Your Own Italy
Terms & Conditions
Welcome to www.yourownitaly.com (the “Site”). We look forward to the opportunity to assist you with your travel related plans when traveling to Italy. These terms and conditions (the “Agreement” or these “Terms”) describe what you are legally entitled to expect from us when you visit our Site or purchase travel related services through us, in addition to your obligations as a customer. The terms “we”, “us”, “our” and “Your Own Italy” refer to Your Own Italy, Inc., a Maryland corporation. The term “you” refers to the customer visiting our Site, booking a reservation through us (whether on the Site, pursuant to correspondence with a representative of Your Own Italy or otherwise) or otherwise using our services, and includes all members of a customer’s party who utilize our services.
YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY USING THE SITE (INCLUDING ANY CONTENT PROVIDED THEREIN), SERVICES OR PRODUCTS OFFERED ON THE SITE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE OR SERVICES.
Your Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions
By booking your arrangement with us or using our Site, you are agreeing to be bound by this Agreement.
You represent and warrant that (a) you are of sufficient age to use our services and Site and can create binding legal obligations in connection with your use, (b) you are legally authorized to act on behalf of those you represent and accept this Agreement on their behalf, and (c) the information supplied by you or members of your group is true and correct. You are responsible for informing such other persons of all terms and conditions applicable to their travel arrangements. You understand that you are financially responsible for any use of our services or the Site by you and those using your name or account.
Bookings
Vacation packages and Shore Excursions are customized and thus cannot be fully booked online at this time. However, by clicking “book vacation” on the Site and entering your applicable information, a Your Own Italy representative will contact you directly in order to get sufficient details to proceed with your booking. Shore Excursions must be booked at least 72 hours prior to the applicable excursion.
We book a variety of travel related products (e.g., ground transportation, hotel accommodations, meals, tours, cruises, etc.) from different third party suppliers (“Suppliers”). Upon completing your booking, we will issue you an itinerary customized for each service or product booked. Please ensure that your itinerary is printed or that it can be displayed on a Tablet or Smartphone in order for the booking to be validated.
In booking a vacation package through us, we will require that you pay certain deposits. Payment of a deposit enables us to hold a reservation for you, however, the price can only be guaranteed once we receive full payment, subject to any third party changes to taxes, fees. For custom vacation packages, a non-refundable deposit of 30% of the total package price is required at booking to secure your reservation. Final payment is due 45 days prior to departure. All prices are subject to change until the deposit is received due to potential variations in exchange rates, local taxes, transportation costs, or supplier pricing. Your payment constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions without the need for additional signature. We will advise you of the date that full payment is required via email to the email address you provide or via the Site when you make your booking.
Prices do not include tips/gratuities to guides, drivers or local guides, personal insurance or any items of a personal nature, including private transportation, or any food or beverages not specifically listed as included on the product pages of the Site. Additionally, prices do not include city occupancy taxes during your vacation, which must be paid in cash to the hotel (as applicable) upon check-out.
Our general practice is to send documents to our customers electronically whenever possible. We may send you documents via hard copy upon your request, subject to an administrative fee. By using our Site, you consent to receive from Your Own Italy all communications including notices, agreements, legally required disclosures or other information in connection with the services, products or this Agreement (collectively, “Contract Notices”) electronically. We may provide certain electronic Contract Notices by posting them on the Site, however, information specific to your travel arrangements will be sent directly to you electronically. If you desire to withdraw your consent to receive Contract Notices electronically, please contact us via the contact information on the Site letting us know, and discontinue your use of the Site and our services and products.
Changes to confirmed bookings are subject to our standard service fees as follows:, Changes requested within 90 days of departure will incur additional supplier fees plus a reasonable service fee based on the complexity and timing of the changes. Service fees will be determined by the Service Provider based on actual costs incurred and complexity of changes, with a minimum fee of $150. All changes are subject to availability and supplier terms. For modification of custom itineraries, we reserve the right to assess appropriate fees reflecting the specialized nature of our arrangements with local providers and the administrative work required to process modifications. Service fees will be communicated upon receipt of change requests. Cancellation of arrangements is subject to our Cancellation Policy, which is available on our Site. If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your travel insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim your cancellation charges through your insurer. No refunds will be made for any unused portion of a vacation package or shore excursion.
