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Please read this
section carefully. It sets out the agreement between
us and is designed to be fair in protecting both our
interests. On Foot Limited trading as On Foot
Holidays is registered in England and its registered
company number is 05589960. The registered office
address is Stradbroke
Cottage, Coombe
Bissett, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 4LY, Great
Britain. Bookings with On Foot Ltd (“On
Foot”) are accepted only in accordance with the
terms and conditions set out
below.
1. CUSTOMER
PROTECTION
As a member of the
Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited
(ABTOT), On Foot Ltd has provided a bond to meet the
requirements of the Package Travel, Package Holidays
and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
In the event of
insolvency, protection is provided for non-flight
packages commencing in and returning to the UK and
other non-flight packages excluding prearranged
travel to and from your destination. Please note that
packages booked outside the UK are only protected
when purchased directly with On Foot Ltd.
In the above
circumstances, if you have not yet travelled you may
claim a refund, or if you have already travelled, you
may claim repatriation to the starting point of your
non-flight package.
2. MAKING A
BOOKING AND YOUR DEPOSIT
A booking may be made
by telephone or by email. This can either be
confirmed by an immediate card payment of £100
deposit per person, or your reservation will be held
for 4 days, pending receipt of your deposit. If the
booking is made within 8 weeks of departure, the full
balance is payable on booking. Please note that
credit cards and non-UK debit cards including
standard Visa, Mastercard
and AMEX cards incur a non-refundable 2% charge (up
to a maximum £50). Premium credit cards
are not accepted. If we are unable to accept your
booking, we will of course return your payment to you
immediately.
If you make a booking
on behalf of others as well as yourself, we shall
take it that you have the authority of each of those
other people to enter into this contract and that you
and they have agreed to be jointly and severally
liable to us.
It is a condition of
booking that you obtain travel insurance at the time
the deposit is paid as per the Insurance clause
below.
3.
INSURANCE
As a condition of
booking your holiday arrangements with us, you are
required to obtain your own comprehensive travel
insurance at the time the deposit is paid. This
policy must cover as a minimum pre and post departure
cancellation and delay, including medical cover for
the entire duration of your trip including 24 hour
emergency cover with a repatriation service. If you
intend to undertake activities or excursions during
your holiday and these are not covered by your
standard policy, please ensure that you purchase
additional cover for these. You are advised
also to take out insurance to cover losses in the
event of “force majeure” as we
specifically exclude our own responsibility to you in
such events (see clause 13 below).
Please disclose any
relevant information including pre-existing injury or
condition to the insurer at the time of purchase of
your policy. We cannot be held responsible or liable
in any way for customers who fail to take out
comprehensive travel insurance. Please note that
insurance provided by credit card companies and banks
often has limited cover. Please check at the time of
booking that the cover provided by such a policy
complies with this condition.
4. SPECIAL
REQUESTS
If you have any
special requests, you should inform us of these at
the time of booking. We will advise your hotels of
such requests but cannot guarantee that they will be
met. Furthermore, On Foot has no liability to you if
such requirements are not met.
5. CONFIRMATION
OF BOOKING
We will send you our
confirmation invoice within 7 days of booking.
Our contract with you comes into existence when we
send this to you. The contract and any matters
arising from it shall be subject to English law and
to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and
Wales. If you are resident in Scotland or
Northern Ireland, the Courts of Scotland or Northern
Ireland can deal with any disputes.
You have undertaken
to pay for the holiday you have booked and we have
undertaken to provide you with the holiday we
describe on our website, unless modified by our
confirmation invoice, itinerary or covering
letter.
6. FINAL
BALANCE
Full payment must be
received by us not later than eight weeks (56 days)
before departure. If the balance is not received in
full by the due date, we reserve the right to treat
the booking as cancelled by you and apply
cancellation charges as set out below.
7. CHANGE IN
PRICE
We reserve the right
to vary the price of your holiday in relation to
changes in transportation costs or the exchange rates
applied to the particular package. We will not vary
the price of your holiday fewer than 30 days before
your departure date, but if variations occur before
that time, we will absorb or retain an amount up to
the first 2% (excluding any credit card and amendment
charges) of your invoiced holiday cost. For
variations greater than 2% we will still absorb the
first 2% in the case of increases but will not retain
it from refunds.
If we impose a
surcharge, which means paying more than 10% of your
holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your
holiday with a full refund of all monies paid to us
except for any amendment charges. Should you decide
to cancel because of this you must exercise your
right to do so within 14 days of the date of our
surcharge invoice.
8. IF YOU ALTER
YOUR BOOKING FOR ANY REASON
after
it has been confirmed by
us, and it does not involve a transfer to a different
route or departure date, we will do our
best to accommodate your written request. An
alteration fee may be made to cover administration
and we will notify you of the fee in advance of the
changes. All changes are subject both to
availability and to any resulting extra costs imposed
by our suppliers. We pay our suppliers in
advance and have agreed that once a booking has been
paid for the sum paid is neither transferable nor
returnable.
