Terms and conditions

1. Scope of application

a) The following terms and conditions apply to the services of the paragliding flight company GardaAirStyle, in particular for jouneys, tandem flights, trainings, seminars (hereinafter called “services”). Between GardaAirStyle and the participant, fellow traveller, trainee pilot, passenger or other customer (hereinafter called “customer” solely the terms and conditions of the flight training school GardaAirStyle apply.

2. Prerequisites for the participation in the services

a) Customers participate in journeys, tandem flights, trainings and seminars at their own risk and responsibility.

By sending GardaAirStyle the application form, the customer asserts psychological and physical health as well as not suffering from any impairment of health that exclude the qualification for taking part in the services. GardaAirStyle is not obliged to validate that. This validation is the customer’s responsibility only and in case of any doubt, the customer needs to seek medical advice. If a customer books a service for another person, the customer is obliged to inform this person about these prerequisites.

b) Some leisure activities require a certain level of physical resilience. GardaAirStyle endeavours to indicate physical requirements in its announcements of these leisure activities to its best knowledge and belief. 2a) applies accordingly.

c) During a journey, training, advanced training, a seminar or a tandem flight, the customer is obliged to fully comply with any instructions of the staff and agents. If this is not the case, GardaAirStyle reserves the right to partially or fully exclude the customer from further participation in the offered services. In this case, services already paid for, will not be refunded.

d) Customers aged under 18 need to prove a declaration of consent of a legal guardian (parent). This consent form must be submitted at the latest at the commencement of the services.

3. Conclusion of contract and payment

a) Application for a journey, training, advanced training, seminar or tandem flight can either be made via the online reservation form or via email. By registering for the services, the customer accepts the offer of GardaAirStyle as binding. The offer is based on the according announcement as well as on supplementary information concerning this service, provided by GardaAirStyle.

b) If a customer applies as an agent for other people, he/she takes responsibility for all their contractual obligations, same as for his/her own ones, given he/she has assumed an accordingly separate obligation through a separate and explicit declaration.

c) an effective contract is only achieved through consignment of the booking confirmation to the customer (acceptance confirmation of GardaAirStyle). This acceptance confirmation can be an informal email sent by GardaAirStyle.

d) the customer is obliged to pay GardaAirStyle the agreed price for the service. The indicated prices of the services include the current value added tax (VAT) of the German Federal Republic.

e) After having consigned the registration confirmation, GardaAirStyle additionally consigns an invoice. The invoice amount must be paid by the customer to GardaAirStyle via bank transfer within 5 days after receipt of the invoice, however, not later than 14 days before the service starts.

f) After the consignment of the invoice and with a travel contract in terms of §§ 651a ff BGB, a deposit of 200€ of the overall price of the journey will become due. This deposit must be paid by the customer within 5 days from the receipt of the invoice. The deposit will be deducted from the overall journey costs. The emerging remaining balance becomes due 14 days before the journey starts and must be paid either cash or via bank transferral.

g) In case of a booking, made less than two weeks before the start of the service, the corresponding amount must be paid in full, without any deposit, to GardaAirStyle.

h) If GardaAirStyle offers a service with the involvement of an external service provider, GardaAirStyle reserves the right to have the customer pay the relevant costs directly to the external service provider.

i) If the customer does not pay as contracted, GardaAirStyle first consigns a reminder with an according payment deadline and after that reserves the right to terminate the contract. GardaAirStyle has the right to burden the customer with a claim for compensation. For reference please check point 6 of these terms and conditions.

j) Goods that have been ordered upon request of the customer by GardaAirStyle from third parties, must be paid by the customer in advance. GardaAirStyle reserves the right to order the goods from the relevant distributors only after having received the amount due. The invoice will be sent to the customer either by mail or by email.

4. Services and changes of service

a) The content of the booked journey, training, advanced training, seminar or tandem flight arises from the respective service description, in consideration of the registration confirmation from GardaAirStyle. The details included in the announcements are non-binding in the sense that GardaAirStyle explicitly informs the customer prior to the conclusion of a contract about any changes and the customer accepts these changes.

b) Changes and deviations of single travel services from the travel contract that prove necessary after the conclusion of the contract and that have not been chosen by GardaAirStyle in bad faith, are permitted, provided they are not substantial and do not impair the overall character of the booked journey.

