General Terms & Conditions:

Budget Getaways reserves the right to refuse any application or membership renewal.

All material and descriptions must be provided in good faith and represent an accurate description of the featured establishment.

Webpages will be featured live on the site only once all required material is received. This includes:

- a completed Application or Renewal Form;
- a detailed description of the establishment;
- a minimum 15 suitable jpeg images;
- the GPS coordinates of the establishment;
- a suitable number of email addresses of recent guests for feedback purposes; alternatively, published reviews on other independent websites such as Tripadvisor, will be considered;
- an availability calendar for the establishment's respective accommodation units, and detailed rates for each; 
- full bank details for booking deposit purposes.

It is the establishment's responsibility to check all information as correct once its webpage goes live. Any required changes to information, rates and images must be made via a personal login account on the 'Getaway Zone'. 

Whether directly owned or managed on behalf of an owner (property agents), establishments agree not to use Budget Getaways as an online channel for the promotion of other properties not speciifically featured on their Budget Getaways webpage.  

Establishments are permitted TWO free information updates per year. Any further updates will, at the discretion of Budget Getaways, be charged for at R350 per hour or part thereof. 

It is the establishment's responsibility to notify Budget Getaways of any pertinent changes that may occur after webpage activation. These include changes in rates, facilities and ownership.

Uncapped subscription fees, enquiry bundle rates and commission levied on bookings are subject to change without notice.

Cancellation of a webpage can be made 30 days in advance and in writing. No refunds are payable.

Budget Getaways is indemnified against claims, liabilities or losses that may arise from a webpage presence on this site.

Budget Getaways reserves the right to display all guest feedback with respect to the establishment, and to amend the content of any web page in light of both negative and positive feedback received.

Budget Getaways holds copyright over all establishment descriptions displayed on the website.


Terms and Conditions relating to 'Pay-as-You-Go Enquiry Bundles' and '12-Months Uncapped' subscription option:

Budget Getaways will cover establishments signed up for Enquiry Bundles against the following: duplicate enquiries; enquiries for dates marked off as 'Booked' on an active Budget Getaways availability calendar; enquiries for less than stipulated minimum stay; enquiries identified as blatant spam. 

Responsibility lies with the establishment to maintain an updated calendar for each of its accommodation units. Budget Getaways will not cover establishments against any of the above scenarios if they do not have an updated Budget Getaways calendar for each of their respective units.

Notwithstanding the above instances, no enquiry credits will be given for any other unforeseen scenarios. However, where these are identified as recurring, Budget Getaways will assess each on an individual basis and take corrective action where deemed necessary and technically possible. 

Invoices for Enquiry Bundles and Uncapped are payable on receipt. 

Credit card booking payments: Existing and new establishments applying for a webpage on Budget Getaways agree to accept online credit card and Instant EFT payment for bookings, as this has become an expected industry norm. These payments are managed by our secure payment gateway partner, Paygate. Credit card booking payments are made into the account of Best Budget Getaways. The total payment, less 3% service fee of total booking value will be forwarded to the establishment's bank account by EFT within 5-10 working days. It is the responsibility of the establishment to ensure bank details provided are correct and up to date. Please refer to the relevant section below for more detail.    

Booking cancellations and refunds:  If an establishment cancels a booking they are required to refund the guest the full amount paid by the guest without any deduction. 

No commission refunds will be issued by Best Budget Getaways in the event of a booking cancellation. 
 

Terms and Conditions relating to '15% Commission' subscription option:

Establishments on this option agree to pay 15% commission to Best Budget Getaways on any confirmed bookings made by customers who are introduced to them via Best Budget Getaways.

Commission is deducted from the total quote value. 

Any additional costs payable by guests must be included in the quotation e.g. meals, activities and extended stays.

All quotes must be inclusive of all applicable rates, levies and taxes.

'Best Price Guarantee': Establishments opting for this payment method agree to state their rates at the same level they would for walk-in customers. Establishments  in violation of this face delisting. 

Establishments on this option agree to declare all confirmed bookings generated via Budget Getaways, and total rand value thereof. These include any extensions in stay that may occur subsequent to an online booking. Establishments in violation of this agreement, whether by understating bookings or outright omission, face blacklisting on Budget Getaways and any allied websites.  

Where Best Budget Getaways has grounds to suspect understating of commissiom or outright omission, it reserves the right to conduct an independent verification of all enquiries received and to act upon the findings by way of legal action or other means.  

Upon receipt of an email reminder to do so, establishments are obliged to periodically update a Commission Statement. This must be done irrespective whether any confirmed bookings were received for the period in question. Failure to update a commission account will result in the webpage being deactivated.  

Commission due on confirmed bookings is payable via EFT or credit card on receipt of an emailed invoice.  

To remain on the Commission option establishments are required to maintain an up-to-date Availability Calendar (for all accommodation units), and convert a minimum 1 in 10 unique enquiries. This will be assessed every 30 days. Establishments falling short of this conversion rate will be given the option of converting their subscription to an enquiry bundle or an 'Uncapped' annual subscription.

