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T&C's

BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS

These Booking Conditions, together with our "Important Information", Privacy Policy and any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, form the basis of your contract with Ski Elements Ltd trading as SkiWeekends of Sullivan Court, Wessex Park, Colden Common, Winchester Hampshire, SO21 1WP ("we", "us" and "SkiWeekends"), registered in England & Wales with company no. 07370523. Please read these Booking Conditions carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to "you" and "your" mean the first named person on the booking ("lead name") and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made (including anyone who is added at a later stage or to whom a booking is transferred) ("party members") or any of them, as the context requires. References to "departure" are to the start date of the arrangements we have contracted to provide.

We offer hotel, apartment and chalet accommodation with meals as advertised. We can usually also arrange transfers from airports and railway stations and can assist in booking lift passes, ski equipment and ski lessons. The arrangements we make do not constitute a "package" and accordingly, the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 do not apply to them.

By making a booking, the lead name agrees on behalf of all party members that:-

  1. a) He/she has read these Booking Conditions and brought them to the attention of all party members and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them
  2. b) He/she consents to our use of personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and is authorised on behalf of all party members to disclose their personal details to us, including where applicable special categories of data (such as information on health conditions or disabilities and dietary requirements)
  3. c) He/she is at least 18 years of age and where the booking includes any services with age restrictions, declares that those party members who intend to use such services comply with such age restrictions
  4. d) He/she is personally responsible for payment of all amounts due on behalf of all party members
  5. e) He/she will be solely responsible for the division of any refund or credit note between party members (refunds and credit notes will only be issued to the lead name).  

Suplementary pandemic consitions can be found at the end of the document

FULL BOOKING CONDITIONS

  1. Booking & Paying for your Arrangements

A booking is made with us when a) you tell us that you would like to accept our written or verbal quotation; b) you pay us a deposit (or if you are booking within 12 weeks of departure, full payment); and c) we issue you with a confirmation invoice. The deposit payable at the time of booking is £200 per person. The lead name accepts responsibility for ensuring that all payments are made when due. The booking will not be confirmed until the full deposit is paid. The price payable will be that applicable when the full deposit is received which may be higher than that quoted if there is a delay in paying the full deposit. We reserve the right to return your deposit and decline your booking at our absolute discretion.

A binding contract will come into existence between you and us as soon as we have issued you with a confirmation invoice that will confirm the details of your booking and will be sent to you or your travel agent. Once confirmed, the booking deposit, additional charges paid and insurance premiums will not be refunded in the event of cancellation except in the circumstances specified in clauses 7 or 10 or as otherwise required by law. The balance of the holiday arrangements must be paid 12 weeks prior to departure; the date will be shown on your confirmation invoice. We do not send reminders. If the balance is not paid on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you and retain your deposit. If your booking is not cancelled straight away because you have promised to make a payment you will need to pay the cancellation charges set out in clause 6 depending on the date we reasonably treat your booking as cancelled. We reserve the right to make late payment charges of up to 2% on any overdue balance.

Please check your confirmation invoice and any other documentation we send you immediately on receipt and let us know straight away if you believe that any details are inaccurate or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracies in any document (for which we are responsible) within ten days of our sending it out.

All monies you pay to one of our authorised travel agents for your holiday arrangements with us will be held by the agent on your behalf until a contract between us comes into existence. After that point and providing payment is made in accordance with these booking conditions, your agent will hold the monies on our behalf until they are paid to us. Please note, we are not responsible for any monies held by an authorised travel agent before we issue our confirmation invoice. You must only make payment to an authorised travel agent in accordance with this clause. We will not be responsible for payments held by a travel agent in respect of a confirmed booking where, for example, you pay the balance more 13 weeks in advance of departure even where the agent asks you to do so.

  1. Law & Jurisdiction

We both agree that your contract (including these Booking Conditions) and all matters arising out of or in connection with it (including any dispute, claim or other matter of any description ("claim")) will be governed in all respects by English law (and no other). We both also agree that any claim must be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales. You may, however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live in those places and if you wish to do so.

  1. Accuracy

We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices on our website or elsewhere are accurate, however, occasionally changes and errors occur, and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before your booking is confirmed.

