The topbonus Program entitles the member to collect status/award miles in his or her topbonus account. This entitlement comes into effect with the start of membership. The topbonus Program distinguishes between two categories of miles: award miles and status miles.

Award miles can be collected to obtain an award under the topbonus Program. Status miles determine the status, and therefore the type of card, of members within the topbonus Program (see also section 2.6). If these topbonus Conditions of Membership or the topbonus communication media simply mention miles, the miles referred to are solely award miles.

Award miles can be collected in different ways, including via partner companies. airberlin has no direct influence on these companies. Consequently airberlin is not responsible for the unlimited availability of the partner company’s services (e.g. flights of participating airlines, hotel accommodation, rental cars) and proper performance of the contract. The General Terms and Conditions of Business of the relevant partner company shall apply.

In the event that the partner companies are airlines, award miles may be collected for flights on airlines participating in the topbonus Program listed at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. Status miles can only be credited for flights operated by airlines participating in the topbonus Program if this opportunity is explicitly offered under www.airberlin.com/topbonus.

2.1 Collecting status/award miles, non-transferability: 
Status/award miles can only be credited to a member’s personal topbonus account for services obtained by that member. This means e.g. one seat per flight, one car per hired car contract, one room per hotel stay. The status/award miles cannot be credited to a member’s topbonus account if the services were obtained by a person other than that member.

Award miles may only be used for the purposes set out in these topbonus Conditions of Membership or other topbonus communication media, in particular www.airberlin.com/topbonus.

The topbonus account and the status/award miles balance are not transferable and cannot be converted into or paid out in cash.The transfer of the status/award miles balance from the member’s topbonus account to the topbonus account of another member or to an account of another program is not possible. For flights operated by airberlin the name of the passenger on the boarding pass is decisive; for services provided by other topbonus partners the beneficiary of the service must be the owner of the topbonus Card, in order to credit the balance. The recipient of the invoice is not decisive in this respect.

2.1.1 Flight:
The issuing of status/award miles may be limited to specific routes and participating airlines. The category and amount of status/award miles to be credited are based on the respectively valid status/award miles table of the airline that operates the flight. The table can be viewed online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. If a flight has been booked in Economy Class and the member has subsequently upgraded or been upgraded to Business Class, the member will only be credited for the miles earned on the Economy Class flight that was booked.

2.1.2. Hotels, rental cars:
The member’s account is credited with award miles if the member is accommodated in a topbonus partner hotel or rents a car from a topbonus car hire partner at a qualifying rate. The hotel and car hire partners currently taking part in the topbonus Program are published online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. Some of the partnership are limited to particular regions and/or restricted to sub-brands (e.g. hotel chains). Therefore, before obtaining services from partner companies, the member should ask whether the specific hotel or car hire station will credit him or her with award miles. The level at which award miles are credited is published separately. The award miles are credited just once per stay and/or car rental. Several consecutive nights in the same hotel are deemed to be a single stay, irrespective of whether or not the stay in that hotel was interrupted. Car hire is deemed to be the renting of a vehicle for at least one day or the renting of several vehicles on several consecutive days at one or several branches of topbonus car hire partners at the same location.

2.1.3. airberlin/topbonus Credit Cards:
Cardholders may earn a certain number of award miles when using an airberlin/topbonus Credit Card. The award miles are credited to the topbonus account of the cardholder who is a member of the topbonus Program. Further information is set out in the General Terms and Conditions of Business for the relevant airberlin/topbonus Credit Card. These can be viewed at www.airberlin.com/topbonus.

2.1.4. Other partners:
Details regarding the issue of topbonus award miles for a limited or non-limited period by other companies within the scope of a marketing campaign or in return for services are published online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus or by the partner company itself and can also be viewed online.

2.2. Credit procedure:
Subject to section 2.1. and 2.2.1., the member’s account will be credited with award and/or status miles, if applicable, for every scheduled, fully paid flight operated by airberlin or a partner airline that the member has taken. The same shall apply to services of topbonus partners used by the member. The crediting shall be made automatically if the member quotes his or her topbonus customer reference number or presents his or her topbonus Card when making the booking and/or obtaining a service covered by the topbonus Program.

2.2.1. Exclusions concerning the crediting of status/award miles:
The member will not be credited with status/award miles for airline tickets that have not been used, that have expired or that have been illegally obtained, for flights where industry discounts (ID, IP, AD, GE, DG, PEP etc.) apply, or for topbonus award services. Furthermore, status/award miles cannot be earned on (free) flights, especially with benefits obtained under other airberlin bonus or card schemes (e.g. Counter Card etc.), nor can such miles be earned on special-offer fares or certain special rates. The restrictions on the crediting of status/award miles to flights operated by participating airlines can be viewed separately under www.airberlin.com/topbonus.

2.2.2 Subsequent crediting:
Status/award miles that are not automatically recorded may be credited to the member’s status/award mileage account within 12 months of the flight being used, or within 6 months of a service being obtained from a topbonus partner, provided that the topbonus account was already set up at the time when the service was obtained, and in the case of services provided by partners, the partner company was topbonus partner at the time the service was used. Flights of airberlin or services other than flights provided by topbonus partners, used before registering with the topbonus Program may be credited to the account retrospectively for a period of 3 months prior to the date of registration. The account is either credited by airberlin or the partner whose service was obtained. Please refer to www.airberlin.com/topbonus for information about the partners that credit a member’s account directly. In order to get an account credited in retrospect, airberlin or the relevant topbonus partner will require the complete documents (original boarding pass and copy of the passenger receipt for flights or the original hotel or car hire invoice for hotel accommodation or car hire). Submission of these documents is a precondition for subsequent crediting of the account. Status/award miles are not credited for unused, refunded or expired vouchers and coupons. If miles are subsequently credited via the online form available at www.airberlin.com/topbonus, original documents will not normally have to be sent in. Subsequent crediting of miles for flights operated by participating airlines can be applied for using the online form or at the topbonus service centre. 

