Booking your Entry
To confirm the booking of your entry you should complete and sign the booking form enclosed and return to us with the payment requested. An invoice for the balance will be sent to you approximately ten weeks prior to your departure and final documentation approximately two weeks prior to departure.
Booking Forms
It is very important that you complete and sign the booking form for your entry. Not only does this, and/or payment of a deposit, create an agreement between you and Sturgeon World Championship but once completed, it also provides us with the information required to make the necessary agreements for your trip. An incomplete booking form may mean certain services are not arranged which could detract from your enjoyment.
Paying for your entry
Payment for your entry should be made in the currency that you have been invoiced.
Cheques should be made payable to Sturgeon World Championship.
To ensure that your account is credited correctly please reference all payment, whether by cheque or bank transfer, with your name and our invoice and booking number.
Your Responsibilities
Passport, visa and health requirements can change at any time. It is your responsibility to comply with the current requirements and Sturgeon World Championship cannot be held responsible in anyway for your failure to do so. It is also your responsibility to ensure you leave for your entry with all the relevant and correct travel documents.
Passports and Visas
A full valid passport is required for all travel outside the UK. Please be aware that some countries require your passport to have at least six months validity from the date in which you end the entry in that country. If you need to renew your passport please be aware that applying for a new passport is a lengthy affair so leave plenty of time to do so if necessary.
Although for most destinations we can assist with visa applications, Sturgeon World Championship cannot be held responsible in anyway should a country refuse your application.
Health and Special Diets
Whilst we can give you an outline of the health risks and requirements for all our destinations, it is important that you check with your doctors on the latest recommendations for certain countries. Information is also available from MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) (020 7837 5540), www.masta.org: The Hospital for Tropical Diseases (020 7387 3900), www.uclh.org: and The British Airways Travel Clinic (0845 600 2236) www.ba.com
Special dietary requirements should be requested on your booking form. Due to the remoteness of some of our destinations, it is unrealistic to expect special diets to be completely catered for all of the time. We will always inform suppliers of your requests and do what we can to accommodate them. Airlines will likewise do what they can if special meals are booked in advance.
Check-in and Check-out Times
Please be advised that the majority of hotels do not allow check-in until 2.00pm on the day of arrival. To guarantee check-in prior to this time you will need to have booked the room for the night before.
Similarly check-out is normally by 12.00pm on the date of departure. Late check-out can be requested but cannot be guaranteed although the majority of hotels do have access to day facilities.
Travel Insurance
Unforeseen events during the competition can be expensive and we strongly recommend that you take out adequate cover. If you have an existing policy we recommend that you check the level of cancellation cover offered, as this may not be adequate to cover you for the entire cost of your entry.
It is essential that you supply us with details of the cover you have arranged. We require this information, as it may be necessary should you require emergency assistance whilst traveling. Failure to provide the relevant information may result in an inability to help.
Booking Conditions
The Sturgeon World Championship is herein known as SWC.
1. Your competition contract
1.1 There will be no binding contract for your entry until SWC has received a signed booking form and/or payment of the deposit/sum shown on the invoice.
1.2 The competition entry contract is made by SWC with the person who signs the booking form, even though payments may be made by others, and every person signing the booking form is fully responsible for the entry contract.
1.3 Your competition entry contract with SWC is made up of the following:
These conditions.
The relevant information in the brochure. Any changes to the particulars given in the brochure will be set out in the itinerary or advised in writing. SWC makes checks to ensure that the descriptions, information and opinions given in brochures used by SWC concerning the hotels, facilities and suppliers are correct, and based on the latest information available at the time of going to press. However, because brochures are necessarily prepared some time in advance, such matters may change by the time you are ready to book your entry. You entry contract is made on the basis of the changes notified in the itinerary or in writing.
The booking form.
This will provide SWC with information needed to make the entry arrangements. Although SWC always informs suppliers of your special requests and does what it can to encourage suppliers to accommodate them, it is the suppliers who control whether the request is met and SWC cannot guarantee this. This is especially true of dietary requirements.
The invoice.
