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• Booking conditions

Booking Conditions

All holidays are operated by Mountain Ventures Ltd trading as Walkabout Walking Holidays (hereinafter called the company or we) registered office: 22 Ty Du Road, Llanberis, LL55 4LH and are sold subject to the following conditions:

1. To make a booking you must send us a completed booking form and a deposit of £75 per individual booking, which will only be refunded if the company cancels the booking. By completing the booking form you agree to accept all of these booking conditions.
2. We will then confirm the booking and invoice you for the remainder of the cost. This must be paid no later than eight weeks before departure. If you book less than eight weeks before departure, full payment must be made on booking. The booking is not accepted and no contract shall exist between us until the date shown on the confirmation issued by the company. Notification of cancellation must be made to the company in writing and will be effective upon receipt.
3. Bookings made direct over the telephone or website/e-mail by credit card more than eight weeks before departure will not be deemed accepted until we have received the signed booking form in our office and we have issued a confirmation. If a signed booking form is not received within 14 days of the direct booking being made, the booking will be cancelled; the deposit will be forfeit and the place will be released for re-sale. Direct booking made by credit card less than eight weeks before departure i.e. when full payment is due on booking will be subject to the cancellation conditions enclosed 4 below and clients will be deemed to have read and accepted our booking condition regardless of whether a booking form has been received in our office. Clients booking on the website by email or fax will be deemed to have signed the declaration on the booking form and agreed to the following conditions.
   1. They have read and accepted the company’s booking conditions and general information as made available on the website.
   2. They appreciate on behalf of all people included in their booking the risks involved in walking holidays.
   3. Neither they nor anyone else on their booking form suffers or has ever suffered from any pre- existing medical condition which may prevent them from actively participating in the holiday.
   4. The person signing or deemed to sign the booking form warrants that they have full authority to do so on behalf of all persons whose names appear thereon and confirms that all such persons are fully aware of and accept these conditions.
4. If you cancel your booking more than eight weeks before departure you may transfer your deposit to another holiday in our current programme (provided you are not already booked on it) on payment of a transfer fee of £30 subject to your notifying us in writing within two weeks of your cancellation saying which holiday you wish to transfer to and including the transfer fee. If the holiday you transfer to is more expensive than the original booking a further supplementary deposit will also be payable to make up the difference. If you then cancel the holiday to which you have transferred we will retain the original deposit and the transfer fee.
5. If you cancel your booking. If you cancel your booking more than eight weeks before departure, or the booking is cancelled by the company due to non- payment, the following will be payable or forfeit as the case may be. (These dates refer to the date we receive written notification of your cancellation. We advise you to insure against cancellation costs.)
   • More than 56 days before departure- loss of deposit
   • Between 43 and 56 days before departure – 50% of the holiday cost
   • Between 29 and 42 days before departure – 70% of the holiday cost
   • Between 15 and 28 days before departure – 90% of the holiday cost
   • 14 days or less before departure (or you fail to join the holiday) – 100% of the holiday cost.
   If you are prevented from taking the holiday by circumstances that are covered under an insurance policy, then on giving the company at least 21 days notice before departure you may transfer your booking to another person (who must be suitable for the holiday and acceptable to the company). A transfer fee of £50 will be payable. Both yourself and the other person will remain liable for payment of the holiday price.
6. If you do not pay the balance of your holiday cost by the due date of eight weeks before departure, your booking will be terminated and you will lose your deposit.
7. Cancellation or modification by the company.
   1. Every effort will be made to operate all holidays as advertised but the company reserves the right at its discretion to modify or cancel any holiday, accommodation or arrangement at any time up to eight weeks before departure. In the case of material modification or of cancellation the company will if possible offer alternative arrangements or if these are not acceptable a full refund of the monies paid. When offering alternative arrangements the company will, if accommodation is affected, use its best endeavours to provide an alternative in the same area. If the company is only able to offer a lower classification of hotel it will refund the difference in the advertised price.
   2. Any modifications will be detailed in the holiday notes provided at the time of confirmation of booking. A material modification is one which has a significant effect on the holiday such as a change of accommodation or change to inferior accommodation.
   3. The company will not materially modify or cancel the holiday within eight weeks of the date of departure unless compelled to do so because of circumstances beyond its reasonable control.
   4. In the event of the company cancelling the holiday either before or after the said period of eight weeks and the customer receiving a full refund of all money paid to the company the customer shall not be entitled to any further sum by way of compensation or otherwise arising from the cancellation.
   5. Holidays may require a minimum number of participants and in the event of such minimum numbers not being achieved prior to eight weeks before departure, the company shall be entitled to modify or cancel the holiday. In the event of cancellation all money paid by the customer shall be refunded but no compensation shall be payable or alternative holiday offered.
   6. We advise you not to incur any non-refundable expenditure e.g. for flights before we send you final confirmation of the holiday.
8. A general indication is provided here of the itinerary for each holiday, the type of accommodation used, groupings and what is included in the price. Changes in all these items may be made at any time and we will notify you of changes as soon as we are reasonably able to do so. For all holidays, we publish detailed holiday notes with up to date information about the holiday. These will be sent on request or can be downloaded from our website. The information in the holiday notes supersedes any other information. If you believe and can show that the holiday notes differ significantly from the holiday you originally booked, then you may cancel without penalty provided the cancellation is made more than eight weeks before departure date.