If You Change Your Booking or Transfer a of Booking to another party

If, after confirmation has been issued, you wish to change your holiday arrangements, please advise us, by telephone and in writing, as soon as possible. Whilst we cannot guarantee changes can be made, we will do our best to assist. Where a change is possible, administration charges will apply as follows (in addition to any charges our suppliers may impose): £25.00 per name change and £25.00 per person for all other changes. Any changes (other than name changes) notified to us less than 14 days prior to departure will be subject to full cancellation charges as referred to in clause 5. Subject to the transfer of booking provision below, any name changes made by you within six weeks of departure will be subject to full cancellation charges as referred to in clause 5.

Your Provision of Information Requirement to Ensure Services are Delivered as Booked

In order to provide your holiday and fulfil our agreement with you we require that you provide the following information in a timely manner.  Failure to do so may result in us being unable to provide this service or an additional admin fee of £15 per person.

  • Transfers – you must provide flight numbers and arrival/departure times for every member of your party no later than 28 days before travel or within 24 hours of a booking being made within 28 days of travel, or within 2 hours of bookings made within 5 days of travel. Failure to do so may mean we are unable to provide the service within the normal times we aim to achieve, resulting in a long wait at the airport, or we may be unable to provide any transfer, we are unable to accept any consequential costs you incur as a result, should you decide, you cannot travel, normal cancellation conditions will apply to the remainder of your booking.
  • Equipment Hire & Lift Passes – you must provide the heights, weights, and shoes sizes for each member of your group who wishes to hire skis/snowboards and or boots, no less than 14 days before travel or within 24 hours for bookings made between 14 and 6 days before travel. Please note that we are unable to accept bookings for Equipment Hire & Lift Passes within 5 days of travel. 
  • Guest names - you must provide names for every member of your party as they appear on their passport (title, first, last name) no less than 21 days before travel or with 24 hours of a booking made within the 21 days or within 2 hours of bookings made within 5 days, failure to do this may mean we are unable to provide a service and may attract a late administration charge of £15 per person.
  • Dietary needs – we do not charge for prebooked dietary needs in our chalets. Changes in menu on arrival that have not been prebooked, will attract a charge of £10 per person per night, payable to the UK by credit card on arrival at your chalet.

Transfers & If You Change Your Travel Arrangements

We plan our transfers many days in advance, and weeks ahead for peak dates. 

 

Flight delays on arrival can normally be accommodated, however this may result in a longer than normal wait time at the airport.  Delays of more than 1 hour due to: late aircraft arrival time; customs or immigration issues; lost or delayed bags, may result in additional charges or result in us being unable to provide a transfer, you will be required to pay any additional costs during your holiday, most insurance policies cover these charges, and you may be able to claim through the airline or your travel insurance.

If you change your flight or travel times you must advise us immediately, we will do our best to accommodate any changes, this may result in a longer than normal waiting times for a transfer to resort or leaving resort earlier for a flight home, we cannot guarantee to provide a transfer that is different from that original booked.  If we are unable to accommodate your new arrangements, we will refund the transfer cost in full, we do not accept liability for any additional costs you incur as a result of a flight or any other delay, or a change made by you or the airline, this does not change our general cancellation policy in relation to other elements of your holiday.  Any change may result in an additional charge up to the full cost of a replacement transfer.

Missed flights, refusal to board and similar events; we are unable to accept responsibility for events which are beyond our control, your airline or travel insurance should cover this. 

Private transfers: we always endeavour to ensure that your driver is waiting for you, sometimes events beyond our control can result in small delays.  If your flight is delayed by more than 2 hours, there may be an additional charge which will be due to be paid during your holiday.  The pickup time for your return transfer is set by our transfers partner, they are best placed to understand traffic and weather restrictions to ensure that you get to the airport in good time for your flight.  If you are late or wish to change this, we accept no liability for missed flights.

Shared arrival transfers – Our shared transfers typically leave within 1 hour of flight landing, depending on how busy airports are and on short delays on other flights, this may be up to 2 hours from your scheduled flight landing time.  We never plan for passengers to be combined on flights which are more than 2 hours apart, but delays can occasionally result in longer waits.  Although, we state allowable flight times for shared transfer, we will always get you away as quickly as possible.

Shared return transfers (homeward bound)– We know that you want to ski as long as possible, we always respect the instructions of our transfers partners regarding pick-up times, they are best placed to understand traffic and weather restrictions to ensure that you get to the airport in good time for your flight.  By choosing a shared transfer you may have to leave earlier to accommodate other guests on flights who are within the allowable flight times for share transfers.

