arctic adventures swedish lapland - Nordic Experience

ARCTIC ADVENTURESBooking Conditions1. When bookingWhen you make your booking you must complete a booking form,accepting on behalf of all your party the terms of these bookingconditions, and pay the appropriate deposit. If booking through aTravel Agent all monies paid to that agent are held by them on ourbehalf at all times. A contract between us will exist when we issueour confirmation invoice, is governed by English Law and bothparties shall submit to the jurisdiction of English Courts at all times.2. Paying your balanceThe balance of the price of your tour must be paid at least ten weeksbefore your departure date. If the balance is not paid in time wereserve the right to cancel your tour, retain your deposit, and applythe cancellation charges set out in paragraph 4 below.3. Amending your bookingIf, after our confirmation has been issued, you wish to change toanother of our tours or change the departure date, we will endeavourto make any such change, provided the request to do so is receivedin writing from the person who signed the booking form or from yourTravel Agent at least ten weeks before departure. This must beaccompanied by a payment of £25 to cover administration costs.Alterations cannot normally be made within ten weeks of departureand any such request for an alteration will be treated as acancellation of the original booking and subject to the cancellationcharges set out in paragraph 4 below. Please note that certain travelarrangements cannot be changed after a reservation has been madeand any alteration will then incur a 100% cancellation charge and betreated as a new booking.4. If you cancel your bookingYou, or any member of your party, may cancel your tour at any timeproviding that the cancellation is made by the person signing thebooking form and is received by us in writing. As this incursadministrative costs, we will retain your deposit and apply cancellationcharges up to the maximum below:PERIOD BEFORE DEPARTURE AMOUNT OF CANCELLATIONWITHIN WHICH WRITTEN CHARGE SHOWN AS ACANCELLATION IS MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OFRECEIVED BY USTHE TOUR PRICEMore than 71 daysDeposit only70-36 days 50%within 35 days 100%5. ProblemsIf you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevantsupplier (e.g. hotelier, excursion operator, etc.) immediately, who willendeavour to put things right on our behalf. If your complaint is notresolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return homeby writing to us at 39 Crouch Street, Colchester CO3 3EN giving yourbooking reference and other relevant information to help us identify theproblem(s) you encountered. It is strongly recommended youcommunicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in questionand if possible keep a written account of having done so. If you fail tofollow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of theopportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were ontour and this may affect your rights under this contract.It is unlikely that you will have a complaint that cannot be settled amicablybetween us. However, disputes arising out of, or in connection with, thiscontract which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitrationunder a special scheme which, though devised by arrangement withABTA, is administered quite independently by IDRS part of the CharteredInstitute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive methodof arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respectof costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be downloadedfrom the ABTA website.The scheme does not apply to claims for anamount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely inrespect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The Schemecan however deal with compensation claims which include an element ofminor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount thearbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. The applicationfor arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by IDRS withinnine months of the date of your return from the holiday. Outside this timelimit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if the companyagrees, but the ABTA Code does not require such agreement. For injuryand illness claims, you may like to use the ABTA / Chartered Institute ofArbitrators Mediation Procedure. This is a voluntary scheme and requiresus to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolveyour dispute in a quick and cost effective way. Details on request or fromwww.abta.com.6. SurchargesWe reserve the right to alter the prices of any arrangement featured in ourbrochure or on our website. You will be advised of the current price of thearrangement that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.46 Nordic ExperienceChanges in transportation costs, including fuel costs, taxes or feeschargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation ordisembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean thatthe price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked,but there will be no change within 30 days of your departure.However we will absorb and you will not be charged for any increaseequivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludesinsurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged forthe amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission ifapplicable. If this means that you would have to pay an increase of morethan 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the optionof accepting a change to another arrangement if we are able to offer one(if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more butif it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), orcancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for anyamendment charges. Should the price of your arrangement decrease dueto the changes mentioned above, (by more than 2% of your invoice paid)then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travelarrangements are not always purchased in local currency and someapparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due tocontractual arrangements.Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your rightto do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice.The price of your travel arrangements was calculated using exchangerates rates of: [EUR 1.88, NOK 9.30, SEK 11.25, ISK 188, DKK 8.85]7. Cancellation and variation to arrangementsIt is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to yourarrangements, but we do plan them many months in advance.Occasionally changes occur, but most are minor, and we will advise youor your travel agent at the earliest possible date. Flight timings andcarriers in the brochure are subject to change as a result of airlineprocedures. Final details will be shown on your tickets and/or in theaccompanying documentation. If a major change becomes necessary,we will inform you or your travel agent as soon as reasonably possibleif there is time before departure. When a major change occurs (such asthe alteration of your outward/return flights by more than 12 hours,changes of hotel or a reduction in the standard of accommodation),provided it does not arise from circumstances amounting to forcemajeure (see below), you will have the choice of either accepting thechange, taking another available arrangement from us, or cancellingyour arrangement and receiving a full refund. In the interests of ourclients, we reserve the right to cancel itineraries, or to substitutealternative accommodation, if the arrangement, unamended, wouldthen in our opinion suffer, or be in some way impracticable. However,in no case will we cancel your arrangement less than six weeks beforethe scheduled departure date except for reasons of force majeure orfailure on your part to pay the final balance (circumstances amountingto force majeure include war, the threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrialdispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverseweather conditions, or withdrawal of suppliers facilities) Incircumstances where we are unable to provide the arrangementbooked, we will return to you all monies paid, or offer an alternativearrangement of comparable standardIn accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to adviseyou of the airline operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer whichwe do by detailing this on your confirmation invoice. Any changes tothe airline used after you have received your tickets will be notified toyou as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boardinggate. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examplesof minor changes include alteration of your outward/return flights byless than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of accommodationto another of the same standard.8. Our responsibility & liabilityIf the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperlyperformed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriatecompensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travelarrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in theperformance of the contract is due to either you or a third partyunconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and wherethe failure was unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual andunforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequencesof which could not have been avoided even if all due care had beenexercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care,could not foresee or forestall. Our liability, except in cases involvingdeath, injury or illness will be limited in accordance with and/or in anidentical manner to (a) The contractual terms of the companies thatprovide the transportation for your travel arrangements and (b) Anyrelevant international convention, for example the MontrealConvention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respectof travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail andthe Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation,which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death,injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage.SummerADVENTURESWe are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation ofcompensation contained in these or any conventions.Although we do not control or operate any airlines, own any coaches,hotels or other facilities mentioned in our brochure, or directly employstaff of those organisations, we do take all reasonable steps to ensurethat such organisations maintain standards which are acceptable to uswithin the bounds of possibility in each locality. No third party has theauthority to make, on our behalf, any promise or representation to youconcerning our tour or travel arrangements. We do not accept liabilityfor any such arrangements changed without our consent, or make anyrefund for unused travel, accommodation vouchers or excursionvouchers other than at our absolute discretion.The texts of the transport companies' contractual terms, orinternational conventions are available on request.Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in somecircumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline incases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full detailsof these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be availablefrom airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will notautomatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Yourright to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 6. Ifany payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by theairline will be deducted from this amount. If your airline does notcomply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users'Council on 020 7240 6061 www.auc.org.uk9. Assistance whilst on tourIf the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperlyperformed as a result of failures attributable to a third party connectedwith the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due tounusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, theconsequences of which could not have been avoided even if all duecare had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, evenwith all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injuryor other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as isreasonable in the circumstances.10. Locally booked Excursions & SafarisFor any excursion or safari that you book locally, your contract will bewith the operator of that excursion or safari and not with us irrespectiveof whether the operator is one used by us or not. We do not acceptresponsible for the provision of any such excursions or tours or foranything that happens during the course of its provision by theoperator.11. Financial Protection & Standards of ConductThe Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for anytours booked with us and for your repatriation in the unlikely event ofour insolvency. We provide this security by way of an ATOL 6558administered by the Civil Aviation Authority and a bond held by ABTA.When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday you will receive aConfirmation Invoice from us (or via our authorised agent throughwhich you booked) confirming your arrangements and your protectionunder our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence. The CAA will ensure that youare not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money youhave paid to us for an advance booking. For further information visit theATOL website at www.atol.org.uk We are a member of ABTA,membership number W879X and are obliged to maintain a highstandard of service to you by virtue of their Code of Conduct.12. Other termsThe conditions, terms and obligations outlined in this brochure and onour website www.nordicexperience.co.uk under the heading “the smallprint” shall be deemed to be included within these conditions. NordicExperience and Scantours are trading names of Colchester Travel Ltdwith whom your contract is and which is governed by English Law andthe jurisdiction of the English Courts.