|
Conditions: The following
Booking Conditions together with the General Information
contained in this brochure form the basis of your contract
with Snow Hounds. Please
read them carefully as they set out our respective rights
and obligations.
In these Booking Conditions, ‘you’ means all persons named
on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted
at a later date). ‘We’ means Snow Hounds.
1. Making your booking
To make a booking, you must complete our booking form. All
bookings are subject to our booking conditions. The party
leader must be at least 18 and must be authorised to make
the booking on the basis of these Booking Conditions by all
persons named on the booking. The party leader is
responsible for making all payments due to us.
Once we have received your booking form and all appropriate
payments, we will, subject to availability, confirm your
holiday by issuing a confirmation invoice. This invoice will
be sent to you or your travel agent. Please check this
invoice carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact us
immediately if any information which appears on the
confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect
as it may not be possible to make changes later.
2. Payment
In order to confirm your chosen holiday, a deposit of £80
per person (or full payment if booking within ten weeks of
departure) must be paid at the time of booking. If you wish
to purchase the insurance policy we offer, all applicable
premiums must also be paid at the time of booking (you must
be insured - see clause 7).
The balance of the holiday cost must be received by us not
less than ten weeks prior to departure. This date will be
shown on the confirmation invoice. Reminders are not sent.
If we do not receive all payments due in full and on time,
we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by
you. In this case the cancellation charges set out in clause
6 below will be payable.
Except for flight inclusive bookings, all monies you pay to
one of our authorised travel agents for your holiday with us
will be held by the agent on your behalf until we issue our
confirmation invoice. After that point, your agent will hold
the monies on our behalf. For flight inclusive bookings, all
monies paid to such agents for your holiday with us will be
held on our behalf until they are paid to us or refunded to
you.
3. Your contract
A binding contract between us comes into existence when we
despatch our confirmation invoice to you or your travel
agent. This contract and all matters arising out of it are
governed by English law. We both agree that any dispute,
claim or other matter which arises out of or in connection
with this contract or your holiday will be dealt with by the
Courts of England and Wales, or if you live in Scotland or
Northern Ireland, by the Courts of your home country as
well. If you have a dispute with Snow Hounds which you are
unable to resolve, you may refer the matter to a court of
law or call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute
Settlement Service - see clause 11 below.
Changes to these Booking Conditions or the General
Information shown in our brochure will only be valid if
agreed by us in writing.
4. The cost of your holiday
The prices shown in our brochure were calculated on 10 May
2001 on the basis of then known costs and an exchange rate
of £1 to Euro 1.6080 as shown in the Financial Times Guide
to World Currencies on that date.
We reserve the right to increase or decrease the prices of
unsold holidays at any time. The price of your chosen
holiday will be confirmed at the time of booking. Once the
price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed at the time
of booking then, subject to error, we will not increase it.
No refunds can be made in the event of favourable exchange
rate variations or decreases in costs.
We reserve the right to correct errors in both advertised
and confirmed prices. We will do so as soon as we become
aware of the error.
Please note, changes and errors occasionally occur. You must
check the price of your chosen holiday at the time of
booking.
5. Changes by you
Should you wish to make any changes to your confirmed
holiday, you must notify us in writing as soon as possible.
Whilst we will endeavour to assist, we cannot guarantee we
will be able to meet any such requests. Where we can, an
amendment fee of £30 per person will be payable together
with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or
charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers.
6. Cancellation by you
Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your
chosen holiday once it has been confirmed, the party leader
must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of
cancellation will only be effective when it is received in
writing by us at our offices. If the number of persons
booked changes the overall holiday price will be
recalculated for the new party size and, if appropriate Snow
Hounds reserves the right to utilise unoccupied beds.
As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking and
may be unable to re-sell your holiday, the following
cancellation charges will be payable. Where the cancellation
charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the
basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling
excluding insurance premiums and any amendment/cancellation
charges which have already been incurred. Insurance premiums
and amendment/cancellation charges are not refundable in the
event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.
Period before departure within which written Cancellation
charge per person
notification of cancellation is received by us cancelling
Up to 42 days Loss of deposit
41 to 29 days 30% of total holiday cost
28 to 15 days 60% of total holiday cost
14 days or less 100% of total holiday cost
Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to
reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable
excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims
must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.
