Booking Conditions
Sports Travel
These conditions and other information in this brochure, separate publicity material or our web site form the contract between us. All holidays are subject to availability and the booking conditions below, a copy of which will be sent to you with your invoice for acceptance. When you have booked your holiday, completed an optional booking form, paid a deposit and we have issued a confirmation, a contract exists between us.
1. The contract.
We are VU Ltd Kelso Villa, Kelso Place, Upper Bristol
Road, Bath BA1 3AU. If your travel arrangements include
a flight departing from the UK, we hold an ATOL (Air Travel
Organiser’s Licence), number 6340,issued by the Civil
Aviation Authority.
The above arrangements ensure that in the unlikely event
of our becoming insolvent, your monies will be refunded
if you have not commenced your journey and get you
home if you have travelled abroad from the UK using air
arrangements provided by us. Any dispute arising over
our contract will be dealt with under English Law in a
court in your area of residence in the UK.
Our services are as advertised and stated in our
promotional literature and website. We reserve the right
at any time in our absolute discretion not to accept or to
choose not to proceed with any booking. Subject to the
availability of the relevant Hospitality Package, the receipt
by us of an email booking confirmation, the receipt by us
of a faxed/posted booking confirmation or the receipt of the
deposit from the customer (whichever event shall occur
sooner) shall constitute acceptance of the booking by us
and shall create a Contract subject to the
conditions below.
If booking on-line you will be notified on screen or by email
once your booking has been accepted. Our confirmation of
booking will contain a summary of your arrangements and
the event to which your booking relates. Further details
and tickets will be provided to you in due course. Transport
to and from an event is not included unless otherwise
stated.
We, or the suppliers of the services you have bought, will
provide you with the services you have bought (or a
suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor
the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an
alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services
you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost
to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances
the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations
and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by
you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder.
However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be
to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you
will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or
your credit card issuer where applicable).
2. Payment
When you wish to confirm a holiday booking a person
aged 18 or over must pay us a non-refundable deposit of
25% of the total booking, or the full holiday price if booked
within 90 days of departure. You will be advised at the time
of booking if your travel arrangements require additional
payments. We will send you a final invoice about 10 weeks
before departure and this balance must be paid
immediately. If we do not receive the balance by the due
date we will treat the booking as cancelled by you and you
agree to pay the cancellation charges as described in
section 4.2 of these conditions. If you make a late booking
and it is necessary to issue your documents on departure
or send them to you by special delivery, there will be an
additional charge of £25 per booking. We accept cheques,
bank transfers or card payments in accordance with our
payment form.
3. Holiday price
All our prices are quoted in £’s sterling. The prices in this
brochure, and in supplementary promotional material,
apply at the time of printing and may change before you
book. We will give you a price quote at the time of booking
and once you have accepted this and a booking has been
made and confirmed, we will hold that price. The only
additional charges we can pass on to you are those
imposed by UK or Foreign Governments, other regulatory
bodies and airlines. What your holiday price includes;
• Return transportation including luggage allowance
as confirmed.
• Overseas transfers/transportation as confirmed.
• Accommodation, meals (including any bonus offers)
as confirmed.
• The services of a representative, tour guide or an
appointed local agent, including a 24hour emergency
contact (except cruises).
• Any other services e.g. Excursions, car rental, ski packs
etc as confirmed
• All UK departure taxes, fees and passenger charges.
• Any applicable overseas port charges.
• Child discounts as booked and confirmed on your
invoice. Not included;
• Visa fees, overseas airport departure charges payable
locally, porterage, personal expenditure, hotel extras.
• Taxes or compulsory charges introduced by
Governments, regulatory bodies or airlines after you have
booked.
• Security charges introduced or increased after you
have booked.
4. Changes or cancellation by you
4.1. Changes
If you wish to change your booking after the confirmation
invoice has been issued, the person who made the
booking and paid should contact us and we will try to meet
the request, but this may not be possible. If we are able to
make the change requested, you agree to pay us a nonrefundable
administration fee of £50 per person outside 90
days of departure and £75 per person 89 days or less
before departure.
Important notes:
Many suppliers, particularly airlines, cruise companies and
safari operators, do not permit us to change names or
travel dates and impose full cancellation charges. We
will pass these on to you in addition to our administration
charge, where applicable. Some accommodation types,
particularly self-catering, cruise ship cabins and hotel
rooms with reductions for 3+ people, are priced according
to the number of occupants. If fewer people travel than
originally booked there will be extra charges to pay which
will be advised to you when you make the changes.
4.2. Cancellations
If you or any member of your party wishes to cancel your
booking once a confirmation invoice has been issued, the
person who made the booking and paid must notify us in
writing by recorded delivery. The cancellation charges you
will be required to pay will be calculated from the date we
receive written notification. Please note we cannot refund
deposits or amendment fees. We strongly recommend that
you takeout full insurance which includes cancellation
cover. We incur costs from the time you make your
booking and you agree that if you cancel your booking,
you will compensate us for our expenses and losses as
per the table below. Our cancellation charges increase
the nearer the cancellation is made to your departure
date and this is because there is a reducing opportunity for
us to re-sell your holiday. Number of days when written
Cancellation amount cancellation is received by us as a
% of price
90 days and over Deposit only
89 days up to day of departure 100%
5. If we have to change or cancel your holiday
We will do our utmost to deliver your holiday as booked.
