You enter into a contract with us when we issue our confirmation of booking on receipt of initial deposits. If you then cancel, there will be cancellation charges. Initially this may only be a deposit, but can go up to 100%. You can make changes to your booking in certain circumstances. Where applicable there is a small admin charge for this.  

We are responsible to you for providing your trip but there are legal limits. We are a member of The Travel Trust Association and we provide protection for your money as set out below.  

Adequate and valid travel insurance is compulsory for all our travellers and it is a condition of accepting your booking that you agree you will have obtained adequate and valid travel insurance.  

Please read the full terms below for more information and for other important rights and obligations.

1) Your Contract

Please read carefully the Booking Conditions as these form the basis of your contract with True North Travel Limited (Registered no.12912634), a member of The Travel Trust Association (membership no. Q9293) and set out the respective rights and obligations of both parties. In the following Booking Conditions ‘you’ means the Lead name customer, and ‘we’ or ‘the Company’ means True North Limited. These booking terms and conditions are applicable to all our Tours and Packages. Additional information relating to ski tours, trips and packages can be found in sections 17 – 21.

2) To confirm your booking

To confirm your booking we will issue an invoice for initial deposits. Once you have paid your first deposits, we will issue a Confirmation of Booking within 7 days by email. A contract will then exist between us.

3) Tour Price

a) We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the tours shown on our websites. You will be advised of the current price of the tour that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.

b) Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, duties, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another tour if we are able to offer one (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel you must do so within 14 days from the date on your final invoice. Should the price of your tour go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your tour cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.  

d) True North Travel Limited reserve the right to override a quote option expiry date at any given time. The school or party in question, will be notified before confirmation that the option is no longer available.  

 4) Schedule of payments

We require a deposit per person as stated in your initial quote to confirm your booking. Second deposits are due 8 weeks after confirmation and the final balance is due 12 weeks prior to your departure date (or at the time of booking, if this is less than 12 weeks prior to your date of departure).

NOTE: the date your Final Balance is due is shown on our Confirmation of Booking, NO reminder will be sent. If any payment due is not received in full and on time we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled by you.

5) Cancellations

You may cancel your booking at any time. Written notification or an email from you (the Lead Name Customer) must be received at our office. To cover our expected losses there is a set scale of charges that applies.

The date of cancellation is the date of the receipt of written advice or email to the Company’s office. NOTE: if the reasons for your cancellation are covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges i.e. necessary cancellation due to injury or illness etc.

Cancellation charges:

6) Alterations

The Company will, wherever possible, try to arrange any alterations you may request after the contract is formed. Alteration requests must be made in writing/email to the Company by the Lead Name Customer. Alterations requested more than 12 weeks in advance of your departure date, if acceptable, are subject to an administration charge of £20 per person per alteration and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements. Major alterations within 12 weeks of departure of (such as change of dates) will be treated as a cancellation and re-booking.

7) Company alterations

The arrangements detailed on the website are given in good faith at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to provide comparable alternative arrangements if operational or other considerations so dictate. No employee or representative of this Company has the authority to verbally vary these terms and conditions or the information within our website, other Company literature or to enter into verbal agreements with clients of the Company. No variation in these conditions or otherwise in the terms upon which a booking is made and no promise to refund money paid to the Company shall be valid unless in writing and signed by a Director of the Company.

While every effort is made to ensure that all information on the website is correct, including offers, should an offer remain on the website in error then it is at the Company's discretion as to whether the offer is honoured.

If we make a major change to your booking, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements or cancelling your booking and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. (For overseas trips only and limited to where payments are NOT received by the due dates) the price of your booking may be subject to surcharge as a result of currency fluctuations. In the event of a surcharge being necessary we will undertake to bear the first 5% of the increase). We reserve the right to impose surcharges due to government action.

8) Insurance

Valid and adequate travel insurance is compulsory for all our tours. Accepting your booking is on the condition that this is obtained prior to the date of departure. We have developed a policy with Endsleigh which offers comprehensive cover but you are not obliged to take this. If you decide to make your own insurance arrangements, you need to ensure that there are no exclusions or limited cover for the type of activities included in your tour.

True North Travel Limited holds all the necessary insurances required to be a Tour Operator and full Public Liability Insurance of £5million.