For circumstances beyond our or your control, you must have adequate travel insurance to cover missed flights or transfers. 

4. Transfer of Booking to another party:

You may transfer your booking or your place on the booking to someone else without payment of our cancellation charges, subject to the following conditions:

  1. that person is introduced by you and satisfies all the conditions applicable to the holiday.
  2. the request for transfer is accompanied by the name and other applicable details of the replacement person(s) ("transferee");
  3. we are notified of the request not less than 7 days before departure.
  4. you pay any outstanding balance payment, an amendment fee of £25 per person transferring, as well as any additional fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer; and
  5. the transferee agrees to these booking conditions and all other terms of the contract between us.

The original party member(s) and the transferee remain jointly and severally liable for payment of all sums. If you are unable to travel and cannot find anyone to take over your booking or place on the booking, cancellation charges as set out in clause 5 will apply. Otherwise, no refunds will be given for passengers not travelling or for unused services.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Certain arrangements cannot be changed after a reservation has been made so that name changes, other alterations and cancellation affecting these services are likely to incur a 100% cancellation charge and the applicable cost of rebooking the service from the time of booking.

5. If You Cancel Your Holiday

You may cancel your confirmed holiday at any time before departure. You may also transfer your booking as referred to in clause 4. If you want to cancel your booking after it has been confirmed, you must do so in writing (which can be by e-mail). Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing by us at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking, you will have to pay the cancellation fees below. In calculating these cancellation charges, we have taken account of possible cost savings and the generation of income from other bookings which may be able to utilise cancelled services to the extent this is likely to be achievable. Cancellation charges are calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling, excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges (which are not refundable in the event of cancellation). 

Period before you leave within which we receive written notice:

 Cancellation charge

 85 days or more

Loss of deposit

 57-84 days

30% of full cost or deposit if greater 

 36-56 days

50% of full cost or deposit if greater 

 22-35 days

70% of full cost or deposit if greater 

 15-21 days

90% of the full cost 

 1-14 days

100% of the full cost 


EXCLUSIONS: When the above refund conditions do not apply.

  • When one or more persons cancels from a shared room and that room is still required for 1 or more people, meaning the room is not cancelled.
  • When a chalet or apartment is booked on sole occupancy, meaning we are unable to sell any unoccupied beds/accommodation.
  • When cancellation results in a transfer being for only one person on the transfer, a further charge may be due. Alternatively, a refund of the transfer will be paid.

In these circumstances if notified with more than 72 hours’ notice, the limit of the refund would cover variable cost such as an included transfer, only if such costs are recoverable by us, an admin fee may still apply.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Cancellation of certain arrangements after confirmation incurs a 100% cancellation charge.

Cancelling equipment hire or liftpasses once booked will incur a charge of £25 per refund. No cancellation can be made within 14 days of travel.

The date of cancellation is calculated from receipt of the notification by us by email. You may be able to make a claim under your travel insurance policy if your cancellation falls within the conditions of the policy. Where any cancellation reduces the number of full paying party members below the number on which the price, number of free places and/or the concessions agreed for your booking were calculated, we will recalculate these items and re-invoice you accordingly. Similarly, room occupancy changes will affect the price. You will be responsible for payment of these extra costs.

Where possible, we will deduct the cancellation charge(s) from any monies you have already paid to us.

This clause 5 outlines the rights you have if you wish to cancel your booking. Please note that there is no automatic statutory right of cancellation under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (Directive 2011/83/EU).

Please also see the paragraph headed "PANDEMIC 19 – Book with Confidence" above.

  1. Changes and Cancellations by us

We start planning the arrangements we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in advertising 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.

We may, for example, due to local or national restrictions or illness or absence of staff, be unable to provide certain advertised services or facilities as a result. Such measures/action may be introduced or changed with little or no prior notice. Greater flexibility is therefore likely to be required for the foreseeable future which we would ask you to always bear in mind, both before and after departure. Any impact which such measures/action has on your holiday will not constitute a significant alteration to your contracted arrangements and will not entitle you to cancel without payment of the applicable cancellation charges as a result.

