Terms & Conditions

Prices

Prices apply to all bookings for holidays in 2012 and are inclusive of VAT.

Booking

Please use the booking form to make your booking. The start date of your holiday is normally the day before the start of your walk or ride, as most holidays start with a night’s accommodation prior to your first day of activity. Please let us know of any requirements you may have, for instance, special diets. We will do our best to meet your requirements.

Deposit and Balance Payments

A deposit of 20% is required at the time of booking. The balance of payment must be made in full no later than 6 weeks before the start of the holiday. For bookings made within 6 weeks of the start date, the full holiday price must be paid at the time of booking.  If you do not pay the balance of the holiday price at the prescribed time, Mickledore Travel reserves the right to cancel the booking and apply the cancellation charges set out below.

Your maps, guide books and other information (the Holiday Pack) will be sent to you once we have received your final payment. Delivery outside the UK can take up to 2 weeks by airmail. Please let us know if you are leaving home more than 2 weeks before the start of your holiday. Each booking is entitled to one Holiday Pack.

Payments can be made by credit or debit card (not American Express) or cheque, made payable to Mickledore Travel Ltd. Payments by credit card will incur a 2% handling charge. (No charge for debit cards).

Consumer Protection

As a member of the Association of Independent Tour Operators Trust Ltd (AITOT), Mickledore Travel has provided a bond to meet the requirements of the Package Travel, Package Holidays, and Package Tours Regulations 1992.

In the event of Mickledore Travel’s insolvency, protection is provided for non-flight packages in the UK excluding prearranged travel to and from your destination. Packages booked outside the UK are only protected when purchased directly with Mickledore Travel. In the above circumstances, if you have not yet travelled you may claim a refund, or if you have already travelled you may be able to continue your holiday or claim to be returned to the starting point of your package.

Safety

Good navigation and fell walking skills are required on our holidays. It is your responsibility to ensure that you and your party members have the appropriate skills, levels of fitness and equipment for the holiday of your choice. If you have any doubts, please get in touch. Some of the routes pass through very isolated areas which can be exposed to serious weather. The responsibility for ensuring the safety of the party rests solely with the party itself. We cannot accept bookings for any person under the age of 18 unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You should follow the Country Code, adhere to any warnings and advisory notices along the route and act prudently and sensibly at all times.

Accommodation

We will always do our best to arrange your accommodation in accordance with our advertising and your booking requirements. However, in some locations the amount and type of accommodation is limited, so occasionally some of the details may have to be altered from those advertised and/or requested. We may have to substitute a twin bedded room for a double room, or move one or more of the overnight stops a few kilometres along the route. This is more likely at busy times, or if the holiday is booked at short notice.

Unless you inform us otherwise at the time of booking we will assume that twin beds are an acceptable alternative to a double, and that a variation in the location of overnight stops of up to 5 km is an acceptable modification which does not entitle you to cancel the holiday or receive a refund. We will check with you before booking a double instead of twins, and before moving an overnight stop by over 5 km. If these changes are not acceptable, you will receive a full refund.

Occasionally it is not possible to book en suite accommodation for every overnight stop - again this is more likely during peak season or where the booking is made close to the time of departure. Unless you inform us otherwise at the time of booking, where no en suite accommodation can be booked at a particular location, we will book standard accommodation instead. If more than 30%, or 2 nights, whichever is the greater, of the accommodation is not en suite, we will give you the option of cancelling the holiday and receiving a full refund.

Parking

In most cases we can arrange off street parking at the beginning or end of your route, usually at the accommodation at which you are booked. There is often a modest charge, which you will pay directly to the Proprietor. Parking is at your own risk and Mickledore Travel accepts no responsibility for customers’ cars wherever they may be parked during the course of a holiday.

Luggage Transport

Where luggage transport is booked, we will arrange transport for 1 piece of luggage per person up to a maximum of 18 Kg per bag (except on Hadrian’s Wall, where the maximum is 14Kg). Overweight bags will incur penalty charges which will have to be met by you. Extra bags will incur extra charges.

Taxi Transfers

Where we have booked taxi or minibus transfers for you or members of your party, you will be liable for the fare if you cancel within 48 hours of departure.

Cancellation or Alteration by Mickledore Travel

We reserve the right to modify or cancel any holiday, or arrangement at any time up to eight weeks before departure. In the event of cancellation you will receive a full refund, unless we can offer an alternative that you are happy with. Where we have materially modified the holiday in a way not covered in the accommodation section above, you are entitled to a full refund if the modifications are not acceptable to you. We will not materially modify or cancel the holiday within eight weeks of the date of departure unless compelled to do so because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
If you receive a refund of all monies paid to Mickledore Travel due to cancellation or material modification by us, you will not be entitled to any further sum by way of compensation, damages or otherwise arising from the cancellation or modification.

Cancellation by Customer

Cancellation of a booking can only be accepted in writing (sent by recorded delivery to the above address) and must bear the signature of whoever made the booking. Cancellation charges will be made according to this schedule:

Cancellation more than 56 days before the start of your holiday:
20% of the total cost with a minimum of £30 per person.
Cancellation between 56 and 22 days before the start of your holiday:
50% of the total cost.
Cancellation between 21 and 14 days before the start of your holiday:
75% of the total cost.
Cancellation 13 days or less before the start of your holiday:
100% of the total cost.
No refund can be given for cancellation on the day the holiday starts or whilst on holiday.

Alteration by Customer

After acceptance of the booking, if you request an alteration to the confirmed arrangements, where it is possible for us to make these alterations, an amendment fee of £25.00 per person per night, plus any increased charges incurred, will be charged.

Insurance

It is a condition of booking that you must take out  personal holiday insurance to cover illness, injury, personal belongings and cancellation. Please ensure your policy covers mountain walking and/or cycling and its associated risks.

Liability

While taking every care, Mickledore Travel cannot be held responsible for injury or ill health affecting you or a member of your party during your holiday. Except in the case of death and personal injury, any claim against Mickledore Travel, its partners or employees shall be limited to a maximum of the amount paid by the claimant for his/her individual holiday.  Mickledore Travel will only be liable for loss or damage caused by negligence or omissions by Mickledore Travel.

Force Majeure

If war or terrorist activities, threatened or actual, riots, civil unrest, industrial action, threatened or actual, adverse weather conditions, fire, flood, drought, natural or nuclear disasters, or any other event outside the control of the Mickledore Travel delays, curtails, or extends the holiday or compels a change in the holiday arrangements, we cannot accept liability for any resulting loss, damage or expense.

Privacy Policy

We respect your privacy and will only pass on your personal information where it is necessary to organise and execute your holiday. For instance, we will use your names to book accommodation and other services, and would pass on your contact details to a B&B so they could return forgotten items to you. We never sell information to third parties, or pass it in for marketing purposes.

Complaints & Disputes

We welcome feedback (both positive and negative) on all aspects of our holidays so we can continue to improve them. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with the accommodation or any other service provided by Mickledore Travel please telephone us as soon as possible, during your holiday, so that action can be taken to remedy the problem. Any complaint made to Mickledore Travel after the holiday should be made in writing within 15 days of return. In the unlikely event that any dispute acnnot be settled amicably, AITO's low-cost Independent Dispute Settlement Service may be called upon by either side to bring the matter to a speedy and acceptable conclusion.

Primacy of English Law

These terms and conditions shall form a contract subject only to English Law and any disputes shall be settled only in English courts and tribunals.