These General Terms and Conditions shall apply to the business operations of 

travel agencies, tour operators, OTAs and travel portal customers
- in the following referred as Agency

with

Global Ticket Factory GmbH and the GTF sub-contractors
- in the following referred to as GTF

Introduction

The principles of business cooperation are laid down in Part A.

The special regulations laid down in Part B shall apply to the processing of booking orders for carriage within scheduled air traffic.

The regulations laid down in Part C shall additionally apply to the processing of booking orders for accommodation.

For the agency of rental cars, the regulations in Part D shall apply.

For the agency of package travel, the regulations in Part E shall apply. 

Part A – Principles of business cooperation

1. Definitions

1.1. GTF sub-contractors
GTF sub-contractors are the companies associated with GTF pursuant to Art. 15 ff. Stock Corporation Act (AktG) that support GTF as sub-contractors in the interior relationship when fulfilling its contracts.

1.2. BSP
 BSP is the Billing and Settlement Plan of IATA.

1.3. IATA
 IATA is the International Air Transport Association.

1.4. Customer
 Customer is the Agency’s client, i.e. all natural persons or legal entities that intend to use precise travel services from service providers itself or through a third party and commissions the Agency for this purpose to cause a corresponding booking.

1.5. Service recipient
Service recipient is that person in whose name the booking is made.

1.6. Service provider
Service provider is that natural person or legal entity that offers a travel service or linked travel arrangements within the contractual chain und renders these to the service recipient. Service providers are, in particular, airlines, other carriers, hotels, car rental companies and providers of other travel services.

1.7. Service relationship
The service relationship is the legal relationship existing between the service recipient and the service provider.

2. General provisions

2.1.  Scope of application

2.1.1. The following General Terms and Conditions (GTC) shall apply to the business relationship between GTF GmbH and its sub-contractors, on the one hand and the Agency that is an entrepreneur in the meaning of Art. 14 German Civil Code (BGB) on the other. GTF hereby does not recognize any contrary or deviating conditions of the Agency, unless GTF has explicitly agreed in writing to their application.

2.1.2. Individual stipulations agreed upon with the Agency in an individual case (including ancillary agreements, supplements and amendments) shall always have precedence over these GTC. Unless otherwise agreed upon, a written agreement and/or a written confirmation by GTF is required for such stipulations.

2.1.3. Insofar as individual GTF sub-contractors establish direct contractual relationships with the Agency, these GTC and any preferential agreements made between them shall apply to this contractual relationship, insofar as these do not deviate therefrom to the detriment of GTF.

2.1.4. The Agency Framework Agreement and/or individual agreement concluded between GTF and the Agency are supplemented by these GTC. If individual provisions therein deviate from these GTC, they shall take precedence over the provisions of these GTC.

2.2. Subject matter of the contract

2.2.1. GTF fulfills individual business management agreements on the basis of the Agency Framework Agreement by carrying out the precise booking orders received from the Agency for the contractual services as laid down in these GTC.

2.2.2. For this purpose, GTF provides information on currently available travel services and their respective prices as well as on the procedures required for booking and reservation, including by electronic means.

2.2.3. The agreement between the service recipient and the service provider comes into existence upon the booking confirmation as acceptance of the contract. The GTC of the respective service provider used shall apply to this service relationship. The Agency shall inform the service recipient to this end and make the GTC accessible.

2.2.4. No contractual relationship is established between GTF and the Agency's customer.

2.3. Services outside the scope of the GTC

2.3.1. The service relationship comes into existence between the person making the booking as the service recipient or for the service recipient and the respective service provider, taking into account the service provider’s terms and conditions agreed for this purpose.

2.3.2. GTF does not act as a tour operator, but as an agent, as GTF only provides as an agent individual – if necessary, also connected – travel services resulting from booking orders of the Agency but does not arrange them for the service recipient.

2.3.3. It is the Agency’s responsibility to inform its customers about country-specific regulations and entry requirements, without GTF assuming any obligations in this regard.

