Merlin Entertainments Holidays Limited: Package Booking Terms and Conditions for Alton Towers Resort Short Break Bookings
This document (referred to as the "Package Booking Terms") and your booking confirmation together set out the terms applicable to the Package you book with us. By booking a Package with Merlin, you must agree to these Package Booking Terms.
Glossary:
“ABTA” means the Association of British Travel Agents, a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry.
“Alton Towers Resort” means the theme park and resort complex located at Farley Lane, Alton, Staffordshire, ST10 4DB.
“Alton Towers Resort Short Break” means the sale of accommodation and/or theme park passes and/or other services for the Alton Towers Resort.
“Alton Towers Resort Passes” means entry tickets to the Theme Park, Waterpark and Alton Towers Dungeons and additional services that require proof of purchase to gain access, provided by Alton Towers Resort.
“Attraction” means Alton Towers Theme Park and Waterpark.
“Cancellation Protection” means the service purchased by you in order to obtain more flexible cancellation terms.
“Merlin” means Merlin Entertainments Holidays Limited (a limited company incorporated and registered in the United Kingdom with company number 06287489, having its registered office at Link House, 25 West Street, Poole, Dorset, England, BH15 1LD).
“Merlin Annual Pass” means an annual purchase that provides multiple entries to multiple Merlin Attractions.
“Package” shall be construed as defined in the Package Travel Regulations (Regulation 2(5)); in these Package Booking Terms the term describes when, during a single booking process, you have bought from us an accommodation and tourist service package together for the same trip (and paid for them together).
“Package Booking Terms” means these package booking terms setting out the special terms that apply when you purchase a Package from Merlin.
“Package Travel Regulations” means The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.
“Partner Hotels” means external accommodation providers, where the accommodation is not located at the resort complex at Farley Lane, Alton, Staffordshire, ST10 4DB.
“Services” means the services bought and resold to you by Merlin.
“Service Provider(s)” means the supplier providing Merlin with the services bought by you.
“Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances” means a situation beyond the control of the party who seeks to rely on such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include:
- warfare and other serious security problems such as terrorism;
- significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination; or
- natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or extreme weather conditions where such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances make it impossible to travel safely to the destination.
“we”, “our” or “us” means Merlin.
“you” means the lead booker and all persons under the booking entering into these Package Booking Terms with us.
1. Important legal terms applicable to your Package
Please review these Package Booking Terms carefully. These Package Booking Terms, along with your booking confirmation and all other information on our website, set out the terms and conditions of the contract between you and Merlin. If you have booked a “Package” with us, we will inform you of this in your booking confirmation.
Merlin sells Alton Towers Resort Short Breaks on behalf of Alton Towers Resort Operations Ltd trading as Alton Towers Resort. The booking journey website address can be found at https://www.altontowers.com/bookings and is used by Merlin to sell Packages which include accommodation and Alton Towers Resort Passes. Once your Package booking for Alton Towers Resort has been confirmed by us, we will accept responsibility for it in accordance with the following Package Booking Terms as an organiser under the Package Travel Regulations.
If you purchase a Package with us, you will benefit from all the rights applying to Packages under the Package Travel Regulations. We will be responsible for the proper performance of the Package as a whole.
Note you will not always benefit from “Package” protection when you book accommodation from us. Instead, the combination of Services you purchase may be classified as a “Linked Travel Arrangement” (“LTA”). If you have bought a Linked Travel Arrangement, we will tell you. Please note LTAs offer you less legal and financial protection than Packages. When you buy a LTA from us we will let you know what legal and financial protection comes with it at the time of purchase.
2. Making your booking
All bookings for Packages are subject to availability at the time of booking. We will inform you as soon as possible after you place a booking if, for any reason, the Package you have sought to book with us is no longer available. A Package booking will only come into existence between us when you have paid the price payable on booking and we have issued our booking confirmation to you.
If you have any special requests relating to your Package you must let us know during the booking process. We will try to accommodate reasonable special requests but we cannot guarantee that such requests will be met.
If you have a medical condition or a member of your party is a person of reduced mobility, please let us know before making a booking so we can ensure that the Package is suitable for you.
