Payment Policy

1. Introduction

This Payment Policy explains how payments for Travel Arrangements booked through Talvania Global Ltd ("we", "us", "our") are collected, processed and, where applicable, refunded. It should be read together with our Terms & Conditions, which govern your Booking as a whole, and our Booking Protection statement, which explains how your payments relate to your financial protection. Specific payment terms applicable to your Booking, including exact deposit amounts and balance due dates, will always be confirmed to you in writing by your travel consultant before you make any payment, as these vary by Supplier, destination and travel date. We have set out this policy in detail so that you know exactly what to expect at every stage of paying for your Travel Arrangements, from your initial deposit through to any refund you may be entitled to.

2. Accepted Payment Methods

We accept payment by major debit and credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Depending on the Booking and the Supplier involved, we may also be able to accept payment by bank transfer. We do not accept cash payments for security reasons. Any payment method restrictions applicable to a specific Booking (for example, where a Supplier only accepts certain card types, or where a Supplier requires payment in a specific currency) will be communicated to you clearly at the time of quotation, so that there are no surprises when it comes to settling your deposit or balance.

3. Card Security and Strong Customer Authentication

Where you pay by debit or credit card, your payment may be subject to Strong Customer Authentication ("SCA"), commonly implemented through 3D Secure verification services such as Visa Secure or Mastercard Identity Check. This may require you to verify a payment directly with your card issuer, for example via a one-time passcode sent by SMS or a prompt in your banking app. This additional verification step is a regulatory requirement designed to reduce fraud and protect you, and payments cannot generally be completed without it where your card issuer requires it. If you experience difficulty completing this verification step, please contact your card issuer in the first instance, as we are not able to complete this step on your behalf.

4. Currency

All prices quoted and all payments taken through us are in pounds sterling (GBP) unless we expressly agree otherwise with you in writing. Where your Travel Arrangements involve a Supplier that prices in a foreign currency, the sterling price quoted to you reflects the exchange rate applicable at the time of quotation and is subject to change if there is a significant movement in exchange rates between quotation and full payment, as explained further in Section 16.

5. Dynamic Currency Conversion

If you use a non-UK issued card to pay us, your card issuer or our payment processor may offer to convert the transaction into your card's home currency at the point of sale ("Dynamic Currency Conversion" or "DCC"). We do not control whether this option is presented to you, and the exchange rate applied under DCC is often less favourable than the rate your own card issuer would apply. We recommend that, where offered a choice, you elect to be charged in pounds sterling (GBP) and allow your own bank or card issuer to perform the currency conversion, as this is generally more cost-effective for you.

6. Deposits

Most Bookings require payment of an initial deposit to secure your Travel Arrangements at the quoted price and hold your reservation with the relevant Supplier. The deposit amount varies depending on the Supplier, destination, and time of year, and will be confirmed to you before you commit to paying. Deposits are, in almost all cases, non-refundable, reflecting the fact that we and our Suppliers commit resources and hold inventory on your behalf from the moment your deposit is received.

7. Balance Payments

The remaining balance of your Booking is due by the date specified on your booking confirmation, which is typically (but not always) between 8 and 12 weeks before departure, depending on the Supplier's own requirements. It is your responsibility to ensure the balance is paid in full by the due date. We will normally attempt to remind you in advance of the balance due date, for example by email or telephone, but this is a courtesy and does not remove your responsibility to pay on time in accordance with your booking confirmation.

8. Low Deposit and Instalment Schemes

Where advertised or offered by a Supplier, low deposit or instalment payment plans allow you to secure a Booking with a smaller initial payment, with the remaining balance collected in scheduled instalments or as a single balance payment ahead of the standard due date. For example, an instalment plan may involve an initial deposit followed by two or three further scheduled payments at agreed intervals before the standard balance due date. The specific terms of any such scheme, including instalment dates, amounts and payment method, will be set out in writing when the scheme is offered to you. Missing a scheduled instalment payment may result in the cancellation of your Booking and the loss of your deposit and any instalments already paid, in accordance with the Supplier's cancellation terms, so please contact us immediately if you anticipate difficulty meeting a scheduled instalment.

9. Full Payment Bookings

Some Travel Arrangements, particularly heavily discounted fares, last-minute deals, or certain low-cost airline tickets, must be paid for in full at the time of booking and do not offer a deposit option. Where this applies, we will make this clear to you before you commit to the Booking, and full payment will typically be required before we can confirm and ticket your Travel Arrangements.

10. Payment Processing and Security

All card payments are processed through secure, PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant third-party payment providers. We do not store your full card details on our own systems following the completion of a transaction. Payment pages use industry-standard encryption (TLS/SSL) to protect your data in transit between your device and our payment processor.