2.4.  Ancillary services are services additionally rendered by GTF in connection with the booking order; they are deemed to be ancillary services to the main service, i.e. they shall be treated in the same way as the main service in matters pertaining to turnover tax.

3. Booking process and conclusion of contract

3.1. For the booking and reservation process, the Agency shall use the portal offered by GTF for this purpose.

3.2. The available travel services, the current prices and conditions of the travel services as well as the fees charged by GTF will be shown to the Agency via the portal provided by GTF.

3.3. The Agency is obliged to transmit all information required for the booking in a complete and unambiguous form. The Agency may only pass on the booking order of a customer to be processed by GTF if the Agency itself has examined the following requirements:

• The Agency has itself examined with due care that the requirements for accepting the order have been fulfilled;
• The Agency has examined the agreed payment settlement, including the agreed assignment. An assignment in the meaning of this item 3.3. is the contractual transfer of the Agency’s claims vis-à-vis its customer to GTF in order to safeguard GTF’s payment claims towards the Agency;
• The Agency has examined that the payment in favor of GTF is ensured. The Agency must always examine whether the booking confirmations are correct and complete.
   

 3.4.  The Agency must comply with the special duties of care regarding the credit card agreement, as amended, especially if the customer is not known personally. In addition, the Agency must observe the conditions of the issuing card institution. The Agency may only accept cards from institutions that are accepted by the respective service provider booked. The Agency shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that payment is guaranteed and can be processed properly, as it does for other payment methods. The Agency is obliged both to inform GTF immediately in the event of irregularities and apparent problems, and to submit all necessary records and documents in connection with these irregularities and apparent problems without delay.

3.5.  When GTF has fulfilled the order placed by the Agency, GTF is entitled to invoice the Agency without delay. The Agency shall be liable towards GTF for the fulfillment of the contract between the Agency and the service recipient and thus for payment of the agreed fees.

3.6.  All service and participation conditions stated in the offers and booking confirmations, in particular, restrictions regarding the group of participants (e.g. age restrictions), country-specific features and required proof of a certain customer status must be recognized by the Agency as binding and complied with. The Agency must inform the service recipient of this. Documented certificates of entitlement, such as flight tickets, vouchers, etc. are only valid for the person for whom they are issued.

4. Reservations

4.1.  The Agency is entitled to effect the reservation of the services booked by its customers. The reservation leads to a payment claim vis-à-vis the Agency.

4.2.  The reservation shall be binding for the Agency once GTF or the GTF sub-contractor employed for this purpose have confirmed the reservation. If the booking is made directly in the service provider's system by forwarding from the GTF portal, the booking will be directly confirmed by the service provider. Otherwise, the reservation becomes binding as soon as the Agency forwards it to GTF for processing and GTF has successfully completed and confirmed the reservation. The service can only be requested after full payment has been made and it can only be used at the times shown and contractually agreed upon.

4.3.  If prices are stated in the reservation confirmation, these shall be binding for the final booking. The prices indicated by the Agency in the reservation are not binding, unless they have been confirmed by GTF.

4.4. The Agency is obliged to examine whether the reservation is correct and complete and must comply with the reservation deadline.

4.5. If the service is not used or cancelled in a permissible manner, the GTC of the respective service provider shall apply to this and to the resulting legal consequences. The Agency must indemnify GTF and reimburse GTF for the amount that GTF has advanced to the service provider in reliance on the validity of the booking. This usually involves rebooking or cancellation fees which can vary depending on the service provider, service type, and time of service.

5. Complaints, rebooking and cancellation

5.1.  Any complaints by the service recipient must be asserted vis-à-vis the service provider insofar as this refers to the service relationship. If the Agency has received complaints or recourse claims by the service recipient and the Agency is unable to reach final settlement itself, the Agency must immediately forward the transaction to GTF. GTF is prepared, but not obliged, to forward the complaints and recourse claims received to the service provider’s competent office.