The party leader must be authorised to make the booking based on these Package Booking Terms by all persons named on the booking and by their parent or guardian for all party members who are under 18 when the booking is made. The party leader is responsible for making all payments due to us. The party leader must be at least 18 years of age when the booking is made. Please be advised that one guest per room must be 18 years old or over.
All bookings must be made online via the website: https://www.altontowers.com/ or via our Customer Experience Team. Your booking will be confirmed by a booking reference and confirmation email.
You will receive a further email containing all of your vouchers & passes included in your booking. Please ensure you have downloaded or printed your passes as these are required to gain access to Alton Towers Resort.
Please check your booking confirmation carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact us immediately if any information appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later.
3. Payment
Full payment of the cost of your Package is required at the time of booking.
Please note: Merlin uses the merchant ID “Merlin Entertainments Holidays” and this will appear on your bank account statement once you have made your booking and payment has been taken from your account.
4. Your Package contract
A binding contract between you and Merlin is created when we provide you with your booking reference via a booking confirmation email. The Laws of England & Wales shall apply to the interpretation of these Package Booking Terms and any disputes arising from your booking. The Courts of England and Wales shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from or related to these Package Booking Terms, so, for example, if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may bring a claim in the courts of the country you live in.
In the event that any section of these Package Booking Terms is held to be illegal or non-binding, the remainder of these Package Booking Terms will continue to apply. Even if you or we delay in enforcing any of these Package Booking Terms, the applicable section can still be enforced at a later date.
No other person has any rights under these Package Booking Terms – these are between you and Merlin.
5. Identity verification search
We will validate the name, address and other personal information supplied by you during the order process against appropriate third-party databases. By accepting these Package Booking Terms, you consent to such checks being made. In performing these checks, personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered Credit Reference Agency which may keep a record of that information. You can rest assured that this is done only to confirm your identity, that a credit check is not performed and that your credit rating will be unaffected. All information provided by you will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy, available here.
6. The cost of your break
Merlin is committed to providing the best choice of product, at the best prices, so throughout the season we continually review our products and prices. There are likely to be some seasonal special offers, and, in some circumstances, prices may go up or down. The price of your Package will be confirmed at the time of booking.
We reserve the right to correct errors in advertised prices. We will do so as soon as we become aware of the error.
All prices are for pre-booking and include all taxes and charges.
7. Changes by you
Bookings with Cancellation Protection:
If you have added our cancellation protection to your booking, you can change your stay date up to 3 days before your arrival date.
Bookings without Cancellation Protection:
If your booking is not covered with our Cancellation Protection, you can change your stay date up to 7 days before your arrival date.
Additional Information:
If you choose to change your stay date to a different date and should the new booking be more expensive, you will need to pay any additional amounts at the time of booking. Where the new booking is cheaper than your existing booking, we will refund the difference. All amounts will be either taken/refunded to the original payment method. Any refunds which are due can take up to 14 working days to be refunded. Certain products and promotional offers may be non-amendable, therefore, will be exempt from our standard terms and conditions. Any non-amendable Packages will be highlighted on the event or promotion page and Help Centre.
All other changes to your booking, including lead name, personal details, ticket entry date, and carer ticket refunds can be changed or requested up to 3 days before your arrival date. You can request these changes by telephone on 0330 2368860. We do not have a legal obligation to make such changes, but we may, at our sole discretion try to accommodate your request. Please understand that it is often not possible for us to do so as changes may depend on availability of accommodation. Please be aware some changes may incur an additional charge.
8. Transfer of the Package Travel Contract to another Traveller
You may transfer the Package booking once it is concluded to a person who satisfies all of the conditions to the Package. You must give us reasonable notice of the transfer and we will inform you of any additional fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer of the Package travel contract.
9. Cancellation by you
Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your booking once it has been confirmed, the party leader must immediately advise us. All cancellations must be made through Merlin and are subject to the conditions and charges (based on the total booking cost) below.