9. Any information or advice provided by the company as regards climate, weather, clothing, equipment, etc. is given in good faith but without responsibility on the part of the company. You must accept responsibility yourself for obtaining any necessary passports visas, travel or health documents for the holiday.
10. If any significant changes to the holiday have to be made before departure, we undertake to inform you and you are entitled to the options detailed in clause 7. Significant change does not include named accommodation, daily organisation or walking itineraries.
11. Your booking is accepted on the following understanding. That you realise the hazards involved in this kind of holiday and understand that the company must have flexibility in the conduct of the itinerary. The itinerary, arrangements and organisation given for each holiday is an indication of what should be possible but is not a contractual obligation on the part of the company. In the event of itineraries and arrangements having to be altered we will of course make alternative arrangements. If a member of the group does not find the alternatives acceptable the company will not be liable to supply further alternatives.
12. On an active group holiday it is necessary that you accept the authority of the leader who represents the company particularly in matters which may affect the safety and wellbeing of the party. Signing our booking form indicates your acceptance of this. If you engage in illegal activity when on the holiday or in the opinion of the leader behave in a way which causes danger or significant distress to others we may terminate your holiday without any liability on the part of the company. If you are affected by any medical condition or other condition that might adversely affect other peoples’ enjoyment of the holiday, you must advise us of this at the time of booking.
13. Before you come on the holiday. You must take out adequate insurance cover as advised on our web site under INSURANCE. This as a minimum should include cover for personal accident, personal liability, baggage, medical expenses, the cost of repatriation in the event of serious sickness or injury including rescue.
14. You are responsible for getting yourself to the holiday venue and the designated accommodation on the first night and you are also responsible for your return journey at the end of the holiday. The company accepts no liability or responsibility for your travel arrangements or any mishaps or delays that may befall you coming to and returning from the holiday. We will make every endeavour to pick you up at the point of arrival if you are flying; or by special arrangement if made in the event of you travelling in the UK by rail. However, it is your responsibility to identify yourself and find us at the agreed pickup point. Final details will be included in your holiday notes.
15. If you have any complaints about the holiday concerning issues such as the hotel or any other services provided by the company you must make it known to the leader or holiday co-ordinator immediately or at the earliest opportunity. If you are not satisfied with their response you should make it known to the head office of the company at the earliest opportunity. If at the end of the holiday you feel your complaint was not properly dealt with, you must notify us in writing within 28 days of your return. In the event of making a claim against the company under the above paragraph the customer agrees to assign to the company any rights against a supplier or other person or party that they may have relating to the claim and co-operate with the company should it or its insurers wish to enforce those rights which have been assigned to the company. This assignment is necessary to enable the company to try and recover from the suppliers any compensation paid to the customer. In the event of a claim made by the company being covered by insurance policy affected by the customer the customer agrees to pursue such claim against the relevant insurance company in substitution for his claim against the company.
16. We are responsible to you for meeting our obligations under the contract. Should the services we are contracted to provide you with prove deficient or not of a reasonable standard. We are liable to you for any damage caused by our failure to meet those obligations unless that failure is: a. attributable to you b. attributable to a third party not connected with meeting these obligations. c. are due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control that could not have been avoided even when all due care was taken In all cases the company’s liability to any one person shall not exceed the fee paid to the company by that person.
17. You are strongly advised to adequately insure yourself against any possible risk that may occur. Individuals travelling in vehicles owned or being used by the company are covered by passenger insurance and in signing the booking form, you acknowledge the company has taken all reasonable steps to safeguard its liability in this respect. Except in instances of personal injury or death, where the company is found to be liable for damages in respect of it failure to carry out the contract, the maximum amount of such damages, compensation and loss of enjoyment (of the holiday) will normally be limited to three times the basic holiday price as shown on the invoice. Where damages relate to the provision of hotel accommodation any compensation payable will be limited by appropriate statutes or regulations.
18. Any likeness or image of you taken on any of our holidays may be used by the company without charge in any of its promotional/marketing activities.
19. To ensure that your holiday runs smoothly, we may need to use personal information that you have provided. We will take all appropriate security measures to protect this information. However, we may need to pass the information on to suppliers of services, such as accommodation. When you make the booking you consent to such information being passed to relevant people.
20. Force Majeure. If war or terrorist activities, civil unrest, industrial action threatened or actual, weather conditions, fire, flood drought, airport regulations and closures, unforeseen alterations to public transport schedules and rescheduling of aircraft or any other events outside the control of the company either delays or extends the holiday or compels a change in the holiday arrangements, the company cannot accept liability for any resulting loss, damage or expense.
21. The booking conditions may only be waived or amended by written mutual consent. When you sign the booking form you agree to accept all these conditions. On accepting the booking, we agree to carry out our obligations as defined in the information provided by us. This agreement is governed by English law and any disputes will be dealt with by English courts. If the holiday was booked in Scotland or Northern Ireland disputes may be dealt with in the local courts of those countries.