Booking Conditions

Please read the booking conditions carefully, they form an important part of the contract for your holiday.

All holidays advertised on our website are operated by North-West Frontiers Limited. Company No SC196035 whose Registered Office is at Viewfield, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire IV14 9DS (hereinafter called ‘the Company’ or ‘we’) and are sold subject to the following conditions:

Insurance – Valid and adequate travel insurance is compulsory for all clients and is a condition of accepting your booking that you agree you will have travel insurance by the date of departure. You are strongly advised to insure yourself against possible risks that may occur and in particular to ensure that you have sufficient pre-departure cancellation cover which includes dependent relatives upon whom your trip may depend. You are required to carry proof of insurance with you and produce it if requested by company employees, as failure to do so may result in your being prevented from participating in certain activities without the right to any refund. You are responsible for ensuring that you are in possession of valid travel insurance for the entire duration of your trip in respect of medical expenses, medical emergency repatriation and death. The Company is entitled but not obliged to see the terms and extent of any client/clients’ cover.

Financial Security – In accordance with “The Package Travel, Package Tours Regulations 1992” all passengers booking with North West Frontiers Limited are fully Insured for the initial deposit and subsequently the balance of all monies paid to us, including repatriation if required, arising from the cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of North West Frontiers Ltd. This insurance has been arranged by MGA Cover Services limited. Please contact us for more details.

Booking – To make a booking you can contact us in several ways; directly via our Website or by phone. The person making the booking (the ‘lead name’) must be 18 years old or over and possess the legal capacity and authority to make the booking and accepts these booking conditions on behalf of everyone in their party. Liability for payment of all sums due and all obligations arising will be joint and several among all members of a booking group. Clients booking by phone will be deemed to have read and understand the booking conditions.

Payment – On making a booking a non-refundable deposit of £100 per person is required. (£150 pp for holidays outside of the UK). The balance due date will be 6 weeks (8 weeks for holidays outside of the UK) prior to departure and will be indicated on your Booking Confirmation Letter.

Change or Cancellation by You – If, after our confirmation has been issued, you make a change to your existing booking, either to another trip or change departure date, we will try to make the changes subject to availability provided notification is received in writing from the lead name at least 6 weeks before departure. We will charge an amendment fee of £30 per booking per client for each change. In addition to the fee we charge, any alteration, whether a change to an existing booking or a change to another tour or departure date, will also be subject to payment by you and any group members jointly and severally of any costs imposed by any of the suppliers providing the component parts of the tour. Any alteration by you within 6 weeks of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to cancellation charges.

Where you are unable to travel you can transfer your booking to another person, subject to the following:

• you must notify us in writing at least 6 weeks before departure (3 weeks for our self-guided trips)
• your request is accompanied by all original travel documents which you have received and the full name and address of the transferee
• the transferee must fulfil any conditions that apply to the booking
• payment by you of an administrative charge of a minimum of £30 per person plus payment of all costs charged or levied by those supplying your travel arrangements

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your tour at any time providing that the cancellation is made by the lead name in writing. Notice of cancellation will be effective upon receipt of your written communication. Where written notification of the cancellation is received:

• more than 6 weeks before departure: loss of deposit
• 6 weeks or less before departure (or failure to join the holiday): 100% of the holiday cost

We strongly recommend you to take out insurance that includes cover against irrecoverable cancellation costs. All communications relating to this contract (in particular any requests to cancel or amend your holiday arrangements) must be from the Lead Name in writing and in English be sent by recorded delivery post Viewfield, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire IV14 9DS or such trading address as may be intimated by the Company from time to time.

Change or Cancellation by Us – We reserve the right to cancel your booking or change any of the facilities, services or prices described on our website. We will endeavour to advise you of any changes known at the time of booking. We plan the arrangements for trips many months in advance and may occasionally have to make changes, most of which are minor. If a major change becomes necessary, we will advise you of the change as soon as possible.

Whether a change is ‘major’ depends on the nature of the trip and may include: alteration to the scheduled departure or return time by more than 12 hours; a change to a lower standard of accommodation. When a major change occurs, you will have the choice of either accepting the change, or accepting a replacement tour from us of equivalent or closely similar standard and price, or cancelling your tour, in which case we shall refund you in full. In all cases, except where a major change arises from circumstances amounting to force majeure or consolidation (see below), we will pay you, as a minimum, compensation as detailed below:

• Before balance due date Nil
• Between balance due date and 14 days before travel £20.00
• Between 13 days and the date of travel £30.00

Compensation will not be payable if we are forced to cancel, or in any way change your tour for reasons of consolidation due to minimum numbers not being attained or force majeure. Operation of all tours is dependent on a minimum number of persons booking the tour. If that number is not achieved, we reserve the right to cancel the tour. In no circumstances will we cancel your tour less than 4 weeks before the scheduled departure date except for reasons of late cancellations from other passengers on your departure, force majeure (as defined below) or failure on your part to pay the final balance. We strongly recommend that you make no travel arrangements to your point of departure, make any connecting travel that is non-refundable or non-changeable or incurs penalties or incur any costs until such time as your travel itinerary has been confirmed. If you make such arrangements which you are then unable to use due to a change in your itinerary we shall not be liable to you for the cost of those arrangements.

If we are forced to cancel your holiday after departure we will, wherever possible, make suitable alternative arrangements. If we are unable to make such alternative arrangements, or you reject these for good and substantial reasons then we will return you to your point of departure and refund you for any unused services, if appropriate.