Except as set out in "Pandemic - Booking with Confidence" below, in the event that your booked accommodation is not available for any reason or we have to make a significant change to or cancel your confirmed booking, we will tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of:

  1.  (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements; or
  2.  if available, accepting an offer of alternative arrangements of a comparable or higher standard (where the alternative arrangements are more expensive than those booked, you may be asked to pay the price difference); or

iii.  if available, accepting an offer of alternative arrangements of a lower standard (with a refund of the price difference where applicable); or

  1.  receiving a refund of all monies paid to us.

You must notify us of your choice within 7 days of our offer by email. If we do not hear from you within 7 days, we will contact you again to request notification of your choice. If you fail to respond again, we will assume that you have chosen to accept the change or alternative booking arrangements.

Please note, we will not be responsible for any other expenses you incur as a result of the cancellation or change to your booking including without limitation, the cost of flights or any other form of transport, additional services such as ski school, passes, hire. The above options will not be available where any change is not significant.

In addition to a full refund of all monies paid by you, we will pay you compensation as detailed below, in the following circumstances:

  • If, where we make a significant change, you do not accept the changed arrangements and cancel your booking.
  • If we cancel your booking and no alternative arrangements are available.

Number of days before departure a significant change or cancellation is notified to you 

Compensation per full paying party member*

 More than 60 days

£0.00

 60 - 29 days

£15.00

 28 - 15 days

£20.00 for holidays of 5 days or more; £40.00 for holidays of 6 days or more.

 0 - 14 days

£30.00 for holidays of 5 days or less; £40.00 for holidays of 6 days or more.

 

*IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not pay you compensation in the following circumstances:

  • where we make a minor change.
  • where we make a significant change or cancel your arrangements more than 56 days before departure.
  • where we make a significant change, and you accept those changed arrangements or you accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements.
  • where we have to cancel your arrangements as a result of your failure to make full payment on time.
  • where the change or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you.
  • where we are forced to cancel or change your arrangements due to Force Majeure (see clause 9).

Please note, the above options are only applicable where we are unable to provide the contracted arrangements. Without limitation and except as set out in “Pandemic – Book with Confidence", you will not be entitled to a refund and cancellation charges are likely to apply where you are unable to travel on holiday for any reason.

Very rarely, we may be forced by force majeure (see clause 9) to change or terminate your arrangements after they have commenced but before their scheduled end. This is very 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.

Loss of facilities

If in any accommodation booked through is unable to provide facilities which were advertised on our website at the time of your booking, we will pay you compensation for each day you are impacted.

This compensation is paid at a rate of up to £15 per person per day.

Examples include but are not exhaustive: jacuzzi or sauna not working, bathroom out of use.

Changes to transfer arrangements

We always do our best to ensure that your journey to and from resort is safe and as quick as practically possible, we want to help you maximise your ski holiday time.

Where we have included or you have added transfers to your chosen accommodation, it forms a minor part of the holiday, both in terms of time and cost, as such this combination does not form a package under the Package Travel regulations.

Ordinarily for shared transfers you will not to be asked to wait for more than two hours before leaving your arrival airport, in practice most guest leave in under 1 hour, however we are unable to control either immigration or baggage reclaim delays. Whilst most of our transfers are by minibus, you may have to wait for guests from another flight, we endeavour to ensure that arrival times are within 1 hour from first to last flight, however we are unable to control delays in any elements of the journey,

Transfers may be booked by taxi, minibus, coach or train or any combination of the above.  We will always endeavour to ensure your transfer is as efficient as practically possible, however sometimes for logistical reasons we may not be able to provide the anticipated mode of transfer; in this case we accept no liability for any loss of time or additional costs you may incur.

Most transfers go directly to your resort; sometimes there may be a stop on route, where you may have to wait for or change to another vehicle; we will always do our best to ensure tis is as quick and smooth as possible. 

  1. If You Have a Complaint

Ski Weekends strive to resolve any issues you may have on holiday as quickly as possible. You both must contact a member of our in-resort team immediately in the event of a problem, and if relevant the supplier so that they have the opportunity to try to put things right.  If this is not resolved to your satisfaction you must contact the local manager or UK office while on holiday, please note that communication should only be by phone call or email; chat and social media are not monitored. If your complaint cannot be completely resolved locally, you must follow this up by putting your complaint in writing within 28 days of your return home. It is a condition of this contract that you communicate any problem at the earliest opportunity to the supplier, and our representative whilst in the resort. Failure to do so will deprive us of our ability to investigate and rectify your complaint at the time and may affect any claim you may make. We will endeavour to respond in full to any complaint within 28 days of receiving the complaint in writing.