9. IF YOU
TRANSFER YOUR BOOKING TO A DIFFERENT ROUTE OR A
DIFFERENT DATE
A transfer fee of
£75 per booking (as opposed to per person) will
be payable. If other costs are incurred or imposed by
our suppliers in effecting the transfer you will be
liable to cover these (see above).
10. IF WE HAVE
TO ALTER
your
route or hotel or food
arrangements, any change will be either major or
minor. Where a change is a minor change, we will, if
practicable, advise you before departure, but we are
not obliged to do so nor
to pay you compensation. A minor change is any change
apart from a major change as defined here.
When a change is a
major change (and a major change is an alteration to
the type or standard of accommodation or a material
alteration to the route changing the length of any
day by a factor of +/- 20%, or significantly altering
the type of terrain), we will advise you as soon as
is reasonably possible. You will then have the choice
of accepting the change, taking an alternative
holiday (and where this is of a lower price, we will
refund the difference, where it is of a higher price,
we may ask for a supplement), or withdrawing from the
contract and accepting a full refund of all monies
paid. If you choose to cancel the holiday in
accordance with this clause, we will not be liable
for any elements of your holiday that do not form
part of your contract with On Foot, including but not
limited to air transport arrangements and as such, we
will not be responsible for any such loss or expense
incurred by you as a result.
In the unlikely event
that we become unable to provide a significant
proportion of your trip after you depart, we will
make alternative arrangements for you to continue the
trip at no extra charge, or, if this is impossible,
or you do not accept these alternative arrangements
for a good reason, we will provide you with transport
to the point of departure. In addition, if
appropriate, we will pay you compensation of an
amount which is reasonable taking into account all
the circumstances. Compensation will not be
considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a
major change has to be made as a result of force
majeure (see the Force Majeure clause below).
11. IF YOU HAVE
TO CANCEL
your booking or any
part thereof, or if any member of your party on whose
behalf you have booked has to cancel their booking or
part thereof, we must be informed in a
letter/fax/email signed by the person who made
the booking. The cancellation only takes effect from
the date at which the notification reaches our
office. A charge will be made which varies with
the amount of time between On Foot receiving your
written cancellation and the holiday start date. The
charges are calculated as a proportion of your total
holiday price excluding any credit card charges (part
cancellations will be calculated on a pro-rata
basis). The full cancellation charges are as
follows:
Up to 56 days before
start date: deposit only
55-30 days before
start date: 75%
29-8 days before
start date: 90%
7 or fewer days
before start date: 100%
Please note that if
the reasons for your cancellation are covered by your
insurance policy, you may be able to claim under
it.
If you are
unavoidably prevented from taking your holiday you
may find another person to take your place. This
right of transfer is subject to an administration fee
of £75 per person. You, as transferor of the
holiday, and the transferee shall be jointly and
severally liable to On Foot for the payment of the
balance due, together with all additional charges of
whatever sort imposed by the suppliers providing the
component parts of your holiday.
12. IF ON FOOT
HAS TO CANCEL
your
holiday before the date of
departure, you will have the choice of taking an
alternative holiday (and where this is of a lower
price we will refund the difference or where it is of
a higher price we may ask for a supplement) or
accepting the full refund of all monies paid. In
addition, in appropriate cases, and where such
cancellation is not due to force majeure as defined
below, we will pay compensation commensurate with
your inconvenience. Please note that we will not be
liable for any elements of your holiday that do not
form part of your contract with On Foot, including
but not limited to air transport arrangements and as
such, we will not be responsible for any loss or
expense in relation to these.
13. FORCE
MAJEURE – CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR
CONTROL
Force majeure is
unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our
control, the consequences of which neither we nor our
suppliers could foresee or avoid, even after taking
all reasonable care. Examples of this include, but
are not limited to, war or threat of war, riots,
civil strife, terrorist activity or the threat of
terrorist activity, biological warfare, industrial
disputes, mechanical failure, natural or nuclear
disaster, volcanic eruption, illness and disease (for
example Swine Flu, Avian Flu or SARS), fire or
adverse weather conditions, airport closure, level of
water in rivers, changes in Foreign Office advice on
suitability of travel to a destination or other
similar events beyond our control. Unless where
otherwise stated in these conditions, we will not pay
compensation, cover any loss or accept responsibility
if we have to change or cancel your booking for force majeure
reasons. Please ensure that you have comprehensive
travel insurance as per the Insurance clause above to
cover these events.
