Booking conditions

1 YOUR AGREEMENT WITH US
To make a booking, please return the booking form duly signed and completed together with the non-refundable deposit of £290.00 per person. A contract will come into effect between us when we send out your holiday receipt. The balance is due 8 weeks before the commencement date of the holiday. When booking is made within 8 weeks of the commencement date, a booking is confirmed on receipt of the total holiday cost.

2 PRICES
We guarantee that the price of your holiday will not be subject to any surcharges once the booking has been confirmed, except as a result of an increase in taxes or change in the exchange rate. We will absorb the equivalent of 2% of the holiday price. Should the surcharge be in excess of 10% of the holiday price you will be entitled to cancel your holiday and receive a full refund of monies paid. Should you decide to cancel you must exercise this right within 14 days of the date shown on the surcharge invoice. We will not surcharge within 30 days of the commencement date. We reserve the right to correct errors in both advertised and confirmed prices. We will make corrections as soon as we become aware of an error. Changes and errors do occasionally occur. Please check the price of your holiday at the time of booking. Please be aware that there maybe a small charge for supplementary materials on such courses as PMC/silverclay and stained glass copper foil.

3 OUR LIABILITY TO YOU
3.1 The accommodation, transport and other services we arrange on your behalf belong to and are managed by independent suppliers. However, subject to these conditions, we accept responsibility should you or any members of your party suffer death, personal injury, illness, loss or damage as a result of any proven failure to perform, or improper performance of, any part of our contract with you by any of our employees, agents, suppliers or sub-contractors (providing they were at the time carrying out work authorised by us) except in the following situations. We will not be liable when failure to perform or improper performance was due to (a) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the holiday and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or (c) an event which ourselves or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not have foreseen or avoided even with due care.

3.2 We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any and all claims or part claims, which do not involve personal injury, illness or death. Except where loss of and/or damage to luggage or personal possessions is concerned or a lower limitation of liability applies to your claim, the maximum amount we will have to pay you for such non-personal injury claims if we are found liable to you on any basis is twice the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid in respect of each person affected. The maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit from your holiday.

3.3 It is a condition of the acceptance of liability set out above that you will notify us of any claim you and/or member(s) of your party have in accordance with the complaints procedure set out below. Any person(s) to whom any payment is made must also assign to ourselves, or our insurers, any rights they may have to pursue any third party in connection with the claim. You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require with that claim.

3.4 In all cases, our liabilities, in respect of carriers and hotel keepers are limited as if we were carriers/hotel keepers within the applicable international conventions.

3.5 Travel arrangements are subject to suppliers’ and carriers’ conditions. See section 5 – Conditions of Suppliers.

3.6 Our coaches leave the airport/hotel at the times specified in the correspondence. Out of respect for our groups, the coaches do not normally wait for late arrivals. It is the responsibility of anyone missing our coach to make his or her way to the destination. The addresses and telephone numbers of the studio and hotel will be sent to you prior to your departure.

4 YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 Your holiday receipt contains all the details of your agreement with us.

4.2 It is your responsibility to check all the information and advise us of any inaccuracy within 7 days of the receipt failing which we cannot accept any liability.
4.3 It is your responsibility to ensure that your papers, passport etc. are in order. Non-EC residents should check visa requirements with their consulate, and obtain one if necessary. Although the United Kingdom is part of the European Union, you are still required to carry a full 10-year passport to travel to a European destination. (Please note: Some overseas countries require your passport to remain valid for a minimum period after entry into that country. If your passport is in its final year of validity, you are advised to check the requirements of the country of your destination).

4.4 You should obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which is a replacement for the E111. The EHIC can be used to cover any necessary medical treatment due to either an accident or illness within the European Economic Area (EEA). The card entitles the holder to state-provided medical treatment within the country they are visiting. This may not cover all of the services that you would expect within the UK. For information on how to obtain a European Heath Insurance Card you can ask at your local Post Office, telephone 0845 606 2030 or apply online at www.ehic.uk.com

4.5 It is your responsibility to book your own flights to Alicante airport. For the convenience of all, we have a common collection point and time. You will need to make sure that your flight arrives before 12.00 on the commencement day and on the final day we will ensure that you arrive back at the airport by 10.30.

4.6 It is your responsibility to advise us in writing, at the time of booking, of any medical or other ailment or allergy. We must also be notified of any special dietary requirement. You are responsible for ensuring that the holiday you have selected is within your physical capabilities.

4.7 You will be responsible for the cost of repairs or replacements to equipment and property that is damaged or lost due to your own incompetence or negligence whilst at the studio.

