The terms and conditions in this document are important as they stipulate the contract between Student Travel Tours Ltd and the customer. The obligations and rights upon both parties which are stipulated in the contract below are legally binding and may not be changed unless agreed in writing from both parties. By booking your holiday with Student Travel Tours Ltd you agree fully to the contract and therefore you should fully understand its contents.

1. THE CONTRACT BETWEEN US

In the following booking conditions the words ‘you’ and ‘your’ refer to the passenger who is booking a holiday with Student Travel Tours Ltd. The words ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’ refer to the company, Student Travel Tours Ltd. The words ‘tour’ and ‘trip’ refer to the specific holiday which the passenger is booking. The contract between the passenger and the company is governed by English Law.

Any changes to the following booking conditions or to the details expressed on our website or in our promotional material are only valid if agreed on by both parties explicitly in writing. Verbal agreements may not undermine the contract. Upon confirmation of your booking and after issuing of a confirmation letter to you, we will be held responsible for providing all of the services listed on your booking confirmation, or to reimburse you.


2. PAYING FOR THE TRIP

a) Upon booking your trip you will be required to pay a deposit. Please note that your booking will not be confirmed until we have received full payment.

b) Until full payment is received, we reserve the right to change any travel details or the price of the trip within reasonable limits due to outside influences such as exchange rate fluctuations.

c) The balance is payable without reminder 42 days prior to the trip departure date. If the full payment has not been received by this date then we reserve the right to cancel your place on the trip.

d) After full payment has been received you will receive a confirmation letter. Your trip vouchers/itinerary will be issued to you roughly 2 weeks prior to departure

e) You are responsible for checking these itineraries/vouchers and confirmation letters for errors or for accuracy. Although we will endeavour to correct any errors, we will not be held responsible for inaccuracies or errors which we are not notified about within 10 days of you receiving the information. This time period is reduced to 5 days for the final vouchers/tickets and itineraries.

f) The online card merchant will charge a surcharge for card payments. These fee will vary depending on the type of card you use.

g) Your payment will be deducted by your card at the time that your card is processed online.

h) When you purchase your holiday from our website, your details will be held and used in accordance with DTI regulations, and we will do our best to ensure your privacy. However, you agree that the use of the internet can never be completely safe and do not hold us accountable for any unlikely breaches in security.

i) Any payment made by cheque should be made out to 'Student Travel Tours Ltd’


3. CHANGES IN THE PRICE OF YOUR TOUR

We reserve the right to make any changes to the price of your tour until full payment is received. After this, Student Travel Tours Ltd is responsible for dealing with the increased costs incurred by any exchange rate fluctuations and to either provide all the services in full or reimburse you.


4. INSURANCE

It is a requirement of booking with Student Travel Tours Ltd that you are responsible for booking your own travel insurance. We can suggest good insurance policies provided by other companies upon request. By travelling with Student Travel Tours Ltd you confirm that you have your own Travel Insurance policy which will cover you for medical expenses and repatriation.


5. SPECIAL REQUESTS

We will endeavour to help with any requests without you incurring any extra charges. However we cannot guarantee this, and you should not consider that provisions will be made for any special requests unless this is confirmed in writing. In such scenario, we will not be held liable for the non-compliance in services offered by other companies, such as accommodation. We reserve the right to cancel or decline a reservation in the case that we do not feel we can properly accommodate the persons affected due to their requirements. It is the responsibility of the passenger to inform us of any special requirements or concerns. These include disability, physical health and mental health concerns. Please note that we will always do our best accommodate everyone without any extra charge, but that this cannot be guaranteed.


6. PASSPORT AND VISA

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct Passport and that you are fully in compliance with Visa requirements. Holder’s of a British or EU passport will not need a visa to enter France or Spain. Holders of international passports will be required to obtain their own Shengen Visa. Please note that you should give yourself plenty of time to do this due to delays and processing times at the relevant embassies. Instructions for Visa application are available on our website or on request. We reserve the right to cancel your holiday at any time before or during the trip due to non-compliance with passport or visa requirements. In such cases you will be responsible for the costs of your own repatriation and no refund will be made. All passports should have at least 6 months validity from the return date.


7. DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL TIMES

a) You should be at your coach departure point 30 minutes prior to departure on both the outbound and return journeys. Details of these times and your pick up point will be finalised and published on your itineraries.

b) We reserve the right to change departure times or location by any reasonable margin at any point. Our trips are typically run at peak holiday times, when roads and port transport networks are extremely busy. On rare occasions it may be necessary to return earlier than planned, in order to be sure that we meet ferry times.

c) You acknowledge and agree that delays in travel are subject to many outside influences and as such you agree that departure times, travel times and arrival times are estimates and do not hold us liable for any inconveniences or costs which you incur. We recommend that your Travel Insurance policy will cover this.

d) We will work hard and do our best to remedy any problems caused by mechanical failure or vehicle accidents however you agree that in such circumstances, replacement vehicles may be of inferior quality to that specified upon booking. Furthermore, you acknowledge that delays incurred may necessitate a reduction in times allocated to leg-stretch and food stops.

e) You acknowledge that we will remedy any problem as quickly as we can and accept that details or services provided on the trip may change significantly from that specified on your itinerary as a result of ‘Force Majeure’. You will not hold us liable for such changes, including possible cancellation of the holiday and premature return. We recommend your travel insurance covers you for such eventuality.


8. LUGGAGE

a) Porterage is not provided and you will be required to carry all of your luggage. Please not you may have to walk for up to 10 minutes between the bus and your accommodation.

b) You are responsible for the safety of your luggage at all times. At times, you may be required to leave your luggage in hostel luggage rooms whilst checking in and out of your accommodation. In such scenarios we will accept no liability for loss of luggage or damage. We recommend your travel insurance covers you in such cases.

c) Passengers are entitled to bring 1 suitcase or large holdall plus one item of hand luggage to go on the bus. There is no weight limit for your suitcase, but please ensure you can comfortably carry it as you may be required to walk up to 10 minutes from the bus to the accommodation.

d) If you need to bring more luggage for whatever reason, then it is your responsibility to inform us and to ensure that you have our agreement in writing. We have never denied extra suitcases to those who require them and do not expect to in the future, however we may refuse admission or travel without refund to those who bring more than the standard quota of luggage without written consent. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee to provide this written consent in every situation.

e) Your hand luggage should be small enough to comfortably sit under your seat or on your lap on the coach. Instead of taking a second suitcase on as hand luggage, like you might for a low cost airline, please contact us before if you need more luggage allowance, and seek our written consent.

f) We will never charge for excess luggage so long as it has been agreed upon in advance and in writing.

g) For winter sports holidays, you have the option to carry a ski or snowboard bag, but due to limited availability this is charged at £10 for a return journey.


9. ACCOMMODATION AND DEPOSITS

a) Upon payment, you will pay a £40 accommodation deposit. This will be returned to you after the trip as long as all accommodation keys are returned, no damages or fines are incurred and the accommodation is cleaned to the specification that you will receive on arrival. Additional cleaning costs and fines may be deducted from your deposit if you do not meet the accommodation standards with which you are presented.

b) Accommodation will be in shared rooms (or shared apartments for ski trips). We will do our best to ensure that you are in a room or apartment with your friends. However, you may be sharing your accommodation with any other people on the trip. Even if you book in a group of 4, we cannot guarantee to be issued enough 4 man apartments to accommodate your group in a private apartment. We will try our best to do so, but you may find yourself sharing in a 6 or 9 man room. The promise we can make is to never split up groups so much so that 1 person is completely on there own in an apartment with others. The only exception to this is if you book as a solo traveller, in which case we will try to accommodate you with other solo travellers but cannot guarantee this. For ski trips, the well-furnished apartments are equipped with a combination of bunk beds, twin rooms, double rooms and sofa beds. When booking, you agree that you may be accommodated in any one of these beds.

c) All of our trips are to be regarded as group trips. This means any fines caused by accommodation infringements may be shared across the group, where the individual(s) responsible are not obvious. This will be deducted from your deposit.

d) Extra facilities laid on by the accommodation, such as swimming pools, gyms or wifi services are subject to change without notice. Whilst we try to keep our information as up to date as possible, local rules for access to facilities such as these can be changed by the facility provider at the last minute, and therefore facilities such as these may not be available, even if they are mentioned in your accommodation description.

e) Accommodation residences are managed and maintained by residences themselves. Whilst Student Travel Tours and its representatives will strive to ensure that any problems with the facilities are dealt with, we do not accept responsibility for the operations of the accommodation residence owners.

10. HOLIDAY OPTIONAL EXTRAS

a) Where evening meals are purchased as an extra option on ski trips, these include cooked meals on every night of your stay except for the arrival date and the departure date. This is because of the unpredictably of journey arrival times.