Circumstances amounting to “force majeure” include any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not even with all due care, foresee or forestall such as (by way of example and not by way of limitation) war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, acts of God, adverse weather conditions, and all similar events.

Our liability, Conditions of Carriage and Limitations – Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. 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 in all cases will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to:

Any relevant international convention as detailed below. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions

We shall have no liability where the cause of the failure to provide, or failure in, your holiday or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on our part or that of our agents or suppliers, because it is either attributable to you, or attributable to someone unconnected with your holiday and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or is due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which neither we, nor our agents or suppliers could have foreseen or forestalled.

If any UK law or international convention applies to, or governs, any of the services or facilities included in your holiday arranged or provided by us, or provided by any of our suppliers, and you make a claim against us of any nature arising out of death, injury, loss or damage suffered during or as a result of the provision of those services or facilities, our liability to pay you compensation and/ or the amount (if any) of compensation payable to you by us will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to that provided for by the international convention concerned (in each case including in respect of the conditions of liability, the time for bringing any claim and the type and amount of any damages that can be awarded). International Conventions which may apply include, without limitation: in respect of rail travel, the Berne Convention 1961; in respect of carriage by sea, the Athens Convention 1974; in respect of carriage by road, the Geneva Convention 1973; and, in respect of hotels, the Paris Convention 1962. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitations of compensation contained in any of these Conventions or any other international conventions applicable to your holiday. Other than as set out above, and as is detailed elsewhere in these booking conditions, we shall have no legal liability whatsoever to you for any loss or damage.

If you purchase any optional activities that are not part of your pre-booked itinerary, the contract for the provision of that activity will be between you and the activity provider. The decision to partake in any such activity is entirely at your own discretion and risk. If you do have any complaint about, or problem with, any optional activity purchased your claim should be directed to the activity provider and not to us.

When you join the holiday locally our responsibility does not commence until the appointed time and place as indicated on the trip documentation, and we shall not be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by you to meet up with the group. The outline itineraries given for each holiday must therefore be taken as an indication of what each group should accomplish, and not as a contractual obligation on our part. Changes in itinerary may be caused by mechanical breakdown, weather, sickness, or other unforeseeable circumstances.

Complaints – If you have any complaint during your holiday you must inform our Guide immediately allowing us the opportunity to rectify the situation. If you are not happy with the action then please follow this up within 21 days of your return by writing to us at Viewfield, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire IV14 9DS or such other address as the Company may provide from time to time giving your booking reference and all relevant information. We will acknowledge your written notification within 7 days and aim to provide a full response within 28 days.

Leader Authority – On a trip it is necessary that you abide by the authority of the leader, who represents the company. If you commit any illegal act when on the holiday or if in the reasonable opinion of the leader your behaviour is disruptive, threatening or abusive or is causing or likely to cause danger, distress or annoyance to others we may terminate your travel arrangements without any liability on our part.

The accommodation we arrange for you must only be used by those people named on your Confirmation Invoice (or on any Amendment Invoice issued). You are not allowed to share the accommodation or let anyone else stay there. You are responsible for the cost of any damage caused to your accommodation or its contents during your stay, except damage caused by persons not known to you. If in the opinion of the leader your behaviour or physical condition is detrimental to the safety, welfare and wellbeing of the group as a whole (which are the paramount considerations) or if the leader considers your general wellbeing will be put at risk by continuing with the holiday you may be asked to leave the holiday without the right to any refund to unused services.

Trip Notes – The detailed trip notes for your booking contain up-to-date information and therein will be deemed to be part of the contract. Trip Notes are supplied on booking. Should there be a discrepancy between the information on the website and the trip notes, the information in the trip notes supersedes that on the website and will be considered the most up-to-date and accurate.

Special Requests – We will consider special requests such as special dietary requests or, specific rooming requirements, when you book. We will tell you whether there is a charge for the request. We can only guarantee requests for which there is a charge, or those that are confirmed in writing.

Participation Requirements – All Clients are expected to satisfy themselves prior to booking that they are fit and able to complete the itinerary of their chosen holiday as described in the brochure. No unaccompanied minors (those under 18 years of age) can be accepted however;

• minors aged between 8 and 17 years may accompany their parents on trips designated as family adventures
• older teenagers (those aged 14 and over) may be allowed to join certain group trips provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian who accepts full responsibility for them

Anyone suffering from mobility impairment, illness or disability or undergoing treatment for any physical or medical condition must declare the true nature of such condition at the time of booking and make arrangements for the provision of any medication or other treatment which may be required during the trip. Failure to make such disclosure will constitute a breach of these booking conditions and may result in such persons being excluded from the holiday in which case all monies paid will be forfeit. If you are affected by any condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect your or other people’s enjoyment of the holiday; you must advise us of this at the time of booking.

Photography & Testimonial – Any likeness or image of you secured or taken on any of trip may be used by the Company without charge in all media (whether now existing or in the future invented) for bona fide promotional or marketing purposes, including without limitation promotional materials of any kind such as brochures, slides, video shows or the internet. Any written feedback supplied to the company may also be used for promotional purposes as detailed above.

Optional Activities – Optional activities, excursions or tours that you may book or pay for whilst on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. We are not responsible for the provision of the activity, excursion or tour or anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.

Law & Jurisdiction – This contract, and any other claim or dispute arising from or related to this contract, will be governed by Scottish law and the courts of Scotland shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising out of it.