9) Force Majeure

The Company reserves the right to cancel/curtail your holiday due to circumstances amounting to Force Majeure - these include, but are not limited to, war, riots, government action, terrorism, fire, weather conditions, strike action and all similar events outside the Company’s control which prevent or affect the Company’s contractual obligation. Where such circumstances occur the Company will not be liable to pay you refunds or compensation.

10) Company Liability

The Company accepts responsibility should any of the services which we are contractually obliged to provide prove deficient or not of reasonable standard. This includes responsibility for the acts or omissions of any of our employees, subcontractors and suppliers. Exceptions to this are detailed below, no liability is accepted for death, injury or illness.

The Company does not accept liability or responsibility for personal injury to, or the death of any participant howsoever caused unless by the proven negligence of the Company, employees, suppliers or subcontractors. In addition, the Company is NOT liable for death, injury or illness caused by an activity outside of the Company’s activities.

The Company cannot accept liability for causes of dissatisfaction that are not notified to us, in writing, within 28 days of returning from the trip.

11) Responsibilities of Lead Name Customer  

a) The lead name customer is responsible for ensuring all party members are in possession of all the necessary travel and health documents prior to departure such as the completion of passports and any other personal arrangements which may be necessary, for example, visas, medical requirements and currency. The costs associated with acquiring documentation are payable by you.

b) The lead name customer is responsible for the good conduct of all party members during the tour, and must take reasonable steps to prevent damage and disturbance. In the instance of damage or loss caused by the party, full payment must be paid at the time, directly to the accommodation manager, owner or other supplier. Failure to do so will mean you are responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us, along with your own and the other party’s full legal costs. If according to our reasonable opinion, or the reasonable opinion of any person in authority, any party member behaves in such a way as to cause damage, offence or distress to others, we reserve the right to terminate that person’s tour. We will not be liable to complete their tour arrangements and will not be liable for any refund, compensation, or any other costs you have to pay. c) You must further ensure that your party observes and obeys all local laws and regulations which apply. No participant under 18 years of age may consume alcohol (21 in USA). Subject to local laws and regulations you must ensure that no member of your party who is under- age consumes alcohol. No party member may consume alcohol to excess. You must ensure that no member of your party smokes in bedrooms or apartments, or any other area where smoking is not permitted. Please note we cannot accept liability for the behaviour of others in your accommodation. d) The Party Leader is responsible for ensuring that the party reaches the starting point of the tour at the correct time.

12) Complaints

Our aim is to give you an enjoyable and trouble-free trip. If you do have a problem or complaint it is important and in your own interest to tell a relevant member of True North Travel limited staff immediately so that steps can be taken to resolve the matter on the spot. If your complaint cannot be resolved there and then, please notify us in writing/email, immediately upon your return. We strongly recommend that you communicate any problem to our resort staff without delay and complete a report whilst on your trip, if you do not, we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were on the trip and this may affect your rights under this contract. The Company will make every effort to provide suitable alternatives but will not be held liable for changes made by outside influences. Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract that cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration, if you so wish, under a special scheme that is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that all information given is correct, the Company cannot be held responsible if this should prove inaccurate.

13) Restaurants & Local Excursions

In early and late season some restaurants and local excursions may be closed and although mentioned on the website, cannot be guaranteed.

14) Accommodation

 a) Damage Deposit: Please be aware that hotels/accommodations require a damage deposit payable in resort on arrival. This will be refunded if no damage is incurred.

b) Student rooms: Prices are based on full occupancy of multi-bedded rooms for students. We reserve the right to charge a supplement for under occupancy if the number of students or the gender results in students being accommodated in single or twin rooms. Certain hotels provide apartment style accommodation with separate rooms sharing private facilities. Bed styles may include: bunk beds, couch beds, pull-down beds, and Austrian twins which comprise two separate mattresses, duvets and bed linen on a king-sized bed frame. Where available we will be able to provide rooming lists but this cannot be guaranteed. Boys and girls may not be accommodated on separate floors of the hotel. Please note that it is standard practice for students to share queen beds when staying in most USA / Canada accommodations. Should your school or Local Authority policy not permit bed share, please advise us at time of booking quotation so that we can quote accordingly.  

