Terms & Conditions

Intention to contract
In purchasing a flight voucher you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions that follow and that may be set out in our marketing literature and on our web site from time to time. Any variation to these terms and conditions must be agreed in advance of purchase and confirmed in writing.

Voucher entitlements
The voucher entitles the holder to:-

• A flight of approximately one hour in a hot air balloon.
• Champagne and/or non-alcoholic drinks after landing.
• Transport to and from the launch and landing sites respectively.
• Assist in the preparation, inflation and after-flight recovery phases of the flight operation.

Purchase options
Vouchers may be purchased on-line, by e-mail, telephone, or fax or by snail mail using our standard booking form.

Cooling off period
If, within 10 days of purchase, you are not completely satisfied for any reason we'll refund the full cost of your purchase (less any credit card charges incurred).

Cancellation & redemption of vouchers
Beyond the 10 day cooling off period, vouchers may be cancelled at any time subject to a deduction of 50% of the purchase cost to cover our reasonable administrative costs. At our discretion and in extenuating circumstances the deduction may be reduced or waived altogether. The voucher is not redeemable for cash.

Voucher validity period
Unlike many other operators we do not impose time limits during which you are compelled to use your voucher. Ideally, we would like you to be absolutely certain to use the voucher so that you may experience the flight at a time to suit you, so the voucher is entirely open.

Transferring the voucher to someone else
You may do this provided you inform us in writing within 14 days of the transfer. You must supply the same transferee details as may be found on our standard booking form. There is no charge for this. In these circumstances the terms and conditions referred to above will apply to the transferee as though the voucher had been purchased by that person.

Flight bookings
These may be made by e-mail, telephone, fax or snail mail. Once confirmed they may not be changed or cancelled within 7 days of the scheduled flight. If you fail to attend for your confirmed flight, your voucher will no longer be valid and you will not be entitled to any refund.

Flight confirmations
You must telephone us immediately prior to the agreed flight booking time, in accordance with our instructions, to establish that the weather is suitable for the flight to take place.

Fitness to fly
It will be assumed that you are fit and able to fly and have not been advised not to by your usual medical practitioner. You should not fly if you are pregnant. If you are in any doubt about how any condition may affect your ability to fly you must seek appropriate medical advice. We cannot give advice on your fitness to fly under any circumstances. If we have any cause to suspect that you are unfit to fly or you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs we reserve the right to refuse to fly you and your voucher will no longer be valid and you will not be entitled to any refund. In all cases, the decision of the Pilot in command at the time will be final.

Weather conditions
Balloon flights take place in prescribed weather conditions i.e. light winds, no rain, good visibility with the general weather conditions reasonably quiet and steady. We will only schedule flights when the forecast weather meets these conditions. Should the weather change before the flight, or may be likely to change during the course of the flight, we reserve the right to postpone the flight up to the point of take off. Additionally, should the weather conditions change unexpectedly during the course of a flight, we reserve the right to terminate the flight.

Flight progress & duration
We fly where the wind takes us, so we can never say with any certainty that the balloon will follow a particular track. We aim to fly for around an hour but sometimes flight, weather or operational circumstances dictate that it may be more or less than this.

Operational limitations
Sometimes, there may be occasions beyond our control which result in a flight being postponed or cancelled. In these circumstances we will inform you as quickly as possible so that you are inconvenienced as little as possible. We cannot be held responsible for any direct of consequential loss which you may incur in these circumstances.

Age limits
We will not be able to fly anyone under the age of 8 and anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent, relative or other adult who must agree to accept responsibility for the well being of the child on our standard agreement form.

Launch sites
Our launch sites are chosen to provide the most appropriate flight path relative to wind directions at the time, so we cannot guarantee that the flight will take place from the scheduled location. We therefore reserve the right to change launch locations as needs dictate. There may be other operational reasons, or reasons beyond our control, why we may need to change the launch locations which are also reserved to us.

Risk to persons
Ballooning involves a certain amount of physical risk as with any other sport, hobby or activity. You should be aware of this. Accordingly, in purchasing a voucher or taking part in a balloon flight you are deemed to be aware of those risks and agree to accept them. The flight will, in any event, be under the control and supervision of a CAA qualified pilot who will exercise all due skill and expertise in making the flight as safe and enjoyable as possible.

Acceptance of pilot and crew instructions
You must, at all times, obey the specific instructions of the pilot or crew since these, inevitably, concern flight safety or the general enjoyment of the flight for all passengers. The pilot has absolute authority and responsibility for the flight and will refuse to fly any person who appears unfit to fly or may be likely to be a risk to the safety or enjoyment of the flight by other passengers. The flight voucher of any person refused permission by the pilot to fly, will immediately be invalidated and no refund will be made.

Smoking
No smoking is allowed on the launch site, during the flight, in the retrieve vehicle(s) or at the landing site, at any time.

Data Protection rights
Any information you provide is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”). By accepting these terms and conditions you hereby consent to us or any company associated with us for processing, both manually and by electronic means, your personal data for the purposes of  account administration management and marketing.

“Processing” includes obtaining, recording or holding information or data, transferring it to other companies associated with us, or any other statutory, governmental or regulatory body for legitimate purposes including, where relevant, to solicitors and/or other debt collection agencies for debt collection purposes and carrying out operations on the information or data.

We may also contact you or pass your details to other companies associated with us to contact you (including by telephone) with details of any other similar products, promotions, or for related marketing purposes in which we think you may be interested.

If at any time you wish us or any company associated with us to cease processing your personal data or sensitive personal data, or contacting you for marketing purposes, please contact The Data Protection Officer on 01668 281861 or in writing at PO Box 78, Alnwick, Northumberland NE71 6WZ.

You may be assured that we and any company associated with us will treat all personal data and sensitive personal data as confidential and will not process it other than for a legitimate purpose. Steps will be taken to ensure that the information is accurate, kept up to date and not kept for longer than is necessary. Measures will also be taken to safeguard against unauthorised or unlawful processing and accidental loss or destruction or damage to the data. Subject to certain exceptions, you are entitled to have access to your personal and sensitive personal data held by us. You may be charged a fee (subject to the statutory maximum) for supplying you with such data.

Interpretation
This agreement will be interpreted and construed in accordance with the Laws of England and Wales and subject to the jurisdiction of the English and Welsh Courts.

Rights of third parties
No third party to this agreement shall be entitled to any benefit hereunder, other than as provided elsewhere in these terms and conditions.

Limitation of liability
Our liability to you is limited to the actual price paid for your flight voucher and we cannot be held responsible for any indirect or consequential loss which may be suffered by you in the event that we are unable to provide your flight for any reason whatsoever.

Insurance
We carry the appropriate regulatory insurance in respect of any liability we may incur for loss or damage to property or death or injury of any person arising out of and during the course of our flight and general business operations. We will gladly supply further details upon request.

Site parking
We cannot accept, under any circumstances, responsibility for loss of or damage to vehicles and any other property belonging to you or for which you may be responsible, at launch, meeting and landing sites. Any vehicle left parked at any of these sites is left at your own risk.

Operational limitations
Each balloon flight is subject to a pre-flight lift calculation to ensure maximum all up weight is within the balloon manufacturer’s lift parameters. We regret that in the interest of safety and operational requirements we may be unable to fly any person whose declared weight is in excess of 114 kg. In any event weight calculations may limit the number of passengers we are able to take at any one time.