General Terms and Conditions

1. Booking and Confirmation

With your booking, you bindingly offer the conclusion of the package holiday contract to BESTTRAVEL and simultaneously confirm to us in doing so that you have read and understood the aforementioned precontractual information. Bookings can be made in writing, by fax, by email, by telephone or electronically. Bookings are also made for all participants listed in the booking by the person carrying out the booking. The basis for your travel booking is the travel description in the travel brochure/advertisement or on our website www.best-travel.de. The travel contract only comes into effect with its acceptance by BESTTRAVEL. BESTTRAVEL will declare the acceptance as quickly as possible by sending a written confirmation of travel. Electronic confirmation of the travel booking’s arrival does not yet constitute an acceptance of the package holiday contract. Should the confirmation of travel occur immediately after clicking on the button “Book with payment” with the immediate depiction of the confirmation of travel on screen, then the package holiday contract comes into effect with the depiction of the confirmation of travel. The binding force of the package holiday contract is not dependent on the customer taking the opportunity to save or print the travel confirmation or on the customer receiving a hard copy (by post). A package holiday contract between you together with all those persons listed in your booking and BESTTRAVEL has thereby come into effect.

Should the content of the travel confirmation deviate from that of the travel booking, this shall constitute a new offer from BESTTRAVEL to be concluded contractually. You have the right to accept this offer within 7 days. BESTTRAVEL is bound to this offer during this time. Should you declare your acceptance of this amended offer in writing within 7 days, then the package holiday contract comes into effect on the basis of this offer.

According to the statutory provisions applicable to package holiday contracts concluded as a remote sale (e.g. by letter, telephone call, email, tele-media or online services), there exists no right to revocation, only the statutory rights of withdrawal and termination. However, a right to revocation does exist where a contract for travel services as per §651a of the German Civil Code is concluded outside of business premises, unless the negotiations upon which the conclusion of the contract is based were conducted on the basis of a prior order from the consumer. In the latter case, there exists no right to revocation.

2. Payment/Security note

After having received the confirmation of travel/the invoice, a deposit in the amount of 20% of the price of travel as per §651r of the German Civil Code in conjunction with Art. 252 of the Introductory Act to the German Civil Code is to be paid immediately and is due no later than 3 working days after receipt of the confirmation. Should you choose to pay by “Bank transfer”, BESTTRAVEL expects the amount to have reached its account by the arranged due date. Insofar as we are prepared to and capable of providing the contractually arranged services in a proper manner, have fulfilled our statutory obligation to provide information and there exists no statutory or contractual right of retention on your part, we are entitled to withdraw from the package holiday contract and charge you withdrawal fees as per point 5 after having delivered a written reminder with a deadline where the deposit has not been paid. The full premium for an insurance policy brokered by BESTTRAVEL is also due with the deposit.

The remainder of the payment is due 30 days prior to the beginning of the trip without further prompting. Please note without fail the date of the payment deadline written on the confirmation of travel because late receipt of the payment may result in the cancellation of your trip. Should the arranged price of travel not have been paid in full by the due date, BESTTRAVEL is entitled to cancel the package holiday contract and to invoice for compensation in the amount of the corresponding withdrawal fee, provided there did not already exist a travel deficiency that would allow for a withdrawal prior to this point in time. BESTTRAVEL is entitled to demand compensation owing to non-fulfilment of a contract as per the prerequisites of §§ 280 para. 1 and 3 and 281 of the German Civil Code.

Should you have booked your trip 30 days prior to the beginning of the trip or later, payment must be made in full immediately after the confirmation of travel and security note have been received.

You will receive a security note with the confirmation of travel/invoice with which the money you have paid is insured in the event of BESTTRAVEL’s insolvency. BESTTRAVEL has taken out insolvency insurance with R+V allgemeine Versicherung AG, Raiffeisenplatz 1 65189 Wiesbaden in order to insure your customers’ money. The particular security note allows you to make a claim against the insurer in the event of BESTTRAVEL’s insolvency and will be issued to you with the confirmation of travel.