11. Card Surcharges

We do not currently apply a surcharge for payment by debit or credit card. If this changes, any applicable surcharge will be clearly disclosed to you before you make payment, and will comply with applicable consumer protection law governing payment surcharges.

12. Invoices and Receipts

Following any payment made to us, we will provide you with a receipt or invoice confirming the amount paid, the date of payment, and your booking reference. Please retain these records for your own accounting purposes and in case you need to query a payment with us or with your card issuer. Where required for business travel or expense purposes, we can provide a VAT-compliant invoice on request, where applicable to your Booking.

13. Taxes, Fees and Government Charges

The total price of your Travel Arrangements may include, or may be subject to, various third-party taxes, fees and charges imposed by governments, airports or destinations, including air passenger duty, airport departure taxes, and local tourist or environmental taxes. Where known at the time of quotation, these are included in the price confirmed to you; however, some destinations levy local taxes payable directly by you on arrival or at your accommodation, which are outside our control and are not included in the price paid to us. Your travel consultant will advise you of any known local taxes payable locally when your Booking is confirmed.

14. Failed or Declined Payments

If a payment is declined or fails for any reason, including insufficient funds, an expired card, incomplete Strong Customer Authentication, or a block placed by your card issuer, we will notify you so that you can arrange an alternative payment method. Please note that a delay in resolving a failed payment may affect the availability or price of your Travel Arrangements, as we cannot guarantee that a Supplier will hold a reservation open indefinitely while payment issues are resolved.

15. Payments to Us vs Payments to Suppliers

In most cases, you pay us directly, and we in turn remit the relevant funds to the Supplier providing your Travel Arrangements (which, for flight and flight-inclusive bookings, is typically processed through our IATA-accredited host agency, Brightsun Travel, IATA 3856). Full details of how your money is protected between the time you pay us and the time it reaches the relevant Supplier are set out in our Booking Protection statement.

16. Currency Fluctuations and Price Surcharges

Where your Booking is priced by reference to a foreign currency, or where a Supplier reserves the right to apply post-booking surcharges (for example due to fuel price increases or currency movements), any such surcharge will be passed on to you strictly in accordance with the applicable Supplier's terms and any statutory limits that apply under UK consumer protection law. We will always notify you in writing if a surcharge applies to your Booking, along with the reason for it.

17. Refunds

Where you are entitled to a refund, whether due to a cancellation permitted under a Supplier's terms, a Supplier-initiated cancellation, or a change we have made in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, refunds will be processed back to the original payment method used, wherever possible. Refund processing times vary depending on the Supplier and your card issuer or bank, and can take anywhere from a few business days up to several weeks for certain Suppliers, particularly airlines processing refunds through the IATA settlement system. We will keep you updated on the progress of any refund we are pursuing on your behalf and will pass on funds received from a Supplier promptly once they reach us.

18. Credit Notes and Vouchers

In some circumstances, a Supplier may offer a credit note or future travel voucher instead of, or in addition to, a cash refund, for example following a Supplier-initiated cancellation. Where this applies, we will explain the terms of any credit note or voucher offered, including its validity period and any restrictions on its use, so that you can decide whether to accept it or pursue an alternative remedy available to you under the Supplier's terms or applicable law.

19. Promotional Codes and Offers

From time to time, we may offer promotional codes, discounts or special offers on specific Travel Arrangements. Unless stated otherwise, promotional offers cannot be combined with one another, are subject to availability, may be withdrawn or amended at any time before a Booking is confirmed, and apply only to new Bookings made within the stated promotional period.

20. Cancellation Charges

Cancellation charges applicable to your specific Booking are governed by the relevant Supplier's booking conditions, which are provided or made available to you before you pay your deposit, and are further explained in our Terms & Conditions. In most cases, cancellation charges increase the closer to departure the cancellation is made, and deposits are non-refundable in almost all circumstances.

21. Fraud Prevention and Verification

To protect you and us against fraud, we and our payment providers may carry out verification checks on payments made through our website or over the phone, including address verification, card security code checks, and, where necessary, requesting additional identification documents before releasing tickets or confirmation documents. We reserve the right to delay or decline a Booking where we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraudulent activity, and we may request that a payment be made by an alternative method (such as bank transfer) where card verification cannot be satisfactorily completed.

22. Third-Party Payment Processors

Card payments made through our website or over the phone are processed by regulated third-party payment service providers. Their own terms and privacy practices apply to the processing of your payment data, in addition to our own Privacy Policy.