You will be charged a cancellation fee per person which reflects the losses and costs which we incur in cancelling the booking as we may have incurred costs in relation to your booking. For those who have not added cancellation protection, our cancellation charges are as follows:
Cancellation less than 3 days before arrival date
You will be charged 100% of total booking value.
Cancellation within 4 – 14 days before arrival date:
50% of total booking value.
Cancellation more than 14 days before arrival date:
25% of total booking value.
Cancellation within 24 hours of receipt of booking confirmation:
0% of total booking value.
In addition to the cancellation rights set out above, you will have the right to cancel your booking before the start of the Package without paying any cancellation charge in the event of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances occurring at the place of destination or in its immediate vicinity (and we have confirmed that such circumstances will significantly affect your trip or that they will significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination). If you cancel in these circumstances, we will give a full refund of any payments made in relation to the booking but you will not be entitled to any sort of compensation for damages for the cancelled trip. This can be made by way of vouchers towards a future stay with us.
10. Cancellation protection
If you add our non-refundable cancellation protection on to your booking (at the time of booking), this will protect you if you need to cancel for any reason.
Provided you cancel your booking at least 3 days before the date of your stay, then you will receive a full refund of your booking cost, minus the cancellation protection charge which is non-refundable. Please note that if you cancel your stay within 3 days of your stay, you will be charged the full cost of your booking.
Please note that 25th and 26th December, and 1st January shall not be counted as a day of notice for the calculation of the minimum of 3 days' notice, so please ensure that sufficient notice is given during the festive period.
Cancellations must be made over the telephone to 0330 2368860 during our opening hours of 9am and 5pm Monday – Friday. (These times may vary - please check our “Contact Us” page). Cancellation requests via email or voicemail will not be processed.
11. Charges and cancellation by us
Occasionally, we may need to make changes to or correct errors on websites/brochures and other details, provided that these changes are before the point of your booking being confirmed.
On rare occasions, we may have to cancel your Package and we reserve the right to do so. If we have to do so, we will notify you as soon as possible. We will also offer you an alternative Package where possible. If we cannot offer you an alternative, we will provide you with a full refund for the Package and, unless the cancellation was for Unavoidable and Extraordinary circumstances or more than 14 days before your booking, you may also be entitled to compensation for damages suffered.
Occasionally, we must make a significant change to your Package. Significant changes include the following changes when made before departure:
(a) A change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification or standard.
(b) A change of accommodation area.
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If we must make a significant change, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible. You will then have the option to:
(a) Accept the proposed change. If this results in a Package of lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with section 14 below;
(b) Reject the proposed change and terminate your Package with a full refund; or
(c) Reject the proposed change, terminate your Package and take an alternative one if we decide to offer this.
If you decide to take an alternative Package, we will inform you of the impact on the price of your booking. We will give you a reasonable period of time to make your decision, which will usually be 7 days from notification of the change. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, we shall send a reminder to you, following which we shall be entitled at our discretion to terminate the Package after a further 7 days and provide you with a refund.
If you decide to reject the proposed change and terminate your Package with a full refund, you may also be entitled to compensation for damages you have suffered.
We may not give you any of the above options in the event that a change to the purchased Package is a minor change. Please note that a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard usually qualifies as a minor change.
12. Our liability to you
We promise to make sure that the Package we agreed to make, perform or provide, as an applicable part of our contract with you, is made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that, subject to these Package Booking Terms, we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted holiday arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted holiday arrangements. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).
We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example, loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost, or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following:
(a) The act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party.
(b) The act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your short break, and which were unforeseeable.
Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in our brochure/website, and we have not agreed to arrange them.
Also please note that whilst we endeavour to ensure photographs are appropriate and accurate representations, they must not be regarded as contractual.
The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided.
Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description: (1) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers. Additionally, we cannot accept liability for any business losses.
You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us, and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in section 14 below. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.
13. ABTA
- We are a Member of ABTA under membership number Y6797. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you ABTA’s scheme for the resolution of disputes which is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
- In the event of any dispute, conflict, claim or controversy, we encourage you to contact Merlin’s Customer Support team on 0330 236 8860 in the first instance. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, please go to www.abta.com to use ABTA’s simple procedure. Further information on the Code and ABTA’s assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com.
