Dear Guest,
Participation in an organized tour requires legal standards. All essential elements and regulations of our contractual relationship are described in these conditions of participation, which you should therefore please read carefully.
1. CONVEYANCES OF EXTERNAL SERVICES
If we convey offers from other trip organizers explicitly in the names of third parties, or additional nights, flights, rental car, etc., then the conclusion and the contents of the contract is aligned to the respective conditions of the contract partner of the traveler.
2. CONCLUSION OF CONTRACT
Registration takes place with the printed registration form in our catalogue or online. The travel contract is only concluded when you or your travel agent receive our booking confirmation in writing. As soon as you have booked online, you will receive an e-mail saying that we have received your booking request. This e-mail does not count as a booking confirmation.
3. SERVICES
The contractual services are set out in the tour registration, booking confirmation and additionally from the basic description in our catalogue or on our website. Changing or additional agreements of the described services or the conditions of participation require an explicit arrangement with Rotalis and for reasons of proof, must be made in written form. Travel agencies are not authorized to provide deviated confirmations or to make changing or additional agreements. Meal provision generally begins with breakfast on the first cycling day and ends with breakfast on the last travelling day. Services also include all intended means of transport by car/bus, train and ship on all intermediate routes as well as all costs involving the intended visits to sights worth seeing. An exception to this is: Sightseeing done on one’s own, and transport on so-called “days of stay”, or activities marked as optional. If a flight is part of the travel arrangements, then this can be associated with in-between stops or necessary changes. We ask for your understanding due to flight schedules or airport availabilities it is unavoidable in individual cases that the outward flights takes place in the afternoon or evening hours, but the return flight takes place in the morning or morning hours. If the name stated on the travel registration does not match the name given on the ID, any costs incurred for changing / rebooking the flight ticket must be paid by the guest. In addition, the conditions of carriage of the respective service provider apply. Despite long-term contracts, there may be hotel changes in exceptional cases. As far as possible, we will book a hotel in the same category as a replacement and will only be satisfied with a simpler hotel if this is justified by the location. Any claims due to unreasonable deviations in performance remain unaffected.
4. HALF A DOUBLE ROOM
In order to possibly save the single room surcharge, you can write down the request to book half a double room, given that this request is also expressed by other fellow travelers. In this case, you will then share a two bed room with a person of the same gender. Rotalis will take care of the allocation, which is sorted according to the receipt of each registration. For reasons of data protection, we are not allowed to pass on any contact details of the second person. If you would like to share your room with a specific person who will also be taking part in the trip, please let us know their name when registering. If a reservation in a two-bed room is not possible up to the dispatch of the room list to the hotels (four weeks before journey commencement), then you agree without consultation to the booking of a single room (with surcharge).
5. ARRIVAL
As long as nothing else is stated in the description, then your arrival takes place individually. With the confirmation, you will receive detailed travel information (Information on arrival and return journey by train, with one’s own car or by airplane).
6. PAYMENT OF THE TRAVEL PRICE
Upon receipt of the booking confirmation, a deposit of 20% of the travel price as well as the cost for additional services (such as flight bookings, additional nights, etc.) are due. The remaining amount is due upon receipt of the invoice no earlier than 20 days before the start of the journey, so that the travel documents can be dispatched step by step. If additional services are booked subsequently, these are due immediately. If due payments are not paid or not paid fully and the payment is also not made within the specified time limit set by a reminder, then we can withdraw from the contract and can claim a cancellation fee according to point 10.
7. PRICE CHANGES
We are entitled to increase the travel price, when the following price components increase or newly arise on the grounds of circumstances over which we have no influence, are unforeseeable and occur after conclusion of contract: Exchange rates for the booked journey; transport costs (especially an oil price increase); official fees and taxes, e.g. port fees and airport taxes, entry charges and tourist tax, security fees. Price increases such as these are only permitted however, if a time period of more than 2 months lies between conclusion of contract and journey commencement. The travel price may only be increased by the sum of the amount-related increases of the price components mentioned above, with regard to the costs of the booked journey since the conclusion of the travel contract. The increased amount is added to the agreed travel price. We are obligated to individually present the reasons and the extent of the price increase to you on request and to verify this. We are obligated to inform you of a possible price increase immediately upon knowledge of the reason for the change, however three weeks before journey commencement at the latest. If the travel price increases to over 8%, then the rights under Point 11 apply for you.
