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We have prepared some important information that’s designed to make your holiday decision easy. Please read it carefully before you book, as it forms part of the contract between us.
Our Address
King’s Place
12-42 Wood Street
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey
KT1 1JY
Minimum Age
We do not accept bookings made in the name of persons aged under 18 years.
Holiday Insurance
It is a condition of booking that you take travel insurance which must be of at least equal standard to Thomson-recommended Insurance. You must either take the cover recommended by us or take out another policy offering at least the same or better cover (no liability will be accepted for the consequences of your travelling without adequate travel insurance).
Brochure Accuracy
All information in the brochure is to the best of our knowledge and belief correct at the time of publication. However, we reserve the right to make changes to information contained within our brochure and will advise you of these changes at point of booking or when they are known to us. This advice will be limited to that which is fundamental to the contract or which we believe may affect the enjoyment of your holiday.
If any facility detailed in this brochure is essential to the enjoyment of your holiday, please advise us at the time of booking and we will try to advise you of the latest information. However, we are sure you will understand that at times certain advertised facilities may not be in operation and we may have no information or prior warning of such matters. Many pictures are included for their attractiveness and general relevance; those with specific notation refer to hotels or relevant features. Photographs of rooms represent the type of accommodation available, but not all rooms will be the same and room sizes, decor and furnishings will vary, particularly in older or historical buildings. Where a property is described as having skiing to/from the door, this is naturally subject to the individual skier’s ability and normal snow conditions in that resort at the time.
Early and Late Season/Peak Dates
During local or national holidays abroad, you may find facilities like ski schools and shops are closed or have limited opening hours. If visiting a specific place is important to you, call your destination’s local tourist office direct. You may find certain facilities, such as restaurants or nightclubs, closed during your stay, perhaps for redecoration. These closures may affect facilities in your accommodation as well as in the resort, especially early and late in the season. At the beginning and end of the season some ski lifts may not be open and ski and public bus services may not be fully operational. If you are free to travel at any time and not tied to school holidays, we would recommend that you avoid peak dates such as half-term as many resorts are extremely busy.
Resort Development
Ski resorts grow and change, as do all towns, but the noise and inconvenience of building works seem worse when you’re away. Our resort staff keeps us informed about building works, especially in growing resorts. While we have no control over building works, we will do our best to tell you about any specific work being carried out near your accommodation, if there is time before you go on holiday.
Artist’s Impressions and Computer Generated Images
In some cases in this brochure we have had to use an artist’s impression or a computer generated image of a hotel, apartment residence or chalet. This image will be an accurate representation of the property based upon the information available to us at the time of publication of this brochure.
Choosing Your Resort
Special Requests
For any special requests consult your travel agent or the Thomson Reservations Department when you confirm your holiday booking. We shall always do our best to meet your requirements, but no guarantee is given, as this does not form part of our holiday contract with you, irrespective of the fact that details of the request may be found on your confirmation invoice. If, however, your request is essential to your holiday arrangements, please make this known at the time of booking in order that we can ascertain whether this is possible with our supplier. This will require us contacting the supplier and confirming the request to you in writing, for which there will be an administration charge of £25.
Après Ski Events
The advertised programme of events is dependant upon achieving a minimum number of participants and, therefore, some events may not always be available due to insufficient demand or, in some cases, adverse weather conditions. All mentioned restaurants and other venues featured in this brochure which are not owned by Thomson Ski & Snowboarding are not under our direct control and have not been inspected by us. Therefore, any recommendation is merely an indication that these facilities have proved popular and are worthy of mention and not a personal recommendation by Thomson Ski & Snowboarding.
Price Check
Our Price Check panel featured within every Resort Guide gives you a fair indication of what you can expect to pay for food and drink on and off the slopes (prices based on ski season 2005/2006 and may be subject to change).
Families on the Slopes
Thomson Creche/Club Facilities
These are always subject to both availability and demand and may be withdrawn at any time. Thomson crèches are in a dedicated and independent room within each of the buildings which is set aside for the crèche only. Places are open to any Thomson customer staying in the resort on a drop-off and pick-up basis. We have a maximum number of children allowed in the crèche and the ratio of nannies to children is always maintained.
