The Invoice
Once we have received your deposit you can view your statement by logging onto your booking on-line. Please can we ask that you keep us up to date with your party composition in order to keep your statement accurate. Please note that your final invoice is due no later than 12 weeks before departure. We reserve the right to make an administrative charge of up to £15 per person should final details and/or payments not be received within these time scales.
Your names list and ski pack details must also be added to your booking, (under ‘group list’ and ‘ski list’). This information is vital to our office administration and any delay could jeopardize your reservation.
Alterations in Party Composition
Should you have an alteration or cancellation please notify us by writing immediately, reconfirming the composition of the party, and any revised adult room requirements that may be appropriate.
Cancellations are only accepted when received in writing, and charges will be made as follows:
- More than 12 weeks before departure: loss of all deposits paid or due.
- Between 4 and 12 weeks before departure: 60% of total cost to be paid
- Less than 4 weeks before departure: 80% of total cost to be paid
- 2 weeks or less before departure: total invoiced cost
You may, of course, make a claim on the insurance if your cancellation comes within the terms of the policy.
Adult Supplement
The adult supplement applies to all paying passengers aged over 18 years - excluding students in full time education. The charge is £40 per person on high season dates, and £30 on all other departure dates. In addition there is the cost of the adult lift pass, which varies dependent on the resort selected, and usually costs between £27 - £55. (Please note that all passengers of 18 years of age - regardless if they are students or otherwise, will require the adult lift pass). In certain resorts, youth lift pass supplements apply for pupils aged from 15 years and full details are shown in our price listings.
Concessions
Reductions for Party Leaders family:
- 30 full paying passengers - 25% reduction on pupil price for one family member.
- 40 full paying passengers - 50% reduction on pupil price for one family member.
- 60 full paying passengers - 50% reduction on pupil price for 1st family member, and 25% reduction on pupil price for 2nd family member.
- Infants under 2 years - no charge made by TJM. (The hotel or airline may make a small charge.)
Free Places
On air tours, we offer one free supervisory place per 10 full paying members, which includes the lift pass, equipment hire and insurance. With a minimum of 32 full paying members, a 1:8 ratio is available at an additional cost of approximately £30 per person for tours by air.
On coach tours we offer one free supervisory place per 8 full paying passengers. Passports
Every member of the party must be in possession of a valid passport. Pupils under 18 years of age can travel on a Collective Passport, although this is not included in the tour cost. Individual identity cards may also be required, and your regional passport office will be able to give you up to date information and advise. To obtain the application forms for the Collective Passport and the identity cards, please contact your regional passport office, who will also be able to answer any queries you may have regarding application procedure. Party Leaders are entirely responsible for ensuring that all members of the group have the correct and valid documentation. The completed documentation should be sent to the "Collective Passport Section" of your Passport Office along with the appropriate fee (fee applicable per Collective Passport application) at least six weeks before your date of travel. You should, if possible, allow more time between January and July when demand is greatest.
PLEASE NOTE THAT RYANAIR DO NOT ACCEPT GROUP PASSPORTS.
Main Enquiries - 0870 5210410
Foreign nationals cannot be included on group passports and often require visas to enter the country to be visited. Please check with the appropriate embassy. Without visas, they will not be accepted for the flight or granted entry to the country if they are travelling by coach.
We advise you to photocopy the Collective Passport in triplicate prior to departure, as you are sometimes required to leave a copy at customs. It should be stressed that Passport regulations are sometimes changed, often at short notice, and it is important that you check with the Passport Office for regulations relative to your particular group. Insurance
All members of your party are covered by our comprehensive policy, details of which are enclosed. In serious cases, we have negotiated with the doctors, ambulance and mountain rescue, settlement of charges directly from the insurers - you will simply be required to pay the "excess". However, in other cases you will be required to pay for services and medication, and we therefore recommend, as a precautionary measure, that party leaders carry with them an emergency float of traveller's cheques or cash to cover all eventualities. We would recommend a minimum sum of £300-£500 for an average group of up to 30 persons. Naturally in accordance with the terms of cover, expenditure, with the exception of the policy excess and premium, can be reclaimed from the insurance company on production of the appropriate forms and receipts. If you are travelling to a European Union country, you are requested to obtain a form E111 available free of charge from all post offices for each passenger in your party. This will entitle the holder to medical attention in publicly run hospitals under the EC reciprocal agreement, and will also be requested by the Insurance Company's loss adjusters in the event of a medical claim on your return to the UK.