5 CONDITIONS OF SUPPLIERS
Independent suppliers provide many of the services which make up your holiday. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance to their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier’s liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions. Such terms and conditions are incorporated into our contract with you so that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any exclusions and limitations of liability contained in such terms and conditions apply to our contract with you in relation to those services to which they apply. Copies of the relevant parts of those terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.

6 CHANGING YOUR BOOKING DETAILS
We realise that occasionally you may wish to make minor changes to your booking, which do not involve a change of date, course or transfer to another person. Wherever possible we will endeavour to make these changes, subject to availability, and you will be liable to pay any costs which result.

7 IF YOU TRANSFER YOUR BOOKING TO ANOTHER HOLIDAY
If you decide for any reason not to travel, rather than cancel your booking and incur cancellation charges you may transfer your booking to another holiday. The option to transfer must be taken up 56 days (eight weeks) or more prior to the commencement date. All monies due to us at the time of the transfer shall become non-refundable and may only be used against an alternative holiday taken within 12 months of the original holiday booked. The right to transfer is subject to an administration fee equivalent to 20% of the cancellation charge defined below. This fee is payable within 7 days of receipt of transfer conformation.

8 IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING
If for any reason you cancel your holiday after we have issued the holiday receipt, you must notify us in writing. The cancellation of your holiday comes into effect upon receipt of the written notification from you and the following cancellation charges will be due:

Up to 8 weeks before start date                             Deposit only
56-28 days before start date                                               50%
27-14 days before start date                                               80%
Less than 14 days before start date                                  100%

These cancellation charges apply to all monies due to us at the time of cancellation.

9 IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY
Although we try hard to avoid cancellations and changes to holidays, due to the forward planning of our holidays this is sometimes unavoidable. We must therefore reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel or make changes to your holiday. This includes cancellations due to force majeure or under booking (see definitions below). These changes can be major or minor. In the case of a major change or cancellation (a major change is defined as a change to accommodation of a lower rating for all your holiday or a change of holiday dates) will advise you as soon as possible and give you the following options:

• Accept the new arrangements
• Take an alternative holiday, subject to availability
• Withdraw and accept a full refund of all monies paid (excluding any additional costs we have incurred on your behalf)

In the event of a minor change (any change that is not defined as a major change above), the above options will not be available to you. We also reserve the right for any reason or at any time, at our sole discretion, to decline to accept or to retain any person on a holiday as a client particularly if their conduct is disruptive and affecting the enjoyment of other participants on the trip, and we shall be under no liability for any costs incurred by such person as a result of our doing so.

FORCE MAJEURE is the unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we or our suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers, or similar events beyond our control.

UNDER BOOKING is the situation in which the minimum number of clients required to operate the tour is not met. That number is 8 and we may cancel the tour in these circumstances.

10 TRAVEL INSURANCE
It is a condition of booking a holiday that you are covered by medical and personal accident insurance. This should include repatriation back home. We strongly recommend that you and all your members of your party are adequately insured as soon as you book your holiday as this ensures that your deposit is protected.

11 COMPLAINTS
If you have any complaint whilst on holiday you must report it at the time to CASTANEA Crafts in Spain. Failure to notify the CASTANEA Crafts in Spain representative at the time, providing the company with an opportunity to rectify the cause of the complaint, may result in your loss of any legal rights in respect of the particular matter. Should we be unable to resolve the problem locally, written details must be received at our office within 7 days of your return to the UK.

12 DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY POLICY
To comply with the data protection legislation, we will only hold information supplied by you or other members of your party on our system for use in connection with your booking and to keep you updated with future developments. This data will not be shared with any third party. If you do not wish us to hold such information on our system after your holiday, then please notify us in writing.

13 PHOTOGRAPHS
Photography and filming may occasionally take place for publicity and marketing purposes.

14 YOUR MONEY IS SAFE WITH US
CASTANEA Crafts in Spain, a subsidiary of Inkberrow Design Centre (IDC), is a company committed to customer satisfaction and customer financial protection. All our accommodation and transport is arranged by The Albatross Travel Group Ltd, which is a fully-bonded company, specialising in group travel worldwide. Established in 1985, Albatross is part of an independent group of travel companies that are privately owned by its Directors. As a member of BAWTA, Albatross also operates a client trust account, which means that every penny you pay to them is protected and may not be used by them to pay suppliers until you have returned from your tour. An independent firm of auditors oversees the client trust account. Details of the trust account and the ways in which we protect your money are available in writing upon request.

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