regards to restraint of aforesaid animals to ensure safe transit of any animals for which permission is given. Failure to comply with any reasonable requirements may result in summary termination of the journey and removal of the animal from the vehicle. A recognised assistance dog is one that has been specifically trained to assist a disabled person and that meets the accredited membership criteria of Assistance Dogs International/ANZAD, or other such bodies as may from time to time be recognised. An assistance dog trained by a member of Assistance Dogs International will have formal identification. 24. Enforceability If any provision or term of these Terms and Conditions shall become or be declared illegal, invalid or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever, such term or provision shall be deleted but all other terms will remain valid. 25. Governing Law These terms and Conditions together with any Booking Confirmation shall be subject to and construed in accordance with the laws of Portugal . The parties hereby agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Portugal.