Wide Open Trails - Booking Form & Conditions

Booking Form

To make a booking please download, complete, and sign the following Booking Form.

Booking Conditions

All bookings are made with Wide Open Trails Limited, Registered Company Number (to be confirmed), hereinafter referred to as the Company, whose registered office is: 5 Woodside, Endmoor, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 0HQ, United Kingdom. The Directors of the Company are: Scott Umpleby and Jane Umpleby.
The terms and conditions of all agreements made with the Company shall be subject to, and governed by, English law.
The term "tour" used in these booking conditions refers to all itineraries described on the Company’s website including those which might otherwise be known as treks, trips or holidays, but not including those specifically entitled 'extensions'.
The tours advertised by the Company comprise of land-only packages in the countries of the tour destinations. International flights will not be booked by the Company.
The Company has provided a Bond to meet the requirements of the EC Directive on Package Travel Regulations, Package Holidays and Package Tours 1992 in respect of non-flight inclusive packages only. This gives UK residents full protection in the unlikely event of our insolvency. For more information please read our Insurance and Financial Protection details.
To make a booking download, complete, and sign the Booking Form and post it to Wide Open Trails Limited with your deposit of 30% of the total price of the tour (see Tour Prices for deposit rates). Subject to availability you will receive confirmation of booking, further tour details, a Previous Experience Questionnaire and a Medical Declaration.
After reviewing your Previous Experience Questionnaire and Medical Declaration we may advise that you transfer to another tour, or cancel your booking. In the case of a transfer to another tour your deposit will be held and any adjustments to allow for differences in tour prices will be made at the interim deposit stage. In the case of the booking being cancelled your deposit will be returned to you immediately.
An interim deposit of a further 30% of the total is due 3 months before departure. If the booking is being made at, or inside, 3 months of departure both deposits will be due together as one payment. It is important to be aware that once your deposits have been paid, should you wish to cancel at any time thereafter, the deposits are non-refundable. In addition the cancellation terms detailed below (item number 12) will apply. It is strongly recommended that you have suitable cancellation insurance from the time of booking.
The outstanding balance of the total tour price is due 28 days before departure.
If the initial deposit, interim deposit or outstanding balance is not received by the specified dates the Company reserves the right to cancel your booking while forfeiting your deposits, unless in exceptional circumstances a Director of the Company has agreed a delay in your payment.
If payment is made by credit card a 2% charge will be added to the amount due (this applies to all payments; deposits, interim payments, final balances and miscellaneous charges.) This charge is imposed by the credit card payment service provider and is used, in part, to provide consumer protection for goods and services purchased, in accordance with the terms and conditions pertaining to the credit card being used. This charge can be avoided by using a debit card or by sending a cheque.
Cancellation of a booking by you must be notified in writing. Cancellation terms are explained below and will apply from the date that the written cancellation is received by the Company:
1. more than 42 days before departure: loss of deposit and interim deposit
2. 28 to 42 days before departure: 75% of total tour price due
3. 14 to 28 days before departure: 85% of total tour price due
4. less than 14 days before departure: 100% of total tour price due
Similar terms are adopted throughout the travel industry and cover the costs of advance payments made by the Company. Cancellation charges may be covered in part by your travel insurance provided the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of the policy.
Cancellation of a tour by the Company will entitle you to a refund of the full cost of the tour paid to the Company, unless cancellation has been forced by unforeseen circumstances, in which case actual costs incurred by the Company will be subtracted from any refund due. The Company cannot be made liable for the consequences of strikes, industrial action, wars, civil unrest, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, or any other untoward occurrences, whatever they may be.
We reserve the right to cancel any tour which does not have sufficient people taking part to make it financially viable. By the same token, we will endeavour to ensure that a tour runs if at all possible. If a tour is likely to be cancelled under such circumstances, we undertake to inform you as soon as possible, but this may occur after final balances are due. Anyone booked onto a tour cancelled under these circumstances will be entitled to a full refund and will be invited to transfer to another tour with no transfer fee being payable. Should you transfer to another tour any difference in price will be invoiced or credited accordingly.
After your booking has been confirmed, if you wish to transfer from one tour to another an administration charge of £60 per person, per booking, will be payable. You must also pay any costs that we have incurred in respect of your booking, such as deposits paid by us to other agents, if these are neither refundable nor transferable. Transfers between tours will not be affected until all such fees and costs are received by the Company.
Transfer requests must be received by the Company in writing and before the date the final balance is due. A transfer request after this point will be treated as a cancellation and the transfer fee will not be accepted.
The tour to which your original deposit is transferred must start within 18 calendar months of the start date of the tour originally booked. Failure to travel within this time will be taken as disinclination to travel and as a de facto intention to cancel the booking, regardless of the payment of any transfer fees or costs in the intervening period. Under such circumstances, the deposit and any money paid to affect a transfer will be forfeited to the Company.
The Company's agents and representatives, other than a Director of the Company, are not entitled to promise refunds for whatever reason, and the Company will not be bound by any such promises.
It is a condition of booking that you are adequately covered by travel insurance for all of the activities included in the itinerary and for any activities you may undertake if traveling independently as part of an extension. This insurance must provide adequate cover for search, helicopter rescue, evacuation and repatriation in the event of a medical emergency. Failure to provide a copy of your travel insurance certificate will result in the cancellation of your booking. The only exception to this condition is for UK residents joining a UK based tour.
Some of our tours involve going to moderate altitudes and carry an inherent risk of altitude illness. Similarly, some of our tours visit remote locations or poorly developed regions where infrastructure is limited. In such places, the risks to health are increased and the ability to treat injury or illness effectively is reduced. By signing your Booking Form you acknowledge these hazards (where they apply) and your acceptance of the associated risks.
