General Terms of Business

General Terms of Business

Passenger Information - Object of Agreement:

The business activities of EUROLINES AUSTRIA (subsequently called ELA) comprise the selling of tickets and the processing of bookings for coach journeys operated by third parties.
Every passenger who acquires a ticket from ELA thereby accepts its "General Terms of Business". The name of the responsible carrier (operating company) operating the concerned coach journey is shown on the front side of the ticket.

Liability:

ELA therefore will only be held responsible for the correct issuance of tickets and the correct passenger information, whereas the liability is limited to intent and gross negligence.
ELA therefore will not be responsible for all other damages, especially not for damages caused by delays, violations of traffic safety obligations including the bus station area, or for damages resulting from traffic accidents.

Check-in Procedures:

For passengers who already have a valid ticket, it is sufficient to be at the coach half an hour before departure. The luggage will be stowed, the passports checked and the seat assigned. If you don't have a ticket yet or need confirmation of a departure date (open return journey), we can handle this provided free seats are available. It is highly probable that you will obtain a seat if you book your ticket two days prior to departure date, but in some cases the booking procedure will be closed even a few days prior to departure date.

Departure Time:

The departure times as published in the valid timetables are local times. In case of deviations the times printed on the ticket are valid. Considering the number of different lines and partners, deviations even within the period of validity of the timetables are possible.
In case of doubt please check with the ELA sales office. Opening hours dayly 6:30 h to 21:00 h.

DETAILS: 

The Coaches:

ELA sells tickets for various international carriers. You are kindly requested to make sure to pay attention to the destination labels on the front windows of the coaches. The vehicle standard on the lines is nowadays normally: coaches with air condition, video, toilet, reclining seats and refrigerator. However, this standard can deviate from the usual standard in Austria in case of foreign carriers.

Transport Conditions:

Generally, the participation in a cross-border scheduled coach journey is only possible with a valid travel document. Please note that a Schengen visa is only valid for those countries who entered the Schengen agreement. If the passenger cannot show a valid travel document, the check-in staff or the bus driver are obliged to exclude the passenger from participating in the journey.

As has been mentioned several times, the coach journeys for which ELA sells tickets are being operated by various carriers. Therefore it is not possible to apply identical transport conditions on all lines.

You will find below the typical rules valid for the coach journeys for which ELA sells tickets. To find out the transport conditions valid for the concrete coach journey, please get in touch with the carrier which operates your specific trip; this company is shown on the front side of your ticket.

Seats:

On most lines it is not possible to reserve a seat. The seats are assigned chronologically as the tickets are bought or booked.
In case of problems during the journey, like defect air condition or insufficient heating, please inform the driver immediately, so that small difficulties can be solved right on the trip. Please pay attention to the compulsory wearing of seatbelts!

Luggage:

The luggage is normally limited to two suitcases (= normal size) and one piece of hand luggage per person, provided the concerned carrier did not make different rules. Please note that in some cases a separate luggage fee (insurance etc) will be payable.
Please put a clearly visible label mentioning your name, address, phone number and destination on your luggage. Additional luggage can only be transported when there is enough room, and an extra fee may be charged.
The decision is the driver's and therefore the transport cannot be guaranteed.
Please note that following objects can only be carried as an exception: e.g. surfboards, skis, bicycles, fragile and valuable pieces, etc. ELA will not be liable for theft or damages of the hand luggage.
Please take care of it during the trip and don't leave it unattended to. Please also check the transport conditions of the concerned carriers, where you can find the maximum amount of compensation for lost luggage - as a rule, proof of the driver's responsibility/fault will be required.

Animals:

The transport of animals is only possible as an exception and only on some special lines. Before taking an animal on the journey, it is absolutely necessary to get in touch with the ELA sales office.

Smoking:

It is generally forbidden to smoke on all lines. In this case, too, exceptions especially in the southern countries confirm the rule, because in these countries the ban on smoking could not be enforced yet. Regrettably it is not possible to forbid drivers on international lines generally to smoke, because there are different regulations in Europe.

Radio:

Please don't use radios, cassette recorders, musical instruments etc during the journey. The use of electric and electronic equipment is only allowed with headphones if other passengers are not annoyed by this.

Eating and Drinking:

Please note that refreshments will be offered in the coach on part of the lines. There will be regular breaks, during which you can acquire refreshments.
In all coaches it is forbidden to take alcohol and drugs.
We request you to come back to the coach punctually after the break, at the time set by the driver. When you are delayed, you risk to miss the coach. Please don't forget that you might need foreign currency locally in order to buy provisions during the breaks.