If any member(s) of your party is/are prevented from
travelling, the person(s) concerned will be able to transfer
their place to someone else (introduced by you) providing
the following requirements are complied with. All costs and
charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of
our suppliers in connection with making the transfer
together with an amendment fee of £30 must be paid before
the transfer can be effected. For flight or train inclusive
bookings, you must pay the charges levied by the carrier
concerned. As most airlines and international train
operators do not permit name changes after tickets have been
issued for any reason, these charges are likely to be the
full cost of the flight or train service.
7. Insurance
We consider adequate travel insurance to be essential.
Details of the policy we offer are shown elsewhere in this
brochure. If you decide not to purchase this insurance, you
must give details of your alternative policy (insurer and
policy number) on our booking form. If you fail to do so, we
will add the appropriate premiums for the personal travel
insurance we offer to your confirmation invoice. These
premiums must be paid as soon as possible as cover will not
be effective until we receive all applicable premiums in
full.
Please read your policy details carefully and take them with
you on holiday. It is your responsibility to ensure that the
insurance cover you purchase is adequate for your particular
needs. We do not check alternative insurance policies.
8. Changes and cancellation by us
We start planning the holidays we offer many months in
advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to and
correct errors in the brochure and other details both before
and after bookings have been confirmed and cancel confirmed
bookings. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and
cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. However,
we promise we will only cancel your confirmed booking ten
weeks or less before departure where you have failed to make
all payments due in full and on time or where we are forced
to do so as a result of unusual and unforeseeable
circumstances beyond our control, the consequence of which
we could not have avoided even with all due care. We will
not cancel after this date for any other reason.
Most changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a
‘significant change’. Examples of significant changes
include one or more of the following changes when made
before departure: a change of accommodation to that of a
lower official classification or standard for the whole or a
major part of the time you are away, a change of
accommodation area for the whole or a major part of the time
you are away, a change of outward departure time or overall
length of time you are away of twelve or more hours. All
other changes are treated as ‘minor’ changes.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will
tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so
before departure, we will offer you the choice of the
following options:
(a) (for significant changes) accepting the changed
arrangements or
(b) purchasing an alternative holiday from us, of a similar
standard to that originally booked if available (if the
chosen alternative is less expensive than your original one,
we will refund the difference but if it is more expensive,
we will ask you to pay the difference) or
(c) cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case
you will receive a full and quick refund of all monies you
have paid to us.
Please note, the above options are not available where any
change made is a minor one.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel ten weeks
or less before departure, we will pay you compensation
subject to the following exceptions. Compensation will not
be payable and no liability beyond offering the above
mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to
make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and
unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the
consequences of which we could not have avoided even with
all due care. No compensation will be payable if we cancel
as a result of your failure to make all payments due in full
and on time.
Period before departure a significant change Compensation
per person
or cancellation is notified to you or your (excluding
infants)
travel agent
Up to 42 days £30
41 to 15 days Greater of £50 or 10% of total holiday cost
14 days or less Greater of £50 or 15% of total holiday cost
In all cases, our liability for significant changes and
cancellations is limited to offering you the above mentioned
options and, where applicable, compensation payments. We
regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred
by you as a result of any change or cancellation. No
compensation is payable for minor changes.
Very rarely, we may be forced by "force majeure" (see clause
9) to change or terminate your holiday after departure but
before the scheduled end of your time away. This is
extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur, we
regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we
obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any
compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a
result.
9. Force Majeure
We regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation
where the performance or prompt performance of our
contractual obligations is prevented or affected by or you
otherwise suffer any damage or loss as more fully described
in clause 10(1) below as a result of "force majeure". In
these Booking Conditions, "force majeure" means any event
which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could
not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events
may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife,
terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear
disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar
events outside our control.
10. Our Liability to you
(1) We promise to make sure that all parts of the holiday we
have agreed to arrange as part of our contract are provided
to a reasonable standard and in accordance with that
contract. We also accept responsibility for what our
employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do. We will
not, however, be responsible for any injury, illness, death,
loss (for example, loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost
or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which
results from any of the following:-
(a) the fault of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of
their party or
(b) the fault of a third party not connected with the
provision of your holiday which we could not have predicted
or avoided or
(c) an event or circumstances which we or the supplier of
the service(s) in question could not have predicted or
avoided even after taking all reasonable care (see clause
9).