There are certain hazards evident when traveling through mountainous regions which you must accept at your own risk. While all reasonably practical measures will be taken by tour leaders to ensure your safety, comfort and enjoyment, neither the Company nor any of its representatives will be liable for any illness, injury or death sustained during a tour, nor will they be liable for any uninsured losses of your property.
The target group size for all of our tours is 10 clients, supervised by 2 tour leaders employed by the Company. These targets may be increased or decreased at the discretion of the Company. We give no undertaking as to the minimum or maximum size of a group, but we do undertake to ensure that leaders and support staff are supplied in appropriate numbers to ensure the principle objectives of the tour can be achieved safely. Similarly leaders named in any tour descriptions, anywhere in our literature or on our website, may also be changed.
Our tour leaders will do their utmost to ensure that any problems are solved for the benefit of the group as a whole. Signing the booking form signifies your acceptance of the leaders’ authority to make decisions affecting the group or individuals. For instance, he/she may require an individual to leave the group if he/she believes that person’s health is at risk, if an illegal act is committed, or their behaviour becomes detrimental to the safety, enjoyment or well-being of the group. Should the Leader take such action, that person would not be entitled to any refund.
A client leaving a tour at any stage, for whatever reason, will not be entitled to any refund nor to compensation unless agreed by a Director of the Company.
On assessing the conditions expected to be encountered on the tour or the abilities of the members of the group, your tour leader may decide to change any aspect of the tour, if he/she believes that to continue with the itinerary or activities, or any latterly agreed alternatives, would place anyone at undue risk.
Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the planned itinerary, it must be realised that in this type of adventurous travel, changes to the itinerary may occur for which the Company accepts no responsibility, however caused. The Company will make every effort to inform you of any change that might occur before departure. Your final itinerary may differ in respect of the places where you stay overnight. In particular it may be necessary to alter your itinerary at short notice due to adverse weather, mountain conditions, client or leader illness, road conditions, or to operating conditions imposed by owners and operators of accommodation, facilities, and forms of transport. The Company accepts neither responsibility nor liability, for any ensuing costs, or the consequences of any such change, however caused.
Some tours have days in the itinerary that are included to provide flexibility in case of bad weather, or some other untoward event. If particular circumstances mean that more than the additional days are required the Company cannot be held responsible for any implications in terms of meeting expectations for the remaining itinerary or following travel arrangements.
We will receive travel advice from the UK Foreign Office (FO). We will not knowingly operate tours in contravention of such advice if it is published before the due start date of a tour.
We will cancel a tour if the FO advice effectively puts the destination country or significant parts of the country out of bounds such as to make the principal objective untenable. If the principal objective remains achievable in observance of the FO advice, we will alter the itinerary and the tour will not be cancelled. For example, the FO may advise that it is unsafe to travel through an area which lies on the approach journey to a tour. In such circumstances, if the tour can be reached by using an alternative route, we will do so and the tour will not be cancelled.
If the FO does not issue unambiguous advice against travel, a disinclination to travel on the basis of a perceived threat or hazard, howsoever formed, will be interpreted as a voluntary cancellation and the cancellation charges set out in these booking conditions will apply. This does not affect your right to transfer between tours under the terms of these booking conditions.
Non-UK Nationals should consult their own government for advice on travel to the destination country and all countries transited en route. We will not be bound by the advice of such foreign governments, nor will our booking conditions be waived, save where such advice coincides with the advice of the UK Government, and the booking conditions above become effective.
All flights booked by you will be subject to the conditions of the carrying airline which, in most cases, limit the airline's liability to the passenger in accordance with international law and conventions. The Company accepts no liability for the consequences of delays, cancellations, change of routes, change of departure or arrival airport or for any other changes to your flight schedule, whatever they may be or howsoever caused.
You must inform us in writing (email or letter) of the details of your flight to the destination country at the time of booking or as soon after booking as possible.
After your booking is confirmed, if you decide on a different flight, you must inform us in writing (email or letter).
Should your flight arrival time in the destination country not coincide with the advertised starting date of the tour any additional costs you incur for accommodation, meals or transport will not be covered by the Company.
As a land-only tour operator the Company cannot accept any responsibility for any of the travel arrangements that you make in order to join the tour. The Company accepts no financial liability that may arise from any enforced change to your travel plans due to any alteration of the tour dates, the itinerary or its cancellation, howsoever caused. You are advised to book transferable, refundable travel tickets with no penalties should a cancellation be necessary.
By signing your Booking Form you grant permission for the Company to use images and any other media recorded during our tours for future marketing and publishing without further permission from those featured in the images being required. The only exception to this condition will be where children or young people under the age of 18 years appear in images. In such cases the written permission of a parent or legal guardian will be required.
Prices on this website are based on operating costs and exchange rates as at 01 October 2008. We will do everything we can to mitigate against any rise in our operating costs and strive to keep prices fixed. However the Company reserves the right to levy fuel and/or currency surcharges following significant currency fluctuations or operating costs beyond our control. We sincerely hope that surcharges will not be necessary, but in the very unlikely event that they are, you may cancel your booking without penalty if the surcharge amounts to more than 10% of the total tour price.
Having made every effort to ensure the correctness of this website and other literature issued by the Company we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
When making your booking it is implied and accepted that you have read and understood all the above booking conditions and agree to be bound by them.