All insurance claims (apart from damaged, delayed or lost airline baggage) must be made direct to the loss adjusters acting for the insurance company and details of their address and telephone number are indicated on the insurance policy.
Please ensure that you obtain all the appropriate documentation such as receipts, police statements (for stolen articles, etc.) whilst you are abroad as all claims will need to be substantiated. For any article which is lost or stolen whilst in the care of an airline, a claim must be made direct to the carrier or handling agent at the airport on landing, by the completion of a PIR form. Do not leave the airport before completing this form, and handing it to the airport official responsible for baggage claims. Allocation Of Flights
On a number of dates we operate a number of flights and although preferences for flight times will be noted, the allocation to any particular flight is strictly based on final numbers and overseas resort transfers. We will therefore not be in a position to confirm your departure time and flight number until approximately two weeks before departure. London airports include; Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
Baggage
The baggage allowance on our flights is 20 kilos per person. This includes one small piece of hand luggage you are allowed to take into the cabin of the aircraft. Own ski equipment must be pre-booked (charge of £25) per pair of skis: maximum of one pair per person on ski flights). On coach tours space for skis is strictly limited and must in any case be pre-booked.
Accommodation
Allocation of Hotel
In some resorts, we feature more than one hotel/apartment/chalet or centre, and whilst we note your preference indicated on the booking form - this cannot be guaranteed. Our contracts bind us to fill hotels to maximum occupancy, and obviously our ultimate allocation is based entirely on final group numbers, which we do not receive until 12 weeks before departure. From time to time, especially over high season periods, we may also use accommodation not featured in our brochure. In such cases we can assure you that this will be of a similar standard to the advertised accommodation, and will be inspected and approved by a senior member of our staff. We will normally be in a position to confirm hotel allocations some 6-8 weeks before departure.
Rooming Requests
Our school ski programme is based on maximum bed occupancy in all our accommodation, and whilst every effort is made to meet special rooming requests, these cannot be guaranteed. Rooms are assigned by Hoteliers/Managers and they will usually only be able to finalise your allocation a few days before arrival in resort. They may, at their discretion, alter this allocation, advising you on arrival at the hotel of the change. For adults travelling on free supervisory places, we aim to offer 2/3 bedded rooms, and it should be noted that (except in exceptional circumstances) single rooms, when available, are not provided unless a supplement of £15 per night is paid. Where accompanying staff cannot be accommodated in twin or three bedded rooms, occasionally we will try to arrange for the staff member to share a twin room with an adult of the same sex from another group. For all additional adults travelling over and above three free supervisory places, a supplement of £5 per person per night will be applicable for twin room occupancy in European destinations. Please note that in some hotels where there are a large number of multi bedded rooms, adults may be asked to share higher occupancy rooms. Other hotels in our programme may also fall into this category. Apartments
The cost of ski tours featuring apartment style accommodation is based on total bed occupancy. Four and six bedded studios are the norm, and the layout usually allows for a degree of privacy - but separate access to bathroom facilities cannot be guaranteed. If single or twin occupancy is required and confirmed to be available then a supplement will be levied, and our office will advise the cost. Please note that, in apartments, full occupancy also applies to staff apartments.
Room Availability On Arrival & Departure Day
On your arrival at the resort, in most instances your allocated rooms will be ready for occupation. However, occasionally this will not always be possible. The hotel staff will endeavor to prepare these rooms will the least possible delay and we would ask for your patience. All rooms and apartments without exception should be vacated by 09:00 hours on the day of departure. For coach groups only, who ski the last day and depart after the evening meal, subject to availability, a limited number of changing areas with shower facilities may be provided. These will not necessarily be rooms that have been occupied by your party.