11. SKI LESSONS

a) You will be emailed 2 weeks before your trip with a lesson 'e-ticket' which you should print out and take with you. This will tell you where to be and when and also your group number. You will also be reminded. If you are unsure, just ask a rep or look on your residence notice boards. There will always be someone on hand to help you.

b) We will endeavor to allocate you to your chosen level of lesson. In the extreme case the lessons you have booked are unable to go ahead due to group size or unforeseeable circumstances; you will be informed by us and advised on options available to you. Please also note, lessons can be in the morning or afternoon depending on numbers, resorts and dates so please wait to hear from your rep about these details. PLEASE REMEMBER. It's always cheaper to pre book your lessons rather than paying for them in resort, so take advantage of our incredible prices and packages and make sure you book in advance.

c) As a company we have always striven to give our clients the best possible service when it comes to providing lessons which is why we use the ESF – Ecole du Ski Francais or Evolution 2000 (depending on resort).

d) Lessons are highly recommended for all levels whether you are a true beginner or an expert

e) The lesson packages are divided up into 10 hour, 6 hour or 2 hour "refresher course" packages. The number of days you do will vary from resort to resort but to give you an idea it would be either 5 x 2 hours or 4 x 2.5 hours if you chose the 10 hour option.

f) Lessons can take place in the morning or the afternoon; again this will vary from resort to resort.

g) Lesson /group sizes will vary from resort to resort and will also be influenced by the holiday periods but you should expect classes to average no more than 8-10 people.

h)Before you book you should determine your level from the list below. It should also be possible, if you find that the class standard is above or below your level, to change the class in resort.

i) Skiers and snowboarders whose standard is higher than the level of lessons we offer, should speak directly with the instructors in resort and potentially look at a private lesson.

j) Lesson levels:
Ski Lessons:
LEVEL 0 – You are basically a complete beginner and you won't have had any lessons or skied on snow before. You might have dabbled on an artificial slope.
LEVEL 1 – You have 1-3 weeks experience of skiing on snow and you can go down green and blue runs reasonably happily. You will be trying the transition from snowplow to parallel turns
LEVEL 2 – You probably have between 2 and 6 weeks of experience on snow and your now comfortable with long sweeping parallel turns on blue runs. You will also be comfortable on red runs.
LEVEL 3 – You are now a technically proficient skier with up 7 to 10 weeks under your belt. You can make short parallel turns and you are comfortable skiing red and black runs.
LEVEL 4 – You're now an advanced skier with no problems on any grade of slope, you will also have experience of off piste skiing.
We recommend that from level 2 you should be booking the full area ski passes. This will apply to the resorts of Tignes, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and Les Arcs.

Snowboard Lessons:
LEVEL 0 – You are basically a complete beginner and you won't have had any lessons or snowboarded on snow before. You might have dabbled on an artificial slope.
LEVEL 1 – You can stand and can slide but making turns is still difficult.
LEVEL 2 – You can stand and turn and feel very comfortable on green and blue runs, you are probably on red slopes.
LEVEL 3 – You are now linking turns perfectly, you are happy on pretty much any slope and you have some off piste experience.

k) Please note, you are responsible for making sure you attend your lessons and return from the slopes safely. If at any point you do not feel confident or unsafe, please inform your instructor.

l) Ski Instructors and reps are there to help you but you are fully responsible for your own safety and you agree to this at the time of booking this option.

12. BOOKING CANCELLATION

Since all bookings require services from other companies (travel, accommodation, night clubs etc) which are pre-paid, we may have already paid for part of your holiday at the time of your cancellation and as such we may not administer a 100% refund. You will incur the following cancellation charges according to the date of your cancellation:

Period before departure ----- Cancellation Charge

After Payment of Deposit----- Deposit Only
41-14 days prior ----- Deposit and 60% of remaining payment
13 days prior or afterwards ----- Deposit and 100% of remaining payment

If you need to cancel for whatever reason then we encourage you to find someone to take your place, and then contact us at cancellations@studenttraveltours.co.uk. All cancellations are non-reversible once confirmed.