You can also access the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. This ODR platform is a means of registering your complaint with us; it will not determine how your complaint should be resolved.

Any photography or video which you take within or outside our premises or of our staff without written permission from the company, will be deemed to become the property of Ski Elements ltd.  Any use of this imagery in the public domain without written permission will be considered a breach of our legal ownership.

  1. Your Holiday Price

We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holiday arrangements at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holiday arrangements. Prices can go up or down. We will be able to tell you or your travel agent the up-to-date price of your chosen travel arrangements and of any other services advertised by us before confirming your booking. Holiday prices include accommodation and meals as specified in the holiday description and VAT at the current rate where applicable. Drinks with your evening meal, morning coffee, afternoon tea and other refreshments are only included if explicitly specified for your chosen accommodation. Gratuities to the hotel staff and drivers/couriers are discretionary.

Local stay tourist taxes, such as taxe de Sejour in France are not included in your holiday price and are payable to the supplier locally.  For chalet stays, we do not charge you for this as we pay it on your behalf. 

Your booking includes the right to use accommodation up until 09:00 on your day of departure, following your last paid night of accommodation.  In SkiWeekends run chalets, we will endeavour to provide storage facilities and a place to change up until 17:00 on the day of departure, but this is not guaranteed.  In all eventualities you must leave the accommodation when requested after you last night. There are no exceptions to this as the accommodation will have new guest arriving on your day of departure. In the event or injury or illness, you must find alternative accommodation which you should have adequate travel insurance cover for.

The price of your travel arrangements has been calculated using exchange rates quoted by Moneycorp (TTT Moneycorp Limited) on an ongoing basis in relation to the following currencies: Euros, CHF, SEK, NOK, CAD.

We also reserve the right to increase the price of confirmed holidays solely to allow for increases which are a direct consequence of changes in:

  • the price of the carriage of passengers resulting from the cost of fuel or other power sources.
  • the level of taxes or fees on the travel services included in the contract imposed by third parties not directly involved in the performance of the holiday; and
  • the exchange rates relevant to the package.

We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your package holiday arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums, any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements which do not form part of the package. You will be charged for the amount over and above that.

However, if this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your confirmed holiday arrangements (excluding any insurance premiums, amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements which do not form part of the package), clause 6 will apply on the basis the increase is a significant change. 

You will be notified of any price increase or reduction applied in accordance with this clause together with the justification for and calculation of this not less than 20 days before departure. Any surcharge must be paid with the balance of the holiday cost or within 14 days of the issue date printed on the invoice, whichever is the later.

Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, then any refund due will be paid to you less an administrative fee of £10. However, please note that holiday arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your holiday due to contractual and other protection in place.

There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 20 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period.

  1. Force majeure and United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Conditions we will not accept any liability or pay you compensation if 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 13(1)) as a result of force majeure. In these Booking Conditions, force majeure means a situation which is beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such situations are likely to include (whether actual or threatened) war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire, flood and epidemics. Force majeure also includes the coronavirus pandemic and its effects including the measures and other action being taken by governments, public authorities and businesses to control and manage its effects (such as travel restrictions and social distancing).

Brexit and pandemic implications: please note that certain travel arrangements may be affected as a result of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union and ongoing measures and actions to deal with Pandemic. This could include the unavailability of certain flight routes, access to certain ports and airports, the provision of transfers and an inability for us to staff our chalets, due to an end to freedom of movement or other arrangements for the temporary posting of workers overseas. This specifically means that you may not have a chalet host or representative from Ski Weekends.  Please rest assured that this is something we will continue to monitor and will advise our customers as soon as possible if we become aware of any confirmed bookings that will be affected. However, since this is something which is completely outside our control, we would treat the cause of any such changes as force majeure and whilst we will endeavour to provide suitable alternative arrangements or refunds where possible, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation. Please also refer to clause 6.

In particular if, as a result of Brexit or operational restrictions as a result of pandemic (whether applied by the government, local officials, illness or through practical limitations), we are unable to staff our chalets in the manner advertised then we may be in a position where we are unable to deliver certain elements of your booking. This is most likely to affect but is not limited to the provision of catering and cleaning services. Should this happen, you will still be able to take your holiday and make use of your booking and we will provide a proportionate refund as follows for the services not provided:

  • For each day on which an evening meal and wine is not provided, we will pay a refund of £15 per person.
  • For each day on which afternoon tea & cake is not provided, we will pay a refund of £3 per person.
  • For each day on which breakfast is not provided, we will pay a refund of £3 per person.
  • In respect of cleaning, the accommodation will be clean, and beds will be made on your arrival, however, if we are unable to attend/clean your chalet during your stay, you will be entitled to a refund of £5 per room per day affected.