(d) the fault of anyone who was not carrying out work for us
(generally or in particular) at
the time.
In addition, we will not be responsible where you do not
enjoy your holiday or suffer any problems because of a
reason you did not tell us about when you booked your
holiday or where any problems you suffer did not result from
any breach of our contract or other fault of ourselves or,
where we were responsible for them, our suppliers or agents
or where any losses, expenses, costs or other sum you have
suffered relate to any business.
Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any
services which do not form part of our contract. This
includes, for example, any additional services or facilities
which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for
you where the services or facilities are not advertised in
our brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them.
(2) The promises we make to you about the services we have
agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract - and
the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim
or complaint occurred - will be used as part of the basis
for deciding whether the services in question had been
properly provided. If the particular services which gave
rise to the claim or complaint complied with local laws and
regulations applicable to those services at the time, the
services will be treated as having been properly provided.
This will be the case even if the services did not comply
with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have
applied had those services been provided in
the UK.
(3) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for
any and all claims or parts of claims which did not involve
personal injury, illness or death. Except where loss of
and/or damage to luggage or personal possessions is
concerned or a lower limitation of liability applies to your
claim, the maximum amount we will have to pay you for such
non personal injury claims if we are found liable to you on
any basis is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums
and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s)
affected in total. This maximum amount will only
be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not
received any benefit at all from
your holiday.
Where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any
luggage or personal possessions (including money), the
maximum amount we will have to pay you is £40 per person
affected as you are assumed to have taken out adequate
insurance at the time of booking. Please also see clause
10(4) below.
(4). Where any claim or part of a claim concerns or is based
on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting
on and off the transport concerned) provided by any air,
sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in a hotel, the
maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will
be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim
or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any
basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concerned
would have to pay under the international convention which
applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question
(for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended for
international travel by air and/or for airlines with an
operating licence granted by an EU country, the EU
Regulations on Air Carrier Liability for national and
international travel by air, the Athens convention for
international travel by sea). When making any payment, we
are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or
are entitled to receive from the transport provider or
hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.
(5). You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all
assistance we may reasonably require.
You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your
claim or complaint as set out in clause 12 below. If asked
to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights
you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible
for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is
under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must
also agree to co-operate fully with us and our insurers if
we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are
transferred.
11. Complaints and problems
In the unlikely event that you have any reason to complain
or experience any problems with your holiday whilst away,
you must immediately inform our representative and the
supplier of the service(s) in question. Any verbal
notification must be put in writing and given to our
representative and the supplier as soon as possible. Until
we know about a problem or complaint, we cannot begin to
resolve it. Most problems can be dealt with quickly. If you
remain dissatisfied, however, you must write to us within 28
days of the end of your holiday giving your booking
reference and full details of your complaint. For all
complaints and claims which do not involve personal injury,
illness or death, we regret we cannot accept liability in
relation to any complaint or claim which is not notified
entirely in accordance with this clause.
If you have a dispute with Snow Hounds which we are unable
to resolve, you may refer the matter to a court of law or
call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute Settlement
Service (details on request). Claims which exceed £1,500 per
person or £7,500 per booking form or claims which
principally or exclusively involve illness or physical
injury (or the consequences of illness or physical injury)
are not admissible for settlement under the service.
12. Behaviour
When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any
damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party.
Full payment for any such damage or loss must be paid direct
at the time to the accommodation owner or manager or other
supplier. If you fail to do so, you will be responsible for
meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made
against us as a result of your actions.
We expect all clients to have consideration for other
people. If in our reasonable opinion or in the reasonable
opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member
of your party behaves in such a way as to cause or be likely
to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party or
damage to property, we are entitled, without prior notice,
to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. In this
situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave
the accommodation or other service. We will have no further
responsibility toward such person(s) including any return
travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not
pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the
termination.
13. Conditions of suppliers
Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided
by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these
services in accordance with their own terms and conditions.
Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the
supplier's liability to you, usually in accordance with
applicable International Conventions. Copies of the relevant
parts of these terms and conditions are available on request
from ourselves or the supplier concerned.
14. Special requests and medical problems
If you have any special request, you must advise us at the
time of booking and clearly note it on your booking form.
Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests
on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot promise
that any request will be complied with unless we have
specifically confirmed this in writing. Confirmation that a
special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier
or the inclusion of the special request on your Confirmation
or any other documentation is not confirmation that the
request will be met. Unless and until specifically
confirmed, all special requests are subject to availability.
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem
or disability which may affect your holiday, please tell us
before you confirm your booking. In any event, you must give
us full details in writing at the time of booking. If we
reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the
particular needs of the person concerned, we must reserve
the right to decline/cancel their reservation.
15. Passports, visas and health requirements
For the holidays featured in this brochure, British citizens
currently need a full 10 year British passport for the
duration of their holiday but no visa. Children under 16
years of age (including infants) who are not already on
their parents’ passport as well as children of 16 years or
older will require their own passport. We advise that the
passport be valid for 6 months after your return. A full
British passport normally takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks
to obtain. Requirements may change and you must check the up
to date position in good time before departure. Information
on health is contained in the Department of Health leaflet
T6 (Health Advice for Travellers) available from your local
Department of Health office and most Post Offices. For
European holidays you should obtain a completed and issued
form E111 (details in leaflet T6 referred to above) prior to
departure.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in
possession of all necessary travel and health documents
before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining such
documentation must be paid by you. We regret we cannot
accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any
transport or into any country due to failure on your part to
carry correct documentation. If you or any member of your
party is not a British citizen or holds a non British
passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with
the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through
which you are intending to travel. If failure to have any
necessary travel or other documents results in fines,
surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us,
you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.
16. Financial security
All Snow Hounds holidays are fully bonded for your
protection. We are licensed with the Civil Aviation
Authority under ATOL number 3276. This means the air
holidays in this brochure are ATOL protected. In the
unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that
you are not left stranded abroad and will arrange to refund
any money you have paid to us for an advanced booking. For
further information, visit the ATOL web site at
www.atol.org.uk. We are also licensed with the Association
of Independent Tour operators Trust Limited under license
number 1111. This means that if your holiday does not
include flights, you will be financially protected in the
same way as stated above.
17. Brochure Accuracy
Please note, the information and prices shown in this
brochure may have changed by the time you come to book your
holiday. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy
of the brochure and prices at the time of printing,
regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore
ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday
(including the price) with us at the time
of booking.
This brochure is our sole responsibility. It is not issued
on behalf of and does not commit any independent
organisation/carriers whose services are featured in it.
18. Delay
We regret we cannot accept any liability for any delays
which are beyond our control. Everything possible is done to
ensure that your journey runs to schedule and that you are
properly cared for. For those travelling by overnight
Eurostar or snowtrain our train representatives will
accompany you from Waterloo or Dover, respectively, to the
Alps. For those using Snow Hounds’ normal flights from
Gatwick, Stansted or Manchester you will be met at Geneva by
one of our representatives.
We believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that
refreshments and, where appropriate, accommodation are
available at reasonable times and where reasonably possible
in the event of a significant delay at your outward or
homeward point of departure. Whilst you are under the care
of any air, sea or rail carriers this responsibility is the
carriers. By necessity the provision of refreshments and
accommodation is subject to availability in immediate area,
the expected length of delay and the anticipated time of
departure. If you have purchased the insurance we offer,
this provides for further benefits in the unlikely event of
your departure being delayed by more than 12 hours.
19. Safety standards
Please note, it is the requirements and standards of the
country in which any services which make up your holiday are
provided which apply to those services and not those of the
UK. As a
general rule, these requirements and standards will not be
the same as the UK and may sometimes be lower.
20. Flights and trains
The flight and train timings given on booking are for
general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest
timings will be shown on your confirmation invoice. However,
the actual times will be those shown on your tickets which
will be despatched to you approximately two weeks before
departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very
carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the
correct flight times. It is possible that flight and train
times may be changed even after tickets have been despatched
- we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.
We are not always in a position to confirm the airline,
aircraft type and airport of destination which will be used
in connection with any flight included in your holiday. When
this information is provided at the time of booking or
subsequently, it is subject to change. Any such change will
not entitle you to cancel or change to other arrangements
without paying our normal charges.
Please note in relation to flights and trains that, by our
contract with you, we do not enter into an agreement for
carriage by air or rail but rather we only undertake to
reserve accommodation onboard the airline or train advised
at the time of booking or such other carrier as may be
substituted. |
