The general terms and conditions of business and contract apply to business transactions between travel agencies, tour operators and portals (referred to as agencies) and AERTICKET Austria GmbH (referred to as AER).

Preamble

AER is a service company and an IATA-licensed consolidator that works together with the agencies on the basis of these general terms and conditions of business and contract in order to facilitate travel services for their customers as authorised service providers, which are to be fulfilled by the service providers in accordance with the specified and confirmed booking specifications. AER acts as an agent for the service providers. AER is not a tour operator. AER does not provide the services either individually or as a whole on its own responsibility.

AER shall handle the processing of booking orders for air and passenger transport and/or the procurement of transport services assigned to it by its contractual partners, the agencies.

1. General provisions

1.1. Scope and validity of the contract:

The following general terms and conditions apply to the business relationship between AER and the agency. AER shall not recognise any deviating terms and conditions of the agency unless AER has expressly agreed to their validity in writing.

1.2. Subject:

The contract for the booked service, i.e. the service relationship, is concluded between the person making the booking as the person entitled to the service and the respective service provider, taking into account the terms and conditions of the service provider agreed for this purpose.

AER handles the processing of booking orders. AER is therefore not liable for the provision of the service it has arranged.

2. Booking process and conclusion of contract

2.1.

The agency is obliged to provide all the information required for a booking correctly and in full. The agency shall only pass on a customer's booking order to AER for processing if it has checked the conditions for accepting the order, the agreed payment processing taking into account the agreed assignment and the securing of payment in favour of AER with due commercial care.

The special duties of care that apply to payment by credit card or mail order must be observed by the agency, especially if the customer is not personally known. In this case, the provisions of the respective credit card institution and the provisions in the credit card agreement must always be observed in addition. It should be noted that only the credit cards of those institutions that are accepted by the booked service provider are accepted. Booking confirmations must therefore always be checked for accuracy and completeness.

2.2.

All conditions of participation stated in the offers and booking confirmations, in particular restrictions on the group of participants, country-specific features and proof of a particular customer status, must be recognised as binding and complied with.

Whether and to what extent the agency is obliged to inform its customers about country-specific regulations and entry requirements is not the subject of the contractual relationship between the agency and AER. This is the sole responsibility and duty of the agency.

3. Cancellations

3.1.

Bookings are valid for the person for whom they are issued. Bookings can only be cancelled before the service is used in accordance with the applicable provisions of the service provider. Cancellation fees will be charged, which vary depending on the service provider, type of service and time and are to be borne by the person who initiated the cancellation.

3.2.

If AER has been charged the amount of the service fees by the service provider without having received the fee to be paid by the agency itself, AER shall be entitled to offset the payment claim or compensation to which it is entitled against the agency. If the customer has not paid the remuneration owed by it to the agency, AER shall retain its claim to payment for the services invoiced to the agency.

Should the agency fail to meet its payment obligation to AER in due time, AER shall be entitled to cancel the ticket(s) at any time, even without the agency's consent.

4. Payment processing

The agency shall be liable to pay AER on the basis of the orders placed by it.

The invoice shall be due for payment immediately, unless explicitly agreed otherwise. Insofar as the agency charges this invoice to its customers, the agency shall assign this claim to AER on account of fulfilment; this assignment is hereby accepted.

Services that AER additionally provides in connection with the booking order are ancillary services to the main service and share the fate of the main service for VAT purposes.

The agency shall issue AER with a direct debit and/or direct debit mandate for the duration of the business relationship.

5. Retention of title

If AER makes advance payments, it shall retain ownership of the tickets supplied until the fee owed has been paid in full (retention of title).

6. Special obligations of the agency

6.1.

The agency undertakes to exercise the diligence of a prudent businessman in keeping its customers and AER free from damages and additional charges in the fulfilment of the order.