If you have a problem during your holiday, please contact us immediately through the contact information provided on the Site.
It is your responsibility to ensure that all of the details on your travel documents are correct and to bring to our attention any errors or discrepancies immediately. We do not represent that travel to any destination is safe or without risk. You further agree that in connection with your activities, you will not permit the use of our services or Site by anyone that resides or is staying in a country for which such use is prohibited under U.S. regulations.
It is your responsibility to fulfill the passport, visa and other immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. You should confirm these with the relevant embassies and/or consulates. We do not accept any responsibility in the case of you being unable to travel due to not complying with any such requirements.
Travel insurance is a vital part of your arrangements. We strongly recommend that you take out adequate insurance for the duration of your journey.
Our booking fares are in US currency as stated on the Site. All charges will be processed in US dollars onto your credit card regardless of the origin of your credit card. Please be aware that translating the booking fare into your home currency will always be approximate until charged on your credit card. Posted currency rates from various public sources should be used as a guideline only as actual rates will often vary from posted rates. You are responsible for any fees your card charges in connection with conversions of currency.
Use of our Services and Website
You agree you will only use our Site or services to make legitimate reservations or purchases and to not make speculative, false or fraudulent reservations or reservations in anticipation of demand. You will only use our website and services in compliance with applicable law.
Without our prior written permission, you may not (a) access, monitor or copy any content or information on our website using any “robot”, “spider” or other automated or manual device or program, (b) deep link to any portion of our website, (c) “frame” or incorporate any portion of our website into any other website.
Our Site may contain links to third party websites that we provide as a convenience to you. You should take precautions to ensure that whatever links you access are free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or other destructive mechanisms. The existence of these links does not imply that we endorse such websites or any included content. We are not responsible for such websites or their content or any data privacy practices. We will not be liable for the privacy of email addresses, registration and identification information, disk space, communications, confidential or trade-secret information, or any of Your Content stored on our equipment, transmitted over networks accessed by the Site, or otherwise connected with your use of the Site.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify us and our affiliates, and any of our Suppliers, and any such parties’ officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any third-party claims, causes of action, demands, losses, damages, or other costs (including reasonable and documented legal and accounting fees), brought by you or third parties as a direct or indirect result of (a) your breach of this Agreement, (b) your violation of any law or rights of any third party, (c) your use of our Site or our services or products, or (d) your own negligence or willful misconduct.
Responsibility
Your Own Italy, and its employees, shareholders, officers, and directors (collectively, “Your Own Italy”) does not own or operate any entity which is to or does provide goods or services for your trip, including, for example, lodging facilities, transportation companies, guides or trip leaders, food service providers, equipment suppliers, ground operators, etc., including, without limitation, various entities which may utilize the Your Own Italy name. Your Own Italy is not responsible for any negligent or willful act or failure to act of any such person or entity, nor for any act or inaction of any other third party not under its control.
Without limitation, Your Own Italy is not liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damage, injury, death, loss, accident, delay, inconvenience, or irregularity of any kind which may be occasioned by reason of any act or omission beyond its control, including, without limitation, any willful or negligent act, failure to act, breach of contract of any third party, such as an airline, train, hotel, restaurant, or food supplier; bus, taxi, van, or local ground handler; local outfitter or guide, which is, to, or does supply any goods or services for this trip.
Your Own Italy is not responsible for any loss, injury, death, or inconvenience due to delay or changes in schedule or failure of any transportation mechanism to arrive or depart safely; overbooking or downgrading of accommodations; insolvency or default of any third party; acts of government; bites or attacks by animals, insects or pests; sickness; the lack of appropriate medical care; evacuation to same, if necessary; weather; strikes; acts of God; acts of terrorism or the threat thereof; events of force majeure; war; quarantine; epidemics or the threat thereof; criminal activity; or any other cause beyond its control.
Privacy Policy
You consent to our processing and sharing of personal information about you and other members of your party that you have provided to us in accordance with the terms of and for the purposes set forth in our privacy policy. You represent that you have read and agree to the terms of our privacy policy, which can be found at our Site.