14. Our responsibility for the performance of the Package and if something goes wrong
Under the Package Travel Regulations, we have a responsibility to you for the performance of all elements of the Package. We want your customer experience to be a positive one, but we acknowledge that very occasionally things go wrong. If you have any issues with the Package not being delivered to you, as advertised, if the problem is with the tourist service element of your trip, please in the first instance take the matter up with our Customer Support team. If, however, the problem is with the accommodation element of your trip, and you are on your trip, please contact the accommodation’s customer services first. If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, please contact our Customer Support team.
If you feel that there has been a failure to perform the Package or improper performance which adversely affects the performance of the Package (“Serious Complaint”), please tell us immediately. This will give us the opportunity to resolve the Serious Complaint whilst you are still on your trip or make suitable alternative arrangements for you. You may only reject any alternative arrangements we offer to you if they are not comparable to what was agreed in the booking. If you reject the alternative arrangements we offer, then you may still be entitled to a price reduction in the trip or legal damages compensation for losses suffered.
If a Serious Complaint substantially affects the performance of the Package, and we have failed to remedy it within a reasonable period of time, you may decide to continue with your Package or terminate your booking without paying a termination fee. You may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation for damages too.
Alternatively, if we do not resolve a Serious Complaint, or, for very good reason you cannot wait for us to sort out the problem, then alternatively you may resolve the Serious Complaint yourself and request reimbursement of reasonable expenses from us. However, note your right to rectify the problem yourself will not arise if remedying the Serious Complaint means us incurring disproportionate costs. In that case, your only right will be to seek legal damages compensation from us (for losses suffered) or a proportionate price reduction.
Please note if you do not advise of a Serious Complaint whilst on the trip, as described above, you deprive both Merlin and the person that Merlin has acquired the accommodation from of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem. This may affect your rights under these Package Booking Terms.
You will be entitled to an appropriate price reduction for any period during which there is a Serious Complaint, unless the Serious Complaint is attributable to you.
You shall be entitled to receive appropriate compensation from us for any damage you sustain as a result of a Serious Complaint except where the Serious Complaint is:
a. attributable to you;
b. attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services included in the Package and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or
c. due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances.
We will also not be liable to pay damages compensation to you where there are international conventions which limit the extent or the conditions under which compensation is paid. These international conventions include the Geneva Convention (in respect of travel by road). We shall have the full benefit of any limitations of compensation in any relevant international conventions or applicable laws.
As permitted by Regulation 16(6) of the Package Travel Regulations, our liability to you will in any case be limited to a maximum of three times the cost of Package, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we or the person that Merlin has acquired the accommodation from, have caused such damage intentionally or with negligence.
If you are granted compensation (or a price reduction) from a third party in relation to a Serious Complaint, that compensation will be deducted from any compensation (or price reduction) you will receive from us pursuant to these Package Booking Terms.
As stated above, we will always be responsible to you for the following:
a. death or personal injury arising as a result of Merlin’s negligence;
b. fraud on the part of Merlin;
c. any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
Other than as explained above, we are not responsible to you for any damages, losses or costs relating to your use of Services in a way that is not permitted under these Package Booking Terms.
Otherwise, we are only responsible to you for any damages, losses or costs which result from us not performing our obligations under the Package Booking Terms and which could have been reasonably foreseen by Merlin and you when entering into these Package Booking Terms.
15. Your responsibilities
It is important that you behave responsibly and with consideration for others during your Package. Accordingly, to the extent that we or the accommodation believe that your actions on the trip could or have caused disruption or annoyance, or a risk of safety, or damage to property, to us, the accommodation, or other customers, or if it is believed that you are not fit to travel, then we may cancel your Package without further liability to you. In these circumstances, the compensation provisions above will not apply.
In the event that your behaviour causes loss or damage to any person or property for which we are liable, you agree to compensate us for such loss and damage, together with any legal costs which we may incur in pursuing a claim against you.
