** Covid-19 Addendum to Payments & Refunds Policy **

All bookings currently held with us are still under our current Terms and Conditions and Payment and Refunds Policy (below).

In light of the current Covid-19 situation we appreciate that many people are hesitant about paying deposits and settling balance payments for expeditions and courses in the future. For any bookings made or policies taken out after March 11th 2020, insurance providers are no longer providing cancellation cover for Covid-19. We are responding by removing the need for you to have this cover.

 

The following amendments apply to all new bookings with Mountain Expeditions from March 25th 2020 either until December 31st 2021 or until Covid-19 insurance restrictions are lifted.

 

Covid-19 Deposits

All deposits are now 15% and, as normal, shall be paid to Mountain Expeditions at the time of booking.

 

Covid-19 Cancellation Policy

If the Expedition or UK Course has to be cancelled by Mountain Expeditions due to on-going restrictions of Covid-19 you will be offered an alternative date or equivalent trip in the future. If this does not suit you, then we will refund all payments made to us in respect of your trip.

EXPEDITIONS – All payments made for expeditions, including the deposit, are refundable in full up to a maximum of 6 weeks prior to departure. At 6 weeks Mountain Expeditions will either confirm the expedition – at which point in time you can go ahead and make the final payment, book your flights and arrange your travel insurance – or, if we have to cancel for any reasons related to Covid-19, then the above Addendum would apply.

UK INSTRUCTING & GUIDING – All payments made for UK courses, including the deposit, are refundable in full up to a maximum of 2 weeks prior to the course. At 2 weeks Mountain Expeditions will either confirm the course – at which point in time you can go ahead and make the final payment as well as arrange suitable insurance – or, if we have to cancel for any reasons related to Covid-19, then the above Addendum would apply.

 

Covid-19 Prices & Exchange rates

As per our Terms and Conditions the Expedition cost includes significant elements that are payable by Mountain Expeditions in currencies other than sterling. These elements are now priced using an exchange rate of £1 to $1.20 and £1 to €1.10. If this exchange rate fluctuates by more than 5%, Mountain Expeditions reserves the right to amend the cost accordingly, either up or down as required.

The prices advertised on the website as of March 25th 2020 are correct as per the exchange rates stated above.

 

Booking

To make your booking, each person must complete our online booking form.

We will treat each booking form submitted as an offer by you to purchase the expedition/training/course in accordance with our full Terms and Conditions. To make a booking you must be over 18.

  1. Find the trip and date that suits you on our website
  2. Click ‘Book Now’
  3. Fill in your personal details (if you are booking for a group, there is an option here to do so)
  4. Invite your friends if you wish!
  5. Click on ‘Make Payment’ and securely pay your non refundable deposit through Worldpay
  6. Congratulations – you’ve now secured your place!
  7. You will receive a confirmation email, and further information about the trip is available on our website once logged into your account
  8. The remaining balance needs to be paid in no later than 6 weeks before the trip begins, this can be done when logged into your account on our website. For our Overseas Expeditions this is normally over 2 payments as described below.

 

Payments

Deposit

Your 25% deposit is a non-refundable booking fee covering the administrative, planning, booking and research costs associated with delivering your trip that we incur prior to and in processing your booking. You have a 7 day cooling off period.

Payment by Credit Card

If you wish to pay by credit card, additional fees will be added to cover charges imposed by your credit card provider and our payment gateway. Typically, this is around 3% of the total amount paid.

Here are the payments we accept through WorldPay:

Payment conditions (as per full Terms & Conditions)

4.3 A deposit, for the amount set out in the Expedition Information Document, shall be paid to Mountain
Expeditions at the time of booking.
4.4 Payment of 50% of the balance of the Expedition Cost shall be paid a minimum of twelve weeks prior to the commencement date of the Expedition.
4.5 Payment of the final balance of the Expedition Cost shall be paid a minimum of six weeks prior to the commencement date of the Expedition.

 

Refunds & Cancellation

Cancellation Policy (as per full Terms & Conditions)

5.1 In the event of the Customer cancelling and/or withdrawing from the Expedition, for which notice must
be given in writing (including email), for any reason whatsoever (except solely cancellation by Mountain Expeditions), the following will apply.
5.2 Following payment of the deposit, the deposit will be fully non-refundable in all circumstances.
5.3 If the Customer cancels or withdraws more than twelve weeks before the Expedition start date, a full refund of any monies paid, less the deposit, will be given.
5.4 If the Customer cancels or withdraws between twelve weeks and six weeks before the Expedition start date, then no refund will be given.
5.5 If the Customer cancels or withdraws between six weeks before the Expedition start date and the Expedition start date itself, or at any time after the Expedition start date, then no refund of the Expedition Cost will be given.

Cancellation by Mountain Expeditions

In the unlikely event that we have to cancel a trip/booking, you will be entitled to a full refund. We reserve the right to cancel any trip for the but not limited to the following reasons:

  • Trip does not meet minimum group numbers
  • Where circumstances beyond our reasonable control arise, for example, war, civil or political unrest, terrorism, extreme weather conditions or technical problems arise with transport

If this is the case no less than 60 days before the start of the trip you will be offered an alternative date or equivalent trip. If this is not acceptable to you we will refund all payments made to us in respect of your trip. We will not offer any refunds with respect to insurance premiums you may have taken out with any third parties. Before requesting or accepting a refund from Mountain Expeditions, you should utilise your insurance cover.

NB. We strongly advise you to take out adequate travel insurance as soon as you have booked onto a trip. This should be inline with our Terms and Conditions and cover cancelation.

If Mountain Expeditions requires a lesser sum than set out in above to cover its reasonable costs and losses caused by the cancellation, we may at our discretion charge you that lesser sum.

Mountain Expeditions shall take all reasonable steps to keep its costs and losses to a minimum.