3. Travel programme and price of travel

The scope of the contractually determined service is taken from the description in the brochure or the advertisement, our website and the information in your confirmation of travel that refers to these. The same applies to the price that you are liable to pay. Prices for travel are based on the transport costs and exchange rates applicable at the time of the travel offer. The services included as part of the price of travel are given in the programme available to you. Cost of entry for museums, churches or cultural events such as theatres or musical productions are not included in the price of travel, but must be paid by you on site unless they are expressly mentioned in the service description. The costs for ancillary services such as the procurement of visas shall be borne by you and will be invoiced for separately, unless otherwise stipulated.

4. Amendments to the travel programme

a) prior to the conclusion of a contract

The details given in the description are binding for BESTTRAVEL insofar as they have become the basis of the package holiday contract. However, BESTTRAVEL reserves the right to make amendments to the description of travel owing to objectively justifiable reasons prior to the conclusion of the contract. BESTTRAVEL will of course inform you of these amendments prior to booking. In the case of tours and cruises, amendments to the itinerary are possible at any time, for instance, because of official ordinances, special circumstances with regard to street of ship traffic, medical emergencies or where a deviating travel route is taken in the interest of the travel participants’ security or in the case of adverse weather conditions. BESTTRAVEL alone will decide on amendments to the travel route and/or travel time that become necessary.

In the event of an airline cancelling a scheduled flight or a special flight and, for example, in the event of the airline not keeping to the flight plan, it may become necessary to change the airline, the aircraft or the departure or return airport. For these or similar reasons, we expressly reserve the right to make such a change or amendment. In accordance with the EU Regulation on the instruction of flight passengers as to the identity of the airline providing the service, BESTTRAVEL is obliged to inform you of the identity of the airline and all of the air transportation services to be provided as part of the trip booked when you make the booking.

b) after the conclusion of a contract

BESTTRAVEL expressly reserves the right to deviate from and amend individual travel services in the contractually arranged content of the package holiday contract where this becomes necessary after the contract’s conclusion insofar as these amendments are insignificant as per §651f para. 2 of the German Civil Code. If because of circumstances arising after the conclusion of the contract BESTTRAVEL is only be able to provide the booked trip by making significant changes to one of the fundamental components of the travel service (e.g. the routing of flights, stopovers or indirect flights, amendments to the journey or flight plan or travel route owing to the postponement of matches, their cancellation or the like) or only by deviating from a separately completed contractual arrangement between BESTTRAVEL and yourself, BESTTRAVEL is entitled to offer you a corresponding amendment to the contract or, optionally, participation in another trip (alternative trip). In such a case, you have the right to withdraw from the booked trip without paying compensation, to participate in an alternative trip or to accept the offer of an amended contract within 7 days of receiving our amended contractual offer. We will expressly inform you of this deadline in the amended offer. Consequently, the amendment to the contract shall be regarded as accepted where you do not communicate to us by this deadline that you wish to withdraw from the package holiday contract free of charge or request to participate in an alternative trip. The amended service shall then take the place of the original, contractually due service. Potential guarantee claims remain unaffected insofar as the amended service is flawed.

5. Withdrawal, rebooking, contract transfer, name change by the traveller

a) Withdrawal

You may withdraw from the trip at any time prior to its beginning without giving reasons. In your own interest and to avoid misunderstandings, BESTTRAVEL recommends that you communicate your withdrawal in writing. BESTTRAVEL’s receipt of your notification of withdrawal determines the point in time of the withdrawal.

Should you withdraw from the package holiday contract or should you not undertake the trip, BESTTRAVEL may demand reasonable compensation for travel arrangements made and expenses incurred. When calculating the compensation, expenses typically saved and other possible typical uses of BESTTRAVEL’s travel services will be considered. You remain free to prove that no or significantly lower costs have been incurred than set forth in the following lump sums or cancellation policy.

The amount is based on the price of travel. It is usually the case that the lump withdrawal sums which BESTTRAVEL needs to demand from each of the registered participants in the event of your withdrawal from the trip amount to the following percentages of the travel price per person:

• Up to the 46th day prior to the trip’s beginning: 20% of the travel price.
• From the 45th to the 31st day prior to the beginning of the trip: 30% of the travel price.
• From the 30th to the 15st day prior to the beginning of the trip: 50% of the travel price.
• From the 14th to the 7th day prior to the beginning of the trip: 70% of the travel price.
• From the 6th to the 3rd day prior to the beginning of the trip: 80% of the travel price.
• From the 2nd day prior to the beginning of the trip: 90% of the travel price.
• No show (trip not undertaken on the day of departure): 95% of the travel price.