5.2. In the event of rebooking or cancellation of bookings, the Agency shall observe the same standards of care as for the booking itself. In addition, it must observe a reasonable handling time for the processing of rebooking and cancellation requests if rebooking or cancellation conditions for different periods provide for different refunds or fees in order to keep the rebooking and cancellation fees as low as possible. The fees and prices charged by GTF for the booking are non-refundable. GTF will charge the Agency a fee for processing the rebooking or cancellation, which is stated for the specific case.

5.3.  In the event that GTF was charged by the service provider for the amount of the service fees without having received the fee to be paid by the Agency, GTF is entitled to offset the existing payment or compensation claim against claims of the Agency, if any. If the customer has not paid the fee owed to the Agency, GTF shall maintain its payment claim for the services settled vis-à-vis the Agency. GTF shall be entitled to a right of retention until final settlement of the transactions referred to in items 5.1 and 5.2.

6. Defects in the agency service

6.1. Any and all claims and obligations resulting from the service relationship shall exist directly and exclusively between the service provider and the service recipient. The Agency must inform the customer to this end.

6.2. The Agency must notify GTF in writing and without delay of any defects in the agency service. In the case of a defect, the Agency must set GTF a reasonable deadline to remedy the defect.

6.3. In the case of defects in the agency service, the service recipient shall contact the Agency as the primary service agent. GTF shall only accept notices of defects the Agency has received from the service recipient, if these refer to defects in GTF's agency services or if GTF has expressly declared vis-à-vis the Agency in writing in an individual case that it is prepared to forward the service recipient's notice of defects arising from the service relationship to the service provider. In all cases, the service relationship between the service recipient and the service provider remains unaffected; in particular, GTF does not assume any obligations arising from the service relationship.

7. Delivery of the service documents and dispatch of invoice 

7.1. The Agency may only hand over the travel documents to the service recipient if the contractually agreed fee has been paid in full and forwarded to the recipient of the payment. The Agency shall be liable vis-à-vis GTF for the full invoice amount if it fails to fulfill this obligation.

7.2. In the event that an original service voucher is lost that is the originally issued and only document which entitles the service recipient to use the respective travel service, GTF or the service provider must be notified of the loss of such entitlement document without delay. In this respect, the procedures and formal requirements regarding the lost ticket procedure specified by the service provider shall be complied with.

7.3. The dispatch of invoices between GTF and the Agency shall be done by e-mail. GTF can generally dispatch the original invoice in paper form per postal mail against a fee of 5.00 EUR per transaction, which must be indicated in advance upon ordering the ticket.

8.  Handling of payments

8.1.  The Agency is liable to pay GTF on the basis of the orders placed by the Agency. Upon issuing the invoice, GTF confirms that it has fulfilled the order placed with it.

8.2. Invoices shall be due and payable upon receipt, unless agreed otherwise. Insofar as the Agency forwards this invoice to its customers, it assigns the claim from the invoice to GTF on account of performance. GTF accepts the assignment of this claim beforehand under the proviso that GTF is entitled to disclose this assignment of claim at all times, and the Agency is entitled to collect the claim on behalf of GTF, unless GTF has already asserted said claim. The Agency shall be obliged to pass on the collected third-party funds to GTF.

8.3.  The Agency may not reverse the amount collected by GTF on its own authority. The Agency shall however be entitled to instruct its credit institution to refrain from honoring direct debits before the due date. GTF and the Agency agree a permanent reduction of the prenotification for a pending direct debit to one day.

8.4. Insofar as the Agency has a fee claim against GTF resulting from a contractual relationship existing between GTF and the Agency (e.g. the Agency Agreement), the Agency shall be entitled to offset the outpayment amount identified for GTF against its fee claim, if the current account kept for the Agency in accordance with Art. 355 German Commercial Code (HGB) does not show any arrears.

