Booking Terms & Conditions

1. MAKING A BOOKING
2. PAYMENT
3. ON RECEIPT OF YOUR DEPOSIT
4. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING
5. CANCELLING YOUR HOLIDAY
6. IF WE CHANGE YOUR HOLIDAY BEFORE YOUR DEPARTURE
6.1 CHANGES DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL
7. IF WE CANCEL YOUR BOOKING
8. EVENT CANCELLATION
9. HOLIDAY PRICE
10. TRANSFERRING OF BOOKINGS
11. INSURANCE
12. BEHAVIOUR
13. FLIGHTS
14. UNUSED SERVICES OR REFUNDS
15. DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS
16. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
17. JURISDICTION
18. GENERAL

 

IMPORTANT These bookings conditions set out the terms on which you contract with The Sporting Traveller Limited. They describe your obligations to the company and the obligations of the company to you.

 

1. MAKING A BOOKING
Simply telephone us direct to check the availability of the tour/package you require. In order to make a booking you will need to sign a booking form and return this to us together with the appropriate deposit payment (as indicated on the brochure/web page) and insurance premium, if required. The person signing the booking form will be treated as doing so on behalf of, and with the consent of, all the persons for whom the booking is made and is responsible for ensuring due payment of all monies (including any insurance premiums and cancellation or amendment charges) in respect of this booking. All travel documentation and other information regarding the holiday will be sent to the person who has signed the booking form. Deposit and insurance premiums are non-refundable and non-transferable.

2. PAYMENT
A deposit plus insurance premium (if required) must be paid at the time of booking with the balance paid 8 weeks before the date of travel. If you book within eight weeks of departure you must pay the full price plus insurance premium at the time of booking. You may pay by cheque, bankers draft or by a credit/debit card as recognised by The Sporting Traveller. The following service charges will be applied to all credit card payments:
  Visa/Mastercard/Access/American Express
Switch/Connect/Delta		 2% of total paid
£1 per transaction
If for any reason we do not receive the balance on the due date, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and levy a cancellation charge as though there had been a cancellation in accordance with clause 5 of these Terms.

3. ON RECEIPT OF YOUR DEPOSIT
We will make the necessary reservation and your deposit is accepted as part payment of the agreed costs of the booking and credited to your account. We will raise a confirmation invoice (FINAL) detailing the travel services you have booked and would ask you to check this very carefully and advise us immediately if any discrepancies are found. A contract exists between us from the date shown on your confirmation invoice. If you decide to cancel the booking upon receipt of our invoice you will need to consult clause 5 of these Terms.

4. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING
a) At the time of making your booking: When booking your holiday, if you wish to make a modification we will try to assist. Should you change to an alternative featured hotel, this will be charged at the difference in published price, as long as The Sporting Traveller holds the space required. If we have to make a special request for alternative/extra space, an administration fee of £20 per booking will be charged.

b) Modifications after your confirmation invoice has been sent: Changes can be made up to 8 weeks prior to your departure for a charge of £30 per booking, subject to availability and any extra costs incurred. If you want to make any changes within 8 weeks of your departure date these may be treated as a cancellation of the original booking, and cancellation charges as detailed in clause 5 of these Terms may be imposed.

5. CANCELLING YOUR HOLIDAY
A cancellation must be made in writing by the person who completed/signed the booking form. The cancellation will take effect from the day the written cancellation is received by the company. The following scale of charges will be payable depending on when the notification of cancellation is received.
Prior to 56 days:
56 - 30 days:
29 - 15 days:
14 days or less:		 deposit and cost of any pre-paid event tickets forfeited
40% of total holiday cost or deposit and pre-paid event tickets if greater.
80% of total holiday cost
100% of total holiday cost.

Cancellation charge is calculated as a percentage of the total holiday cost, excluding insurance premiums, which are non-refundable.

6. IF WE CHANGE YOUR HOLIDAY BEFORE YOUR DEPARTURE
We plan the arrangements for holidays featured in our brochures and on the website many months in advance using independent suppliers such as airlines, hotels and ground agents over whom we have no direct control. It is the case, that on occasions changes do have to be made, and we reserve the right to make these at any time. Any changes that do occur are usually minor ones and we will inform you of them as soon as possible. If, however we consider the change to be SIGNIFICANT, such as a change of resort; change of hotel to one of a lower category and/or price or a change of flight time of over 12 hours, we will offer you the following alternatives:-
1.Accept the alternative offered (at additional cost if applicable) along with the compensation payment, which may apply (on the scale shown below) if we have received your full payment.
2. Chose another of our tours at brochure price.
3. If the alternative arrangements offered are not acceptable, cancel your holiday with a full refund all monies paid although no compensation will be payable.

Period before departure within which a SIGNIFICANT change is notified to you. Compensation per person
More than 56 days Nil
56-30 days £10
29-15 days <£20
14-0 days £30

6.1 CHANGES DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL
We will not be liable to pay any compensation if we are forced to cancel or in any way change your holiday as a result of situations outside of our control which neither we nor our suppliers could foresee or forestall even with all due care. For example technical or maintenance problems with transport, changes imposed by rescheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline or main charterer, the alteration of the airline or aircraft type, war or threat of war, civil strife, industrial disputes, natural disaster, bad weather, terrorist activity or cancellation of sporting fixtures or a featured tournament.

