Booking Information, Insurance & Other Terms & Conditions
Booking and paying for your holiday
The procedure is very simple:
Go to the individual walking holiday or heritage tour page on this website that interests you, where you will find a description of the holiday, scheduled dates (where applicable) and prices. Please proceed as directed to our short enquiry form and complete it. We will reply as soon as possible by email. If the holiday that you have chosen is fully booked, we may propose alternative dates or an alternative holiday. Otherwise you will receive email confirmation of the availability and price of your selected holiday, and an invitation to make a confirmed booking.
On receipt of your booking by email, we will send you more information and an invoice by email requesting you to pay a deposit of £100 per person, if more than 56 days (8 weeks) before the holiday check-in date, or the full amount, if within 8 weeks of the check-in date. You have the option, of course, of paying the full amount (deposit and balance) at one time, even if you have more than 8 weeks to go before the start of your holiday. This invoice will also provide details of your payment options, which are as follows:
- a personal cheque in £ sterling (only if you have a UK bank account) or a bank draft or
- a direct bank transfer or BACS in £ sterling to our account or
- secure online payment with a credit/debit card through Paypal (no Paypal account needed).
We will hold your booking for up to 7 days, so that we have the time to receive your payment.
Pay your deposit or full amount, using one of the payment methods described above.
If you have paid a deposit, pay the balance amount in full by the date given on your invoice.
If you want to change your booking
If you inform us 8 weeks or more in advance that you want to change the dates of your holiday or choose a different holiday or accommodation option, we will be happy to arrange that for you, subject to availability.
If your request comes to us within 8 weeks of your holiday start date, we will do our best to change your booking for an administration charge of £20 per person plus any cancellation charges that we may have incurred on your behalf. If it is impossible to make a new booking to your satisfaction, your holiday will be cancelled, in which case cancellation charges will apply, as described below. We therefore strongly urge you to insure yourself against this risk.
If you want to cancel your holiday
Since most walking holidays are booked well in advance, late cancellations can cost us money. That is why we need to have a scale of cancellation charges which are based on the decreasing likelihood of receiving replacement bookings, as time progresses.
If you want to cancel your booking, please phone or email us as soon as possible. We will need to receive notification of cancellation in writing (by email or letter).
If we receive this notification 56 days or more before the start of your holiday, we will refund your payment(s) in full, less the (deposit) amount of £100 per person.
If we receive your notification of cancellation later than that, we will refund your payment(s) in full, less the (deposit) amount of £100 per person and less the following charges:
- 56 - 43 days before the start - 25% of the balance
- 42 - 29 days before the start - 50% of the balance
- 28 - 15 days before the start - 75% of the balance
- No refund can be given if we receive your notification of cancellation less than 15 days before the start date or during the course of your holiday.
We are obliged to implement these cancellation fees without exception. So we strongly urge you to insure yourself against this risk.
Fitness
If you book with Footscape, you are responsible for ensuring your fitness for the walking holiday or tour that you have chosen. If you have any doubt, please consult your doctor and advise us of any health concerns.
Travel Insurance
Whether you are travelling from inside or outside the UK, there may be circumstances where you have to cancel or curtail your holiday. Or you could sprain your ankle or lose your money. This could be costly, unless you are insured. Footscape cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or injury resulting from any circumstances beyond our control.
For these reasons you should take out a travel insurance policy, including cover for trip cancellation, damage or loss of personal effects, medical & personal accident, etc. It’s quite inexpensive and can save you a lot of money if anything goes wrong.
Your Protection
As a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) Footscape has provided a bond to meet the requirements of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
In the event of Footscape's insolvency, protection is provided for non-flight packages commencing in and returning to the UK and other non-flight packages excluding pre-arranged travel to and from your destination. Please note that packages booked outside the UK are only protected when purchased directly with Footscape.
In the above circumstances, if you have not yet travelled you may claim a refund, or if you have already travelled, you may claim repatriation to the starting point of your non-flight package.
Other terms & conditions
If Footscape changes or cancels your booking
On very rare occasions, we might be obliged to propose significant changes to the holiday that you have booked, due to exceptional circumstances. These could be a change of accommodation option or date or even the cancellation of the whole holiday.
If we have to make any significant change or cancel your holiday, we will let you know as soon as possible, and will offer you the following options:
- to accept the proposed changes
- to book the same holiday at a later date or an alternative holiday of comparable standard
- to cancel (or accept our cancellation), in which case you will receive a full refund of any payment(s) that you have made to us.
These options are only available in the case of significant, not minor, changes made by Footscape.
We regret that we cannot pay any expenses or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation, nor will we pay compensation if we cancel your booking due to any failure on your part to comply with these booking conditions (e.g. paying your balance on time).
Force Majeure
We accept no responsibility or liability for any damage, accident or death, or for the delay, alteration or cancellation of any holiday as a result of “force majeure”, such as industrial disputes, riots, natural disasters, fire, sickness, bad weather, cancellation or changes of train, plane or bus schedules or any other circumstances beyond our control.
Complaints
If you have cause for complaint while on your holiday, please bring it to the immediate attention of your tour organiser, who will try to resolve the problem to your satisfaction. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you should write to us within 28 days of the end of your holiday. If you fail to do so, you will be taken to have waived any claim that you may have had against Footscape.