8. CANCELLATION BEFORE THE START OF THE TRIP BY ROTALIS, MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
The minimum number of participants on our trips are: Europe and long-distance trips 8 people, bike & boat trips 14 people. For all trips (with the exception of partner trips) we are entitled to withdraw from the travel contract up to 4 weeks before the start of the trip if the contractual minimum number of participants is not reached. If unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances arise, Rotalis can withdraw from the contract before the start of the journey (for partner tours, the conditions of the respective partner apply, see point 23). In this case, you can immediately request that we offer you a spot in another trip of at least the same value, given that we are able to offer you this from our range at no extra charge.
9. SERVICES BOOKED ONESELF
Before booking any flights, trains, additional nights or other services for the journey yourself, please make sure that the necessary number of participants has been attained. It is not possible for Rotalis to refund any costs (also not as a gesture of goodwill) when the journey has been cancelled due to the minimum number of participants not being attained (see §8).
10. WITHDRAWAL BY THE CUSTOMER
If the travel price increases by more than 8%, then you are entitled to withdraw from the contract without payment of compensation. It is possible for you to request participation in another at least equivalent journey, provided that we are able to offer you this journey without any additional costs. Withdrawal or the request for a substitute journey must immediately be declared to us or the travel agency who made the booking. Services which were not booked with Rotalis cannot be claimed at Rotalis in this case. It is possible as a travel participant to withdraw from the travel contract at any time before journey commencement. In this case, we are legally entitled to a cancellation payment. The cancellation fee is calculated as a lump sum as follows:
European cycling tours:
10% up to the 60th day before journey commencement
30% 59th up to the 28th day
50% 27th up to the 14th day
60% 13th up to the 6th day
90% 5th up to the 1st day
100% Non-commencement of the journey (Arrival day)
Bike & Ship tours:
20% Up to 85 days before journey commencement
40% 84th up to the 43rd day before journey commencement
70% 42nd up to the 29th day
90% 28th up to the 1st day
100% Non-commencement of the journey (Arrival day)
Long-distance cycling trips:
20% Up to the 31st day before journey commencement
30% 30th up to the 22nd day
40% 21st up to the 8th day
90% 7th up to the 1st day
100% Non-commencement of the journey (Arrival day)
Separate cancellation conditions apply for special groups/groups of friends. The cancellation fee is calculated from the final travel price of each registered participant. You reserve the right to prove that no or only minor damage has been incurred. Additionally booked nights are subject to the general cancellation conditions of the respective hotel. Booked Pedelecs (E-bikes) cannot be reimbursed, as these are subject to a long-term disposition.
11. RE-BOOKINGS AND CHANGING OF TRAVEL PARTICIPANT
We change bookings for all trips (except partner trips) up to 60 days before the start of the trip for a rebooking fee of € 60 per person (for partner tours, the conditions of the respective partner apply, see point 24), provided the services are available. After this time period, rebooking is only possible with a withdrawal from the journey according to the conditions stated in Point 10 and a subsequent new registration. Up to journey commencement, one can request for a third party named by oneself to enter into the rights and obligations of the travel contract. We can object to this substitution, if the person concerned does not meet the specific travel requirements or if legal provisions or administrative orders prevent this person from participating in the journey. If a third party enters the contract, you are jointly liable with this person as a joint and several debtor for the travel price and the additional costs arising through his/her entrance of the contract. With a joint booking of a double room for two people, which is later changed into a single room booking for one person, cancellation fees according to Point 10 will arise from the proportionate travel price for one person. The travel price for the remaining individual is determined accordingly in view of the new situation; a single room surcharge will be added to the former proportionate travel price if necessary.
12. EXPENSE ALLOWANCE
In the case of a cancellation of already booked additional services, we charge an expense allowance flat amount of € 20 per individual case, in addition to any incurring cancellation fees.
13. SAFETY FIRST
Please adhere by all means to the rules of the road. One should make a critical assessment of one’s own personal capability especially during the participation in activities, e.g. hikes, boat and canoe rides (an alternative means of transport is mostly available, participation is therefore optional). Detailed “tips” can be found in the “travel information”, which you will receive with the invoice or you can contact Rotalis in advance using the data mentioned under point 27.
14. OBLIGATIONS IN THE EVENT OF AN UNSATISFACTORY JOURNEY
If the service due by us is insufficiently provided, then it is possible to demand corrective action. We can refuse this, if it requires disproportionate efforts. Changes and deviations of individual travel services from the agreed content of the travel contract, which are not breached by us, are permitted, as long as these changes or deviations are reasonable for you, and do not impair the overall arrangement of the journey. Your claim for the reduction of the travel price for the duration of the insufficiency does not apply as long as you duly neglect to report this deficiency. Demands for action and reports of insufficiency must be addressed to the Rotalis travel guide or – if possible and reasonable – be directly addressed to us. The Rotalis travel guides are not authorized however, to recognize any claims with effect against us.