In chalets operated by us, we do not provide cleaning or dinner on 2 days each week and no compensation will be due with respect to these days.

  1. Special Requests and medical conditions/disabilities / reduced mobility

Special requests are noted and passed on to the relevant parties, but cannot be guaranteed. Requests must be made in writing at the time of booking. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation invoice 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. For your protection, you should obtain confirmation in writing that a special request will be complied with (where it is possible to give this) if it is important to you. Any special request which we have accepted will be specifically confirmed as accepted on your confirmation invoice.

Our holidays may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities, medical conditions or significantly reduced mobility. Before you make your booking, we will advise you as to whether the proposed holiday arrangements are generally suitable for someone with reduced mobility.  However, reduced mobility, of course, means different things to different individuals as we fully appreciate that individual capabilities, restrictions and requirements are likely to vary considerably. When we refer to reduced mobility, this means any material reduction in mobility whether this is permanent or temporary and whether caused by age or by physical or mental disability or impairment or other cause of disability.

  1. Conduct

We reserve the right to refuse to accept your booking or to allow your holiday arrangements to continue if your behaviour is disruptive, dangerous or adversely affects other people or is threatening, offensive or abusive towards our staff or agents in the UK or resort, on the telephone, in writing or in person. If the driver of any transfer vehicle or our resort staff reasonably believe that you could be disruptive, they can also refuse to let you proceed with your travel arrangements. If this means you are not allowed to board planned transport, we will treat your booking as cancelled by you from that moment, and you will have to pay full cancellation charges (see clause 5). If this behaviour occurs overseas with the result that your holiday is terminated then you will become responsible for your own return travel arrangements (including those of any other members of your group who cannot or will not travel without you). With respect to accommodation provided by us or a third party, if we/the manager/owner consider your behaviour to be similarly dangerous, disruptive, offensive or threatening or representing a risk to others, we retain the right to immediately terminate your contract with that supplier and Ski Weekends.  In any of these circumstances no refunds, expenses or compensation will be paid to you and we may make a claim against you for any damages, costs, expenses and other sums which are incurred by us as a result of your behaviour such as the costs involved in diverting an aircraft where you need to be removed. Criminal proceedings may also be instigated by the relevant authorities.

  1. Holiday Insurance

We consider adequate travel insurance to be essential. It is a condition of our accepting your booking with us that you and your party obtain suitable travel insurance, from a reputable provider, valid from the time of booking your holiday which provides appropriate.

In summary, the policy must at least include the following cover: -

  • Emergency Medical Expenses including amongst other costs; mountain rescue, ambulance charges and repatriation (if necessary, by air ambulance)
  • Expenses arising from illness or injury whilst on holiday which result in additional costs in relation to accommodation and travel
  • Cancellation of your trip or Curtailment cutting short your trip due to circumstances outside your control including without limitation as a result of your inability to travel due to UK Foreign Office advice against non-essential travel
  • Personal Liability to include, amongst other liabilities; damage caused by your (or your party's) negligence in relation to the property in which you are staying (which may not include a clause which restricts actions being taken against a travelling companion other than family and must include contractual liability of the party leader for the actions of his party
  • Travel and transfer delays which must include amongst other costs; additional costs incurred in the event of a delay
  • The policy must include the activities you are likely to do in particular as regards skiing, snowboarding or other winter sports activities, off piste skiing with or without a guide (it is possible to ski off piste inadvertently)
  • The policy must cover the period from the date of booking to the last day of your trip and may not have a clause allowing the insurer to cancel except in unusual circumstances e.g. fraud and misrepresentation, nor may it hold requirements that we must pay you (a refund or completion) in the event that we are unable to provide your trip due to circumstances outside our control. These booking conditions contain an exclusion in respect of force majeure and accordingly to reiterate it is your responsibility to obtain insurance for these risks

Note:- There are of course other sections to a Travel Insurance policy such as Baggage, Legal Expenses, Personal Accident and so on     