Establishments on this option are obliged to accept Credit Card booking payments, which are managed by our secure payment gateway partner, PayFast. Credit card booking payments are made into the account of Best Budget Getaways. The total payment, less 15% commission, will forwarded to the establishment's bank account by EFT within 5-10 working days. It is the responsibility of the establishment to ensure bank details provided are correct and up to date. For further details please refer to the relevant section below.  

Best Budget Getaways may accept bookings on behalf of the Establishment through online booking confirmation using the information provided by the establishment. It is the responsibility of the establishment to ensure that all information on heir webpage is accurate. Fees may apply for inaccurate information.

Booking cancellations and refunds:  If an establishment cancels a booking they are required to refund the guest the full amount paid by the guest without any deduction. 

No commission refunds will be issued by Best Budget Getaways in the event of a booking cancellation. 
 
 

Terms & conditions relating to Credit Card bookings

All featured establishments agree to pay commission to Best Budget Getaways on any credit card booking payments made via Best Budget Getaways.

The minimum charge is 3% (Enquiry Bundle and Uncapped subscribers); this is used to cover bank transaction costs. The maximum commission charge is 15% (for existing Commission subscribers) 

Commission is deducted from the total booking value.

Commission includes payment processing and on-payment charges.

Quotations provided must be the same as they would be for direct or walk in guests staying at the establishment.

Any additional costs payable by guests must be included in the quotation e.g. requested meals and activities. 

All establishment quotes must be inclusive of all applicable rates, levies and taxes.

Payment options accepted: Booking payments may be made via Visa and MasterCard credit cards into the Best Budget Getaways bank account. 

Credit card acquiring and security: Credit card transactions will be acquired for Best Budget Getaways via PayGate (Pty) Ltd who are the approved payment gateway for Standard Bank of South Africa. PayGate uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3). Please refer to www.paygate.co.za to view Paygate's security certificate and security policy.

Customer details are stored by Best Budget Getaways separately from card details, which are entered by the client on PayGate’s secure site. We do not store any credit card details on our system. We simply forward the credit card details onto PayGate who authorize the transaction. 

The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. Transaction Currency is South African Rand (ZAR).

The payment process: a) The guest makes an availability enquiry of the establishment. b) If the establishment has accommodation available for the requested period, a quotation is submitted. This includes any relevant terms and conditions, and a quote expiry date. The quote constitutes an offer by the establishment, which can be accepted or declined by the user. c) If the quote is accepted within the expiry date, the user is directed to a payment page, at which point payment is made into the account of Best Budget Getaways by credit card. d) If the quote has already expired, the guest is required to submit a new enquiry. e) Total payment, less commission due, is forwarded to the establishment's bank account via EFT within 5-10 working days. 

Establishments may apply cancellation and refund policies. These should be clearly displayed on the quotation. Cancellation policies will have implications for refunds.

The quoted booking amount should include value added tax if the establishment is VAT registered. 

The establishment has the right to issue a new quotation at any time. A new quote automatically cancels a previous quote, even if the previous quote is still within expiry date. Any expired quote is deemed cancelled. 

Quotation errors: If an establishment quotes a customer incorrectly and the customer accepts this quotation, the establishment is required to honour the quotation.

Payment via credit card is either for the full booking amount or part thereof. Minimum deposit required should be sufficient to cover commission owing on the booking. A 50% deposit is the recommended norm.

Only once payment has been received and processed into the Best Budget Getaway's bank account is the payment process deemed to have been completed. Full payment received, less commission owing, will be transferred into the establishment's bank account by EFT within 5-10 working days. It is the responsibility of the establishment to ensure bank details provided are correct and up to date.

Booking cancellations and refunds:  If an establishment cancels a booking they are required to refund the guest the full amount paid by the guest without any deduction. In the event of guest cancellation, Budget Getaways will at its discretion refund the deposit paid, less up to 15% of deposit value.  

Chargebacks: Online payments processed by Best Budget Getaways can in certain circumstances (typically fraud) be contested by the cardholder, and the transaction reversed. This is known as a "charge back". In this event Best Budget Getaways is obliged to pay the credit card transaction amount back to our merchant bank. If this occurs the establishment agrees that Best Budget Getaways can either set-off the sum against future booking payments or refund Best Budget Getaways any on-paid amounts that are subsequently charged back.

Double bookings and failure to honour bookings: Double bookings are the result of quoting for a customer’s enquiry, or accepting a customers booking and then selling the same accommodation to another customer. In this event the establishment's quote is binding until quote expiry date. Best Budget Getaways may quote the customer on behalf of the Establishment using the information provided to us. The establishment is responsible for any liability that may arise as a result of a double booking or failure to honour any booking for any reason. In the event of an online credit card or Instant EFT booking, fees may be deducted to cover incurred transaction costs. 

No shows: Best Budget Getaways cannot assume any responsibility for guest no-shows. As such recourse will need to be sought directly against the guest.