16. Conditions of Service Providers
Some of the Services which make up your Package are provided by independent Service Providers. Those Service Providers provide these Services in accordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the Service Provider’s liability to you. Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions should be available on request from the Service Provider concerned.
In the event of any conflict between the Service Providers’ terms and conditions and these Package Booking Terms, these Package Booking Terms will apply.
17. Special requests and medical problems
If you have any special requests, you must advise us at the time of booking. Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met.
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your break, please tell us before you confirm your booking. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person concerned, we must reserve the right to decline their reservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel and provide you with a refund when we become aware of these details.
18. Financial protection of your Package
As required under Part 5 of the Package Travel Regulations, we have put in place insolvency protection in respect of your Package which covers any payments made by you for package(s), taking into account the period between when you make the full payment of the cost of your booking and when your stay is completed.
We provide this financial protection in respect of the Alton Towers Resort Short Breaks by way of bonds made by Barclays Bank Plc, Trade Operations One Snowhill, Queensway, Birmingham, B4 6GN and Accelerant Insurance Europe SA, Bastion Tower, Place du Champ de Mars 5, Brussels, Belgium.
In the event of Merlin’s insolvency, ABTA can be contacted at 30 Park Street, London, SE1 9EQ, by telephone on 020 3758 8779 and by email at consumerprotection@abta.co.uk.
You agree that in the event of our insolvency, ABTA may arrange for the services you have bought to continue, or for a suitable alternative to be provided at the same cost as your original booking.
19. Call monitoring and recording
As part of our continuing effort to ensure you receive the highest service standards, we may monitor and record calls with you for training purposes.
20. Overnight parking
Parking for the night of your stay at the hotel is included in the price as and where indicated, otherwise a parking charge is payable directly to the hotel. Hotel's own car parks are unsecured unless otherwise stated. When staying at one of our Partner Hotels, car parking is available at the Alton Towers Resort for an additional charge.
21. Merlin star ratings
All hotel star ratings in Merlin are Merlin’s own ratings and are based on the following:
(a) Any official rating awarded to the hotel, for example, AA Stars, RAC Stars and ETB Crowns will be considered, but they would not translate directly into the equivalent number of Merlin stars.
(b) If a hotel does not hold an official rating, we evaluate it on a similar basis to most official scheme operators.
In both of the above cases, when giving our rating we also consider:
(c) The feedback we have received from our customers.
(d) Feedback from our own regular visits to the hotels, both on business and as customers.
22 Breakfast:
Breakfast is included at Partner Hotels unless otherwise stated in your booking confirmation.
23 Leisure facilities
If available, charges and certain restrictions may apply. For example, children may not be permitted to use some or all facilities and some facilities may incur an extra charge.
24 Pre-authorisation at the hotel
Please be aware that most hotels will ask you for a credit or debit card against which they can pre-authorise an amount in respect of any extras or other expenses charged to the room. The amount pre-authorised is at the discretion of the hotel and will be made known to you at or before check-in. If any charges are payable, you will be permitted to pay for these either with the pre-authorised card or by any other acceptable means.
25 Entry conditions
Use of your Alton Towers Resort passes shall constitute your agreement with the entry conditions posted on the Alton Towers Resort website, at the Alton Towers Resort entrance and/or in the Attraction guide.
Alton Towers Resort management reserves the right to refuse admission to any ticket holder and, in the interest of the public and for safety reasons, they also reserve the right to require guests to leave the Attraction at any time.
No person under the age of 12 will be admitted to the Attraction unless they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 years or over and such child or children whilst on site must remain under the control or supervision of an adult at all times. Merlin reserves the right, in its absolute discretion to change the age restrictions referred to in this condition, if any particular circumstances so require in the interests of safety and security.
Please note if you purchase a Merlin Annual Pass at the Alton Towers Resort, Merlin, will not be liable to refund the cost of the passes purchased on your Package prior to purchasing your Merlin Annual Pass.
If you have any further queries regarding your Alton Towers Resort Short Break, please contact us on 0330-2368860 or at:
Address:
Merlin Entertainments Holidays Limited
Link House, 25, West Street, Poole, Dorset BH15 1LD
Alternatively, please see our Help Centre for more information here.
