Conditions of travel

Detailed conditions of travel “Schwerin Plus” Touristik Service GmbH

Dear guests,
Please take a good look at these conditions of travel, because when you make your booking you are agreeing to these conditions, which will be sent to you prior to booking. They apply to all package tours of the tour operator “Schwerin Plus” Touristik Service GmbH, hereinafter referred to as the Tour Operator, subsequently called “Organizer”. Ausführliche Reisebedingungen der „Schwerin Plus“ Touristik-Service GmbH

Standard information form for package travel contracts according §651a German Civil Code

1.    Concluding a package tour contract
1.1.    When you book you are making a binding offer to conclude a package tour contract with the tour operator. The basis of this package tour offer is the travel write-up and the additional information of the tour operator for the respective travel to the extent they are made available to you at the time of booking. The package tour contract comes into effect when you receive the declaration of acceptance of the tour operator. This does not require any specific form.
1.2.    The customer is responsible for all contractual obligations of co-travelers on whose behalf he makes the booking, just as he is for his own contractual duties to the extent that he has committed to these obligations explicitly and by separate declaration.
1.3.    Upon or immediately after conclusion of the contract, you will receive a travel confirmation that contains all essential information about the travel services you have booked. In the case of simultaneous presence of both parties, especially in a travel agency, the travel confirmation shall be handed over in paper form, otherwise, in particular in electronic transactions; it is sufficient to send the travel confirmation on a durable electronic data carrier.
If the confirmation differs from your booking, the tour operator is committed to the new offer for a period of 10 days. The contract is concluded on the basis of this new offer, insofar as the tour operator has referred to the change with respect to the new offer and fulfilled his pre-contractual information obligations and you have conveyed your acceptance to the tour operator by express declaration or the payment of a deposit within the binding period.
1.4.    Please note that according to sections 312 (7) and 312g (2) sentence 1 no. 9 BGB for package tour contracts pursuant to sections 651a and 651c BGB, which are concluded at a distance (letters, telephone, fax, email, SMS, broadcasting, telemedia, online services), there is no right of revocation, but only the legal rights of cancellation and termination, in particular the right to cancel according to Section 651h BGB (see also item 8). However, a right to revocation exists if the contract for travel services pursuant to Section 651a BGB was concluded outside of business premises, unless the oral proceedings on which the conclusion of the contract is based were conducted on the prior order of the customer; in the latter case, there is no right of revocation.

2.    Payment
2.1.    The tour operator has taken out bankruptcy insurance with the German Travel Insurance Association VVaG (DRS) to safeguard customers‘funds. The confirmation includes the respective insurance certificate plus details of the amounts for the deposit and the final payment and, if applicable, for cancellation.
2.2.    Right after concluding the contract a deposit amounting to 25 % of the total price will be due upon conclusion of the contract and delivery of the confirmation.
2.3.    The final payment is due 4 weeks prior to departure without any further request. After receiving the payment the client will get the complete travel documents. In case of short term bookings the total costs of travel become due.  If there can´t be registered any advanced payment even after notice of default or final payment until travel start date, Schwerin Plus is entitled to terminate the contract and to claim damages equivalent to the corresponding cancellation fees, given that there was a substantial travel deficiency at that time.
2.4.    Cancellation fees and processing fees are due immediately.
2.5.    Before Departure the payment will be made directly to the organizer by money transfer. Therefore the organizer needs the full name, address, telephone number and email address of the booker.
2.6.    If due payments are not paid or not fully paid and you do not pay even after a reminder with a grace period, the tour operator can withdraw from the respective contract unless there is already at this time a significant travel defect. In case of withdrawal from the travel contract in the sense of the previous sentence, the tour operator may demand compensation for cancellation fees in accordance with items 4.2. If you do not make payments despite the due date, the tour operator also reserves the right to charge a reminder fee of € 1.50 for the second reminder. Your right to prove that substantially lower or no costs were incurred remains unaffected.
2.7.     Incidental costs, like rental bikes, are not part of the travel contract. These costs are to be paid directly to the service provider. Bringing dogs is only allowed if the service provider explicitly approves.