15. TERMINATION OF THE TRAVEL CONTRACT BY ROTALIS OR BY THE CUSTOMER
We can terminate the travel contract at any time, if you as a travel participant do not meet the previously mentioned specific travel requirements or cause lasting disruption to the course of the journey or jeopardize it, and no change has taken place after the participant has been called to order. If the journey becomes considerably complicated, endangered or impaired by force majeure which was not foreseeable at conclusion of contract, then it is possible for us as well as for you to terminate the contract. You must inform Rotalis Reisen GmbH of any lack of conformity that you perceive during the provision of the travel services agreed in the travel contract, taking into account the respective circumstances, using the contact details given under point 27. If the service due by us is insufficiently provided, and considerably complicates the journey, then it is also possible for you to terminate the contract in this case. Termination is only then permitted, if you have set us an adequate time limit to provide assistance and that this time limit has passed without any assistance. If assistance is not possible, is refused by us or the immediate termination of the contract is justified by a particular reason, then this deadline is not required. The other mutual rights and obligations in the termination cases above are set in the travel agreement law and the general legal provisions. Our Rotalis travel guides are authorized to give notice of termination in these cases. The following applies to Bike & Ship tours: Changes of the route course and the cycling stages cannot be avoided at times. If a route section cannot be travelled on due to low water or floods, or a defect on board, then it therefore remains reserved to transport the guests by bus on these routes, to accommodate them in hotels and/or to change the route course. Changing onto another ship can be necessary under certain circumstances. If legal claims arise for you from the changes, then these claims remain unaffected.
16. JOURNEY INTERRUPTION
If the guest is responsible for interrupting the trip, there is no entitlement to a partial refund.
17. INSURANCE
We urgently recommend taking out a travel cancellation / trip interruption insurance, luggage, travel accident, travel liability- as well as a travel health insurance.
18. LIABILITY OF ROTALIS
Our contractual liability for damages from the travel contract, which are not physical injuries, is limited to three times the travel price for the concerned participant, provided that a) no damage was either induced through willful intent or gross negligence or b) we are held solely responsible for the incurred damages due to the fault of a service provider. Our liability to you for damages due to unauthorized action which are not physical injuries is limited to three times the travel price for the concerned participant, provided that it is not based on intention or gross negligence.
19. COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES
In the case of negligent or intentional damage of the materials made available to you by Rotalis, you will be liable to Rotalis for the caused damage and Rotalis is therefore entitled to assert claims against you for compensation.
20. PASSPORT, VISA AND HEALTH REGULATIONS
Please contact your embassy about detailed information regarding the entry- and exit regulations and the vaccination requirements of each of the countries travelled in by Rotalis.
21. DATA PROTECTION
If you book Lufthansa flights via Rotalis, then you are authorizing us to forward your E-mail address and your telephone number to Lufthansa in the case of emergencies and short-term changes. All other personal data that you provide for the undertaking of your journey, is protected against improper use according to the data protection basic regulation. Detailed information on the data protection basic regulation can be found on our website at https://www.rotalis.net/data-protection.
22. PUBLICATION OF TRAVEL PHOTOS
With your travel registration, you agree that all the photos taken during the journey by Rotalis staff or fellow travellers may be used free of charge for Rotalis advertisement purposes, especially for the Rotalis catalogue and the Rotalis website. You may freely withdraw your consent at any time; this withdrawal must be made to Rotalis Reisen GmbH in writing.
23. COLLABORATION WITH CONTRACT PARTNERS
Separate conditions may apply with regard to these tours (cancellation, services, etc.). Please also take note of the respective description of the cycling tours. Detailed information is available on request.
24. LIMITATION PERIOD
a) Contractual claims due to complete or partial non-fulfilment or insufficient provision of travel services must be asserted against us within one month after the contractually envisaged end of the journey (address below). Our receipt of the appropriate statement is crucial in order to keep the deadline. After expiration of this deadline, claims may only be asserted if you were unable to meet this deadline through no fault of your own.
b) Contractual claims which regard physical injuries or are based on intention or gross negligence, become time-barred in two years. Otherwise, the contractual claims become time-barred within one year.