GardaAirStyle is obliged to inform the customer as soon as possible about any changes or deviations of their service.

c) in case of a substantial change of an essential travel service, the customer has either the right to terminate contract with GardaAirStyle, or to demand participation in another journey that is at least of same value, given that GardaAirStyle can provide such a journey from its programme without any additional costs for the customer. The customer has the right to assert this claim from GardaAirStyle immediately after receipt of information concerning substantial changes.

d) Four months after contract conclusion GardaAirStyle has the right to charge a price increase of up to 5% of the overall price, if they can prove an increase in the costs for transport, the fees for certain services like harbour fees or airport fees, or a change in the exchange rates for the journey in question. This only applies if GardaAirStyle can prove these changes and if it can be proven that these changes happened after contract conclusion. Price changes, based on aforenamed circumstances are only valid, if increases of the transport costs, fees or exchange rates traceably affect the overall price. An increase in price must be explained immediately after having obtained knowledge of the reason for the price increase and can only be claimed up to 21 days prior to the agreed departure date. The customer has the right to terminate contract in case the price increases for more than 5%, point 4d) applies correspondingly. The customer is obliged to claim this right immediately after learning about the increase in price either by mail or by email towards GardaAirStyle.

e) Prices of a tandem flight do not include costs for the journey with the cable railway, the chair lift or shuttle service etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise in the offer.

5) cancellation and rebooking by the customer

a) The customer has the right to cancel or rebook a journey in written form via mail or via email. In case of cancellation GardaAirStyle has the right to claim an adequate compensation fee, considering the time of cancellation with respect to the planned journey start date and in principle GardaAirStyle can sweepingly claim 1% of the overall price of the booked journey, which is calculated as follows:

– up to 30 days before the start of the journey 20% of the agreed price,

– 29 – 15 days before the start of the journey 35% of the agreed price,

– 14 – 7 days before the start of the journey 50% of the agreed price,

– 6 or less days before the start of the journey 70% of the agreed price,

– day of departure or non-attendance 90% of the agreed price.

b) Instead of claiming a lump-sum indemnity in case of cancellation, GardaAirStyle reserves the right to claim the concrete sum for already paid arrangements. In this case GardaAirStyle is obliged to denominate the claimed costs.

c) In case of cancellation or rebooking concerning a journey, training, advanced training, seminar or tandem flight, the customer is offered to name a substitute participant to GardaAirStyle, before the beginning of the service. The denominated substitute participant is obliged to fulfil the requirements for participation in the services, as stated under point 3 of these terms and conditions. If a substitute participant (hereinafter called “Third Person”) treads into the contract, the customer and his/her substitute are collaboratively liable as joint debtors for the costs of the journey as well as for additional costs that arise from the change of customer (third person).

d) In case of cancellation or rebooking of a tandem flight before the date of the flight and without denomination of a third person, GardaAirStyle reserves the right to issue a flight voucher over the booked service. If the customer cancels the service the same day the service would take place, no compensation will be provided by GardaAirStyle.

e) For all journeys, trainings, advanced trainings, seminars and tandem flights a change in booking is only possible in the form of cancellation according to point 5 of these terms and conditions in combination with a new application.

6. Cancellation through GardaAirStyle due to nonattainment of the minimum number of participants

a) GardaAirStyle reserves the right to formlessly terminate the contract up to 7 days prior to the starting date of journeys, trainings and seminars in case the stated minimum number of participants is not attained.

b) In case of cancellation, GardaAirStyle is obliged to inform their customers as soon as possible. In addition, GardaAirStyle is obliged to refund any sums already paid to their customer.

c) Equally, GardaAirStyle reserves the right to cancel journeys to countries that have been declared high risk countries due to security reasons after the booking had already taken place.

7. Expulsion through GardaAirStyle on grounds of bad conduct of the customer

a) If a customer continues disturbing a service even after having been admonished, acts contrary to the terms of the contract, or acts delinquently, GardaAirStyle has the right to immediately exclude the customer from the service. In this case Garairstyle retains the claim of the agreed cost of the service, however GardaAirStyle is obliged to allow for the value of any expenses saved.

8. Unclaimed services and weather warranty

a) GardaAirStyle does not provide any compensation if the flight days or the amount of planned flights cannot take place as intended due to bad weather. Likewise, GardaAirStyle does not offer compensation in case the booked leisure programme must be cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

b) It is up to the individual flight instructor, the agent, the tandem pilot or any other staff to decide to amend or even cancel the flight operations as well as the leisure programme due to bad weather conditions.

c) In case a tandem flight needs to be cancelled due to bad weather conditions and this flight has already been paid for in advance, GardaAirStyle is obliged to issue a voucher for the customer amounting to the booked service. However, the customer must pay for any extra costs that might arise.

d) If a customer chooses not to take part in some events included in the service, he/she does not have the right to claim any compensation from GardaAirStyle for it.