3.    Modifications of  services and prices
3.1.    Before the conclusion of the contract the tour operator can make a change at any time in the service descriptions, of which the traveler is of course notified before booking.
3.2.    Changes to essential travel services in relation to the agreed content of the travel contract that become necessary after conclusion of the contract and prior to departure and that are not made contrary to good faith by the tour operator are only permitted insofar as they are not significant and do not affect the overall quality and scope of the booked travel.
Any warranty claims remain unaffected, in particular insofar as the changed services are subject to defects.
3.3.    The tour operator is obliged to notify the customer on a durable data carrier about changes in services immediately after becoming aware of the reason for the change. If necessary, it will offer the customer a free change or a free withdrawal.
3.4.    In the event of any significant change in any essential feature of the travel services or deviation from the customer‘s specific requirements that have become part of the package tour contract, the customer is entitled within a reasonable time limit set by the tour operator at the same time the change is notified to either accept the change or to withdraw from the package tour contract free of charge or to request participation in a replacement trip if the tour operator has offered him such a trip.
The customer has the choice to respond to the message of the tour operator or not. If the customer responds to the tour operator, then he can either agree to the contract amendment, request participation in a replacement trip, if such a was offered, or withdraw from the contract free of charge.
If the customer does not respond to the tour operator or does not respond within the set deadline, the notified change will be deemed accepted. The customer shall be informed in a clear, understandable and emphatic manner in the statement of notification in line with item 3.3.
3.5.    Any warranty claims remain unaffected as far as the changed services are flawed. If the tour operator has lower costs for the implementation of the modified travel or replacement trip of equivalent quality, the customer shall be reimbursed the difference in accordance with Section 651m (2) BGB.

4.    Cancellation by customer
4.1.    You may cancel your trip in writing at any time prior to commencement of travel. Your cancellation notice shall become effective on the date we receive it.
4.2.    If the customer cancels before the start of the journey or if he does not start the journey, tour operator loses the claim to the travel price. Instead, the tour operator may demand reasonable compensation unless the cancellation is the responsibility of the latter, or if no extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or in the immediate vicinity, which affect the performance of the package tour arrangement or the transport of persons to the destination. Circumstances are deemed unavoidable and extraordinary if they are not under the control of the tour operator and their consequences could not have been avoided even if all reasonable precautions had been taken. The cancellation fees are set out under 4.4 below. They are based on the travel price minus the value of the expenses saved by the tour operator and less what the tour operator makes from other uses of the travel services. The following flat rates also take into account the period between the notification of cancellation and the start of the journey. If the customer so requests, the tour operator shall justify the cancellation fee applied. The customer is also free to provide evidence that the tour operator‘s fees are significantly lower than the compensation demanded.
4.3.    Cancellation fees are also due if a traveler does not arrive in good time with respect to the time stated in the travel documents at the respective departure airport or departure location, or if the trip cannot be commenced due to the absence of travel documents for which the tour operator is not responsible, such as passport or necessary visa.
4.4.    In the event of cancellation or no-show the following cancellation conditions apply per booking:
Until 31 days before departure = 25%
from 30 days before departure = 40%
from 24 days before departure = 50%
from 17 days before departure = 60%
from 10 days before departure = 80%
From 3 days prior to departure until the day of departure or failure to travel 80% of the travel price.
4.5.    We strongly recommend travel cancellation insurance.
4.6.    The tour operator shall at your request and as far as practicable modify the confirmation (amended booking) by the 31st day before departure. An amended booking is deemed to be changes to your travel date, destination and place of departure, accommodation or transportation. For this a separate fee of € 50 is charged per person. Changes made after the deadlines can only be made after cancelling the travel contract at the conditions according to item 8.4 with simultaneous new booking. In the case of a change within the booked accommodation (e.g. change of room category, type of board or occupancy of booked room), the price for the changed services will be re-calculated on the basis of the hitherto applicable booking prices and conditions.
4.7.    Within a reasonable period of time prior to departure, the traveler may declare on a durable medium that a third party enters into his rights and obligations under the travel contract. The declaration is deemed timely if it is received by the tour operator at least seven days before the start of the journey. The tour operator may object to the entry of the third party instead of the traveler if the third party does not fulfill contractual travel requirements. If a third party replaces the booked traveler, the tour operator is entitled to charge a flat rate charge of € 10 to meet administrative costs incurred by the replacement person.

5.    Cancellation and termination by the tour operator
5.1.    The tour operator can terminate the travel contract without notice if the tour operator is substantially disrupted in delivering the travel arrangements by the traveler despite a corresponding warning by the tour operator. The same applies if a traveler behaves contrary to the contract to such an extent that the immediate cancellation of the contract is justified. The tour operator reserves the right to receive payment of the remaining travel price. The traveler responsible for the disruption shall be liable for any additional costs for the return transport.  However, the tour operator must credit the disruptive traveler with the value of saved expenditures as well as those advantages which are obtained from another use of unused services, including any reimbursements by service providers.
5.2.    The tour operator can terminate the travel contract if the minimum number of participants specified in the description of services, in the pre-contractual information or in the confirmation is not reached and the traveler is notified accordingly up to 5 weeks prior to departure. The tour operator will inform the traveler, of course, if it becomes apparent at an earlier point in time that the minimum number of participants cannot be attained. The notice of termination will be sent to the traveler without delay. You will be refunded the paid travel price immediately, but in any case within 14 days after receipt of the termination.
5.3.    The tour operator may withdraw from the contract prior to departure if it is prevented from fulfilling the contract due to unavoidable, exceptional circumstances; in this case it must declare the cancellation immediately after becoming aware of the reason for cancellation. If the tour operator cancels the contract, it loses the claim to payment of the agreed travel price.