Tickets:

Every passenger must have a valid ticket/booking confirmation in his possession. Please make sure, when entering the coach, that the check-in staff or the driver took the correct coupon off your ticket. This is very important, because in case of a mistake, this can be corrected easily on the spot.
A missing ticket coupon can cause problems at your next journey.
Depending on the carrier, the periods of validity vary from line to line. The maximum validity of Open-Retourn-Tickets is 180 days.

Ticket Booking:

You are kindly requested to book your tickets well in advance. A reservation by phone is not possible, only the ticket which you actually bought guarantees a seat. However, we recommend you to buy the ticket 2 days in advance. At some holidays, like Easter, Whitsun, Christmas and New Year, as well as when the school vacations begin and end, the days and times of departure may deviate. Many lines are fully booked even several days prior to the departure, therefore please book well in advance. And please note that there is a price reduction of up to 10% on tickets of some lines if the booking was made one week before the departure date.

Reconfirmation:

Bookings for open return tickets are possible at the offices of the carriers and recommended to make as early as possible. With some lines, it may be required to reconfirm the return trip before departure even when having a firm booking.
Please obtain further information from our brochures or in our office. Reconfirmations can only be made in our "local" partners' offices.
Please also find out the period of time during which the reconfirmation must be made prior to departure, because otherwise certain lines cannot promise a guaranteed seat on your required date of return trip.
Basically there are no extra fees for this service. But it may happen that a small booking fee to cover the administration costs there will be charged.

Alteration of Booking:

An alteration of the booking to another day is basically possible up to 48 hours (depending on the carrier), however, a fee may be charged for this service.
Alterations of bookings within 48 hours prior to departure can be charged with up to 30% of the ticket price (again depending on the carrier). Alterations of bookings acquired at special prices in the course of publicity events are generally impossible.

Cancellation:

There can be no refund for passengers who missed their departure time. The various carriers have their own conditions for refund. Most of them charge Euro 8,- for cancellations within 7 days before departure time.
Within 6 - 3 days before departure time, the cancellation fee is 30%, within 3 days 50%.
After departure time (no-show), the cancellation fee is 100%. Refunds can generally only be made by the office which issued the ticket.
Tickets acquired at special conditions during publicity events or which are based on special booking conditions cannot be refunded or changed in most cases.
In case the journey cannot take place on decision of the carrier, caused by unforeseeable incidents like war, disturbances, epidemics, instructions by the authorities etc, or thereby too complicated or impeded, the carrier can cancel the journey and has to refund the passengers the full ticket price without deduction. Additional claims from the passengers cannot be accepted by the carrier.

Loss of Ticket:

Please keep your ticket in a safe place all the time, because lost or stolen tickets generally cannot be replaced. You would have to buy another ticket at full price. If you have bought such a replacement ticket and finally the original one has turned up again, the coupons contained within will be refunded to you.

Passports/Visa:

It is the passenger's responsibility to obtain information on conditions of entry (visa, etc) of the countries along the route. Certainly, our ELA staff will support you as far as this information is available to them.
But in case you should not be able to participate in the journey due to a missing visa, expired travel documents etc, the cancellation terms as mentioned above apply. Please note that our staff is entitled to check your travel documents in advance.
It is our legal obligation to check the travel documents of passengers who are not Austrian citizens.
The stops on the borders may under no circumstances be prolonged for customs formalities or to obtain visas.

Unaccompanied youths/children:

Youths and children under 14 years cannot be transported without being accompanied by adults or their written agreement.

Changes of the Timetable:

Due to the large number of transportation companies, alterations of the timetable are possible at any time. Therefore we have to reserve the right to change timetables and fares. Please obtain the relevant information in due course if you plan a journey with our carriers.

Other Costs:

The price of the ticket includes all costs and taxes for the booked journey. However, we have to charge a refund of incurred costs for alterations, changes of bookings, cancellations, seat reservations for open return tickets and other ticket processing. This fee must not be higher than the price of your ticket.

Complaints:

Queries or complaints about our services (ticket sales and booking procedure) can only be taken into consideration when they are immediately reported to our ELA staff on the spot. In case of problems arising during the bus trip, please get in touch with the driver or other staff of the carrier operating the journey immediately. In many instants the problem can be solved right then. We want to tell you, that we can't accept complaints which we get more than a month after the journey.

On behalf of our EUROLINES AUSTRIA-team, we wish you pleasant journey!

Management Vienna, December 2009