Booking conditions

Please read this section carefully. It states the agreement between us and is designed to be fair in protecting both our interests. Bookings with On Foot Ltd (trading as On Foot Holidays) are accepted only in accordance with the terms and conditions set out below.   On Foot Ltd is a registered limited company no. 05589960. Registered office: Stradbroke Cottage, Coombe Bissett, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 4LY, Great Britain.

1. CUSTOMER PROTECTION:

In compliance with the UK Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 a bond has been lodged with AITO Trust Ltd (AITOT), through Travel & General Insurance Company plc, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, to protect customers’ prepayments in the unlikely event of our financial failure and paid in respect of non-flight-inclusive packages, where the customer is responsible for arranging travel to the destination offered on our website or in our printed brochure (subject to the terms of the insurance policy), for:

• a refund of such prepayments if customers have not yet travelled, or
• making arrangements to enable the holiday to continue if customers have already travelled

In the unlikely event of financial failure please contact the claims helpline on +44 (0)870 0137 965. A copy of the bond is available on request.

2. MAKING A BOOKING AND PAYING FOR YOUR HOLIDAY

A reservation may be made by telephone. This can either be confirmed by card payment (credit cards including Visa, Mastercard and AMEX incur a 2.4% charge (maximum £50), no charge for debit card payments) at that time, or will be held for 4 days, pending receipt of your deposit per person of £100.

The contract between us comes into existence when we send out our confirmation invoice, which confirms your booking. You have undertaken to pay for the holiday you have booked and we have undertaken to provide you with the holiday we describe in our website or brochure, unless modified by our confirmation invoice or covering letter.

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 that contract and that you and they have agreed to be jointly and severally liable to us. If we are unable to accept your booking, we will of course return your payment to you immediately.

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.  If you are making your booking within this period, full payment will be necessary immediately. On Foot reserves the right to cancel any booking for which full payment has not been received 8 weeks before departure, and to levy cancellation charges.

3. INSURANCE

It is a condition of booking that all travellers must be covered by comprehensive travel insurance. You should organise it immediately you book so as to be covered in case of the ill health of yourself, a close relative or your travelling companion. Please read your policy details carefully. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you hold is adequate for your particular needs.

4. 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.  All changes are subject both to availability and to any resulting extra costs imposed by our suppliers.  We pay our suppliers in advance and our agreement with them stipulates that once a booking has been paid for the sum paid is neither transferable nor returnable.

5. IF YOU TRANSFER YOUR BOOKING TO A DIFFERENT ROUTE OR A DIFFERENT DATE

A transfer fee of £100 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).

6. 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.

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 para 8). 

7. 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 made are as follows (part cancellations will be treated pro-rata):

(If the reasons for your cancellation are covered by your insurance policy, you will 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 separately 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.

8. 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.

‘Force majeure’ is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers or other similar events beyond On Foot’s control.

9. PASSPORTS AND VISAS

All travellers are responsible for ensuring that they have a valid passport and any necessary visas.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13 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.

14 YOU MUST BE FIT AND WELL

enough to take part on the walking routes as described. If you have any reservations regarding your fitness for a trip, please ring the office for further details. Under no circumstances should you travel if your doctor has advised or would advise against it, and if you are in any doubt, please consult them.

15  WEBSITE AND BROCHURE ACCURACY

On Foot reserves the right to change any of the particulars contained in its website or brochure at any time before we enter into a contract with you. If there is any change, we will notify you before you enter into such contract.

All information is given in good faith and believed correct at the time of going to press. Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, errors do occasionally occur and you must therefore check your holiday details carefully.

16  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 insurance premiums and any 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 moneys 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.

17  FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL SCHEDULES

We try hard to ensure that all advice regarding flight times and other travel schedules and prices is accurate at the time given. Customers should be aware that schedules change frequently and they should leave plenty of time for transfers.

18  MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

Although we will of course advise you about any special medical requirements for travellers, 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).

19  LIABILITY

(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.

(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 Berne Convention 1961; 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.  If your luggage is lost, damaged or destroyed in any circumstance not subject to an international convention the maximum amount of compensation we will pay you will be £500.  This sum will be assessed with reference particularly to your loss and the extent to which this has required you to purchase replacements.

(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. 

20 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 requested by 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 (but see para 11).

21 YOUR CONTRACT

with us 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.