7. IF WE CANCEL YOUR BOOKING
We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday for any reason. For example, sales of a particular holiday may not reach a level that would be economical for us to operate a tour. However we will not cancel your holiday within 56 days of departure unless it is for a reason outside of our control - (see changes due to circumstances beyond our control). If we have to cancel your holiday we will offer you:-
1. An alternative holiday of comparable standard, although if the alternative offered is at additional cost, the difference will be payable by you.
2. A refund of all monies paid.

8. EVENT CANCELLATION
Sports fans will appreciate that the cancellation or curtailment of a major sporting fixture is an extremely unusual occurrence and can occur at very short notice. The cancellation of a fixture, the non-appearance of a player or advertised tour celebrity, or other changes are entirely outside our control and we accept no responsibility to refund, pay compensation or otherwise for changes to your booking as a result of such cancellations or changes to a sporting event.

9. HOLIDAY PRICE
External forces can affect the price of your holiday and as such we will reconfirm all prices at the time of booking. Once you have paid your deposit we Guarantee not to increase the cost of you holiday except in the following circumstances where surcharges will apply; currency fluctuation, government action, airport charges and increases in scheduled airfares. In the event of a surcharge being levied, a surcharge invoice will be sent out detailing the charges due. In such cases, we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price at the time of booking, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges referred to in clause 4 of these Terms. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be surcharged, but where a surcharge is more than 10% of the holiday price you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a refund of all monies paid, less any premium paid to us for insurance premiums and modification charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so in writing within fourteen days of the date printed on the surcharge invoice. All holiday prices are quoted in pounds sterling using commercial rates of exchange.

10. TRANSFERRING OF BOOKINGS
If you are unable to travel, in certain circumstances which we consider reasonable (In our absolute discretion), we may allow you to transfer your booking to another party. However the arrangements must remain EXACTLY the same, and will only be allowed if all suppliers agree to the change and are prepared to accept the transfer. In cases where a transfer is allowed, an administration charge of £75 per person outside 56 days of departure, and £125 per person inside 56 days of departure, will be made plus any charges that may be levied by our suppliers.

11. INSURANCE
As a condition of booking you are required to take out our comprehensive travel insurance for yourself and those for whom you are booking or to arrange a policy yourself offering comparable or better cover under all sections. Insurance premiums will be automatically added to your invoice unless your alternative insurer is clearly indicated on your booking form.

12. BEHAVIOUR
If, in the opinion of our company representative/escort/tour manager, your behaviour or the behaviour of anyone in your touring party is such that it is likely to cause distress, damage, danger or annoyance to our customers, employees, property or to any third party, we reserve the right to terminate all holiday arrangements immediately without refund.

13. FLIGHTS
The flight timings given in our literature are correct at the time of publication but are subject to alteration by the various foreign and UK airport scheduling committees for operational reasons. Planned flight times/aircraft flight numbers and aircraft types will be given in the documentation you receive for guidance only. Please check your flight tickets as soon as you receive them, as they will show the final timings for your flights.

14. UNUSED SERVICES OR REFUNDS
Unused vouchers for services that are provided as part of a Sporting Traveller package are not transferable. Under no circumstances will refunds for unused services to the value of £20 or less be considered. The company will consider refunds for more than £20 in its absolute discretion. Unused vouchers must be returned before a refund can be considered. If, after your holiday has commenced, for sickness or any other reason you are unable to participate in the travel, accommodation or tour arrangements you have booked, no refund or other allowance or alternative arrangements will be made in respect of any travel, accommodation, tour or sightseeing not availed of.

15. DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS
In the unlikely event of there being something not to your liking whilst you are on holiday, you must tell your local Sporting Traveller representative or our appointed agent (preferably in writing) immediately who will try to solve the problem there and then. Unless there is a valid reason why your complaint is not reported in this manner, we will not consider ourselves liable in respect of those complaints. If the problem cannot be resolved in resort, you must send us a written complaint to reach us within 28 days of the end of your holiday in order that we can investigate fully. We will not accept liability for any claims received outside this period. We certainly hope that we can settle any holiday complaints amicably, however should this prove not to be the case you may refer any dispute relating to this contract to an arbitrator appointed by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration, on documents alone, with restricted liability of the client in respect of costs. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £1500 per person or £7500 per booking form, or to claims that are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness, or the consequences of such injury or illness. An application for arbitration must be made within nine months of the date of return from the holiday.

16. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU
We will accept liability for matters that arise as a direct result of our negligence and/or breach of our contractual duty to exercise care in making arrangements for you, including any acts/or omissions by our employees or agents. Further we will accept liability for any negligent act or omission of our suppliers whilst they are acting within the scope or in the course of their employment to provide any service or arrangement forming part of the holiday that you have booked with us, including any claim involving death, personal injury or illness. In respect of carriage by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation, our liability in all cases will be limited in accordance with the relevant international conventions. It is important to note that travel with a particular carrier will be subject to the conditions of carriage of that carrier, some of which may limit or exclude liability. Operational decisions may be taken by air carriers and airports resulting in delays, diversions or rescheduling. The Sporting Traveller has no control over such decisions, and is therefore unable to accept responsibility for them.

17. JURISDICTION
Your contract is governed by English law and each party shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

18. GENERAL
Please note that if any part of these booking conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these booking conditions will not be affected but will remain valid and enforceable.