Booking Terms and Conditions

Voucher Purchase:

1. All purchases of a voucher for a hot air balloon flight experience must be made on our standard booking form or submitted electronically from our web site

2. Vouchers may be purchased by telephone if payment is made by credit card but you must send us a completed and signed booking form as soon as possible.

3. This contract is made with you but you can give the flight experience (on the terms of this contract) to someone else provided you tell us in writing. These Terms and Conditions will still apply and "you" in the rest of these Terms and Conditions will refer to that person

4. It is our intention that all the terms of the contract between us are contained in these terms and conditions and in the brochures and associated documents (if any) issued by us. If you wish to rely upon any variation in these terms you should ensure that the variations are agreed in writing by us when the completed booking form is returned. If you purchase a voucher through a booking agent or a hotel you should agree any variation in these terms with us and not the booking agent or hotel.

5. The purchase of any voucher can be cancelled by returning all the associated documents within 7 days of the transaction unless the activity date and time has already been booked. Refunds will always be made to the person who paid for the voucher, and if originally purchased by a credit card, the refund will be credited to the same credit card. The purchaser or the person(s) for whom the flight is intended need to be aware that the provision of the service is both seasonal and entirely weather dependant and may occur more than 30 days after the transaction.

Our obligations to you:

1. The voucher will entitle you to participate in a hot air balloon flight experience at a date, to be arranged, within 12 months of its purchase unless stated otherwise, including the preparation and inflation of the balloon for flight, a flight in a hot air balloon, champagne or soft drinks as preferred, deflation and packing away of the hot air balloon, return of balloon to meeting place and commemorative flight certificate.

2. The voucher is not redeemable for cash. As an alternative to a hot air balloon flight experience as defined in paragraph 1 above, you may choose items from the company's range of merchandise and ballooning memorabilia including carriage to the purchase value of the voucher provided that you have not booked or attempted to book a flight.

3. Hot air balloon flights are completely dependent upon the weather and are regulated by the Air Navigation Order. It may be necessary to postpone a flight at any time if in our judgment the conditions are not safe or the flight would not be permitted under the Air Navigation Order. We will give you as much warning as operational procedures allow of any postponement, but in order to ensure your safety we reserve the right to postpone a flight at any time up to the moment of launch. If flights are suspended due to operational restrictions beyond the Company’s control, validity of reservations will be extended by the period of such restrictions.

4. It is intended that the balloon will be in the air for approximately 1 hour but the pilot has ultimate responsibility for deciding the duration and conduct of any flight and the appropriate time and place of any landing. We cannot guarantee that a flight will follow any particular direction.

5. If we have to postpone your flight on eight or more occasions and your voucher is then valid for a period of less than two months we will extend the validity period of your voucher to include the first three months of the main flying season which is April to October. If this extends the validity of the voucher into the main flying season of the next year, the voucher will also be valid for the intervening months.

6. We will make you a refund less our reasonable marketing and administration costs (see Clause 9) in the following circumstances:-

i. If you die or it is certified by a doctor that there is no possibility that you will be or were medically fit to fly (other than by reason of pregnancy) during the validity period of your voucher

ii.If we have agreed in writing at the time of the voucher purchase that the flight must be taken on a specified date or within a specified period of time of not more than one month and we are unable to fly at that time.

7. If you are unable to fly during the validity period of your voucher because you are pregnant we will extend the validity period by twelve months, if you notify us in writing.

8. Refunds in any other circumstances are at our discretion and any request for a refund must be made in writing.

9. Our marketing and administration costs are 42 per cent of the voucher price.

10. We carry limited insurance cover against the risk of any injury or damage to passengers and their belongings during the course of our flights in accordance with international agreements covering air transport. The level of cover varies from time to time as a result of currency fluctuations and you may not consider it adequate. We can provide further details upon request and if you do not consider that the amount of insurance cover would be adequate to compensate you for any loss whether for death or personal injury or damage to your belongings you should take out your own additional cover. We will not be liable for any loss or damage to equipment and effects brought with you on the flight nor for death or personal injury above the level of our insurance cover unless it has been caused by our recklessness.

11. We do not accept liability for any costs or expenses you incur if we have to postpone any flight, where the reason for the postponement is beyond our control.

12. We cannot supervise vehicles parked at the meeting point for a flight and vehicles and their contents are left at you risk and no liability is accepted for any loss or damage to your vehicle or contents unless it is due to our negligence.

13. If flights are suspended due to operational restrictions beyond the Company’s control, the validity of Gift Vouchers will be extended by the period of such restrictions. We cannot be held liable for any of the client’s losses or cost of whatever nature that result from the suspension of any flights in accordance with this clause.

Your obligations to us:

1. Your voucher is valid for a period of 12 months from the date upon which it was bought, unless stated otherwise. If your flight is not taken within that time you will lose the right to participate in a flight unless you have booked flights on eight occasions during the main flying season which have had to be postponed or the validity period of the voucher has been extended for some other reason under these terms and conditions.

2. You must contact us a minimum of nine months prior to the expiry date shown on the voucher (or proportionately less if the voucher is less than 12 month validity), quoting the booking number on the voucher, to make a first booking for your flight which must be for a date at least six months prior to the expiry date of your voucher (or proportionately less if the voucher is less than 12 month validity, and in the main flying season. If you do not do so and do not take your flight within the validity period the voucher will expire at the end of its validity period and you will lose the right to a flight. We will not make any refund in these circumstances.

3. If payment was not made in full when the voucher was purchased the balance must be paid thirty days before the first date for which you book your flight.

4. You must telephone to check that the flight has not been affected by adverse weather conditions in accordance with our instructions.

5. You may postpone your flight by speaking to us direct (office hours 9:30am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday):-

i. Up to 72 hours before the meeting time for the flight which you have booked if your flight has been booked for a day between Tuesday and Saturday inclusive.

ii. Up to 96 hours before the meeting time for the flight which you have booked if your flight has been booked for a Sunday or a Monday;

provided that at the time you do so you re-schedule your flight for a mutually convenient date within one month of the postponed flight. An out of office hours answering machine message or e-mail is not acceptable as a method of postponement

6. If you do not give notice of postponement in accordance with paragraph 5 above or do not attend in time to take part in your booked flight, you will not be entitled to a re-scheduled flight nor to any refund.

7. We are not qualified to express an opinion confirming that you are fit to fly and you must ensure that you are fit to fly. You must not fly if you are suffering from any serious medical condition, or have recently undergone surgery, or are disabled unless you have a certificate of your fitness to fly from your doctor. You must not fly if you are pregnant or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

8. Our paramount consideration is your safety and the safety of others participating in the flight and you must obey all requests and instructions issued by any of our representatives and take particular care to abide by any safety instructions given. The pilot has complete discretion as to whether to allow you to take part in the flight and will refuse to allow you to do so if in his opinion you would be a risk to the balloon to other passengers or to yourself.

9. We will not fly children under the age of 7 years. A child under the age of 16 years will only be flown if accompanied by a responsible adult.

10. You should wear such appropriate clothing as is advised to you and detailed in our brochure.

11. Ballooning activities intrinsically involve the possibility of physical risks greater than those encountered in daily life even though they are conducted under the supervision of Commercial pilots who exercise all due precautions to ensure safety. By taking part in such ballooning activities, passengers are understood to be fully aware of these risks.

These terms and conditions are, with permitted changes, the standard terms and conditions of the hot air ballooning industry as agreed with the Office of Fair Trading, under their reference ca/wct/c/fh/1118/96 and have been registered in the register of restrictive trading agreements as file s/10266.