Booking conditions and Fair Trading Terms

It is important that you read and understand the following booking conditions. Together with the general information on this website, the literature describing your holiday components and the booking form, they will form part of the holiday contract. If you would like further clarification on any aspect, please call us on 0844 576 0175. 

1. ABTA

We are a member of ABTA membership number W5537 and we are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct.

2. CONFIRMATION

After you make your booking you must return one copy of the booking confirmation duly signed, accepting on behalf of all your party the terms of these booking conditions and pay a deposit as detailed in 'How to book your holiday'. A contract will exist only when we issue our confirmation invoice. It is important that you check all your details shown on the confirmation invoice carefully to ensure they are correct as this forms the basis of the contract. Any discrepancies should be brought to our attention within 7 days of issue otherwise the details shown on the confirmation invoice will be presumed to be correct.

3. BALANCE

The balance of the price of your holiday must be paid at least 8 weeks before the departure date. If the booking is made less than 8 weeks prior to departure, the total cost of the holiday is payable immediately. If the balance is not paid in time, we will charge a late payment fee of £10 per day per booking from the date that the balance is due. If we do not receive payment, we shall cancel your travel/accommodation arrangements, retain your deposit, and apply cancellation charges as set out below.

4. COMPLETE PRICE GUARANTEE

The price of your holiday is fully guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges after our confirmation invoice has been issued. We however reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays shown on our website. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed. The price of your holiday was calculated using an exchange rate of €1 = 0.8333 GBP.

5. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. Equally we will not be responsible for your disappointment as a result of unrealistic expectations.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of 3 times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to

(a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements.

These terms are available on request; and

(b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the 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. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.

You can ask for copies of the transport companies’ contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our offices.

6. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION

The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked from this website and for your repatriation in the event of insolvency.  We provide security for the monies that you pay for the holidays booked from this website.  We provide this security by way of bond held by ABTA.

7. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible.  Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking.  Minor amendments (i.e. change of car or addition of passengers) are made free of charge up to 4 weeks before departure.  For other amendments you will be asked to pay an administration charge of £25, and any further cost we incur in making this alteration.  If you have lost /mislaid your voucher before departure, you will be asked to pay an administration charge of £10 (per voucher), and any further cost we incur in making this alteration.

You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date the changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.  The above costs will not apply if you wish to upgrade the service you have booked.

You may transfer your booking to another person subject to a £25 charge, however the personal insurance premiums are not refundable or transferable and the new party will also be required to have personal insurance.

Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

8. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time.  Written notification from the person who made the booking on your behalf must be received at our offices.  Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown in clause 9.

Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

9. IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance.  Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time.  Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date.  We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements.  However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance.  If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).  If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation as set out in this clause.

Please note that carriers such as Ferry companies may be subject to change. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor changes include alteration of your outward/return crossing by less than 12 hours, change of accommodation to another of the same standard.

If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure.  You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.  In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of force majeure, we will pay compensation as detailed below:

* The holiday cost for cancellations is defined as the total invoiced amount less the insurance premium(s), which are non-refundable since insurance cover is effective from the time of booking confirmation.

Force Majeure :  This means that we will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel   arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, closure of ports, adverse weather conditions.

10. INSURANCE

We believe that it is fundamental to the success of any holiday that adequate comprehensive insurance is arranged before you leave home. With this in mind, we have arranged a cover, which we believe is well-suited to your needs. We insist that every person travelling on our arrangements takes adequate insurance and while we do not insist you arrange cover through our company we do require proof that adequate insurance is in place.

11. PASSPORTS, VISAS AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

British citizens require a valid full passport. Visas are not required for travel to France. If you do not have valid documents you will not be able to travel. The carrier may be subject to a fine if you try to travel without the correct documentation and we reserve the right to recover any such charge from the passenger. For citizens of other countries, up to date information on passport and visa requirements can be supplied on request. It is mandatory that you have all necessary documents, e.g. passports and/or visas, to enter the countries which you intend to visit and for re-entry into the UK.