If any of our childcare staff are ill, or unavailable, we may have to withdraw these facilities, unless we are able to provide suitably qualified staff, immediately. If your child suffers from illness, disability, allergies or needs medication, you must provide us with details at time of booking and before leaving the child with our staff. A Special Needs form is available and must be completed prior to confirmation of the reservation. We reserve the right to refuse to accept any child or to withdraw any child from our care if, due to illness or other reasons, it is not possible for us to provide suitable care, or if they pose a potential risk to other children or our staff. Parents and guardians must be contactable at all times. Please note that bookings made for the Thomson Polar Bear Creche and Arctic Rangers Club are non refundable, except in special circumstances.
Thomson Arctic Rangers Club
Places in our Artic Rangers Club are limited so bookings must be made on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. It might be possible to book your child into the Arctic Rangers Club in resort but as space is limited we strongly recommend that you pre-book in the UK to avoid disappointment. Booking in resort is possible on a daily basis, subject to availability. Lunch is either a packed lunch or a 2 or 3 course meal in a local restaurant or in the Club itself. Children should be dropped off at the Arctic Rangers Club or allocated meeting point and collected later as described on page 13. We will not pick children up from your accommodation. Remember ski school is not included in the Arctic Rangers Club. Please see resort introduction pages for how to book ski school and check the minimum age. if your child is too young for ski school (usually age 3-5 years) we will advise you to see your Thomson Representative on arrival in resort who will be able to check availability and possibly get your child into ski kindergarten for which there will be an extra charge. There will be at least one English-speaking qualified Children’s Representative in the Arctic Rangers Club (NNEB, BTEC, NVQ, Nursery Teacher, qualified Nurse – RGN or similar).
Resort Kindergarten and Ski School Facilities
You are able to pre-book a selection of resort kindergartens which are locally run and have been inspected to ensure that they meet the standards you require.
Independently operated resort kindergarten and ski school facilities will comply with local regulations. Therefore, we have not inspected these facilities or premises and are unable to guarantee that the level of care provided will suit your requirements. Should you have any queries or wish to make a booking please contact the local tourist office telephone, numbers are available on request.
Hotel crèches and other children’s facilities are not operated by Thomson Ski & Snowboarding and therefore we have no control over their operation and cannot guarantee the level of care provided will suit your requirements.
Free Child Places, Prices & Booking Conditions
Thomson Ski & Snowboarding offers FREE kids places on selected flights and Self Drive holidays.
Booking Conditions for Free child places:
• Available on 7 night holidays to selected hotels, chalets, club hotels and apartments/studios
• Free places are limited – when they are sold, no more will be available
• Only 1 free child place is available per hotel room or apartment
• A free child place is only available for a child sharing a hotel room, chalet room or apartment with 2 full fare paying adults
• Children with a free place pay the normal flight and room supplements paid by other people on the holiday booking
• Deposits must be paid for children with a free place, which will be adjusted when you pay for your holiday in full
• Free places are available only on selected flights
Important Information
• Children with free places or who pay the special child prices in chalets and Club Hotels do count towards the occupancy. Please note that if the number of adults and children combined are not equal to the full occupancy then an underoccupancy supplement is payable.
• Children with free places or who pay the special child prices do not count towards the occupancy of the hotel or apartment. This means that the price for all other members of your party will depend on the number of full fare paying passengers sharing the room or apartment, and they may have to pay underunder occupancy supplements. This can be particularly important in Canada.
• In self-catering accommodation or chalets, if there are more children than adults in your party, it may be better to book one or more children as adults to claim the best level of reductions. However, you cannot book children as adults into a non-Family Chalet unless your party is taking the whole chalet. If you do book children as adults into a non-Family Chalet we reserve the right to provide alternative accommodation upon arrival in resort and pass on any additional costs incurred. If you have any doubts on child prices, ask your travel agent or if booking direct call the Thomson Ski & Snowboarding Team on 0870 606 1470 for advice.