The itinerary. This will identify if a competition service is dependent on participation by a minimum number of people. If so the service may be cancelled by SWC in writing within the period indicated in the itinerary without compensation if the minimum take-up is not achieved and if the service has been paid for then the sum paid will be refunded by SWC.
It is very important to check the details on the itinerary and invoice when you get them. This is because they set out the details of the entry SWC believes you have booked. If you think there is an error you should contact SWC immediately so that SWC can sort out any problems surrounding what SWC or you are expected to do. Changes can only be made by the persons signing the booking form or by someone they authorise in writing.
2. Price
2.1 Payments made by credit card (including Visa, MasterCard and American Express) will result in a surcharge of 1.95% to cover the charges by your credit card company. This does not apply to payments by debit card.
2.2 SWC guarantees that up until 30 days before your departure date the price of your entry will not be subject to surcharges except for:
variations in transportation costs, including the cost of the fuel
variations in duties, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports
the exchange rates applied to the entry booking and that within 30 days of your departure date the price of your entry will not be subject to any surcharges.
2.3 Should above price variations result in the cost of your entry going up:
SWC will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equal to up to 2% on your entry price (that is, you will only have to pay the increase over and above 2% of the entry price)
If the entry price increases by more than 10%, you will have the right to cancel within 14 days without liability (see clause 5.1 below)
2.4 SWC will not give any breakdowns whatsoever of the price of the entry
3. Payment
3.1 Note the surcharge in clause 2.1 if you are paying by credit card, which must be paid in addition to the invoiced amount.
3.2 If you are booking within 10 weeks of the departure date, then full payment is required from you at the time of booking.
3.3 If you are booking more than 10 weeks before the departure date, then you need only pay the deposit shown on the invoice at the time of booking, and you must pay the balance at least 8 weeks prior to departure. SWC will send a reminder approximately 10 weeks before the departure date.
4. Changes to the entry or persons taking the entry
By you:
4.1 A change must be requested in writing by the person who signed the booking form.
4.2 If you or any person on the entry is prevented from travelling, SWC will agree to that person's booking being transferred to another person who satisfies all the booking terms, subject to both persons accepting joint and several liability for full payment of the price and SWC's charge for confirming the transfer and any additional costs arising from the transfer. SWC must be given reasonable notice of the transfer request, which is considered to be at least 14 days prior to the outward departure date.
4.3 SWC will assist you if you wish to make changes to your booked entry but cannot guarantee that relevant suppliers will agree to your changes. There will be a minimum administration charge of £40 plus VAT per person in your party affected, and you will also have to pay the costs associated with the change. Please note that the administration charges are payable whether or not SWC is successful in making the change and that where you wish to transfer a booking in circumstances where clause 4.2 does not apply then the supplier may insist that this is treated as a cancellation and rebooking.
By SWC:
4.4 It is unlikely that SWC will have to change your booking but entry arrangements are made many months in advance and SWC is dependent upon a number of essential suppliers. SWC therefore reserves the right to do so. In some destinations travel schedules or entry services can be changed, delayed or cancelled because of circumstances outside our control. This can cause you to miss travel connections, cause disappointment and impose further costs which SWC reserves the right to charge to you.
4.5 If SWC makes a significant change to an essential term of the entry contract before departure then SWC will notify you as soon as possible. You can either:
have a full refund; or
accept a substitute package from SWC of equivalent or closely similar standard and price if one is available; or
choose a substitute package of a lower standard to the travel arrangements booked together with a refund of the difference in price.
SWC will if appropriate also pay you compensation as provided in clause 6 opposite.
4.6 If after departure SWC is unable to provide a significant proportion of the services it had agreed to provide as part of the entry contract, SWC will notify you as soon as possible and do its best to make suitable alternative arrangements at no extra cost to you. If SWC cannot do so or you refuse to accept these for good reasons, SWC will arrange to transport you to the point SWC's contracted services commenced (if elsewhere than your hotel) as soon as it reasonably can. SWC will, if appropriate, also pay you compensation as provided in clause 6 opposite.
5. Cancellation
By you:
5.1 Should surcharges result in the total cost of your entry increasing by more than 10%, then you may cancel the booking within 14 days of issue of the revised invoice and receive a full refund of all payments made to SWC less amendment charges and insurance premiums where the policy can be re-used or re-transferred without penalty.