9. Limitations and liability

a) For journeys offered by GardaAirStyle the liability for damages, which are not physical damages, is restricted to the triple amount of the journey costs,

– insofar as the damage of the customer is neither caused on purpose nor grossly negligent or

-insofar as GardaAirStyle is responsible for a damage caused to the customer due to the fault of one of GardaAirStyle’s service providers.

If international agreements or agreements based on these apply for a travel service offered by the service provider, which state that a claim for indemnity can only be made under certain conditions or restrictions, GardaAirStyle has the right to refer to that towards the customer.

10. Possessions of the customer / rented equipment

a) GardaAirStyle cannot be made liable for the loss, theft or damage of the possessions of the customer, unless it is clearly caused by the fault of GardaAirStyle.

b) If the customer rents pieces of equipment from GardaAirStyle and he/she causes damage to it or loses it, he/she must replace it.

11. Limitation period

a) Claims made by the customer due to injury of his/her life, body or health towards GardaAirStyle according to §§ 651c to f BGB, which are based on a deliberate or negligent breach of duty by GardaAirStyle, its flight instructors, agents, tandem pilots or other of their staff, become time-barred after 2 years. The same is valid for claims for other damages that are based on deliberate or strongly negligent conduct of GardaAirStyle, its flight instructors, agents, tandem pilots or other staff.

b) All remaining claims according to §§ 651c to f BGB become time-barred after one year.

c) The limitation period of the claims mentioned in a) and b) starts with the day, on which the journey ought to end, according to the contract.

12. Passport-, Visa- and health-regulations of the respective country of travel

a) The customer is obliged to pay regard to the indications made by GardaAirStyle concerning passport-, Visa-, and health-regulations. These indications are valid for citizens of the German Federal Republic, provided they hold a valid passport or ID card from the Federal Republic. Customers with other citizenship, double citizenship or stateless customers are obliged to obtain information concerning the regulations applicable to themselves independently.

b) The customer is responsible himself/herself for the compliance with the regulations necessary for the performance of the journey. Disadvantages caused by non-observance of the regulations shall be borne by the customer. This also affects the payment of potentially emerging cancellation costs. Exceptions are disadvantages caused by the culpable misinformation or the failure to inform of GardaAirStyle.

c) The customer is obliged to give due notice to GardaAirStyle in case he/she has not received the necessary travel documents at least 14 days prior to the start of the journey.

13. Insurances

a) Each customer participates in the booked journeys, trainings, advanced trainings, seminars or tandem flights at his/her own risk and responsibility.

b) For their journeys, trainings, advanced trainings, seminars and tandem flights GardaAirStyle has the indemnity-insurance required by law. Additionally, GardaAirStyle has the compulsory insurance for their tandem pilots and the equipment used for tandem flights.

c) If a customer uses his/her own equipment or the equipment of a third party, the holder‘s indemnity insurance of the customer is liable. If the customer uses his own equipment or the equipment of a third party, it is his/her responsibility to ensure that the individual parts of the equipment have been approved, have the according paraglider holder indemnity insurance, have undergone and passed the 2-year-check-up. Additionally, he/she must ensure that the rescue device has been packed correctly. GardaAirStyle is not responsible to check the customer for compliance with these regulations.

d) Costs for mountain rescue or other costs are at the expense of the customer.

e) For travels abroad GardaAirStyle recommends the customers to take out a global health insurance as well as a travel cancellation insurance.

f) For journeys where the customer arrives autonomously by car, by carpool, by external service or by other means of a third party, the customer is covered solely by his own, personal insurances. This is also valid for cars or other means of transport used by the customer during the journey.

g) during participation in leisure activities or other activities, which do not include a practical training about paragliding, the customer is solely covered by his own insurances.

h) There do not exist any other insurances for the customer on the part of GardaAirStyle.

14. Picture credits

a) The customer permits GardaAirStyle to publish pictures taken by GardaAirStyle during the services on their website, in social networks or photo galleries. This permission can be withdrawn at any time by word.  If a customer does not wish his/her pictures to be published, the customer informs GardaAirStyle accordingly, before the start of the service.

15. Miscellaneous

a) Solely the law of the Federal Republic Germany applies to the contract between the customer and GardaAirStyle.

b) Changes and collateral agreements concerning the contract can only be made via mail or via email. This formal requirement cannot be abrogated in any form be it orally or silently.

c) In case individual provisions of this contract are or become void or include a gap, all remaining provisions stay unaffected hereof. In place of the ineffective provision, both parties agree to find a regulation permitted by law that comes closest to the ineffective provision in the legal sense and the economic purpose.