• All children and infants must have adequate holiday insurance – see “Travel Insurance”.
• If you claim reductions for children older than the specified age range, you will have to pay the full adult price plus the appropriate amendment fee before any of your party can travel.
• We do not accept bookings for children under 18 years unaccompanied by an adult.
• Cots are usually available and should be requested at the time of booking. Any additional payment for food/cot hire must be paid directly to hotels. Cot linen is not usually provided. Please note we cannot guarantee that cots will meet British Safety Standards and that the inclusion of a cot may restrict room space.
• FREE places and child reductions cannot be used in conjunction with self-drive discounts
Representation
We have at least one resident resort representative based in the majority of our destinations. For the few resorts where this is not the case, you will have the services either of a Thomson representative from a nearby resort or from an appointed local agent/hotelier who will give guidance and assistance. Details of an emergency contact number will be provided with your travel documents.
Ski and Snowboard Rangers
Your Thomson Ranger is there to help you get to know the area. They will have good all round knowledge of the resort and at our pre-season training course will have undergone basic training in mountain safety, as well as group leadership. However, they will not provide instruction – if you require lessons, you must book them with the local ski school.
Places for escorted groups are on a first-come, first-served basis, provided your standard allows you to keep pace with the rest of the group. Your Ranger will assess your standard on the day whilst taking the weather conditions into consideration. Days of operation for different standards of skier/boarder will also be advised at the beginning of your holiday.
This service is available at least 3 days a week in selected resorts in, France, Italy, Austria and Andorra and at least 1 day in USA, Canada and Switzerland. In order to ensure mountain safety this service will only operate with a minimum of 3 people and a maximum of 12.
Most of our Rangers are skiers but we also offer a Snowboard Ranger service in selected resorts. Our Ski Rangers are happy to accept boarders in their groups, and our Snowboard Rangers will accept skiers, as long as they feel that your standard is suitable for that day’s tour. Please note that the Thomson Ranger service may be restricted or curtailed by local regulations in force. A local charge may be levied if local authorities insist on the use of local instructors and we are obliged to use this service.
“Late Deal” and “Ski Savers” Bookings
Late Deal bookings may be allocated into apartments, hotels, chalets, Club Hotels or mobile homes. Neither Thomson nor the travel agent know precisely which resort or accommodation will be allocated at the time of booking, as this is done locally, except where supplements have been paid to guarantee a specified resort area, termed a Resort Late Deal. In all cases the standard of accommodation will vary according to availability but we will provide you with accommodation of the star rating selected by you. However, we cannot guarantee any specific facilities will be available other than those confirmed on the invoice and accommodation may be provided in non-smoking or Family Chalets. Accommodation is not always from that advertised within our brochure and may or may not represent a financial saving on brochure prices, particularly when extra flights or accommodation have been contracted to meet demand. As rooms are allocated locally, we cannot guarantee that rooms booked on a Late Deal for groups will all be in the same property.
If half-board is requested this will be indicated on your invoices as “CA or HB”. However, this does not guarantee either hotel or chalet accommodation will be provided. Half-board arrangements may be provided by way of vouchers for restaurants, hotels in the resort, or by an arrangement with one specific hotel or restaurant. A “CA or HB” Late Deals allocated into one of our chalets or club hotels will receive meals on the same basis as described on pages 9 and 12 where dinner is for 6 nights per week only.
Please note: we are unable to guarantee any special requests on Late Deal holidays or specify the bed type.
For Bulgaria, we strongly recommend pre-booking ski packs with us, as resort prices are considerably higher.
The Thomson Ski Money Back Guarantee does not apply to Late Deal Holidays.
For bookings within 2 weeks of travel, a ticket on departure is compulsory at an extra charge of £10 per person, or more if express delivery is required.
LATE DEAL BOOKINGS AND SKI SAVERS DO NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY SPECIAL OFFERS ADVERTISED IN THE BROCHURE AS AVAILABLE AT THEIR DESIGNATED ACCOMMODATION.
