Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR FLIGHT VOUCHER
These Terms and conditions contain ESSENTIAL INFORMATION about your CONTRACT WITH US.
If there is anything contained within these Terms and Conditions that you are unsure about, or require further clarification, please telephone us and we will be happy to help you further.
Our wish is to supply you with a wonderful experience; however we do need you to help us to achieve this by reading the terms carefully to ensure you get the best from your purchase.
The main provisions of this contract are listed below with full details contained thereafter.

Our wish is to supply you with a wonderful experience; however we do need you to help us to achieve this by reading the terms carefully to ensure you get the best from your purchase.
The main provisions of this contract are listed below with full details contained thereafter.
 

The main provisions are:

If you have bought a voucher via a website or telephone, under the Distance Selling Regulations, you will have seven days to change your mind. Cancellation must be notified to us in writing or by e-mail. This right does not extend to “balloon boxes” which is an additional service we offer and boxes are made up to your specification and are perishable. Cancelled personalised vouchers will incur a charge of £10 per voucher. Upon valid cancellation under Distance Selling Regulations, we have a duty to refund you within 30 days.

• After the 7 day cooling off period, your vouchers are non refundable.
• You may transfer your voucher to another person at no additional cost.
• You make your initial contact with us within six weeks of purchase in order to secure your first booking, and that this provision is made known by the purchaser to any third party for whom the voucher is purchased as a gift.
• You are advised to make your first flight attempt within the first three months of your voucher’s validity period in order to take full advantage of the flying season within the validity of your voucher.
• In the event of unavoidable changes to your booked flights due to weather or safety, we will make every reasonable effort via our automated systems to ensure that you are notified of changes and minimise inconvenience to you. Your obligation is to make use of the automated systems prior to your booked flight to get the up to date information. We may require you to make up to six attempts during the validity of your voucher in order to achieve your flight.
• If, due to an unacceptable lack of availability, an unreasonable failure on our part to provide you with availability of flights, or an unreasonable delay in provision of the service, you will be entitled to an extension of your flight voucher free of charge. In exceptional circumstances and at our discretion we may consider a full or partial refund. Such remedy shall not be unreasonably withheld.
• If your booked flights are cancelled by us, due to weather on more than four occasions you will be entitled, without question, to an extension of your voucher’s validity for a further period of three months free of charge. If you then attempt to fly at least twice during the extension period and are unsuccessful (due to weather) we will extend your voucher free of charge for a further three months to include the main flying season.
• There are additional costs for passengers weighing more than 120 kilos.
• Children under seven will not be accepted for flight due to safety reasons.
• Children under 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
• You arrive for your flight with suitable clothing including a hat. (For more information on suitable clothing, see point 29).

Full Terms and Conditions:

“Cooling Off Period” and Distance Selling Regulations

1a) Under the Distance Selling Regulations, if you purchase your flight voucher via telephone or internet you are given seven working days (“cooling off period”) in which to cancel your purchase. If you wish to cancel, you must notify us in writing or by e-mail of your wish to cancel and return the voucher to us. If you use the voucher to reserve a flight within this time, then the right to cancel will be lost. This right applies only to the buyer and not to any third party. For purchases made via telephone or internet, a full refund for the cost of the voucher can be obtained from us, if the voucher is not as expected or you do not agree with any of our terms, provided that cancellation is notified to us in writing, which can be by email, within the “cooling off period”. This right does not extend to balloon boxes which as a service are prepared to your specification and are perishable.
1b) If you have asked us to personalise your vouchers, a charge of £10 per voucher will apply where the voucher is cancelled during the “cooling off period” or if you request another voucher to be provided by us at anytime. This charge is to cover printing and administration costs.
2. All of our vouchers are transferable to another person. The terms and conditions apply to the buyer or the holder of a voucher.

Using your voucher to book a flight

3a) It is advised that you make contact within six weeks of purchase to ensure the best chance of getting your flight within the validity of the voucher. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in limited availability for you to book and achieve a flight within the validity period of your voucher, and could therefore result in the expiry of your voucher, and the loss of your flight.
3b) We ask that you make every effort to secure your first booking within three months of purchase. This is because ballooning is weather dependent and it may take more than one attempt to get your flight. (Except for premier flight vouchers see point 4).
 

Premier Flight Vouchers

4a) If you have purchased a Premier Flight Voucher and do not wish to fly, the purchase price of the Flight Voucher will be refunded to the Buyer; less a handling fee of £25.00 subject to the following: -
4b) You retain your right to cancel your flight voucher without penalty under the Distance Selling Regulations within seven working days of purchase, provided written notice of cancellation is provided to us;
4c) You, or the person to whom the Premier Flight Voucher is given, returns it to us within 24 months of its date of issue; and
4d) Notification of the cancellation of the Premier Flight Voucher must be made to us in writing, either by letter or by e-mail, before its expiry date.
 

