1. Clients booking with Gane and Marshall (G&M) are accepted on the understanding that the clients appreciate the possible risks inherent in travel; and in particular adventure travel activities such as trekking, climbing, and diving.

2. Bookings can only be accepted for persons under 18 years of age when accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for them.

3. In the unlikely event of accommodation not being available on arrival at a hotel or hotels confirmed to the Clients, G&M undertakes to provide alternative accommodation in a hotel or hotels of categories at least as high as those contracted or to pay appropriate compensation where the available accommodation is of an inferior standard.

4. Adventure holidays. For our clients undertaking a trekking itinerary such as Kilimanjaro, or any other wilderness-based itinerary such as an Arctic adventure, we offer first class support teams and provide safety equipment. Most of our clients complete their programme. However, if you are obliged to end early there is no refund of national park or other fees, and any additional accommodation and/or transfer fees incurred are not the responsibility of G&M.

5. Airport, International & domestic flight delays. We use the services of the world’s major international airlines. These are rarely subject to delays. In the unlikely event that your flights are delayed, arrangements for meals and overnight accommodation should be met by your airline. If you are joining a group departure and flight delays mean that additional transfers etc. are required to enable you to join the group, these costs must be met immediately by you the client and should later be re-claimed under your insurance policy if applicable.

6. The prices we quote you are based on current exchange rates, transport and on-the-ground prices. The price of a tour may vary at any time before G&M have accepted a booking from you; and they may be varied after your booking is made. Should the variation be in excess of 10% of the holiday cost the client will have the right to a full refund.

7. Bookings must be accompanied by a 20% deposit and the balance is due not later than 61 days before the departure date. If the booking is made within 61 days of departure then the full amount should be paid at the time of booking. If the balance due is not received by the due date we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled and levy appropriate cancellation charges as detailed below. Some ground handlers ask for deposits higher than 20% for certain properties or seasons. In this case we reserve the right to ask you for sufficient pre-payments to cover these deposits.

8. Cancellation should be made in writing. Our standard cancellation charges are as follows:

• more than 61 days before departure: loss of deposit
• 61 to 43 days before departure: 50% of tour cost
• 42 to 31 days before departure: 75% of tour cost (NB Kilimanjaro & Meru 100% of tour cost)
• 30 or fewer days before departure: 100% of tour cost
• some ground handlers impose earlier payment deadlines and stricter cancellation terms than we have outlined above. In such cases, we will endeavour to notify you of these terms at the time of quotation. Any cancellation terms detailed on your quote supersede those outlined above.
• some airlines require us to pay for your flights earlier than 61 days prior to departure, and we may therefore ask you to pre-pay those flights. Any cancellation charges levied by the airline will be applicable.

9. All clients must take out adequate travel insurance and show evidence thereof. It is very important that you take out insurance close to the time of booking so that you receive protection for your deposit and interim payments. Your insurance must take account of the nature of the holiday and clients must specify to the insurance company if they intend climbing, trekking, scuba diving, quad biking etc. The policy should also have repatriation cover in the event of a serious accident. Clients must take the Certificate of Insurance on the holiday, leaving a copy at home.

10. Clients are responsible for obtaining passports, visas, health certificates, international driving licenses and any other documents relating to their holiday themselves and to meet any additional costs which may be incurred as a result of failure to comply with such requirements.

11. Many of our holidays are planned months in advance, and it is therefore possible that some arrangements may have to be changed. Reasonable changes to the itinerary, vehicle and equipment used may be made where deemed necessary or advisable. In an adventure challenge, the itinerary may be changed at short notice due to changing weather patterns, wildlife movements, and other factors out of our control. While we will make all proper and reasonable efforts to maintain the itinerary, we do not guarantee that we can keep the intended itinerary and we therefore reserve the right to amend the itinerary as and when it may become necessary to do so.

12. Force majeure. We are not responsible for changes which arise as a result of situations outside of our control such as technical or maintenance problems with means of flight transportation, changes imposed by re-scheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline or main charterer, epidemics or health risks, war or threat of war, civil strike, industrial disputes, natural disasters, bad weather, closed or congested airports, ports or stations, bureaucratic obstacles, or terrorist activity. In case of such events G&M will have no liability other than to offer you an alternative comparable holiday, if available, or to refund any pre-payments made on your behalf that are recoverable. In the event that you choose a more costly alternative, you must pay the difference.