BESTTRAVEL reserves the right to demand a higher, specific compensation amount in place of the aforementioned lump-sum payments insofar as BESTTRAVEL can prove that it incurred significantly higher expenses than the applicable flat rate. In this case, BESTTRAVEL is obliged to quantify the compensation amount demanded in specific terms and to provide evidence for it.

Contrary to point 5 a), BESTTRAVEL may not demand any compensation when unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or its immediate vicinity that seriously impair the performance of the package holiday or the transport of persons to the destination.

b) Rebooking
Rebooking is strictly excluded. Any changes to the travel date, the travel destination, the location of the beginning of the trip, the match ticket or the kind of transportation constitute a rebooking. They constitute a withdrawal with a subsequent new booking.

c) Contract transfers as per §651e of the German Civil Code:

Up until the beginning of the trip, that is, allowing BESTTRAVEL a reasonable period of time for organisational measures, you can demand that a third party take on the rights and responsibilities contained in the package holiday trip in your stead. BESTTRAVEL may oppose the third party’s entering the contract where he or she does not satisfy the particular travel requirements or his or her participation is contrary to statutory provisions or official ordinances. Should a third party enter into the contract, then he himself/she herself and you yourself are liable to BESTTRAVEL as codebtors for the cost of travel and the additional costs incurred as a result of the third party’s entering the contract, especially for amendments to flight tickets and fees levied by the particular service provider. These additional costs are only to be paid where they arise and are proven to you by BESTTRAVEL. BESTTRAVEL will invoice you for a processing fee amounting to 100 EUR per person.

Where possible, it is in your interest and for reasons of providing proof to submit declarations of withdrawal, rebooking and amendment in writing.

d) Name changes
When booking, BESTTRAVEL needs to have your full name with all of the given and surnames of the registered travel participants exactly as they appear on their valid passports. After BESTTRAVEL has delivered the confirmation of travel, changes to names may only be made on payment of a processing fee amounting to €50.00 per person. Name changes for scheduled or special flights are only possible in exceptional cases and on request; after flight tickets have been issued, BESTTRAVEL will charge a fee of €100.00 per person to change a name. Depending on the availability of airports, additional flight charges may be incurred.

6. Withdrawal and cancellation by BESTTRAVEL

BESTTRAVEL can withdraw from the package holiday contract prior to the trip or can cancel the trip after it has begun in the following cases:

a) Up to 31 days prior to the beginning of the trip where there are insufficient participants if a minimum number of participants is stipulated for the particular trip in the BESTTRAVEL offer and confirmation of travel. Declaration of withdrawal will be issued to you immediately and your deposit reimbursed immediately.

b) Without deadline, where you continually disrupt the provision of the trip despite warnings from BESTTRAVEL or where you behave contrary to the contract to such a degree that the immediate termination of the contract is justified. BESTTRAVEL is entitled to claim the travel price, but will allow for the value of the expenses saved as well as any benefits that BESTTRAVEL obtains from any other use of the services not made use of, including the amounts refunded to BESTTRAVEL by service providers.

c) For behavioural reasons where you carry weapons, munitions, explosives or flammable materials (fireworks of any kind) or similar with you, or attempt to do so; furthermore, should you consume drugs, carry them with you or commit crimes during the trip. We are also justified in cancelling where you attempt any of the aforementioned acts.

d) Where you have booked using false details as to your person, address and/or identifying document, are included on a relevant EU or OFAC anti-terror list or are subject to a stadium ban for other reasons.

7. Cancellation of the package holiday contract due to unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances

Where BESTTRAVEL is impeded in the performance and fulfilment of your package holiday contract as a result of unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances, BESTTRAVEL may declare its withdrawal to you immediately after becoming aware of the reason for withdrawal. BESTTRAVEL will then reimburse the travel price paid within 14 days. BESTTRAVEL reserves the right to demand reasonable compensation for travel services provided or yet to be provided.

8. Guarantee

a) Notice of deficiency/remedial action

Where the trip is not performed in accordance with the contract, you are to demonstrate the deficiency to BESTTRAVEL immediately. Should you culpably refrain from providing notice of deficiency, you are no longer entitled to assert your right to a reduction in price and compensation. You are to give BESTTRAVEL reasonable time to remedy the situation unless immediate remedial action is required or is refused by BESTTRAVEL. BESTTRAVEL may offer remedial action by providing an alternative service of equal or higher value.