All Flight Vouchers

5a) All Vouchers are valid for a period of 12 months or 24 months dependent on what you have chosen and this includes 9 or 12 months respectively of our main flying season (except for Premier Flight Vouchers which are valid for 24 months) from the date of purchase.
5b) Failure by you to attempt your flight in time may make it difficult for you to achieve your flight within the validity of the voucher.
5c) In circumstances where we fail to provide you with your flight due to circumstances beyond our control such as Foot and Mouth Disease, Avian Flu, flood or other incident which affects the countryside, and makes provision impossible or undesirable, we will extend your voucher for the period affected. The voucher holder will be advised of any extension when contact is made to book or confirm the flight.
5d) If you have not complied with the requirements of this contract, but still wish to fly, you can purchase a reduced price voucher, valid for a further 12 months from the original expiry date for a cost of £50 per flight voucher. To do so, you must contact us before the voucher expires.
5e) You may upgrade or validate your voucher for other flying areas by making the required additional payment.
5f) If you have paid a deposit towards your balloon flight i.e. cash vouchers, the balance must be paid in before we can book the flight. You will not be allowed to fly unless we have received full payment for the flight.
5g) You must read carefully the instructions provided regarding your flight, and use the number provided to you, to check that the Flight will go ahead as planned. If you fail to do this and the flight goes ahead, you will lose your right to a flight, as space will have been provided for you.
6. Vouchers are not redeemable for cash
 

Postponement

7. We may not be able to fill your spaces at short notice, and because the balloon must fly correctly loaded, we require notice of your wish to postpone in order that the flight is not jeopardised. We therefore require notice as follows:
• Up to 36 hours before the meeting time for the Flight if the Flight is booked for a day between Tuesday to Saturday inclusive.
• If the Flight is booked for a Sunday or Monday you must give the Flight Provider 72 hours’ notice of postponement.
7b) At the time of postponement, you must re-schedule your Flight for a mutually convenient date within two months of the cancelled Flight date.
7c) If you do not give notice of postponement in accordance with this Clause 6 and are not at the meeting point in time to take part in your scheduled Flight, you will not be entitled to a re-scheduled flight, nor to any refund.

Flight Conditions

8. Your voucher will entitle you to participate in a Flight at a date to be arranged within 18 months of its purchase (depending on the voucher) including, where appropriate, watching the preparation and inflation/deflation of the Balloon (and participating if desired), a Flight in a hot air balloon, gift folder, champagne toast (not available on all flights) and flight certificate.
9. Flights are dependent upon the weather conditions and are regulated under the Air Navigation Order, which is part of air law. It may be necessary to postpone a flight at any time if in the judgement of the Pilot or GO Ballooning, conditions are not safe, or the flight would not be permitted under the Air Navigational Order. We will give you as much warning as operational procedures allow of the flight postponement.
10. In order to ensure the safety of the Balloon and its passengers, the Pilot and Go Ballooning reserve the right to postpone a Flight at any time up to, and including, the moment of launch.
11. In the event of a Flight being cancelled due to circumstances outside of our control such as war, terrorist attack, or other event, we will extend the flight for the period affected. In the unlikely event we are permanently prevented from providing a flight, the contract will cease to exist without further obligation on either party.
12. Approximate flight time is 1 hour but the Pilot has ultimate responsibility for deciding the duration and conduct of any Flight, which is subject to many factors. The Pilot has total responsibility over every aspect of your flight. We cannot guarantee that the flight will follow any particular direction or land at a specific location or last for a specific length of time.

Extensions to your Voucher Validity

13. If, despite attempts by you, we have been unable to provide your flight on four or more occasions within the original voucher validity will be extended by three months, and provided at least two attempts are made every three months thereafter, we will continue to give such extensions in the event of further cancelations. Should environmental issues such as floods affect our ability to provide flights in any given period, we may use our discretion to reduce the number of qualifying attempts required under this clause.
14. If, through no failure on your part, you are not able to fly on six booked dates because we have been unreasonable in flight provision, or there is an unreasonable lack of flight times and dates, we will extend your flight voucher. We will give consideration to a full or partial refund in circumstances where it is reasonable to do so. Where we are in breach of contract, we will not unreasonably withhold a fair remedy from you, but you must have fully complied with these Terms and Conditions and made every effort to arrange a Flight before this provision can take effect.
15a) In the event you believe you should qualify for a refund, you must notify us, in writing, within fourteen days of your last flight attempt.
15b) Your unreasonable refusal to accept flight dates offered by the Flight Provider will not constitute attempts to fly.