8.5. In order to fulfill the Agency's fee claim, GTF can either arrange for an orderly, verifiable credit note, or the Agency can issue a corresponding orderly, verifiable invoice.

9. Special duties of the Agency

9.1. With respect to the fulfillment of the orders for its customers, the Agency undertakes to act with the care of a prudent businessperson. In this respect, the Agency shall comply with the following requirements:

•  transferring the payments collected on a fiduciary basis to the entitled party, and/or making them available for debit;
• observing the requirements for booking and payment transactions as well as those for the handling of failures, complaints, rebooking and cancellations, examining confirmations in the processing of bookings and using all verification options made available;
• prohibiting unauthorized parties, in particular, other agencies, from gaining access to booking procedures and protecting login data;
• clarifying any obscurities in the booking and payment transactions immediately through GTF;
• complying with the prerequisites for credit card payments contained in the credit card agreement, in particular in the mail order procedure, and informing the customer that credit card data is forwarded to the service providers and/or to GTF for the purpose of debiting the individual invoice amounts of the transaction, and obtaining the customer’s consent to use said data;
• observing in payment transactions the GTC of credit card institutions whose cards the Agency may accept in line with the service providers’ conditions as a means of payment in the course of business transactions. The credit card agreement shall form a part of this agreement;
• observing the statutory regulations of data protection and the regulations regarding secrecy during the transfer of data and information, and guaranteeing their observance;
• informing the service recipients that the service provider’s GTC apply for the contract with the service provider, unless a separate agreement has been made between them. These GTC must be made available to the service recipient. In the event of any uncertainties, the Agency must provide for the required clarification via GTF and/or the service provider.

9.2.  Any and all information, prices, price lists, data, bookings and other internal contractual information which GTF makes available to the Agency, and which have not been officially published are deemed to be confidential information. It is explicitly prohibited to pass them on to other agencies, service providers or competitors. Price lists, information about the service contents and information about the service provider may only be used for customer advice, whereas the customer may only be informed about the prices including the respective extra charges on the booking. This obligation shall not apply to information of which the Agency can prove that:

• it was publicly known at the time of disclosure and this circumstance is not due to any misconduct on the part of the Agency;
• it has come to the Agency’s knowledge through means other than GTF or GTF sub-contractors without any direct or indirect breach of an obligation of confidentiality towards GTF, and a right to disclose this information was given;
• the Agency is obliged to disclose such information due to a statutory provision or official order, provided that it has previously informed GTF in writing of the intended disclosure and has taken the legally required and reasonable precautions to prevent the disclosure or, if this is not possible, to keep the extent of disclosure as small as possible.

9.3. The Agency has a special obligation to examine the booking orders placed with it by its customers, which results on the one hand from the proximity to the customer, and on the other hand from knowing the booking circumstances. In this respect, the Agency shall examine unusual events, in particular in the mail order procedure or in the Internet booking system and to take corresponding measures to defend GTF against damage, if required. If the Agency breaches this duty in an assignable and culpable manner, it shall be liable vis-à-vis GTF for compensation of any damage that might result. In the event of actual indications substantiating the suspicion that fraud, attempt at fraud or another kind of damaging behavior is involved in the booking, the Agency must refuse the order. Furthermore, the Agency must ensure itself at all times that its customers possess legal capacity. In case of non-observance of the abovementioned examination obligation, GTF’s payment claim to the agreed service fee vis-à-vis the Agency shall remain in existence.

10.  Liability

10.1. The Agency shall be liable in the following cases:

• for the improper handling of the tasks, duties of clarification and care it is obliged to observe in the booking process and payment transactions, as well as for errors arising from the fact that the Agency violates its duties of cooperation, examination and care in the processing of bookings, or if it fails to comply with these duties in a timely and proactive manner;
• for any disadvantages arising for GTF and, if applicable, its contractual partners (e.g. service providers), which are due to the fact that the Agency carries out the booking order without the examinations prescribed in item 9.3. or despite indications that give rise to suspicion that a booking involves an attempt at fraud or other damaging behavior;
• for damages to GTF resulting from the breach of a duty to render a main or ancillary performance on the part of the Agency or its vicarious agents.  
   