High Altitude: Some of our resorts are high altitude resorts and may not be suitable for people with certain medical conditions. In any event always check with your doctor as to which health requirements are advisable before you travel. Information on health is contained in the Department of Health leaflet 'The Travellers Guide to Health' available from most Post Offices. UK citizens are advised to obtain an E111 form from the Post Office. Any treatment received may have to be paid for initially and only a percentage may be refundable. The E111 is valid only in European Community countries.

12. YOUR ACCOMMODATION & SAFETY

You undertake to accept the holiday accommodation allocated to your booking and to take responsibility and exercise reasonable care in respect of your accommodation and its equipment. It is our aim at Ski Collection that your holiday is safe and trouble free. We are actively working to raise safety standards of accommodation overseas and will, of course, do our best to ensure that. In return we ask that you be mindful of your own duty of care and give thought to your own and other members of your party's safety whilst you are away. Local regulations may mean that the layout and services within your accommodation are different from those to which you may be accustomed. Accommodation compliance is always with respect to local regulations. Current travel advice is readily available from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office ( www.fco.gov.uk).

13. PERSONAL INJURY

(Unconnected with arrangements made by us.)

If you, or any member of your party, suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of your package travel arrangements or an excursion arranged through us, we shall at our discretion, offer advice, guidance and assistance.  Where legal action is contemplated and you want our assistance, you must obtain our written consent prior to commencement of proceedings.  Our consent will be given subject to you undertaking to assign any costs, benefits received under any relevant insurance policy to ourselves.  We limit the cost of our assistance to you or any member of your party to £5,000.

14. ANY PROBLEMS – COMPLAINTS

We are confident that you will enjoy your holiday but in the unlikely event that you do encounter a problem you must immediately notify the relevant local owner, caretaker, supplier who will make their best attempt to put things right. If your complaint cannot be resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Managing Director at 2.4 Central Point, Kirpal Road, Portsmouth, Hants PO3 6FH or e-mail us at managing.director@skicollection.co.uk giving your original booking reference number and all other relevant information. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract.

15. RESOLVING COMPLAINTS

It is always our aim to settle any complaints amicably. However, should this not be possible, any dispute arising out of or in connection with this contract may be referred to arbitration under a special scheme offered in conjunction with ABTA. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website at http://www.abta.com/heretohelp.shtml . The Scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The Scheme can however deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. The application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators within nine months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside time limit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if the company agrees, but the ABTA Code does not require such agreement. For injury and illness claims, you may like to use ABTA / Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Mediation Procedure. This is a voluntary scheme and requires us to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolve your dispute in a quick and cost effective way. Details on request or from www.abta.com.

16. LAW AND JURISDICTION

The contract between us and any matters arising from it will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and are subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

17. WEBSITE ACCURACY

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the website, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. At any time changes can take place that are beyond our control. You must therefore ensure that you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking. On occasions, especially during low season, certain facilities or amenities such as swimming pools, restaurants and other local facilities such as ski lifts etc may not be open or available as advertised due to maintenance, weather conditions, lack of demand or for other reasons outside our control.

We plan our holiday programme many months in advance and therefore it may sometimes be necessary to make changes to the holidays described on the website. We therefore reserve the right to change any holiday details, including the price, before you book, in which case we will tell you before the holiday contract takes effect.

18. GENERAL

Bookings are made subject to the terms and conditions of ferry operators and property owners for whom Ski Collection act as agents.

The relevant carriers ‘Conditions of Carriage’ will apply to your journey, some of which exclude or limit liability. Copies can be made available on request. Transport operators featured assume no responsibility for the contents of this website.

Credit card payment will incur a 1.75% charge in respect of deposit payments, balances and full payments.

The maximum number of occupants for each accommodation unit detailed in our description should under no circumstances be exceeded. Our suppliers are instructed to refuse admission or evict as necessary to comply with this condition.

We will always pass on any special requests and try to meet them but cannot guarantee to do so. However please note that special requests do not form part of our contractual agreement.

19. PRIVACY POLICY

Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal booking information held by us. This information will be passed on to the relevant suppliers of your travels arrangements. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit card checking companies. We will only pass your information on to persons responsible for your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give us such as details of disabilities, or dietary requirements. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. Full details of our data protection policy are available upon request.

The general information pages of our website must also be read in conjunction with Ski Collection’s conditions of booking.

July 2008