25. VALIDITY OF THE ADVERTISED INFORMATION
The catalogue or the website can of course only take facts known at the time of printing into consideration. Printing and input errors can unfortunately occur even with the utmost diligence. The right is therefore reserved to make alterations in our offer up to conclusion of contract.
26. ORGANIZER / PLACE OF JURISDICTION
Rotalis Reisen GmbH
Joseph-Haydn-Str. 8
AUSTRIA – 4780 SCHÄRDING
Phone: +43 7712 / 50 000
The contractual relationship is subject to Austrian law to the exclusion of all reference standards. The traveler can only sue Rotalis Reisen GmbH at their headquarters.
27. STANDARD INFORMATION SHEET FOR PACKAGE HOLIDAY CONTRACTS
The combination of travel services offered to you involves a package holiday within the meaning of the Directive (EU) 2015/2302. You can therefore claim all the EU-rights which are valid for package holidays. The company Rotalis Reisen GmbH, Joseph-Haydn-Str. 8, A-4780 Schärding holds the full responsibility for the proper implementation of the entire package holiday. The company Rotalis Reisen GmbH, Joseph-Haydn-Str. 8, A-4780 Schärding also has the protection prescribed by law for the reimbursement of your payments and, if transport is included in the package holiday, to guarantee your return transport in the case of his/her insolvency. Further information on your most important rights according to the Directive (EU) 2015/2302.
The most important rights according to the directive (EU) 2015/2302
- The travellers will receive all essential information regarding the package holiday before conclusion of the package holiday contract.
- At least one company is always liable for the proper provision of all the travel services included in the contract.
- The travellers will receive an emergency telephone number or information regarding a contact point, where they will able to contact the tour organiser or the travel agency.
- The travellers are able to convey the package holiday – within an appropriate time period and with additional costs in certain circumstances – to another person.
- The price of the package holiday may only be increased, if certain costs (for example fuel prices) are increased and if this is explicitly foreseen in the contract, and by all means at the latest up to 20 days before commencement of the package holiday. If the price increase exceeds 8% of the package holiday price, then the traveller can withdraw from the contract. If a tour organiser reserves the right to a price increase, then the traveller has the right to a price decrease, if the respective costs decrease.
- The travellers are able to withdraw from the contract without a cancellation fee and will receive full reimbursement of all payments, if one of the essential components of the package holiday with exception of the price is modified considerably. If the company responsible for the package holiday cancels the package holiday before the commencement of the journey, then the travellers are entitled to a reimbursement and in certain circumstances, a compensation.
- The travellers can withdraw from the contract before commencement of the package holiday in the case of exceptional circumstances without the payment of a cancellation fee, for example if severe security problems arise at the place of destination which are likely to adversely affect the package holiday.
- The travellers can also withdraw from the contract at any time before commencement of the package holiday for a payment of an appropriate and reasonable cancellation fee.
- If essential components of the package holiday cannot be implemented according as agreed after commencement of the package holiday, then other appropriate arrangements without additional costs are to be offered to the traveller. The traveller can withdraw from the contract without payment of a cancellation fee, if services are not provided in accordance to the contract, and have severe effects on the provision of the contractual package holiday services, and the trip organiser neglects to provide assistance.
- The traveller is entitled to a price decrease and/or compensation, if the travel services are not provided or not provided properly.
- The trip organiser provides assistance to the traveller if he/she is in difficulty.
- In the case of insolvency of the trip organiser, or – in several member states – the travel agent, payments will be reimbursed. If insolvency of the trip organiser or when applicable, the travel agent occurs after the commencement of the package holiday and if transport is part of the package holiday, then the return transport of the traveller is guaranteed. Rotalis Reisen GmbH, Joseph-Haydn-Str. 8, A-4780 Schärding has concluded an insolvency hedging with the Bundesministerium (Federal ministry) BMWFJ and this can be viewed at the following link (Rotalis number 2013/0037): https://www.bmwfw.gv.at/Unternehmen/Reiseveranstalter/Seiten/Veranstalterverzeichnis.aspx?Reg=1363
- The travellers can contact this establishment or the competent authority if necessary (Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort, A-1010 Wien, Stubenring 1, Tel.: +43/1/71100-0, service@bmdw.gv.at), if services are refused to them on the grounds of the insolvency of Rotalis Reisen GmbH, Joseph-Haydn-Str. 8, A-4780 Schärding.
28. LIST OF AIRLINES, WHOSE OPERATION IS PROHIBITED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
A list of airlines, whose operation is prohibited in the European Union (with exceptions) can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/air-safety-list_de.pdf
Rotalis only books flights with authorised airlines.