10.2. GTF is liable for the orderly processing of the agency, booking or reservation services on the basis of the data provided and within the framework of provisions applicable for these services. Liability on the part of GTF for the presentation and implementation of fares in the Internet Booking Engine (“IBE”) of the respective operator and for errors in the IBE, in particular incorrect settings in the IBE, is expressly excluded, unless GTF is mandatorily liable pursuant to item 10.3.

10.3.  GTF shall only be liable in cases of intent and gross negligence and for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health in accordance with the statutory regulations. In the case of slight negligence, GTF is only liable for the breach of an essential contractual obligation (cardinal obligation), the fulfillment of which is essential for the orderly execution of the contract and on the compliance of which the Agency may regularly rely. In this case, liability shall be limited to the amount of the foreseeable damage, the occurrence of which must typically be expected. Otherwise, GTF is not liable in the event of slight negligence. The above provisions shall also apply in favor of GTF's legal representatives and vicarious agents. Liability based on mandatory statutory regulations remains unaffected by the above provisions.

11.  Amendment of these GTC

11.1. GTF has the right to update these GTC due to changes in the law, in jurisdiction or due to economic circumstances or for similar objective reasons.

11.2. In this case, GTF shall notify the Agency of the new GTC in the written form (e.g. e-mail or fax) and on the booking platform in good time, but at least 6 (six) weeks before they come into force. The Agency has the right to object to the changes with a notice period of 2 (two) weeks before the changes come into effect, thus giving notice of extraordinary termination of the contractual relationship. If the Agency does not object, its contractual relationship with GTF shall continue to exist on the basis of the amended GTC. In the notification, GTF shall inform the Agency of its right of extraordinary termination and point out that the amended GTC are deemed to have been agreed between the parties if the Agency does not object to the amended GTC within the period for extraordinary termination.

12. Final provisions

12.1. If one or more of the provisions are invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the rest of these GTC. In the event a regulatory gap exists or comes into being because a provision is invalid or void, which is not remedied by a statutory regulation, GTF and the Agency undertake to supplement the lacking provision with a contractual regulation that reflects the concordant will of the parties.

12.2. German law shall apply, excluding international conflict of law rules. Place of performance and jurisdiction for all disputes in connection with this contractual relationship shall be Berlin. This shall also apply if the Agency has its headquarters in another member state of the EU or in a non-EU state.

Part B – Processing of booking orders for carriage within scheduled air traffic

1. Principles of processing of booking orders in air traffic

1.1.  The regulations laid down in Part A shall additionally apply to carriage in air traffic, unless otherwise specified in the following.

1.2.  Furthermore, the regulations of the BSP shall apply, which shall also be taken as a basis for non-IATA companies because of their comprehensive and explanatory content allowing for the simplification of settlement processes.

1.3. The Agency undertakes to use for the booking, reservation, rebooking and cancellation process the systems approved by IATA and made available online by GTF, complying with the applicable contractual regulations. The booking data must correspond to the subject matter of the service which has been agreed with the Agency’s customer. Upon receipt of the booking order transferred to GTF, the Agency places an order with GTF to issue the flight ticket. GTF carries out the booking order which includes a binding reservation of the carriage service ordered and the issue of the flight documents in electronic form. The contract for carriage shall become effective with the content indicated in the booking confirmation which can be combined with the invoice.

1.4.  In general, the Agency is not the agent of the carriage service but acts within an agreement for management of business for its customers, involving GTF as an IATA-licensed consolidator for the technical processing and booking of the flight ticket. In this respect, the Agency is responsible for managing the booking order.