Warranties, Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
The information, products, and services provided by us or our suppliers or published on our site may include inaccuracies or errors, including pricing errors. We do not guarantee the accuracy of, and disclaim all liability for any errors or other inaccuracies relating to such information that appears on our site. We expressly reserve the right to correct any pricing errors on our site and/or on pending reservations made under an incorrect price. In such event, if available, we will offer you the opportunity to keep your pending reservation at the correct price or we will cancel your reservation without penalty and refund any deposit you may have made.
We make no representations about the suitability of the information, products, and services provided by us or contained on our site for any purpose. The inclusion or offering of any products or services by us does not constitute our endorsement or recommendation of such product or service. All such information, products, and services are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. We disclaim all warranties that our site, its servers or any email sent from us or our suppliers are free of viruses or other harmful components.
The carriers, hotels and other suppliers providing travel or other services on this site are independent contractors and not agents or employees of ours. We are not liable for the acts, errors, omissions, representations, warranties, breaches or negligence of any such suppliers or for any personal injuries, death, property damage, or other damages or expenses resulting therefrom. We have no liability and will make no refund in the event of any delay, cancellation, overbooking, strike, force majeure or other causes beyond our control, and we have no responsibility for any additional expense, omissions, delays, re-routing or acts of any government or authority.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall we be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising out of, or in any way connected with, your access to, display of or use of this site or our services or with the delay or inability to access, display or use our site whether based on a theory of negligence, contract, tort, strict liability, or otherwise, and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
If, despite the limitation above, we are found liable for any loss or damage which arises out of or in any way connected with any of the occurrences described above, then our liability will in no event exceed, in the aggregate, the greater of (a) the service fees you paid to us in connection with such transaction(s) on this site, or (b) five hundred dollars ($500.00) or the equivalent in local currency.
This limitation of liability reflects the allocation of risk between the parties. The limitations specified in this section will survive and apply even if any limited remedy specified in these terms is found to have failed of its essential purpose.
Content
“Content” means text, images, photos, audio, video, location data, and all other forms of data or communication. “Your Content” means Content that you submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Site, such as ratings, reviews, compliments, check-ins, messages, and information that you publicly display or displayed in your account profile. “Your Content” does not include personal information which you submitted privately in order to book a travel arrangement. “User Content” means Content that Site users submit or transmit to, through, or in connection with the Site. “Our Content” means Content that we create and make available in connection with the Site. “Third Party Content” means Content that originates from parties other than Your Own Italy or its Site users, which is made available in connection with the Site. “Site Content” means all of the Content that is made available in connection with the Site, including Your Content, User Content, Third Party Content, and Our Content.
You alone are responsible for Your Content, and once published, it cannot always be withdrawn. You assume all risks associated with Your Content, including anyone’s reliance on its quality, accuracy, or reliability, or any disclosure by you of information in Your Content that makes you personally identifiable. You represent that you own, or have the necessary permissions to use and authorize the use of Your Content as described herein. You may expose yourself to liability if, for example, Your Content contains material that is false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory; violates any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right; contains material that is unlawful, including illegal hate speech or pornography; exploits or otherwise harms minors; or violates or advocates the violation of any law or regulation. Content which is offensive, defamatory, invasive of privacy, illegal, obscene, or incites a conduct of criminal offense is forbidden.
We may use Your Content in a number of different ways, including publicly displaying it, reformatting it, incorporating it into advertisements and other works, creating derivative works from it, promoting it, distributing it, and allowing others to do the same in connection with their own websites and media platforms (“Other Media”). As such, you hereby irrevocably grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, license to use Your Content for any legitimate purpose, including marketing. Please note that you also irrevocably grant the users of the Site and any Other Media the right to access Your Content in connection with their use of the Site and any Other Media. Finally, you irrevocably waive, and cause to be waived, against Your Own Italy and its users any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to Your Content. By “use” we mean use, copy, publicly perform and display, reproduce, distribute, modify, translate, remove, analyze, commercialize, and prepare derivative works of Your Content.