13. CHANGES TO YOUR BOOKING MADE BY US

a) Minor Changes

Holiday arrangements are put together months in advance and as such it is possible minor alterations to travel, accommodation, facilities or slight timings may be incurred. Such changes will be made known to you in your itinerary. Such changes are minor and do not entitle you to cancel without charges.

b) Significant changes

We will make any significant changes known to all fully paid passengers as soon as it is feasible. You will have the choice to either accept these changes or receive a full refund of all monies paid. We will not be held responsible for any changes caused by ‘Force Majeure’ and you will not be entitled to cancel without charges in these circumstances.

c) Cancellations by us

Although it is very unlikely, if we have to cancel the trip for any reason then you will be fully reimbursed, unless it is for a any of the reasons mentioned throughout these terms and conditions that make you liable for the full or partial cost of the trip. We will not be held liable for any inconvenience or extra costs incurred due to cancellations before or during the trip. We recommend that your Travel Insurance covers you for such eventuality. We will not be held liable for cancellations caused by ‘Force Majeure’, and you will not normally be reimbursed for any cancellations caused by such scenarios. ‘Force Majeure’ refers to any event which neither we nor the supplier with all due care could foresee or avoid. Examples include war, civil war, organised crime, terrorism, natural disasters, fire and adverse weather.

14. YOUR BEHAVIOUR REQUIREMENTS

a) Due to new laws, alcohol must not be drunk or taken on board any coach journeys.

b) Passengers under 18 should not drink alcoholic beverages during the holiday

c) All local laws should be observed and obeyed at all times

d) Passengers should not smoke on coaches, in accommodation, in public areas or other hazardous locations at any time.

e) Behaviour should not be deemed likely to cause offence to other persons or potential damage to property. You are responsible for the costs involved in any damage to property caused by your behaviour.

f) Should you fail to comply with all of the above stipulations at any time then we reserve the right to cancel your holiday. In such circumstances you will be responsible for the costs of your own repatriation and no refund will be made.

15. COMPLAINTS

We are a friendly student-run company and do not anticipate the need for any formal complaints, as we aim to resolve any problems amicably in a friendly and honest manner. If for whatever reason you would like to make a formal complaint, then you should make it to us as soon as possible in writing to complaints@studenttraveltours.co.uk, or by contacting the emergency number whilst on your holiday. Except for in cases of serious personal injury, illness or death, we will not accept liability for any complaints received more than 10 days after the trip returns. We undertake to reply confirm receipt of your complaint within 14 days and provide a full written reply or explanation within 28 days. In any event, we will provide you a full reply within 56 days.

Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration, if the customer so wishes, under a special scheme arranged by the Association of British Travel Agents and administered independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

The scheme provides for simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com).

The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The scheme can however deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount that the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element.

he application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators within nine months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this time limit, arbitration under the scheme may still be available if Student Travel Tours agrees but the ABTA code does not require such agreement.

For injury and illness claims, you may like to use the ABTA Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Mediation Procedure. This voluntary scheme requires Student Travel Tours to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolve your dispute in a quick and cost effective way. Details on request are from www.abta.com. 

16. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

We accept full responsibility for delivering all services in their entirety and as described, except for in any cases outlined in these booking conditions. We accept responsibility for the actions of all formal employees within the scope of their employment except for when this leads to serious injury, illness or death. Our liability in all cases is limited to twice the price of the holiday.

We accept responsibility should you suffer serious injury, illness or death as a result of any improper performance or failure to perform part of the contract except for in the following situations: We are not liable when the failure or improper performance of the contract was due to either (a) the acts or omissions of those persons affected (b) the actions or omissions of a third party not connected with the provisions of the holiday (c) events in which either us or the third party supplier in question was not able to foresee or avoid in all due care

17. SAFETY STANDARDS

Foreign provisions are made in line with local health and safety standards which may differ from those in the United Kingdom. A company representative will be available throughout parts of your trip and will always be contactable by telephone. Company representatives will not always be present on coaches during travel.

18. IMAGE RELEASE

In part consideration of receiving Student Travel Tours’ services you grant Student Travel Tours permission to use any photographs or moving images (Images) featuring you on any of our trips for any of Student Travel Tours’ commercial or non-commercial purposes in all and any media, including, without limitation, in Student Travel Tours’ printed publications, presentations, promotional materials, in the advertising of Student Travel Tours’ goods or services or on Student Travel Tours’ website (Specified Purposes), in their original format or edited or altered in any way which Student Travel Tours deems appropriate.

You do not object to Student Travel Tours:

(a) storing copies of the Images for the Specified Purposes or to us storing your contact details on our database in case we need to contact you.