1.5. The Agency shall transmit to GTF the booking orders placed with it by its customers. As long as GTF has not received these, GTF is not obliged to performance. GTF forwards the customer's declaration to the service provider as a messenger of the declaration for the ordering or reservation of the carriage service and the issue of the flight tickets.

1.6. The Agency is informed about the fact that GTF must always pay the fee for the booked flight ticket to the BSP, which IATA uses for billing and collection/debit in the interest of the respective airline booked, regardless of whether it in turn receives payment from its customer.

1.7. The Agency expressly acknowledges that it must forward to GTF incoming payments that are claimed by GTF due to an assignment on account of performance.

2. GTF fare database

2.1.  In accordance with the provisions of the Agency Framework Agreement and during its term of validity, GTF shall grant the Agency the simple, non-sublicensable, non-transferable right, limited to the location of the Agency's branch office, to use the fare databases – depending on the agreement – in whole or in part, including for customer advice. The Agency is not entitled to edit or supplement the contents of the fare databases. Furthermore, in particular, the following is not permitted:

• the duplication and use of fare database contents for unauthorized persons and for purposes not covered by the Agency Framework Agreement or these GTC;
• passing on essential parts of the fare database contents to pursue a purpose other than that described above, irrespective of the type of information carrier/file format;
• the systematic and methodical transfer of fare database contents (including parts insignificant in terms of type and scope) to another system or to the database of a third party or any comparable actions that impede a normal use of the fare database or unreasonably affect GTF’s legitimate interests.

2.2. The fare databases are made available by GTF either directly or through other suppliers, such as an IBE (see item 3. below) or computer reservation systems (“CRS”). The scope and contents of the fare databases may vary for different users. The Agency has no right to a permanent availability of the fare database, in particular, neither to its use in case of short or long-term outages, nor to the complete representation of all fares.

2.3. Permission to use the fare database is deemed to have been granted upon conclusion of the Agency Framework Agreement, unless the use of the fare database has been contractually excluded.

2.4. GTF may request an additional fee for the use of certain databases. This fee shall be agreed upon in each individual case. Item 2.1. shall apply accordingly to the rights of use, unless otherwise agreed. The permission of use shall end upon termination of the Agency Framework Agreement (e.g. by notice of termination) or in the event of a significant delay in payment on part of the Agency.

2.5. GTF may grant the Agency the use of the databases as regulated in this item 2. in line with an internal commercial examination, and, if applicable, a legally required examination of the Agency and may terminate the use at any time vis-à-vis the Agency with a notice period of 4 weeks to the end of the month. In the event of termination, GTF may submit an offer to the Agency for future use of the IBE against payment of a fee.

3.  Booking Interface

3.1.  To the extent that the Agency uses an own Booking Interface (IBE), GTF makes available the fare data via the IBE of the respective IBE provider. Subject to item 3.4., the Agency enters into an agreement with the respective IBE provider. The Agency shall remain obliged to cooperate to a reasonable extent due to the complexity of the different IBEs used. The Agency shall, in particular, be obliged to examine all incoming bookings as to their correctness and completeness, and to report to GTF any possible errors immediately.

3.2. Bookings which are transferred to GTF via a third IBE are deemed to be a binding order to issue the corresponding flight ticket. It is prohibited to cancel bookings only for the purpose of newly booking them into own systems to avoid fare restrictions of air companies and/or use the IBE only for information on or representation of fares without carrying out a precise booking transaction.

3.3.  Insofar as GTF makes fares available using a third IBE, which are subject to restrictions, the Agency must ensure the compliance with these restrictions.

3.4. IBEs made available by GTF are supported by GTF and/or an GTF sub-contractor commissioned by GTF. The Agency will be supported regarding the administration of these systems by GTF and its agents. The Agency’s duties mentioned in items 3.1. and 3.2. shall also apply to this end. 

4.  Fees of the Agency

4.1.  If, in individual cases, the Agency acts on behalf of service providers – as a subagent of carriage services – the Agency shall be entitled to a fee, subject to the special provisions of the GTF Fee Regulations.