13. Our liability. Clients, together with their personal property including baggage, are at all times solely at their own risk. We will not be liable for any injury, illness or death or consequent losses by you or any member of your group unless you are able to prove that such injury or illness was caused by lack of reasonable care and skill on the part of our employees, agents, sub-contractors and suppliers in the performance of our obligations under this contract. We do not accept responsibility in respect of death, bodily injury or illness of any person participating in our tours as a result of (but not limited to) physical exertion for which a participant is not prepared, forces of nature, consumption of alcoholic beverages, civil unrest, terrorism, breakdown of equipment, high altitude, lack of or limited access to medical attention in remote locations and the adequacy of medical attention once provided or where the cause was your fault, or due to the actions of someone unconnected with the itinerary arrangements. In all claims of whatever nature we will not be liable where the alleged loss or damage results from any of the following:

a. The fault of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party, or

b. The fault of a third party not connected with the provision of your trip which we could not have predicted or avoided, or

c. An event or circumstances which we or the suppliers of the service(s) in question could not have predicted or avoided even after taking all reasonable care, or

d. The fault of anyone who was not carrying out work for us (generally or in particular) at the time. Where the services in question consist of carriage by air, by sea or rail or the provision of accommodation, the extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we were carriers under the appropriate Conventions. We do not accept any responsibility for disruption, inconvenience, cancellation or alteration to tours due to problems caused directly or indirectly by computer problems, where these problems are not our fault or the fault of our suppliers or could not have been avoided even though all reasonable care had been taken. If you book any additional activities locally, which are not a part of the original itinerary, your contract is with the local company operating the activity and we have no liability or responsibility for the operation of the activity. You must if we are adjudged to have, or if we accept, liability for a claim that you make, assign to us any rights that you may have against any of our service agents or suppliers which is in any way responsible for the failure of your itinerary or any death or personal injury you may suffer. You must also co-operate with us with any claim we choose to bring against any third party which we, in our discretion, deem to be so responsible.

14. Bonding. The air holidays and flights that we advertise are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 3145. This ATOL licence provides for your financial protection and, if applicable, repatriation, in the event of our insolvency. Please note that ATOL bonding only applies to bookings that include flights.

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme

For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Gane and Marshall are members of ABTOT - The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited. ABTOT provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Gane and Marshall International (ABTOT 5453), and in the event of insolvency, protection is provided for the following:

• Non-flight packages which are sold to customers in the UK or EU.

ABTOT cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included in your package. Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by ABTOT when purchased directly with Gane and Marshall International.

You can access The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here.

15. Complaints. We will do our very best to ensure that your travel arrangements go according to plan. However, if you have a complaint arising out of what we have agreed to provide for you please let us know at the earliest opportunity, if necessary by calling our UK office from wherever you may be. We will do our best to put things right. If your complaint cannot be resolved locally you should advise us within 28 days of returning to the UK, in writing, with all other relevant information. If you fail to follow this procedure we cannot accept responsibility as we would have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate the matter and hopefully rectify any problem. Failure to complain on the spot will result in the client’s ability to claim compensation from us being extinguished or at least reduced.

16. Applicable Law. The contract between us and these booking conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of English Law.

17. Arctic Specific Additional Information. The following information is intended to better inform you of the environment in which your holiday will take place. The information also gives you an indication of the costs to you in the unlikely event of a delay of flights to or from your Arctic expedition.

Please read the following information in full and ask any questions that you may have.

Background:
1. Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen is 78 degrees north, within the Arctic Circle and one of the last true wildernesses in the World.
2. Temperatures can range from -45 degrees centigrade to +30 degrees centigrade.
3. Weather can change daily from calm and sunny to blizzards with less than one metre visibility.
4. Implications: For some of the activities we have a relatively narrow window of opportunity. For example, glacier treks, snowmobile and dog-sledding excursions are weather dependent and very seasonal. Your support team may decide to reschedule events to try to work best with the prevailing weather and they will do everything possible to try to fit in all the activities and excursions. Their primary concern will be your safety. Moving around the town of Longyearbyen may expose you to blizzard conditions and you will certainly be walking on very icy pavements and roads. Members of pervious groups have been blown over by the strong winds cutting across the icy streets. So great care and the use of walking poles is strongly advised when moving around town as well as out of town on the snowfields and glaciers.
5. Flights can be delayed due to bad weather, force majeure etc. Your support team will do everything possible to get you on the earliest flight, and to find you additional accommodation if required. They will also keep you informed of flight schedules. Any additional accommodation and food costs (not paid by the airline) will be to your own account and may be covered by your personal travel insurance on your return home.