Should you decide to take out a policy with a third party offering the same or greater protection, for each passenger travelling in your party, on request,  you must provide us with the name, address, policy number and details of the emergency and medical repatriation telephone number, within 14 day. Please note, for people hiring our ski & snowboard clothing or equipment, we will require proof that the policy covers for loss or damage. 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 suitable and adequate for your particular needs. This applies even where insurance is included in the cost of your holiday. We do not check alternative policies for suitability. In the event that you fail to obtain suitable Travel Insurance which complies with this clause, we shall not be liable for any costs incurred or claims made against us due to your failure to comply with this term. We also reserve the right not to pay a claim (for example, for a refund) where your travel insurance does not provide cover when it should have done in accordance with this clause or your travel insurers refuse to pay the claim for which you are required to have cover. 

Most policies require any loss or injury to be reported in resort to a member of our team or in the event of theft to the local authorities, it is entirely your responsibility to do this and to ensure that this has been recorded to your satisfaction. We are unable to confirm any event that has not been recorded at that time.

We strongly recommend that you carefully consider the cover you require in relation to Pandemic both in the UK and whilst on holiday.  We have clearly explained what we will and will not cover in this document, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are covered to your satisfaction.  Specifically, we advise that your insurance should cover you for cancellation due to illness before your trip, for illness whilst away and for any additional accommodation or holiday extension cost you may incur.

Our house broker MPI should be considered for whom we are an affiliate and contact information is available on our website and will be referred to in your booking confirmation.

  1. Our Liability

(1) We arrange for the provision of accommodation, transfers and items such as lift passes and ski equipment. We do not ourselves own the accommodation or operate any transfers or other services. We undertake to use our reasonable skill and care in the provision of services which are provided by our employees in the course of their employment. For all services (which includes transfers) which are provided by any person or entity other than our employees, we undertake to use our reasonable skill and care in the selection of those suppliers but, providing we have done so, are not responsible for their acts and omissions or the actual performance of those services.

(2) We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (including loss of enjoyment or possessions), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: -

  • the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected; or
  • the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements; or
  • 'force majeure' as defined in clause 9 above

(3) Please note, we cannot accept any responsibility for any services which we do not specifically contract to provide. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which any supplier agrees to provide for you where we have not agreed to provide these as part of our contract and any activities which we arrange for you during your holiday. Regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any advertising material or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you.

(4) 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 £250.00 per person affected. Any payment is subject to your producing appropriate proof of the contents and value of the luggage or personal possessions concerned and demonstrating that you have taken proper care of your property. For all other claims which do not involve death or personal injury, we limit the maximum amount we will have to pay you in the event that we are found liable to you on any basis to twice the cost paid by the person(s) affected.

  1. Passport, Visa & Immigration Requirements & Health Formalities

PLEASE DO DOUBLE CHECK THE VALIDITY OF YOUR PASSPORT

PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME REMAINING OF YOUR 90 DAY STAY LIMIT IN THE EU.

PLEASE DO CHECK THAT YOUR ENTIRE TRAVEL FALLS WITHIN YOUR 90 DAYS EU ALLOWANCE

It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your holiday. All information we provide is general in nature and passed on in good faith without liability for its accuracy. You must check the latest position and requirements for your own specific circumstances with reliable sources of information (such as those referred to below) and your own doctor/travel clinic as applicable. Requirements do change, sometimes at very short notice. You must check the up to date position in good time before and close to departure.

For British citizens, a full British passport would generally take approximately 3 to 6 weeks to obtain but is currently (August 2020) taking much longer. If any person travelling (who is a British citizen) is 16 or over and hasn't yet got or had a passport, even more, time needs to be allowed as the UK Passport Service has to confirm identity before issuing a first passport. Please ensure you check the latest position on applying for or renewing a passport at the earliest opportunity.

Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting. For further information contact the Passport Office on 0870 5210410

The UK Government has published a website tool to check the validity of your passport: https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/check-a-passport

Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine-readable passports. Please check https://uk.usembassy.gov.

Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visit www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice and https://travelaware.campaign.gov.uk which you are strongly recommended to consult before booking and in good time before and close to departure.

Non-British passport holders, including other EU nationals, should obtain up to date advice on passport and visa requirements from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of your destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling.