As between you and Your Own Italy, you own Your Content. We own Our Content, including but not limited to photos, visual interfaces, interactive features, graphics, design, compilation, including our compilation of User Content and other Site Content, computer code, products, software, aggregate user review ratings, and all other elements and components of the Site excluding Your Content, User Content and Third Party Content. We also own the copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names, and other intellectual and proprietary rights throughout the world associated with Our Content and the Site, which are protected by copyright, trade dress, patent, trademark laws and all other applicable intellectual and proprietary rights and laws. As such, you may not modify, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works or adaptations of, publicly display or in any way exploit any of Our Content in whole or in part except as expressly authorized by us. Except as expressly provided herein, we do not grant you any express or implied rights, and all rights in and to the Site and Our Content are retained by us.
General
We reserve the right at any time to modify this Agreement without prior notice to you by posting the modified Agreement on the Site. Please refer to our Site from time to time to review the most current version of the Agreement. Your continued access or use of our Site or services signifies your acceptance of the modifications to the Agreement. You may not assign your rights or obligations under this Agreement to any third party without our prior written consent, which may be withheld in our sole discretion. We may assign our rights and obligations under this Agreement to any successor-in-interest.
The terms of this agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the domestic laws of the State of Maryland, and subject to the binding arbitration provision set forth in Paragraph 21 herein. The parties expressly consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Maryland for any non-arbitrable disputes arising from this agreement, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflicting provision or rule that would cause the laws of any jurisdiction other than the state of Maryland to be applied. The parties hereto waive all right to trial by jury in any such action, suit or proceeding brought to enforce or defend any rights or remedies under the terms or any documents related hereto.
Binding Arbitration
You agree that any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions, shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration, and shall be referred to and finally determined by a single arbitrator to be selected by the parties from a list of no fewer than five retired Montgomery County, Maryland, or other retired judges to be provided by Your Own Italy. If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator from that list, the arbitrator will be selected by Your Own Italy from the list. The arbitrator will establish the rules of the arbitration with input from the parties in accordance with commonly accepted arbitration practices. The place of arbitration shall be Bethesda, Maryland, unless otherwise mutually agreed upon in writing by both parties. The parties shall share equally in the cost of the arbitration. The language to be used in the arbitration shall be English. The arbitration shall be governed by the laws of the State of Maryland. The arbitrator shall have the power to rule on any challenge to its own jurisdiction or to the validity or enforceability of any portion of this arbitration provision. The arbitrator and not any federal, state, or local court or agency shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, conscionability, or formation of this contract, including but not limited to any claim that all or part of this contract is void or voidable and whether any claims are not arbitrable. Upon payment of a deposit, tour participant indicates acceptance of the above Terms and Conditions and of the Arbitration Agreement.
Entire Agreement
This Agreement in its entirety, contains the complete Agreement between you, and Your Own Italy regarding the use of the Site and any site-related services and programs. If any provision of these terms and conditions shall be deemed unlawful, void or unenforceable, for any reason, by any competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable while maintaining the spirit of that provision, and if such modification is not possible, such provision shall be severed from this Agreement without affecting the enforceability of the remaining provisions. If modification is not possible, such provision shall be stricken and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining terms. The failure of Your Own Italy to exercise or enforce any right or provision set forth in this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
You agree that any violation of this Agreement by you may result in (a) the cancellation of your reservation or purchase, (b) your forfeiture of any monies paid for your reservation or purchase, (c) you being denied access to the applicable travel related product or service, and (d) our right to debit your account for any costs we incur as a result of such violation.
By signing below I acknowledge that I have carefully reviewed this Agreement. I agree to the terms set forth therein, on behalf of myself and all members of my party who utilize your services, and represent that I am authorized to sign this Agreement on their behalf.
Customer Signature Date
We would like to sincerely thank Carmen and her team for the wonderful two week itinerary planned for us in Italy as well as your dedication and constant communication in keeping us always informed with our tour guides and drivers.
Being that this was our first time traveling to Italy, Your Own Italy made our hotel (beautiful hotels) , transportation, and tour reservations for us which made our trip stress free where we could relax and enjoy our time. All the private drivers and AP Tour Guides were wonderful, gracious, very knowledgeable and informative. We really enjoyed them and learned a lot from them.