As we plan the arrangements many months in advance
we may occasionally have to make changes and reserve
the right to do this at any time. Significant change Most
escorted tours can only run with a minimum number of
participants. Numbers vary according to the tour and in
the event of the minimum numbers not being reached,
we reserve the right to cancel a tour altogether. If we do
this, or make a significant change,we will do so as soon
as reasonably possible. If the reasons for the change are
within our control, we will pay you compensation and you
will have one of three options:
• Accepting the changed arrangements.
• Transferring to another holiday offered by us and paying
or receiving a refund for any price difference.
• Cancelling your holiday and receiving a refund of all
monies paid to us. Significant changes include, but are
not limited to, changes involving:
• Your UK departure airport (unless this is between
Heathrow and Gatwick or visa versa).
• Your destination area.
• A change of accommodation (except
tours/safaris/cruises) to a lower star grading).
• Your departure time from the UK or length of holiday by
more than 12 hours. (excluding transport delays once
you have checked-in). Liability for changes is limited to
the levels shown below for each person and we regret
that we cannot accept responsibility for any other losses
or expense you suffer. Compensation payable by us;
60 days and over before departure £0
59 - 43 days before departure £10
42 - 29 days before departure £25
28 - 15 days before departure £45
14 - 8 days before departure £60
7 - 0 days before departure £75
Important note;
We will not pay compensation or accept any liability as
the result of events beyond our control, which include
without limitation;
• War or threat of war.
• Riots or terrorist activity.
• Industrial disputes.
• National or nuclear disasters.
• Fire.
• Bad weather conditions.
• Cancellation or changes of airline/train schedules, cruise
ship and escorted tour itineraries.
• Technical problems affecting transportation.
• Any similar event.Minor changes A minor change is any
other change and we do not compensate in these cases.
6. Our liability to you
a. We accept responsibility for ensuring that the travel
arrangements you book with us are supplied as described
in our brochure or on our website. If any part of these
travel arrangements is not provided as promised, we will
pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected your
enjoyment of your travel arrangements. We accept
responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of our
employees, agents and suppliers except where they lead
to death, injury or illness. Our liability in all cases shall be
limited to a maximum of the cost of your holiday and any
reasonable directly attributable costs.
b. We accept responsibility for death, injury or illness
caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of our
employees or agents, or suppliers and sub-contractors,
whilst acting within the scope of, or in the course of their
employment, in the provision of your travel arrangements.
We will accordingly pay you such damages as might have
been awarded in such circumstances under English Law.
c. In respect of travel by air, sea and rail and the provision
of accommodation, our liability will be limited in the manner
provided by the relevant international convention. Copies
of these conventions are available from us but please
allow up to 28 days for delivery. You should note that the
acceptance of liability on our part is subject to the amount
of any claim against VU Ltd being reduced by any amount
paid to the claimant from time to time for the same claim
by any employee, agent or supplier of VU Ltd who is in
any way responsible for the death, injury or illness you
suffer.
d. 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 and
benefits received under any relevant insurance policy
to ourselves. We limit the cost of our assistance to you
or to any one booking form to £5,000.
7. Your responsibility
a. You must ensure that you and the rest of your party
have valid passports, any appropriate visas and
vaccinations.
We are not liable for any costs, delays or illness resulting
from your failure to meet these requirements.
b. You must be responsible for ensuring that any existing
medical conditions or disabilities which may require
assistance are declared to us before your book your
holiday or, if newly diagnosed, before date of departure.
We can only accept your booking upon the clear
understanding that we cannot be liable if any carrier
refuses to accept you or any member of your party as a
passenger if this information is not made known to us.
c. You must be responsible for the behaviour of yourself
and your party. We or our suppliers reserve the right to
refuse your booking or to remove you and/or any member
of your party from any holiday if you or any member of
your party is reasonably deemed to behave in a disruptive,
dangerous or annoying manner. No refund or payment of
any costs incurred by you will be made by us under these
circumstances and you may face prosecution.
8. Insurance
For your own interest we insist that you must be covered
with a comprehensive holiday insurance policy to travel
on any of our holidays. None of the activities included in
any of our holidays can be deemed to be of a hazardous
nature, i.e. of the type normally excluded from any travel
insurance cover. However, optional excursions may be
offered which could include trips in light aircraft or
helicopters. You should check your policy to confirm you
are covered for these particular activities. Should you,
while on holiday choose to take part in any such activity,
which was not booked by VU Ltd (e.g. hot air ballooning,
white-water rafting, etc.) which can be deemed as being of
a hazardous nature, we cannot accept any liability for
death or injury. It is also essential to ensure that cover is
provided under the terms of your travel insurance. Tour
managers and local representatives are instructed not to
act as agents in booking any alternative activities other
than those approved by VU Ltd. Any assistance they may
offer at your request does not imply they have acted as an
agent or that these activities have been approved and are
offered for sale by the company.
Full details of your insurance cover must be supplied at
time of booking.
9. Price pledge
Definition of an identical holiday The identical* holiday
offered by another tour operator has to be available for
sale either at the time of booking or up to 7 days after you
book with VU Ltd.*Identical means the same: departure
date, flight number /class of travel for all flights;
accommodation name; room type; meal plan; transfer
arrangements; car type; itinerary / tour content (if a cruise
or tour); train times, operators and stations.
Holiday Insurance
It is a condition of booking a VU Ltd holiday that you
must have appropriate insurance.