Foreign Office Travel Advice
We recommend that you seek advice from the Foreign Office regarding your holiday destination(s) prior to your reservation – this is easily available by telephone, teletext or through the Internet. Your Travel Agent should also be able to assist. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel Advice Unit may have issued information about your holiday destination(s). You are advised to check this information on BBC2 Ceefax page 470 onwards or on the Internet under the address: www.fco.gov.uk/travel/countryadvice.asp by telephone on 0845 850 2829 or by email to consular.fco@gtnet.gov.uk Alternatively, you can contact the ABTA Information Department on 0901 2015050 (calls are charged at 50p/minute).
Insurance
You MUST, repeat MUST have proper travel insurance. Please refer to the information
about our excellent insurance. Not all activities/excursions featured on our website are covered by our standard insurance policy. Please check your policy carefully to ensure that you are fully covered for all the activities/excursions in which you intend to participate. If your activity/excursion is not covered by your standard policy, it may be possible for you to pay an additional premium to extend your cover to include the activity/activities. Please call us on 0870 220 2468 for further details.
Documents
REMEMBER YOUR PASSPORTS...AND DON'T FORGET YOUR VISAS!
You MUST have a FULL passport, VALID for a min of 6 months from return date of travel and you should check with the relevant embassy for current requirements as these are subject to change.
Visas are required by British citizens for a number of our destinations, and a charge may be applicable - for up-to-date information check with the relevant embassy. All other passport holders should check with the relevant embassy or consulate. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct travel documentation.
UK Passport Information
If you haven’t yet got a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 8 weeks before your holiday departure date. The Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and everybody aged 16 or over applying for their first passport will need to have an interview as part of the application process. Please note that this new process will increase the time it takes for your application to be processed. In all cases, the passport office advises you not to book any travel arrangements until you have received your new passport. from October 2006 will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this. The name on each person's ticket MUST match the name as stated in their passport. When making your booking, please ensure the information given to us is correct. Failure to do so may result in significant charges being incurred, as some airlines treat an amendment as a name change and will charge accordingly.
Travelling to the USA
If your passport shows you are a
BRITISH or IRISH citizen you do not usually need a visa* but can use the VISA
WAIVER PROGRAMME (form supplied at airport or on flight).
*Under certain circumstances (eg. if you have a criminal record) you may require
a visa and you could be refused entry into the USA. For more information on
why you may need a visa, please visit our Passport
and Visa FAQ's.
Visa Waiver Programme
You will need a visa if your passport shows you are a BRITISH SUBJECT you WILL need a VISA. This
particularly applies if you are Irish but have a British Subject passport. In
both these cases you must check with the US Embassy or nearest consulate. All
other passport holders in doubt should check with a US Embassy or consulate. All British Passport holders will now only permitted to enter the US under
the Visa Waiver programme if they are travelling on a valid machine readable
passport. All passports issued within the UK since November 1991 are machine
readable. This is not the case for all UK passports issued overseas, so please contact the British Passport Office if this applies to you.
Passports issued on or after October 26 2006 must also include an integrated circuit chip capable of storing the biographic information from the data page, a digitised photograph and other biometric information. If your passport was issued on or after this date and does not have this information, you WILL require a visa.
For full details of passport requirements for your chosen holiday please contact the British Passport Office on 0870 521 0410 or www.ukpa.gov.uk or the US embassy on 0207 499 9000 or www.usembassy.org.uk
The name on each person's ticket MUST match the name as stated in their passport. When making your booking, please ensure the information given to us is correct. Failure to do so may result in significant charges being incurred, as some airlines treat an amendement as a name change and will charge accordingly.
To qualify for the US Visa Waiver programme you must NOT:
- Be suffering from any communicable disease, physical or mental disorder
or be a drug abuser or addict.
- Have been arrested or convicted for any offence or crime. This includes
spent convictions or an arrest not resulting in a conviction.
- Have ever been involved in espionage or sabotage, terrorist activities,
genocide or been involved in anyway with Nazi Germany or its allies between
1933 and 1945.
- Seeking work in the US, have been excluded or deported from the US, been
previously removed from the US or attempted to procure a visa or entry into
the US by fraud or misrepresentation.
- Been detained, retained or withheld custody of a child from a US citizen
granted custody of the child.
- Been denied a US Visa or entry into the US or had a US visa cancelled.
- Have asserted immunity from prosecution
Kids
All children, including newborn babies, must now have their own individual passport. Please contact the British Passport Office for full details on passport requirements for your holiday destination.
Please Note: Some destinations require a letter of authority if children are not accompanied by both legal guardians.
Advance Passenger Information
Virgin Atlantic, like other airlines, is obliged to transmit Advance Passenger
Information (API) about passengers prior to the departure of flights to the
United States.
Specifically, there is a requirement for all passengers to provide their country
of residence and (for non-US residents) details of their full address (street
name and number, city, zip code and state) for the first night's accommodation
in the US. Passengers travelling to the US continue to require a machine-readable
passport or valid visa.
If you have booked accommodation with us as part of your holiday booking, then
you do not need to contact Virgin Atlantic in advance of your flight, as we
will provide them with this information. However if you have booked a flydrive
holiday without accommodation or have booked your accommodation independently,
then you will need to provide Virgin Atlantic with this information yourself
at check in.
Please note this information is for Virgin Atlantic flights only, if
you are travelling with any other airline you may be asked to provide your accommodation
details upon arrival at check-in. This information will be shown on your hotel
accommodation voucher which you will receive with your tickets, so please ensure
you have this handy when checking in for your flight.
We would ask that all passengers continue to provide their valid travel documents
and details of their full US destination address for US Immigration. There is
no requirement for passengers to arrive at the airport any earlier than usual.
Further Information
If you would like more information on API you can visit our FAQ
section
You can also find out more about API through the US Customs and Border Protection
website by going to www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/home.xml
Innoculations and Medical Precautions
None currently required for the USA. For the Latest information we recommend
you check with your Doctor.
Booking Procedure
When we receive your reservation and deposit we will send you an invoice showing
the details of your holiday and charges and enclosing a summary of your insurance
policy (if you have taken ours). If you agree these, the balance should be paid
8 weeks before departure (unless otherwise stipulated). After we have received
payment of the balance, and approx 14 days before departure, air tickets, travel
information, joining instructions, luggage labels and service vouchers will
be sent to you or your travel agent. Bookings made 8 weeks or less to the departure
date must be paid for at time of booking the reservation. Where accommodation
or flights are subject to request, full payment must be made and we endeavour
to have an answer within 48 hours of the request being received. Payments made
to Virgin Holidays by credit card will incur a charge 1.5% on the total value
of your holiday.
Early Booking/Bonus Offers
Please note these offers are subject to availability and may be withdrawn at
anytime. Where dates are mentioned, offer applies to stays taken and completed between the dates stated. Please note that proof of marriage is required in order to benefit from the honeymoon offers available at selected hotels.
Unaccompanied Age Restrictions
For those wishing to travel unaccompanied by a parent or guardian the minimum
age is 18 years. However, some hotels and resorts do not allow under 21s in
a room by themselves - please check at time of booking for details or call 0870
220 2788.