Currency
• A small amount of foreign money can be very useful when you arrive abroad. In Slovenia, Serbia and Bulgaria, sterling is widely accepted in banks, hotels and bureaux de change.
• Scottish and Northern Irish Bank Notes can cause confusion outside the UK. Should you wish to take any sterling abroad, it’s probably best to take English Sterling notes.
• Credit/Cash Cards – Most major credit cards are widely accepted in most countries abroad and can often be used in automated cash dispensers with your usual PIN number. Most European countries also accept cash cards with Cirrus & Maestro using your existing PIN number. Credit cards are not widely used in Austria, Bulgaria and Serbia.
• Brochure prices – our brochure prices are in £ sterling.
The Thomson Money Back Guarantee
Holiday brochures can sound great but when you reach your resort, sometimes you find they’ve stretched the truth. With Thomson Ski & Snowboarding it’s different – what you see in the brochure is what you get on the holiday. If you arrive and we’ve failed to live up to the promises made in our brochure, here’s what we will do:
1. Within one day of arrival, let your Thomson Ski & Snowboarding Representative know the problem, we will then spend 24 hours doing everything possible to put it right.
2. In the unlikely event we can’t solve the problem to your satisfaction within 24 hours, and you advise your representative you wish to curtail your holiday, we will fly you home and give you all your money back. This guarantee does not cover Late Deals.
Group Bookings
To qualify for your FREE group places the following conditions must apply:
• FREE places are available on 7 day charter flights to Europe
• Supplements, insurance and ski packs are not included
• Group must book for the same date, duration and resort
• Only 1 FREE child place is allowed per group
• The FREE places given will apply to the lowest priced holiday
• Additional passengers booking at a later date cannot alter the original group discount.
• Reductions in group size will have FREE places reduced accordingly
• All passengers must pay full deposit, regardless of FREE places. Deposits on FREE places will be credited once final payment has been made
• Two children who receive a percentage discounted price holiday will be counted as one full paying passenger in a group
• Group FREE Places cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer advertised.
• To qualify for the FREE Lift Pass Offer, all adults in the party must pre-book their lift pass
• Names should be supplied at least 10 weeks before departure or by agreement by the Thomson Ski Reservations Team, except for scheduled flights which require all names at time of booking. A name change after this will incur an amendment fee – see ‘Your Agreement with us 3’ of Terms and Conditions
• An administration charge will be levied for pre-booking additional overseas facilities
• Group reductions do not apply to European scheduled flights
You cannot book a group booking on-line so please contact our Groups Department if your group size is greater than 8 people
• All other special offers including No Single Room Supplements are limited
• All members of the group must have adequate holiday insurance and the lead name on the booking must ensure this is the case
High Season/Low Season Supplements
Our room and under-occupancy supplements in Canada and USA have high and low season prices.
The High Season dates apply as follows:
• Departures travelling via Calgary and Denver airports:
HS: Departures on or between 20–26 Dec. LS: All other departures.
• Departures travelling via Boston, Montreal, Reno, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Vancouver airports:
HS: Departures on or between 20-29 Dec. LS: All other departures.
Self-Drive
Children DO qualify for reductions, free places and child prices on Self-Drive holidays. However, a child receiving free or reduced price will NOT receive the Self-Drive discount. Ski-Drive passengers can be counted as part of a group booking and so, DO count towards FREE group places.
Whilst on Holiday
(i) If you want to make changes to the booked arrangements in resort, for example upgrading your accommodation, changing resort or extending or reducing your holiday duration, changes will be subject to availability. Any extra costs or cancellation charges must be paid by you locally. All changes must be arranged with us in writing, either through our local representative/agent, area office or, if this is not possible, our head office in the UK.
(ii) The accommodation booked must only be used by those persons named on your invoice unless otherwise agreed by us in writing. You are not allowed to share the accommodation or let anyone else stay there.
(iii) You are responsible for any damage caused to your holiday accommodation during your stay, except by unknown third parties and any justifiable charges made by the owner/hotel manager in this respect must be paid by you locally.
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