It is the lead name's responsibility to ensure you obtain details of and comply with all recommended and required vaccinations, health precautions and other health-related measures (including those which are introduced to deal with coronavirus) in good time before departure. Details should be available from your GP surgery and travel clinics and from the National Travel Health Network and Centre www.travelhealthpro.org.uk. Information on health is also available on www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/before-you-travel

It is the lead name's responsibility to ensure that all persons travelling 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 or are otherwise unable to travel due to failure on your part to carry all required documentation or to otherwise comply with all applicable requirements (including health/coronavirus related ones). If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges or other financial penalties being imposed on us or expenses or costs being incurred by us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly. If you are unable to travel as a result of failure or inability to comply with any health-related or other requirements, cancellation charges will apply as referred to in clause 6.

Please Note: Should any of the visa or passport requirements applicable to your trip change as a result of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, it will remain your responsibility to ensure that you are able to comply (and do comply) with any such requirements that may be in place, following Brexit.

  1. Excursions and activities

Excursions, activities or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your contracted arrangements with us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.

PANDEMIC – BOOK WITH CONFIDENCE

We understand that the coronavirus pandemic has raised many questions around what happens if your holiday is disrupted by Pandemic. We would therefore like to give you the following reassurance.

If your holiday cannot go ahead because of Pandemic as defined in the conditions below we will offer you the following enhanced Pandemic Cancellation Protection terms in place of our normal terms covered in this contract.

Chalet Bookings

  • You may move your holiday to another date, there will be no administration charge (consequent price variation will be refunded or payable)
  • You may move your holiday to the same holiday and date the following season with no price change or administration charge.  Meaning the same accommodation, date, duration, board basis and passenger numbers
  • You may choose to take a 100% credit voucher* for the full holiday booking value, this may be used for a new booking which must be booked by 30th April 2024 (you must travel by 30th April 2025)
  • You may choose a cash refund of 75% which will be returned by bank transfer within 14 days of cancellation, 25% is non-refundable*

* This covers the administration charge of 25% per booking that is retained to cover the irrecoverable business costs which we are entitled to retain as detailed in our terms below.  Any refund by bank card will be liable to a 2% handling charge.  Refunds will be made within 14 days of the departure date.  This credit can be transferred to another party but may not be exchanged for a cash alternative. Credit notes must be redeemed against the same accommodation type as originally booked.

Hotel Bookings

  • Cancellation conditions will mirror each specific hotel's own Pandemic cancellation conditions:
  • Where the hotel provides a refund:
    • You may choose a cash refund from which £50 per person will be retained by SkiWeekends**
    • You may choose a 100% credit voucher for the full holiday booking value; this may be used for any new SkiWeekends booking which must be booked by 30th April 2024 (you must travel by 30th April 2025)
  • Where a hotel only offers a credit for a future booking, this will be passed to the customer in full.
  • Deposit values and payments will match with hotels specific deposit requirements at the time of booking.

** This covers the administration charge of £50 per person that is retained to cover the irrecoverable business costs which we are entitled to retain as detailed in our terms below. Any refund by bank card will be liable to a 2% handling charge. Refunds will be made within 14 days of the hotel refunding your booking.

Ski Holiday Extras

  • If you have booked ski hire and/or lift passes and are unable to travel with us, these will be refunded in full by bank transfer with no additional charge.  Any refund by bank card will be liable to a 2% handling charge.
  • If you have booked transfers with us, they will be subject to the transfer provider refund policy.

CONDITIONS COVERED BY THE PANDEMIC CANCELLATION PROTECTION

If you are unable to travel on your holiday due to FCDO forbidding you to travel to your destination or the destination country closes its borders to arrivals from the UK.

If FCDO goes beyond "advice not to travel" and specifically "forbids travel" to the country we will apply the Pandemic Cancelation Protection above.  Otherwise, if we are able to provide holidays in these countries, if the borders, resort and accommodation is open your holiday can go ahead.

If your resort or ski area is closed due to Pandemic

We will offer you an alternative resort with accommodation of similar or higher standard to that booked.

If we are unable to offer you an alternative, we will apply the Pandemic Cancellation Protection above.

PREVIOUS BOOKING CONDITIONS

Bookings made between 2/3/2023 and 18/8/2023

Bookings made between 19/12/2021 and 2/3/2023

Booking made between 1/11/2021 and 19/12/2021

Bookings made between 1/5/2021and 1/11/2021

Bookings made before 1/5/2021