Travel conditions

The following conditions are an integral part of the travel agreement between the traveller and the company Best-BikeTours. They supplement § 651 a of the German Civil Code [Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch] (rights of the travel agreement typical for the type of contract) and § 4-11 of the German Civil Code governing the obligation to supply information (Ordinance on the duties to supply information and supporting documents). Please note that this is a translation of the German text and only the original German version of the Travel Conditions is legally binding.

1. Conclusion of the agreement:
A) General:
a) The basis for Best-BikeTours’ offer of agreement and acceptance of the agreement/booking made by the customer is the tender of the package in the catalogue and/or on the Internet or an individual written offer, providing this is seen by the customer before the booking is made.
b) Travel agents are not entitled to modify the content of the travel agreement, and in particular are not entitled to agree to services that go beyond those described in the travel description.
c) Best-BikeTours is not bound by any printed or online information not published by Best-BikeTours, unless it has been made a part of the agreement with express agreement with the customer.
d) If the content of the booking-confirmation deviates from the content of the booking, this constitutes a new offer from Best-BikeTours. The travel agreement shall come into effect based on this new offer if the customer declares acceptance by explicit declaration, by making a down payment or paying the remaining sum or by using the travel services.
e) The person making the booking is liable for the contractual obligations of his/her accompanying participants as if for his/her own, in as far as he/she has assumed such an obligation by means of a separate and explicit declaration.
f) Please note that regardless of the selected type of booking, there is no basis for the right of cancellation upon conclusion of the agreement as per the statutory regulations on distance contracts (§ 312b para. 3, no. 6 of the German Civil Code [BGB].

B) Manual booking:
a) A booking can be made in writing, by fax, e-mail or phone.
b) Placement of the booking constitutes the customer’s binding offer for the conclusion of the travel agreement.
c) The agreement shall come into force upon receipt of the travel confirmation from Best-BikeTours, which needs no specific form. It is generally sent in writing by post, however a verbal or telephone confirmation will also lead to a conclusion of the agreement.

C) Online booking (conclusion of agreement by electronic business transaction)
a) The online booking procedure is explained on the Best-BikeTours website.
b) Users of the online form find out how to edit or delete entries and how to reset the entire form.
c) If the data of the form is saved to the online booking system, the user receives information about data storage and the option to access this data at a later point in time.
d) Clicking the “Finalise booking with obligation to pay” button, constitutes the customer’s offer to conclude the travel agreement bindingly. After sending the form, receipt of the booking is confirmed immediately in electronic format.
e) Clicking the “Finalise booking with obligation to pay” button is synonymous with the customer’s binding offer of agreement to Best-BikeTours, however it does not constitute a claim to the effecting of an agreement. Best-BikeTours is entitled to decide freely whether or not to accept the customer’s offer of an agreement.
f) The travel agreement shall come into force upon receipt of the travel confirmation from Best-BikeTours by the customer.

2. Payment:
a) Once the agreement has been concluded and after providing the travel security document in accordance with § 651k of the German Civil Code, a down payment of 20% of the price of the holiday is due. Payment of the remaining amount is due 4 weeks prior to the beginning of the holiday.
b) If the customer does not pay the down payment and/or the final amount according to the agreed payment arrangements, Best-BikeTours is entitled to withdraw from the travel agreement after a reminder, including a deadline, and to charge any cancellation costs in accordance with no. 4 to the customer’s account. This presumes that Best-BikeTours is prepared to render the services stipulated in the agreement and is in a position to do this, and no legal or contractual right to refuse performance is effected by the customer.

3. Change in services:
a) Upon conclusion of the agreement, any necessary changes to important services are only permitted if the changes will not have a considerable impact on the holiday and will not change the overall character of the holiday.
b) Best-BikeTours undertakes to inform the customer about any important changes in services immediately upon knowledge of them.
c) In the event of a considerable change to an important service, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the travel agreement free of charge or to demand participation in a holiday of equal value, if Best-BikeTours has such a holiday on offer and can offer the holiday without any additional charge. The customer is entitled to assert these rights immediately after hearing from Best-BikeTours about the change in service.

4. Cancellation before the holiday begins and cancellation costs:
a) The customer may withdraw from the holiday at any time before the holiday starts. Cancellation must be sent to Best-BikeTours, to the address specified below. If the holiday was booked via a travel agent, cancellation can be sent to this agent. We recommend making the cancellation in writing.
b) If the customer withdraws before the holiday starts, or does not start the holiday, Best-BikeTours loses the right to claim the travel price. Instead, Best-BikeTours can demand suitable compensation for the travel arrangements and expenses in proportion to the respective travel price, except in cases of force majeure. When calculating the compensation, saved expenses and any possible other uses of the services are taken into account. The compensation is calculated as follows after receipt of the cancellation:

Up to 28 days before the start of the holiday 20%
27 days – 14 days before the start of the holiday 30%
13 days – 08 days before the start of the holiday 50%
07 days – 03 days before the start of the holiday 70%
03 days – day of arrival/no-show 90%

for Boat & bike tours is the compensation:

Up to 84 days before the start of the holiday 20 %
83 days – 42 days before the start of the holiday 30 %
41 days – 30 days before the start of the holiday 60 %
29 days – 15 days before the start of the holiday 90 %
14 days – day of arrival/no-show 95 %

for cruises is the compensation:

Up to 30 days before the start of the holiday 20 %
29 days - 22 days before the start of the holiday 50 %
21 days- 1 day before the start of the holiday 75 %
day of arrival/no-show 90 %

c) In all cases, it is the responsibility of the customer to prove that the damage caused is actually smaller or non-existent than is stated in the fixed sum of reimbursement.
d) Best-BikeTours is reserved the right to demand a higher, concrete amount of compensation instead of the previously mentioned fixed sum. In this case, Best-BikeTours is obliged to provide concrete evidence for considerably higher expenses, taking into account saved expenses and any other use of the travel services.
e) The statutory right of the customer as per § 651 b of the German Civil Code (transfer of the agreement) to suggest a replacement participant remains unaffected.