5.2 If you cancel the entry for any other reason SWC will be entitled to retain part of the payment made by you as compensation. A cancellation must be in writing signed by the person who signed the booking form.
Period between notification of cancellation and departure date Amount of cancellation charge
More than 56 days Amount of deposit paid
Less than 56 days The higher of the deposit paid or the relevant sum as below:
56 - 43 days 75% of the entry price plus amendment charges paid
42 - 0 days 100% of the entry price plus amendment charges paid
By SWC:
5.3 SWC will notify you as quickly as possible of any cancellation.
5.4 SWC may cancel the entry if you do not pay the balance of the price on time and SWC may retain the deposit you have paid.
5.5 It is unlikely that SWC will have to cancel your entry in any other circumstances but entry arrangements are made many months in advance and SWC is dependent upon a number of essential suppliers. Therefore SWC reserves the right to do so, but you will be entitled to either:
have a full refund; or
accept a substitute package from SWC of equivalent or closely similar standard and price, if one is available; or
choose a substitute package of a lower standard to the travel arrangements booked together with a refund of the difference in price.
SWC will also if appropriate pay you compensation as provided in clause 6 below.
6. Liability, limits on liability and compensation
6.1 SWC accepts responsibility, subject as limited by these booking conditions, for supplying to you all entry services booked by you, even though SWC will have engaged independent suppliers to provide certain of these services. For the avoidance of doubt SWC is not responsible for and has no liability for the acts or omissions of persons who are not acting as its employees or suppliers (such as for excursions or other activities which you do not book through SWC, since these are contracts by you with the local supplier and not with SWC).
6.2 SWC will have no liability to pay compensation to you for any failure to properly perform the entry contract, where the failure is attributable to you. Examples would be that any member of your party is unable to travel for medical reasons, or fails to take his/her passport with him/her or a passport which meets the requirements of the country(ies) of the entry (some countries require you to have at least 6 months validity on your passport from the date on which you leave that country), or to get a required visa or health certificate, or to check in early enough to catch the flight or to turn up in time for an excursion/activity for whatever reason, or mislays or loses entry documentation, or is reasonably excluded by a supplier because of misconduct or medical reasons, or is not provided with a entry service because of an error in the information given by you.
6.3 SWC will have no liability to pay compensation to you for any failure to properly perform the entry contract, where the failure is:
attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the entry services, and which was unforeseeable or unavoidable
due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond SWC's control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised
due to an event which SWC, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.
Examples of the above circumstances would be war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, actions of governments or other state bodies, unavoidable technical problems with transport, machinery or equipment, power failure, natural or nuclear disaster, avalanche, fire, adverse weather conditions or levels of water in rivers, or that any of the above are threatened.
6.4 Where SWC is required to pay you compensation, whether as provided in these booking terms or otherwise, SWC will pay £40 per person. SWC may in appropriate circumstances increase the sum but SWC's liability to pay compensation shall be limited in all circumstances to the lesser of:
a maximum of three times the price of the entry, except as regards any liability in respect of death or injury for air or sea travel to the extent permissible under relevant international conventions or conditions of carriage. Copies of relevant international conventions are available on request. Conditions of carriage often prohibit you from changing the schedule, do not allow refunds, allow the carrier to change schedules without prior notice, restrict free luggage and restrict or deny compensation for delays and cancellation.
7. Complaints
If you have a complaint about your entry then you should immediately contact SWC's representative, even while on entry, because matters are most easily resolved on the spot where SWC's representative can see and understand the exact nature of the problem you have. It is unreasonable to take no action while you are on entry, then complain afterwards. If SWC's representative cannot sort out your problem before you return home then you should contact SWC within 28 days of returning home. If you do not complain within that period then this may affect SWC's ability to investigate your complaint and may impact on the way that your complaint is dealt with.
8. Law and jurisdiction
Any dispute between you and SWC will be governed by the laws of England. Any legal action concerning your entry or these booking terms shall be brought in the English Courts, unless you live outside England when your local court will also have jurisdiction.