14. PASSPORTS
AND VISAS
It is your
responsibility to ensure that you have the correct
validity on your passport, make the necessary
applications and to comply with any regulations
governing entry to your chosen country. If you
do not obtain a visa, where this is required, or your
passport or any other travel documentation is not in
order and you are unable to travel as a result, you
will be liable to pay the cancellation charges set
out above. Furthermore, we will not accept any
responsibility or refund any money in cases where you
are unable to travel because of an invalid or mislaid
visa or passport. Non British citizens should check
with their embassy or consulate to obtain details of
the relevant requirements.
For UK-based clients,
the Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Office
issues travel advice, which is regularly updated, and
which relates to political, economic and other
circumstances prevailing in countries throughout the
world. If you want any such advice, you should
contact them. Their telephone number is 020 7008
1500, and details are also available and at www.fco.gov.uk .
15. MEDICAL
REQUIREMENTS
You must be fit and
well enough to take part on the walking routes and
your fitness must be appropriate to the grade of walk
you have booked. If you have any reservations
regarding your fitness for a trip, please ring the
office for further details. Please also ensure that
you take all the necessary equipment and that it is
fit for purpose.
If you suffer from
any pre-existing injuries that may affect your
ability to undertake an activity, please consult your
doctor and notify your insurers before you travel.
Under no circumstances should you travel if your
doctor has advised or would advise against it.
You should check with
your doctor which inoculations or vaccinations they
recommend for the country you are visiting and how
long in advance you should have them. If you are a
national of an EU country, and are holidaying in
another, you should take an EHIC (European Health
Insurance Card).
16. FLIGHTS AND
TRAVEL DELAYS
We do not sell
flights and we will not be liable for any subsequent
loss or inconvenience if a flight that you have
purchased is delayed or cancelled. Please claim from
the airline direct and/or your travel insurance
policy for any such loss. We try hard to ensure that
all advice regarding travel schedules is accurate at
the time given. However, as we have no control over
these, we cannot guarantee that transport will depart
as specified.
17.
ACCOMMODATION
The cost of the
routes is based on accommodation in twin or
double-bedded rooms. A single supplement is payable
by those requiring their own room and is charged by
the hotels and not On Foot. Your booking is accepted
on the understanding that walking routes limit the
availability of a choice of hotels and the standard
of accommodation varies from place to place.
18.
EXCURSIONS
We do not sell
excursions “in resort”. Therefore, when
you purchase an excursion locally, your contract is
with the local company and we have no liability
whatsoever for anything which may go wrong on the
excursion.
19.
WEATHER
We cannot guarantee
that the weather conditions will be suitable for the
outdoor activities that you have booked and we shall
not be held responsible for any loss, delay or costs
whatsoever connected with adverse weather
conditions.
20. CLIENT
BEHAVIOUR
We reserve the right
to decline to accept, or to retain as a client,
anyone whose conduct is disruptive or detrimental to
the enjoyment of other clients, or whose conduct may
prejudice the reputation of On Foot with our
suppliers or hotel owners. We shall be under no
liability for any costs incurred by such a client as
a result of our so doing.
21. ACCEPTANCE
OF RISK
There is always an
element of personal risk attached to the holiday and
the activities that you have booked. In accepting
these conditions, you consent to these risks. You may
be on your own, sometimes in quite remote areas, so
please take particular care in bad weather which can
affect the terrain and visibility. You will be
following our written directions, and should be able
to use a compass for the medium and hard walks.
Map reading competence is also required for the
higher-graded walks at least, and useful for the
easier ones. You should not deviate from these
written directions and we will not accept any
liability to you for any loss where you have not
adhered to the routes.
22. ACCURACY OF
WEBSITE AND PRINTED MATERIAL
On Foot makes every
effort to ensure that the information contained on
our website and in our printed material is as
accurate as possible, and whilst correct at the time
of publication, it may be subject to
alteration. If On Foot receives prior
notification of alterations to any accommodation,
route, services or facilities we will inform you as
soon as reasonably possible. It should be noted that
destination information is for guidance purposes only
and that the photographs on the website are used to
give an impression of the accommodation and services
offered.
On Foot reserves the
right to change any of the prices, services or other
particulars contained on our website and in our
printed material at any time before we enter into a
contract with you. If there is any change, we will
notify you before we enter into a contract with you.
Should any of these details change after making your
booking you will be advised of the changes. Should
you decide subsequently to cancel the booking, you
may do so in accordance with the amendments,
transfers or cancellation clauses above.
23. OUR
RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
(i) Our obligations, and those
of our suppliers in providing any service or facility
included in your holiday, are to take reasonable
skill and care to arrange for the provision of such
services and facilities and where we or our supplier
is actually providing the service or facility, to
provide them with reasonable skill and care. You must
show that reasonable skill and care has not been used
if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for
example, safety, hygiene and quality vary through the
transport and destinations that your holiday may
involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than
those that would be expected in the UK. The services
and facilities will be deemed to be provided with
reasonable skill and care if they comply with any
local regulations that apply, or, if there are no
applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable
when compared to local standards and customs.