6.    Notification of defects, remedy reduction
6.1.    If a travel service is not delivered or not delivered free of defects, the traveler can demand redress. The tour operator can refuse to remedy the situation if it is impossible or incurs unreasonable costs.
6.2.    The traveler may demand a price reduction if the travel services are not provided free of defect and he did not fail culpably to report the defect immediately (without undue delay). Contrary to Section 651j BGB, the rights resulting from a reduction of the travel price (Section 651m BGB) expire within three years. Section 199 (1) BGB applies for the beginning of the limitation period.
6.3.    If the tour operator cannot remedy the situation as a result of culpable omission by the traveler in notifying a defect, according to Section 651m BGB the traveler cannot claim a reduction in price nor, according to Section 651n BGB, claim for damages.
6.4.    If a package tour is considerably impaired by a travel defect and if the tour operator does not remedy the situation within a reasonable period of time, the traveler may cancel the travel contract – in his own interest and to preserve evidence this is best done in writing.

7.    Not used services
If the client does not make use or only makes partial use of services offered to them in due form for reasons which are to be ascribed to the client themselves (e.g. as a result of a premature return journey or other urgent reasons) we will endeavor to gain a refund from the respective service partner for any expenses saved. This obligation does not apply if the services in question are insignificant or such a refund is in conflict with statutory regulations.


8.    Damages
8.1.    In the event of a travel defect the traveler may, without prejudice to a reduction of the travel price (reduction) or cancellation, demand compensation unless the traveler is culpable for the travel defect or the travel defect is caused by a third party who is neither a service provider nor otherwise involved in the provision of the travel services included in the package tour contract and the actions of the third party were unpredictable or unavoidable on the part of the tour operator or if the travel defects were caused by unavoidable, exceptional circumstances. The traveler may also claim reasonable financial compensation for wasted holiday time if the tour is thwarted or significantly impaired.
8.2.    As far as the tour operator did not culpably cause the damages suffered by the traveler the liability of the tour operator for damages which are not physical damages is limited to three times the tour price.
8.3.    Except in the case of intent or gross negligence for all tortuous claims for damages against the tour operator the liability is limited to three times the travel price. These maximum liability limits apply per traveler and tour. Possible claims under the Montreal Convention or the German Traffic Act remain unaffected by the above restriction.
8.4.    The tour operator is not liable for disruption to services, personal injury and material damages in connection with services merely mediated as third party services (e.g. excursions, sports events, theatre visits, exhibitions, transport services to and from the advertised starting and final points) if these services are so expressly and clearly identified as brokered third party services with explicit identification of the mediated third party that the traveler can easily and clearly recognize them as not being part and parcel of the package holiday.
A claim for damages against the tour operator is limited or excluded insofar as under international conventions or statutory provisions applicable to the services provided by a service provider claims for damages against the service provider can only be asserted under certain conditions or restrictions or may be ruled out under certain conditions.
8.5.    Within the scope of statutory provisions every traveler is obliged to cooperate in the event of service disruptions in order to avoid or minimize any damage.
8.6.    If, contrary to expectations, you have a justified complaint, you must notify our travel rep immediately and request remedy. If the travel rep or your contact people are not available, contact the service provider (e.g. transfer company, hotelier and ship management). You will find the necessary telephone and fax numbers as well as email addresses in your itinerary or in the description of services.
8.7.    Contrary to Section 651j BGB, claims for damages by customers exerted under Section 651n (1) BGB, with the exception of claims for wasted holiday time, are subject to a three-year limitation. Section 199 (1) BGB applies for the beginning of the limitation period. The statutory compensation claims on the part of the tour operator due to changes to or deterioration of items made available to the customer in the context of the execution of the travel expire six months after the end of travel.

9.    Data protection
The personal data you provide to us will be electronically processed and used to the extent necessary for the fulfillment of the contract. All your personal data will be processed according to German and European data protection law. Further information on the handling of your data is available in our privacy policy at: www.von-schloss-zu-schloss.de/datenschutz

Valid for all bookings from01.01.2019