5. Re-booking
a) The customer has no right to demand changes to the date of the holiday, the destination or the place at which the holiday starts or the accommodation once the agreement has been concluded (re-booking). If the customer does re-book up to 15 days before the start of the tour, a re-booking fee can be charged of EUR 50 per booking, in as far as no other agreements were made before the change was approved.
b) Requests for re-bookings in the period of 14 days before the start of the holiday up to the start of the holiday, can, assuming they can be realised, only be implemented if the customer withdraws from the travel agreement to the conditions as per no. 4 c and places a new booking. This does not apply to re-booking requests that incur only minor costs.

6. Services not utilised:
No claims can be made for a partial refund of individual, officially offered travel services that are not utilised, if these services have not been used for reasons for which the customer is responsible, e.g. premature departure. Best-BikeTours will try to reimburse saved expenses through the agencies administering the services, unless the services are minor or conflict with statutory or official provisions.

7. General obligations of the customer:
A) The obligation to notify us of deficiencies as stipulated in § 651 d para. 2 of the German Civil Code, is specified as follows:
a) The customer is obliged to notify Best-BikeTours immediately of any defects and to request help.
b) The customer will be informed extensively about Best-BikeTours’ availability during the customer’s holiday, at the latest upon receipt of the travel documents.
c) Claims due to travel deficiencies are only cancelled if the deficiency does not result from any responsibility of the customer.

B) Travel agents, hotel staff or other contractual partners of Best-BikeTours are not authorised nor are they entitled to confirm deficiencies or acknowledge claims against Best-BikeTours.

C) If the holiday is compromised significantly due to travel deficiencies or owing to a deficiency that cannot be reasonably expected of the customer, for good reason, the customer is entitled to terminate the agreement. Cancellation shall only be admissible if Best-BikeTours allows a reasonable deadline of the customer to expire without offering a remedy. Specification of a time limit is not necessary if a remedy is impossible, or denied by Best-BikeTours, or if particular interests of the customer may be served by the immediate termination of the agreement.

D) The customer must inform Best-BikeTours if he/she does not receive the required travel documents or only partially receives them within the announced period.

8. Special obligations of the customer:
a) The customer is obliged to ascertain his/her state of health and physical fitness before booking the tour, before starting the tour and during the tour. He/she is also required to consult a doctor if necessary. Best-BikeTours has no contractually specified advisory, assessment or supervisory obligation in this regard.
b) With regard to the customer’s own bicycle or hire bikes made available by Best-BikeTours or its contractual partners, the customer is obliged to monitor the condition of the bike for technical defects and road safety. Within the framework of the customer’s general statutory obligation to announce any deficiencies, the customer is required to notify Best-BikeTours immediately about any deficiencies in the bicycles that have been made available and to request a remedy.
c) The customer is obliged to comply strictly with all traffic rules. Regardless of information issued by Best-BikeTours to date, the customer is also required to find out about the respective traffic rules of his/her travel destination.
d) The customer is required to avoid any damage, impairment or endangering of persons and property and to behave and ride his/her bicycle in a suitable manner.
e) We recommend everyone on our holidays to wear a helmet!

9. Limitation of liability
The contractual liability for damage that does not result in violation of life, the body or health, is limited to three times the travel price,
a) providing the damage to the customer has not been incurred due to intentional or negligent dereliction of duty or
b) providing Best-BikeTours is only responsible for damage incurred to the customer that is the fault of a service provider.

10. Limitation period
a) Claims of the customer according to § 651 c to f of the German Civil Code arising from injury to life, body or health, due to intentional or negligent violation of duty by Best-BikeTours or a legal representative or by a vicarious agent, shall expire after two years. This also applies to claims for compensation for other damages that arise from an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty of Best-BikeTours or a legal representative or vicarious agent of Best-BikeTours.
b) All other claims according to § 651 c to f of the German Civil Code shall expire within a year.
c) The limitation period according to numbers 11a and 11b shall begin with the day following the contractually specified end of the holiday. If the last day of the period is a Sunday or a national holiday, at the place of performance, or a Saturday, the next working day shall replace such a day.
d) If negotiations are conducted between the customer and Best-BikeTours about the claim or about the circumstances underlying the claim, the limitation period is suspended until one of the negotiation partners refuses to continue the negotiations. The limitation of the claim will come into effect at the earliest three months after the suspension.

11. Choice of law and jurisdiction agreement:
a) Exclusive application of German law shall be agreed for the entire legal and contractual relationship between the customer and Best-BikeTours. Complaints may only be filed at the place of Best-BikeTours' registered office. This does not apply to customers who are citizens of an EU state, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Iceland.
b) For complaints filed by Best-BikeTours concerning customers or contractual partners who are businessmen or juristic persons under public or private law, the place of jurisdiction shall be the responsible court where Best-BikeTours is headquartered. This also applies to complaints made against people whose place of residence or usual place of residence is abroad or whose place of residence of usual place of residence is unknown at the point in time of filing the complaint.

Tour operator:
Best-BikeTours GmbH
Kanzleistr. 14
D-78462 Konstanz
Tel. +49 - (0)7531-916 093
info(at)best-biketours.com