4.2.  The service fees are settled differently, depending on whether they refer to IATA fares or consolidator fares. If these are so-called IATA fares, GTF invoices the Agency with the final price to be paid by the customer to the Agency. If the fares are so-called consolidator fares, GTF and/or the GTF sub-contractor commissioned by it invoice the Agency with the service rendered. In this case the Agency must establish itself the final price vis-à-vis its end customers.

4.3. The handling of payment is carried out in line with this differentiation as outlined in item 4.2. GTF, however, generally remains entitled to realize debits from the Agency’s account using the direct debit procedure.

4.4. The prices confirmed by GTF or stated in its invoices are binding, unless other regulations apply. The current daily prices valid at the time of ticket issuance shall apply to the ancillary costs, such as taxes, security surcharge and/or fuel surcharge.

5.  Reservation and cancellation

5.1. Any cancellation of the flight booking is only permitted if the relevant conditions and deadlines of the service provider and the procedure provided for this purpose are complied with. Cancellation fees will be determined and charged by the service provider in accordance with its GTC. GTF has no influence on the amount of the cancellation fees to be charged. Entitlement documents issued must be returned in the original unless they were issued electronically. If the original documents are not returned and GTF therefore is obliged to pay the airfare in whole or in part, the Agency will be invoiced for the full-service fee which will be paid to GTF. The Agency is obliged to pay.

5.2. In the event that GTF has paid the airfare, but has not received any payment from the Agency, GTF shall be entitled to reverse the booking of the flight ticket. The Agency must make the payment within the period of time set by GTF. If the Agency fails to do so, GTF shall be entitled to cancel the booking. In this case, the Agency shall be obliged to inform its customer of the cancellation of the carriage service. The Agency is obliged to fully compensate GTF for the damage incurred due to a delay in payment.

6. Special duties of the Agency and liability

6.1. The Agency is obliged:

6.1.1.  to inform itself regularly on the valid IATA resolutions;

6.1.2.  to comply with the provisions of the BSP and the requirements for payment with credit cards pursuant to the credit card agreement, in particular in the mail order procedure;

6.1.3. to inform the customer of the relevant GTC of the service provider and to provide the possibility to take note thereof;

6.1.4.  to daily call the relevant information and recommendations, including country-specific particularities and formalities, if any, and to inform its customers thereof prior to departure;

6.1.5.  to observe restrictions of the respective IBE, if any.

6.2. The Agency shall be liable vis-à-vis GTF for all disadvantages resulting from the non-observance of the abovementioned duties.

Part C – Booking of accommodation

1. Subject matter

1.1.  The regulations laid down in Part A shall additionally apply to the booking of accommodation, unless otherwise specified in the following.

1.2. GTF acts as an agent for accommodation contracts and reservation contracts between the Agency’s customers and the service providers. These may include accommodation only but also accommodation with additional services such as food, cleaning, etc. (e.g. hotels). In doing so, GTF may use other brokers or agents for agency services. GTF does not act as an agent for own contingents.

1.3. GTF shall act as agent for accommodation contracts and reservation contracts for the accommodation facilities available and stored in its database, which the Agency may book using the booking system made available to it and/or accepted by GTF. The prices indicated are binding. The accommodation contract and/or reservation contract is always concluded between the operator of the accommodation facility as service provider and the Agency’s customer and/or the service recipient indicated by the customer, even if the operator has commissioned a broker or agent to act on its behalf. The GTC of the service provider used shall apply to these service relationships. The Agency must inform the customer of the relevant GTC of the service provider and provide the possibility to take note of its contents.

1.4.  The accommodation contract and/or reservation contract shall become valid with the contents of the booking confirmation by GTF. The booking confirmation can be combined with the invoice.

2.  Fees of the Agency

In the relationship to the service recipient, the Agency is deemed to be the agent acting for GTF as a subagent. Once the Agency has fulfilled its contractual obligations as an agent, it shall be entitled to a fee to be paid by GTF, which will be agreed in each case separately.