Cancellation for medical reasons

16a. Where proven medical reason prevents you from flying you must notify the Flight Provider of the reason preventing you from taking your Flight as soon as possible. We will refund the percentage validity period left on the voucher when you have provided us with a doctor’s letter stating that you will remain unfit for the duration of the validity period. This term will apply to the affected person only and not to any other persons due to fly with the affected person.
16b) In the event of the death of the voucher holder, on the production of a death certificate we will refund the percentage balance remaining of the voucher validity period.
16c) If you are unable to fly during the validity period of your voucher because you are pregnant ,we will extend the validity period by nine months, provided the Flight Provider has been notified during the first four months of the pregnancy.
17. If you have purchased a voucher or package such as “2 for 1” or “buy one get one free”, the full price voucher will be treated as having been redeemed first.
18. If you buy vouchers from anyone other than us, you will still be bound by our terms and conditions, but any rights you have in relation to that purchase should be exercised against the seller.
19. If, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have to withdraw or change any advertised flight venues, an alternative venue will be offered at a reasonable distance not exceeding 35 miles. We reserve the right to change launch sites if the wind direction or airspace restrictions prevent safe flight on your chosen day. In this instance the Flight will be transferred to the nearest alternative site of the original launch site within a maximum distance of 35 miles. In line with this, the flight time needs to be flexible and can be up to 1 hour earlier or 1 hour later than stated to ensure maximum opportunity to fly.
20. Balloon in the box orders can be sent by special delivery at the purchaser’s request. This service will form a separate contract provided by the Royal Mail, and whilst every effort is made to ensure delivery takes place in accordance with your instructions, the Flight Provider cannot guarantee delivery. The limit of liability in the case of a failed or damaged delivery sent by any means shall be the maximum of the original purchase price of the Balloon in the box.
21. Due to restrictions in the lifting capacity of the balloons, passengers weighing over 120 kilos will be charged a surcharge of £50.00 for the flight and this charge is to be payable to us at the time of booking.
22. We are unable to fly children under the age of 7 years.
23. A child under the age of 16 years will only be flown if accompanied by a responsible adult.
24. All passengers should wear appropriate clothing as detailed in our literature examples, including garments of natural materials, outdoor flat and covered shoes, and a hat.
25. We do not allow smoking on board the Balloon or within close proximity to the Balloon.
26. We may occasionally arrange for your flight to be provided by another flight provider giving a like service but that has different terms and conditions. In this event we will notify you and provide, upon request, the terms and conditions that would apply to that provider. If you have any concerns over such an arrangement, you must inform us as soon as possible.
 

Fitness to Fly

27. It is your responsibility to ensure you are fit to fly. You must not fly if you are suffering from any serious medical condition, or have recently undergone surgery unless you have a certificate confirming your fitness to fly from your doctor. You must not fly if you are pregnant or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
28. Our paramount consideration is your safety and the safety of other passengers participating in the Flight. You must obey all requests and instructions issued by the Pilot, or any of our representatives, and take particular care to abide by all 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/her opinion you would be a danger to the Balloon, the other passengers, or to yourself.
 

Insurance

29. We carry insurance cover against the risk of injury or damage to passengers and their belongings during the course of our flights as laid down by European Air Transport Regulations, to a maximum limit of £7.5 million combined single limit. If you do not consider that the amount of insurance cover would be adequate to compensate you for any loss, whether for death, personal injury or damage to your belongings you should take independent advice to arrange additional cover. We will not be held liable for any loss or damage to clothing, equipment or effects brought with you onto the Flight nor for death or personal injury, unless it has been caused due to failure of duty of care or recklessness of the Pilot or the Flight Provider.
30. We do not accept liability for any costs or expenses or damages you may incur if we have had reasonable grounds to postpone or cancel any Flight. You are responsible for your travel arrangements to and from the meeting point and we do not accept liability for delays in your travel arrangements.
31. Subject to the provisions in this agreement, the contract between us is binding. Law and Jurisdiction - This Contract is governed by English Law and subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales
32. We aim to respond to written communications within seven working days of receipt and to e-mail correspondence within three working days. (Normal office hours are 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. weekdays, excluding public holidays). Where notice is given in person to the Flight Provider receipt of notification will be deemed to take place at the time of receipt. Correspondence should be addressed to Go Ballooning, Nursery Farm, Woodborough, Wiltshire, SN9 5PF.

Updated October 2011 Version 1.0