____________________________________________________________________ * B O O K I N G T E R M S & C O N D I T I O N S * (best viewed using a font like FixedSys or Courier) ____________________________________________________________________ 1.Your contract is with The Russia Experience Ltd. House, Fraser Road, Perivale, Middx, UB6 7AQ ENGLAND. Reg Address: 78 Stafford Rd, Wallington Surrey SM6 9AY ENGLAND. The Russia Experience Ltd is registered in England - Reg Co 3124965. The Russia Experience Ltd is Independently Insured against financial failure up to the full value of funds paid by clients. 2.All bookings are accepted on a request basis only. Acceptance of a Booking Form does not imply availability of a trip. 3. No booking will be accepted without a completed Booking Form and either a Deposit or, according to the payment schedule applicable, full payment. Deposits are non refundable in all cases. 4.The Trip Balance is due 60 days before commencement of your trip. Late payment may cause cancellation of all or part of your trip, with no refund payable. 5.No travel documents will be issued until full payment has been made. 6.We accept payment by Credit Card, Bankers Draft and Travellers Cheques. We accept personal cheques subject to clearance, for which 10 days must be allowed. 7.The legal responsibility for obtaining and carrying correct visas, passports and other travel documents remains with the passenger. 8 If we have to cancel your trip for unexpected reasons, you will be offered a full refund of all funds paid over to us, or the offer of a trip of substantially equal or better quality if appropriate. 9.If you wish to cancel your trip, we require written notice and will make funds to you in accordance with the table below, calculated from the date which we receive written notice. Receipt of Written Notice % of Land Arrangements Price* lost ========================= ================================== Over 61 days before commencement Deposit only 60-41 days before commencement 25% 40-25 days before commencement 40% 24-15 days before commencement 60% 14-7 days before commencement 85% 6-0 days before commencement 100% "No Show" or at any point during the trip 100% * The trip price does not include visas, visa processing fees, travel insurance or guidebooks, which shall be 100% forfeit in all cases. ******************************************************************* ** Air Tickets are subject to separate Cancellation see note 24.** ** Conditions imposed by the Issuer which shall take ** ** precedence in all cases. ** ******************************************************************* 10. We are required by EU regulations to ensure you have travel insurance which covers repatriation if required. If you do not purchase our travel insurance, you must confirm to our satisfaction that you have made alternative arrangements. This should be evidenced with photocopies showing Medical and Repatriaction/ Evacuation Insurance in force. 11.We have made it clear in all sales materials that it is common and accepted practice for transport methods employed on our trips to run with delays, or to run below operational standards that would be regarded as normal in Western Europe. We cannot accept any claim for indirect or consequential loss arising from the failure of transport suppliers to conform either to timetables supplied by us or to their own timetables. We cannot accept any claim for shock, loss, distress, whether mental or financial, arising from deviations from operational standards by transport suppliers whose services form part of our itineraries (whether original or amended). 12.We cannot be responsible for the safety of passengers or their belongings and for this reason we recommend strongly that you take out adequate travel insurance to cover these. 13 .If circumstances force us to amend your itinerary or the services with it, we shall notify you in writing as soon as possible. If the change arises during your trip, our representatives will make every effort to contact you personally. We reserve the right to substitute alternative transport or accommodation in the interests of the safety of our passengers and/or the successful completion of the itinerary. 14. If you require us to change your booked itinerary, we will do everything possible to facilitate this, subject to your agreement to meet the costs which may be incurred. An estimate of these costs, in writing if requested, will be provided before proceeding. 15.We believe the descriptions of the services and facilities in this information pack are fair and accurate. In the event of faults or omissions by ourselves or those acting for us, appropriate compensation may be payable. Such cases will not include cases caused by war or threat of war; changes in transport timetables; denial of border entry for any undocumented reasons; riots; civil unrest; disasters of natural or nuclear origin; terrorist activities; declarations of autonomy or independence by areas not recognized as such by the United Nations, or decisions relating to foreign nationals made by the elected or de facto leaders of such areas; and such other circumstances as beyond our reasonable control. 16. In the event of illness, accident or cases described in Condition (15) above, we shall provide all reasonable help to passengers Our assistance shall not replace the assistance to be expected from travel insurance up to the limits of cover of the policy recommended by us, nor shall it replace the assistance of the Consul responsible for you whilst abroad. 17.Claims for compensation will be accepted in writing only, within 30 days of final included service. We are unable to consider any claim where the assistance or advice of our local representatives has been sought, rejected or ignored. 18.Passengers who fail to join the trip by the means & at the time and date they previously advised us within at least 14 days' notice shall forfeit all subsequent services up to such time as they can be reasonably be rejoined. The same shall apply to passengers who fail to inform us of their intended arrival date/time/transport. Any re- scheduling so caused shall be at the passenger's own expense. Departure without notification from the itinerary may result in forfeiture of subsequent services. Expenses arising from unscheduled departure from the itinerary cannot be recovered from us. 19.Tariffs shown in our leaflets were accurate based on prices and exchange at the time of printing. Should the prices of the services rise, or be adversely affected by exchange rate movements, we reserve the right to make a surcharge. If you have already commenced your booking by paying a deposit or full payment and completing a Booking Form, and the price increase should amount to a differential of more than 15% compared with that in the invoice issued to you (inclusive of visa handling, visa fees, travel insurance and airport taxes) you will be entitled to withdraw your booking and receive a full refund of all money paid over to us, with the exception of visa fees, which shall be forfeit in any event. 20.None of our activities require special training or above-average levels of fitness or mobility. Check with your physician as to whether you should undertake them, you should consult your medical adviser. We are unable to refund any money in respect of services from which you withdraw after arrival. With reasonable notice, alternative versions of most of our activities can be organized for those you have special needs, and a section on our booking form invites information to enable us to plan for you needs in this case. 21.At all times passengers are bound by local law and jurisdiction in their chosen destinations. Passengers who depart from the selected itinerary, either geographically or chronologically, are advised that they may be breaking local immigrations regulations which at best will result in delay and inconvenience, and at worst may result in arrest and imprisonment, in neither of which cases are we able to assist in any material way. 22. Passengers are advised that local duties and levies are frequently introduced, amended or increased without warning, and whilst we do our best to inform passengers of what local costs are likely to incur, we cannot guarantee that further costs may be imposed or increased subsequent to our recent information. Such costs are the passenger's responsibility. 23. Our appointed General Sales Agents in the USA are Sun Valley Travel Inc., who are empowered to take Bookings and Payments on our behalf under the Terms outlined above. 24. Flights will be booked with ATOL holders for whom we act as agents, and flight bookings are subject to their booking conditions. When a flight booking has been accepted by us, we shall issue to you an ATOL receipt which confirms that the money for the flight is held by us on behalf of an ATOL holder; a contract will exist between you and that ATOL holder once they issue a Confirmation invoice, which we shall send to you. All other arrangements offered by us are provided under a separate contract from the flight arrangements, and will be separately invoiced.