You can send your demand for remedial action to BESTTRAVEL directly at:

besttravel dortmund GmbH
Rheinlanddamm 207-209
44137 Dortmund
Tel. +49 231/90 20 6920
Fax +49 231 90 20 69 29
Email: info@best-travel.de

Please note we cannot guarantee that reports sent to your travel mediator outside of these opening times will be forwarded directly to BESTTRAVEL for the rapid processing of your request for remedial action.

Tour guides, agents and employees of service providers are not licensed and are not empowered by BESTTRAVEL to confirm deficiencies or to recognise claims against BESTTRAVEL.

b) Reduction of travel price, §651m of the German Civil Code

You can demand a decrease in the travel price (reduction) that corresponds with the underperformance where travel services or alternative services used by you are not performed in accordance with the contract despite your request for remedial action (see 8a).

c) Cancellation of the package holiday contract, §651l of the German Civil Code

Should BESTTRAVEL fail to provide remedial action within a reasonable timeframe or declare that remedial action is not possible and should the trip be significantly impaired as a result of the failure to provide services in accordance with the contract, you may cancel the package holiday contract. If the contract is subsequently terminated, you are still entitled to repatriation where the contract encompasses return transport. The additional costs of the return transport shall be borne by BESTTRAVEL. Unforeseeable, extraordinary circumstances that do not concern any travel services provided by BESTTRAVEL do not entitle the customer to free withdrawal from the package holiday contract.

d) Compensation for damages, §651n of the German Civil Code

Should BESTTRAVEL culpably violate obligations contained with the package holiday contract, BESTTRAVEL is obliged to compensate you for the damage resulting therefrom. Should the trip be halted or significantly impaired, you may also demand reasonable compensation in cash for holiday entitlement taken in vain where you have requested remedial action to no effect (see 8a).

9. Limitation period

Claims arising from a performance of the trip not in accordance with the contract elapse within 2 years. The limitation period begins on the day on which the trip is due to end as stipulated in the contract (§651j of the German Civil Code). Claims arising from illegal acts elapse within three years.

10. BESTTRAVEL’s liability

BESTTRAVEL is liable within the scope of its duty of care as a proper merchant for 1. conscientious trip preparation, 2. the careful selection and monitoring of the service provider, 3. the accuracy of the service description, though not for the information in local site brochures, hotel brochures or other brochures not issued by BESTTRAVEL or online descriptions which have been enclosed with your travel documents, 4. the proper provision of the travel services arranged in the contract.

11. Limitation of liability

a) contractual
BESTTRAVEL’s contractual liability is limited to three times the price of travel for damages which are not bodily (including liability for breach of ancillary, secondary or main contractual obligations) insofar as damages were not intentionally caused by BESTRAVEL or due to gross negligence. The limitation of liability is also applicable where BESTTRAVEL is responsible for damages suffered by you wholly due to the fault of a service provider.

b) statutory
Claims for damages against BESTTRAVEL are limited or excluded insofar as the liability of a service provider is also limited or excluded owing to statutory provisions applicable to services to be performed by the service provider. Insofar as BESTTRAVEL is the contractual air carrier, its liability is governed by the relevant provisions of the Air Traffic Act in conjunction with the International Convention of Warsaw, the Hague and Guadalajara as well as the Montreal Convention. This usually limits the liability of the air carrier for death or bodily injury as well as for the loss of or damage to luggage.

c) for external services
BESTTRAVEL is not liable for impairments to services in connection with services which, as external services, were only mediated by BESTTRAVEL (e.g. sporting events, theatre visits, exhibitions, excursions etc.) and which are expressly denoted as external services in the travel offer (supplemental offering).