Part D – Agency of rental cars

1. Subject matter

1.1.  The regulations laid down in Part A shall additionally apply to the agency of rental cars, unless otherwise specified in the following.

1.2.  GTF acts as an agent for the conclusion of rent contracts and reservations for rental cars for the Agency’s customers. The vehicles available are compiled in a database and made accessible for the Agency. The rent contract is always concluded between the car rental company as service provider for the booked vehicle and the Agent’s customer and/or service recipient indicated by the customer as renter. Bookings shall always be valid for the category booked and not for a certain vehicle model.

1.3. The GTC of the respective service provider used shall apply additionally to the service relationship. The Agency must inform the customer of the relevant GTC of the service provider and provide the possibility to take note of its contents. The rent contract will be concluded directly on site between customer/service recipient and the car rental company in line with the service provider’s conditions.

1.4.  GTF holds an authorization to collect the service fee owed to the service provider. GTF shall grant the Agency sub-authorization to collect the overall price with the proviso to collect the fees agreed, and in the case of a booking cancellation the cancellation costs incurred, for GTF on a fiduciary basis. The Agency is aware of the fact that GTF is obliged to pass on the service fee to the service provider. The service provider’s right to collect the service fee owed to it from the contract with the service recipient itself shall remain unaffected by this.

2. Delivery and loss of the service document

GTF or the service provider must be notified immediately of the loss of a voucher. The replacement of a voucher and/or the refund of the fee already paid can only be claimed if the service provider has taken note of the loss and if all other circumstances prescribed to this end are given in line with the contractual agreements between the service recipient and the service provider.

3.  Deposit

The Agency must inform its customer and/or the service recipient that a deposit is payable before the vehicle is handed over. Based on the rental price, the amount is usually the equivalent value of a tank filling. The calculation also takes into account the amount of the retention in the event of damage, as well as the conclusion of a fully comprehensive insurance.

4.  Special duties of the Agency

The Agency must inform its customer and/or the service recipient that he/she must be in possession of a valid driving license/permission to drive and that he/she must provide the Agency with a copy of the driving license if requested by the car rental company. Furthermore, the Agency has to inform its customers about the national regulations for cross-border traffic.

Part E – Agency of package travel

1.  Subject matter

1.1. For the agency of package travel within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, and of individual travel services that are compiled by the Agency to form a package, the provisions set out in Part A shall apply additionally, insofar as no special provisions are set out below.

1.2. GTF provides the Agency with offers from service providers for package travel. The available package tours are compiled in a database and made accessible to the Agency. In this respect, GTF only provides this database and does not act as a tour operator according to Art. 651a (1) German Civil Code (BGB), or as a travel agent according to Art. 651v (1) BGB or as an agent of linked travel arrangements according to Art. 651w (1) BGB; GTF does not assume any obligations in this regard.

1.3.  GTF also provides the Agency with offers from service providers for individual travel services in the manner described in item 1.2., Part E 1.2. The Agency is free to compile these individual services into a package tour. In such a case, the Agency itself acts as a tour operator. It must then fulfill all relevant legal obligations of a tour operator or other obligations arising from Art. 651a ff. BGB itself and on its own responsibility.

2.  Duties in connection with the booking of package travel

2.1.  The Agency is obliged to fulfill any and all obligations in connection with the sale of package travel itself – in particular, it must hand over the corresponding documents and, if it acts as a tour operator itself, conclude the corresponding insurance, without GTF having any obligation to fulfill or monitor the agency relationship.

2.2.  The offers made available for retrieval as well as the duration of the provision depend on the offers of the service providers available to GTF. GTF is, in particular, not obliged to provide the Agency with specific package travel offers or specific individual travel services that the Agency would like to combine into a package tour. Similarly, GTF is not obliged to provide for retrieval offers made available to the Agency for a specific period of time or within a specific contingent.