Damage to Hotels/Apartments
On arrival at your accommodation you may be expected to pay a refundable deposit in the local currency or in sterling in the form of travelers cheques, cash or credit card (if applicable at hotel). The deposit payable will be £200 sterling (or equivalent) per group. You should immediately inspect all the rooms provided for your party and if there are any damages or breakages already apparent, they should be brought to the attention of the resort representative or hotelier in writing without delay. On departure, the hotel room/apartment will be checked and provided all is in order your deposit will be returned to you. Should your homeward journey necessitate a very early morning departure before a cheque can be made by hotel staff, the deposit will be returned to you directly by our Head Office, once authorised.
Skiing
Poor Conditions
It should be noted that if the snow conditions are poor it may be necessary to transfer on a daily basis to higher slopes, possibly in another resort. In this event, the cost of both transportation and ski pass are to be met in full by the party. Insurance supplied by TJM SKITOPIA as a part of your package will, in many instances, mean much of this cost is reclaimable.
Ski School
In our French resorts, ski school is normally provided by local 'Ecole de Ski Francais' instructors, in other countries it is normal for us to use a local ski school. Your tour price generally includes 6 x 2 hour lessons, any additional tuition should be booked and paid for in the UK. It should be noted that lessons are based on an average of 1:13 instructor/pupil ratio. Accompanying adults are not included in ski school ratios. In some cases we may mix school parties so that ski group sizes of 13 pupils of a similar standard are achieved. Group leaders should therefore be flexible regarding lesson timings as it may mean that tuition groups are spread over two or more sessions, and pupils in your party may not all have lessons at the same time. Whilst we endeavor to meet the groups requirements in full regarding ski instruction, please be aware that lesson times are at the sole discretion of the local ski school.
Please note that children under 7 years of age cannot be accepted for Ski School. On the small number of occasions where this applies, it will usually relate to party leaders children, and in such cases the concessions that we offer cannot extend to additional kindergarten charges, or local ski school who may operate classes for younger children. You will need to budget for this expense if this facility is required and this must be booked and paid for in resort. Lift Pass Photos
Where Passport type photographs are required, we would strongly advise that these should be taken with you when you travel. Currently Montgenevre and Serre Chevalier operate an electronic system where photos are not required.
Ski Breakage Insurance
If you are hiring ski equipment through TJM then ski breakage/loss insurance is included in your basic tour cost. (N.B. excesses may apply)
Where equipment is lost or damaged, full payment will be required in resort, and a claim should be made to the Insurance Loss Adjustor for reimbursement. Please note that ski breakage insurance is only valid for equipment pre-booked and paid for in the UK through TJM, and may not cover personal ski equipment, or private hire arrangements. Clients Taking Their Own Skis & Boots
If any member of your group takes his/her own equipment, we regret no reduction can be offered on the price of the tour. Please be sure to indicate in the space provided on the names list that own equipment is being taken so that the carriage can be reserved and the airlines/coach company can be informed prior to travel. Cost of carriage of own skis/snowboard on the aircraft will be £25.00 per pair.
Party Leaders Responsibilities In The Resort
The party leader must accept full responsibility for the good conduct of all participants during the ski course and warrant that at least one responsible adult will be "on duty" at all times to guarantee all participants' behaviour. Furthermore, it is the party leader's responsibility to ensure that:
- No participant under 18 years of age consumes alcoholic drinks unless written permission from a parent or guardian can be produced.
- All local laws relating to the consumption of alcohol are at all times obeyed by participants.
- No participant consumes alcohol to excess.
- No participant smokes in the bedrooms or apartments or corridors in any way that causes a fire hazard.
- Participants act in a responsible fashion during the ski course and do not behave in a way likely to cause damage to property, or damage or offence to other people.
- Pupils are supervised at all times on the mountain.
- No pupil is in possession of, or attempts to use any illegal substance at any time during the tour.
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