12. Passport, visa, foreign currency, customs and health provisions

BESTTRAVEL is responsible for instructing you about passport, visa and health provisions prior to the conclusion of the contract as well as their possibly being amended prior to the beginning of the trip. This instruction can also be arranged for by your travel agent (§651v para. 1 sentence 1 of the German Civil Code). Every traveller (including children) from an EU country and Switzerland must carry a passport that will be valid for six months after the end of the trip and which is machine readable (ePassport). This is also true for trips within Europe outside of the Schengen area. BESTTRAVEL is not liable for the punctual issuance or arrival of visas required from a particular diplomatic mission where the traveller has commissioned BESTTRAVEL with their procurement unless BESTTRAVEL is responsible for the delay. You are responsible for adhering to all provisions that are important for the performance of the trip. All detriments, especially the payment of withdrawal costs that result from non-adherence to these provisions, shall be borne by you except where they are the result of false information or misinformation culpably provided by BESTTRAVEL. Should you not adhere to individual countries’ passport, visa, health or other entry regulations owing to reasons for which you are responsible, or should a visa not be issued punctually through your own fault meaning you are impeded in your trip, BESTTRAVEL may refuse to provide transport or further transport without a duty to pay compensation and may charge you for the corresponding lump compensation sum as per point 5a) of these travel conditions. In such cases, you have the right to prove to us that no damages occurred or that they did not occur in the amount being claimed for. If you are required to pay entry fees or similar charges to enter a country through which the trip will pass or if you are required to pay for travel documents (e.g. a visa) whose provision BESTTRAVEL has taken on for all passengers, BESTTRAVEL is entitled to charge you for costs arising from and incurred by this.

13. Insurance

You are responsible for taking out travel insurance including travel cancellation insurance yourself insofar as it is not included in the price of travel and not stated in the service description. The general insurance terms and conditions for the particular insurance policy are applicable.

14. Data protection

Within the scope of your booking, you will make personal data available to BESTTRAVEL which BESTTRAVEL requires for the performance of the trip. BESTTRAVEL will process the booking order in due consideration of the applicable statutory data protection provisions based on the GDPR. BESTTRAVEL will use your personal data for the fulfilment of your orders, requirements, wishes and, where necessary, for its own market research purposes. Only where you have provided BESTTRAVEL with your consent in advance will BESTTRAVEL also use this data for product-related survey and marketing purposes. BESTTRAVEL advises that your personal data such as name, address and/or email address will occasionally be used to send information, e.g. newsletters via email and/or by post. The use of your data for the purpose of sending this information will only take place where you have approved of its being sent on a BESTTRAVEL Internet site or have requested it within the scope of a travel booking. You may revoke your consent to the use of your data for these purposes at any time by unsubscribing from it. Personal information will only be passed on to companies that are involved in the booking. BESTTRAVEL will not pass on your information to third parties without your express consent or a statutory obligation. More detailed information can be found in our data protection declaration at www.best-travel.de.

15. Information about consumer dispute resolution

BESTTRAVEL advises that, with regard to the law regarding the resolution of consumer disputes, BESTTRAVEL will not participate in any voluntary consumer dispute resolution. If a consumer dispute resolution should become obligatory for BESTTRAVEL after these terms and conditions’ publication, BESTTRAVEL will inform consumers of this in a suitable manner. BESTTRAVEL refers to the European online dispute resolution platform http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ for all contracts which were concluded as electronic transactions.

16. Place of jurisdiction/choice of law

The place of jurisdiction for lawsuits against BESTTRAVEL is Dortmund. Only the law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be applicable to the contractual relationship between you and BESTTRAVEL. This also applies to the entire legal relationship. Insofar as non-German law is applied in the case of lawsuits outside of Germany against BESTTRAVEL for the liability of the tour organiser according to their merits, only German law shall apply to the legal consequences, especially with regard to the kind, scope and amount of the customer’s claims.

17. Nullity

The nullity of individual provisions in the package holiday contract does not result in the entire package holiday contract becoming ineffective. In lieu of the invalid provision, the provision which comes closest to the meaning and purpose of the invalid provision shall be regarded as agreed on.

The tour operator of the offered package holidays is:

besttravel dortmund GmbH
Rheinlanddamm 207-209
44137 Dortmund
Companies headquarters: Dortmund
District court: Dortmund HR B 14257
Manager: Thomas Heß
VAT ID No.: DE 209425012
Tel.: +49 231 90 20 69 20
Fax: +49 231 90 20 69 29
info@best-travel.de

Please also read the information sheet. This contains important information regarding the instruction of travellers in the case of a package holiday as per §651A of the German Civil Code.