c) Adult rooms: Single rooms are not normally available. If a single room is required and available an additional charge will be applicable both for free places and paying adults. Prices and free place ratios are calculated on male and female staff sharing rooms. We cannot guarantee that couples or families will be accommodated together. Where availability does allow this, any subsequent increase in the number of rooms required will be invoiced.  

d) Hotels may make a charge for the use of advertised facilities e.g. sauna, solarium, swimming pool, hot whirlpool, bowling etc.  

e) Rooms must be vacated after breakfast on your last day, however, hotels may retain some rooms until departure. If this is not possible, we will arrange for showering and changing facilities at our discretion.

f) We ask for details in regards to dietary requirements and food type allergies to pass onto the accommodation provider. Please note that not all providers will be able to cater for all religious and strict vegan diets. Please ask your ski expert for further information.

15) Child Protection Policy

We have a full child protection policy. This can be viewed  by clicking  here.

16) Your data

When you submit a contact form on our website you are consenting to receiving marketing information and emails regarding any relevant offers and brochures. You can opt out at any point by contacting True North at hello@truenorthtravel.co.uk  In addition to your rights under GDPR,  you may be given options to restrict Our use of your data. In particular, We aim to give you strong controls on Our use of your data for direct marketing purposes (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from Us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in emails and at the point of providing your details.

17) Ski Lessons  

a) To comply with UK Health and Safety recommendations, it is a condition of accepting a booking that the lead name customer agrees that students will ski or snowboard only on marked and patrolled slopes and be supervised at all times while skiing by the contracted ski school instructors,  

b) Groups booking 2 hour lessons per day must expect to have lessons split equally in the morning and the afternoon. i.e. half your group with morning lessons, half with afternoon lessons.  

c) Snowboarding groups are accepted subject to the conditions indicated in clause 20. Please carefully consider whether you need to book extra instructors to cope with the numbers and composition of your group.  

d) Ski lessons are provided at group prices based on a ratio of 1 instructor to 10 pupils of the same abilities although the legal ratio is 1:12. Persons travelling on free or concessionary places or extra paying adults do not count in the ratio of 1:10 instructors to pupils. Groups may on occasion slightly exceed the 1:10 ratio or drop below this slightly, but this is at the company’s discretion and we reserve the right to invoice you for any additional instructors required. Should you wish to increase the ratio of instructors to students, extra instructors may be available at an extra charge.  

e) It is also a requirement of certain resorts that a release of liability form is completed by each student and signed by the parent or legal guardian in order for them to participate in the ski school. Please enquire with our office team for details.
 

f) The supervision of students remains the responsibility of a lead name customer at all times. We recommend that a supervisory adult (of suitable ski ability to stay with the group) accompanies each ski group whilst on the slopes. It is therefore also the responsibility of a Party Leader to undertake a Roll Call regularly to check that all students can be accounted for at all times.  

18) Ski Equipment  

a) The lead name customer must ensure the party attends the ski shop for ski fitting in resort.  

b) Please note that if any members of your party require boot sizes 15 or 16 for normal shoe sizes 14 or 15, we must be notified in writing no later than 3 months before your departure date as hire in the UK may be necessary, payable by the individual.  

19) Ski Passes  

a) Most lift companies require a list of pupils with their dates of birth in along with a statement from the head teacher on school headed paper confirming that the group is a school party. As prices are based on the availability of this documentation, the party leader must ensure this documentation is provided as prices are based on its availability.  

b) Some lift companies also require photographs for all party members or just adults and it is the responsibility of the party leader to provide these photographs on arrival in resort. Please contact our office team for up-to-date information.  

20) Snowboarders  

For snowboarders, a supplement may be payable in order to cover the increased costs of hiring snowboards instead of skis, along with the increased cost of hiring specialised snowboard instructors which usually operate on a 1:8 ratio. An additional cost may be incurred dependent on the number of instructors required. Mixed ski and snowboard groups of varying abilities can cause a variety of grouping difficulties and extra instructors will need to be paid for by the group.  

21) Snow Conditions  

The company cannot accept responsibility for snow and weather conditions which may affect your winter sports. If the ski school makes a decision on the suitability of snow conditions, this is final.  

22) Subsequent Versions of Booking Conditions  

Our booking terms and conditions are produced in conjunction with our latest programme and may be altered at any time. Please ensure you check our website to ensure you have the latest version.