However, reasonable skill and care does not
necessarily mean compliance with each and every local
law and regulation particularly where these impose
absolute obligations.
(ii) For claims
which do not involve death or personal injury, we
accept, and will only have, liability, subject to
paragraphs (iv) and (v) below, should we or our
suppliers fail to satisfy the obligations detailed in
paragraph (i) above. If
we have liability, we will, subject to paragraphs (v)
and (vi) below, pay you compensation of an amount
which could be reasonably and properly expected,
taking into account all the relevant circumstances.
Any sums received by you from suppliers will be
deducted from any sum paid to you as compensation by
us.
(iii) For claims
which involve death or personal injury as a result of
an activity forming part of your holiday, we accept,
and will only have, liability subject to paragraphs
(iv) and (v) below should we or our suppliers fail to
satisfy the obligations detailed in paragraph (i) above. If we have
liability, we will, subject to paragraphs (v) and
(vi) below, pay you reasonable compensation.
(iv) We have
liability in accordance with paragraphs (ii) and
(iii) above and subject to paragraphs (v) and (vi)
below except where the loss or damage you suffer is
either attributable to you, or attributable to
someone unconnected with your holiday and is
unforeseeable or unavoidable, or is due to unusual or
unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the
consequences of which could not have been avoided
even if all due care had been exercised.
(v) If any
international convention applies to or governs any of
the services or facilities included in your holiday
arranged or provided by us, or provided by any of our
suppliers, and you make a claim against us of any
nature arising out of death, injury, loss or damage
suffered during or as a result of the provision of
those services or facilities, our liability to pay
you compensation and/or the amount (if any) of
compensation payable will be limited in accordance
with that provided for by the international
convention concerned. International Conventions
which may apply include: in respect of international
air travel, the Warsaw Convention 1929 (including as
amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955 and by any of
the additional Montreal Protocol of 1975) or the
Montreal Convention of 1999; in respect of rail
travel, the COTIF Convention concerning International
Carriage by Rail 1980 (as amended); in respect of
carriage by sea, the Athens Convention 1974; in
respect of carriage by road, the Geneva Convention
1973; and in respect of hotels, the Paris Convention
1962. This means that we are to be regarded as
having all benefit of any limitations of compensation
contained in any of these Conventions or any other
international convention applicable to your
holiday.
(vi) If you choose to
issue court proceedings in respect of a claim against
us, you must do so within 2 years of your return from
holiday or within 2 years of first discovering the
matters giving rise to the claim, if this is
later. If you do not, then our liability to you
will be limited in all cases to a sum of
£100.
(vii) You must, if we
are adjudged to have, or if we accept, liability for
a claim that you make, assign to us any rights that
you may have against any of our servants, agents or
suppliers which is in any way responsible for the
failure of your holiday or any death or personal
injury you may suffer. You must also co-operate
with us in any claim we choose to bring against any
third party which we, in our discretion, deem to be
so responsible.
(viii) Other
than as set out above, and as is detailed elsewhere
in these booking conditions, we shall have no legal
liability whatsoever to you for any loss, damage,
personal injury or death which you suffer arising
directly or indirectly from any aspect of your
holiday.
24. DATA
PROTECTION
We will provide your
personal information, as well as any personal
information you provide in relation to the persons
whose travel arrangements have been made through you,
to suppliers and carriers that might be located
outside the UK and/or EU, to enable the operation of
the services requested by you. If you make special
requests which include, but are not limited to,
special dietary, religious, or disability-related
requirements which constitute sensitive information,
the relevant data will also be passed to the relevant
suppliers and carriers to enable provision of the
services requested by you.
25.
COMPLAINTS
You must try yourself
to remedy anything about which you may wish to
complain and anything you cannot remedy should be
reported to local contacts immediately so that any
problem may be remedied on the spot. This includes
consulting a doctor if you are ill, both locally and
on your return. Our priority is to give you an
enjoyable holiday, and we strive very hard to do so.
However, if neither our office staff nor our local
contact is able to help, and you still have a
complaint, you should put it in writing at the time.
Then send it to the company within 30 days of your
return.
Unless they or we
have been given the opportunity to rectify the
problem at the time it is not reasonable to expect us
to accept liability for any problem after you return
home. Failure to follow this procedure may reduce or
extinguish any rights you may have to make a claim
against either us or the relevant supplier.
If you have a dispute
with On Foot which you are unable to resolve, you may
call upon the low-cost AITO Independent Dispute
Settlement Service (details on request). Claims which
exceed £2,500 per person or £10,000 per
group or claims which apply principally or
exclusively in respect of (or as a consequence of)
illness or physical injury are not admissible for
settlement under the service.
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