23. Disputes and Chargebacks

If you believe a payment has been taken in error, please contact us immediately so that we can investigate and, where appropriate, arrange a refund directly, which is normally quicker than raising a chargeback with your card issuer. Raising a chargeback without first contacting us may delay resolution and, where a chargeback is found to be unwarranted (for example, where valid Travel Arrangements were supplied in accordance with the agreed terms), may result in the reinstatement of the disputed charge together with any associated administration costs reasonably incurred by us.

24. Group and Corporate Bookings

Group and corporate bookings may be subject to bespoke payment terms, including different deposit structures and payment schedules, which will be agreed with you in writing before any Booking is confirmed. Standard consumer cancellation and refund terms may not apply in full to group or corporate arrangements; the specific terms agreed for your booking will take precedence over the general terms in this policy.

25. Retention of Payment Records

We retain records of your payments and transactions for as long as necessary to comply with our legal, tax and accounting obligations, which commonly require financial records to be kept for a minimum of six years, and to resolve any disputes that may arise. Further information about how we handle your personal data, including payment-related data, is set out in our Privacy Policy.

26. Multi-Passenger and Split Payments

Where a Booking includes multiple passengers, payment is generally collected as a single transaction from the Lead Passenger, who is responsible under our Terms & Conditions for the full cost of the Booking on behalf of everyone named on it. In some cases, and subject to our agreement in advance, we may be able to accept payment split across more than one card or payer for the same Booking; where this is arranged, each payer remains separately responsible only for the specific amount they have agreed to pay, but the Lead Passenger remains responsible for ensuring the total Booking cost is paid in full by the relevant due dates.

27. Price Confirmation Before Payment

Because we no longer display fixed indicative prices for most deals on our website, every Booking is preceded by a personalised quotation confirming the total price, any deposit and balance structure, and payment method options, provided to you in writing by your travel consultant. No payment is taken, and no Booking is confirmed, until you have agreed to this written quotation. This approach ensures the price you are asked to pay always reflects live, accurate Supplier pricing at the time of booking, rather than a price that may have changed since you first viewed a deal online.

28. Unclaimed Refunds and Dormant Credit

Where we hold a refund, credit note or overpayment on your behalf that we are unable to return to you despite reasonable attempts to contact you using the details you have provided, we will hold those funds for a reasonable period in accordance with our internal financial procedures and applicable law before any further action is taken. Please ensure your contact details are kept up to date with us, particularly following a cancellation or amendment, so that any refund due to you can be processed without delay.

29. VAT and Business Bookings

Where you are booking Travel Arrangements for business purposes and require a VAT invoice or specific documentation for expense or accounting purposes, please let your travel consultant know at the time of booking. Certain travel services benefit from specific VAT treatment (including the Tour Operators' Margin Scheme, where applicable to package-style bookings), and we will provide appropriate documentation reflecting the correct treatment for your Booking where we are able to do so.

30. Relationship With Our Other Policies

This Payment Policy should be read alongside our Terms & Conditions, which govern your Booking as a whole, our Booking Protection statement, which explains how your payments relate to your financial protection, and our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle the personal and payment data collected in the course of processing a payment. Where there is any conflict between this Payment Policy and the specific written quotation or booking confirmation provided to you for your Booking, the terms of your specific quotation or confirmation will take precedence.

31. Payments Outside Normal Business Hours

Where you make a payment outside our normal opening hours, for example via a payment link sent by email or WhatsApp, your payment will be processed automatically by our payment provider, but confirmation of your Booking and issuance of any tickets will generally take place during our next working period, as set out in the office hours displayed on our website and in our announcement bar. If you have any concerns about a payment made outside business hours, please contact us as soon as we reopen, quoting your booking reference and the time the payment was made.

32. A Summary of How Payment Works With Us

To bring the above together: every Booking begins with a written quotation confirming the exact price, deposit and balance structure applicable to your Travel Arrangements, as described in Section 27. Once you accept that quotation, we take your deposit or full payment securely by card, or, where agreed, by bank transfer, using PCI-DSS compliant payment processing as described in Section 10. Your balance, if applicable, is then due by the date confirmed to you, with reminders sent as a courtesy ahead of that date. Should you need to cancel, amend or query a payment at any stage, the cancellation, refund and dispute processes described in Sections 17, 20 and 23 apply, and our team remains available throughout on the contact details in Section 34 to help resolve any payment query as quickly as possible.

33. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Payment Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the payment methods we offer, our payment processors, or applicable regulation. The terms in force at the time you make a payment will apply to that payment. The date at the top of this page indicates when this policy was last revised.

34. Contact Us

If you have any questions about a payment, a pending refund, or this Payment Policy generally, please contact us on (0203) 983-6853, via WhatsApp, or through our Contact Us page, quoting your booking reference where applicable, and a member of our team will be happy to assist you promptly.