In particular, it is obliged:

• to transfer payments received in trust from the customer to AER immediately or to have them ready for debit
• to observe the guidelines for booking and payment transactions as well as for processing in the event of disruptions, complaints and cancellations and to check confirmations in the booking process with entrepreneurial diligence
• to deny unauthorised persons, including other agencies, access to the booking procedures and to protect the login data from misuse and theft. It is prohibited to allow third parties access to use the booking systems and/or databases. In the event of misuse or unauthorised use of its login data (including use following theft of the login data) by whomever, the agency shall be liable for all resulting financial losses and shall fully indemnify AER for all resulting damages, including the costs of legal action. 
• to seek immediate clarification from AER in the event of any ambiguities in booking and payment transactions
• to comply with the requirements for payment by credit card, in particular in the mail order procedure
• in credit card payment transactions, to observe the general terms and conditions of the institutions whose cards it uses as a means of payment in business transactions
• to observe the acceptance requirements of the service providers in credit card payment transactions
• to observe the statutory data protection regulations for itself and for the transmission of data and to ensure compliance with them
• to inform the beneficiaries that the contract with the service provider is subject to the service provider's general terms and conditions, unless a separate agreement has been reached between them
• It is the task and duty of the agency to check that the reservation made is correct and complete and to observe the reservation deadline.
• The agency's employees are subject to the confidentiality obligations of the Telecommunications Act and the Data Protection Act.

6.2.

All information, price lists, data and internal contractual details provided to the agency by AER that are not publicly published are confidential working documents. Disclosure to other agencies, service providers or competitors is expressly prohibited.

6.3.

The agency shall be liable for any disadvantages suffered by AER as a result of a breach of its primary and secondary obligations and shall also be liable for breaches by its vicarious agents.

7. Liability of AER

7.1.

In legal transactions between the service provider and the person entitled to the service, the general terms and conditions of the service provider shall apply. The agency must inform the customer of this. In legal transactions between AER and the agency, the provisions of these general terms and conditions of AER shall apply.

7.2.

AER shall not be liable either for the success of the brokerage or for the absence of defects in the service transaction, but only to the extent that the brokerage is carried out with the care of a prudent businessman in accordance with the booking specifications. AER shall not be liable for price deviations resulting from changes between the time the order is placed and the time it is forwarded to AER for processing and fulfilment.

7.3.

AER shall not be liable for unilateral price and service specifications made by the agency vis-à-vis its customers.

7.4.

AER shall not be liable for the consequences of force majeure such as orders from authorities, wars, terrorist attacks, fire, natural disasters, etc.

7.5.

AER shall not be liable for compliance with EU regulations and international conventions that affect the service relationship between the service provider and the person entitled to the service or the legal relationship between the agency and its customers.

7.6.

AER shall only be liable for demonstrably culpable damage, limited to gross negligence. This shall also apply mutatis mutandis to damage attributable to third parties engaged by AER.

7.7.

Liability for indirect damages such as loss of profit, costs associated with business interruption, claims by third parties, etc. is excluded.

7.8.

Claims for damages must be asserted against AER immediately in writing; they shall become time-barred within one year of the occurrence of the damage.

7.9.

If AER provides its services with the assistance of third parties and any warranty and/or liability claims arise against these third parties within this context, the agency undertakes to give priority to these third parties in this case.

7.10.

In the event of a loss of data, the amount of damage shall be limited to a maximum of 10% of the order amount per claim, up to a maximum of EUR 2,500.00. Any further warranty claims and claims for damages – regardless of the legal title – are excluded.

8. Final provisions

8.1.

Unless otherwise agreed, the statutory provisions applicable between entrepreneurs shall apply exclusively in accordance with Austrian law, even if the order is carried out abroad. Any disputes shall be subject exclusively to the local jurisdiction of the court with subject-matter jurisdiction for the registered office of AER.

8.2.

In the event that a provision of these general terms and conditions of business and contract is invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain valid.

8.3.

These general terms and conditions shall become effective for the agency in their respective valid version and thus also become part of the agency agreement. One month after they have been posted online or after direct notification in writing, by telephone, by fax or by e-mail to the agency or through their incorporation into the agency agreement, the general terms and conditions shall come into force in their current version.