2.3. Account statement:
The member can check his or her account balance as well as details relating to individual transactions any time online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus by entering the user name and password. airberlin sends out notification of the current balance in status/award miles to each member, although this may depend on the number of account movements since the previous notification. However, notification may no longer be sent out if in future airberlin makes account statements available only online. Duplicate copies of statements cannot be issued. Complaints should be raised within 14 days of receipt of the account statement.

2.4. Redeeming award miles

2.4.1. Award flights:
As soon as the member has collected the number of award miles required for an award flight in his or her account, he or she can redeem these award miles for an award flight in accordance with the current award tables of airberlin or a participating airline. The miles required for the flights will be as specified by the operating airline and can be viewed under airberlin.com/topbonus.

2.4.2. Companion Ticket:
If a member books an award flight in Economy Class for a flight operated by airberlin (“principal ticket”), he or she may obtain an additional ticket for a companion at 50 % of the value in miles (“Companion Ticket”). Both award flights must be booked at the same time, either by telephone or online, and must be booked under the same conditions in terms of payment of taxes, charges and fuel surcharge, i.e. they must both be booked either inclusive or exclusive of taxes, charges and fuel surcharge. 100 % of taxes, charges and fuel surcharge applies and is not subject to any discount. The miles for both award flights are debited from the topbonus account of the principal passenger only and cannot be divided among different accounts. The topbonus member and his/her companion are obliged to fly together. If the principal ticket is cancelled, the Companion Ticket will also be cancelled – see also section 2.4.4. Rebooking is only possible if both award flights are rebooked at the same time and onto the same flight – see also section 2.4.4. A Companion Ticket cannot be booked for discounted award flights.

2.4.3. Business Class upgrade with award miles:
Members of the topbonus Program have the option of upgrading an Economy Class or award flight ticket to Business Class on flights operated by airberlin. The additional special conditions that apply can be viewed at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. See also section 2.1.1. (“flights”) for miles credited in the event of an upgrade.

2.4.4. Booking/rebooking of award flights:
Award flights can be booked for flights operated by airberlin or a participating airline. The conditions for the booking of award flights depend on the participating airline. Information can be obtained online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus or at the service centre. The availability of award flights is restricted and can vary according to date, season and destination. Award flights, upgrades or Companion Tickets can only be booked or rebooked if, at the time of booking or rebooking, the free-flights quota for award miles has not been exhausted for the selected flight. Flights already booked cannot be converted into award flights subsequently. Award flights can only be booked bindingly and – subject to deviating written information – exclusive of taxes and charges. A standby booking or a flight without a confirmed booking is not permitted. The corresponding miles shall be deducted immediately upon the booking of the flight. Award flights, upgrades or Companion Tickets can only be rebooked while the award ticket is valid and within the same flight zone, subject to payment of the rebooking charges published in airberlin’s current Terms and Conditions of Business/General Conditions of Carriage. The rebooking of award flights operated by participating airlines may be subject to special conditions which can be viewed at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. Any miles used as payment cannot be re-credited to the member’s account if he or she cancels or fails to take the award flight, the Companion ticket or the upgrade award.

2.4.5. Transfer of awards:
Award flights and upgrade awards can only be redeemed by the member himself or herself. The award flight or upgrade award can be booked for the member himself/herself or for any other person. Award flights are not transferable once they have been booked. Any kind of sale, exchange, offer for auction or other transfer of awards/award flights or award documents to third parties is prohibited, unless specifically authorised by airberlin. In the same way, any arrangement for the purchase or sale of status/award miles, award flights or mile awards, as well as the unauthorised use of awards/award flights or award documents (all groups of cases envisaged by this clause are hereafter termed “misuse”) is prohibited. In the event of misuse for which the member is held to be responsible, airberlin shall be entitled to issue extraordinary notice of termination of membership in accordance with section 3.1. Any further claims for compensation by airberlin are based on the statutory provisions.

2.5. Expiry of status/award miles:
Unless otherwise published in the topbonus communication media, award miles that have not been redeemed expire after a period of 36 months after the end of the quarter in which they were collected. Status miles expire 12 months after the service for which they were earned has been obtained. The decisive date is the date of the service that gave rise to the status/award miles being credited.

2.6. topbonus Card types:
Four types of topbonus Cards are issued under the topbonus Program. These are the topbonus Card Classic, the topbonus Card Silver, the topbonus Card Gold and the topbonus Service Card. The Card is owned by airberlin and the member is obliged to return it to airberlin on demand. In addition, members resident in countries in which the airberlin/topbonus Credit Card is offered may acquire a credit card and/or – if offered – a debit card (compare section 2.1.3.). Further information is set out in the General Terms and Conditions of Business for the relevant airberlin/topbonus Credit Card. These can be viewed at www.airberlin.com/topbonus. The topbonus Cards are not transferable and cannot be used cumulatively.

topbonus Card Classic: The topbonus Card Classic is free of charge and available for the duration of the topbonus Program membership. It covers the services described in section 2 and, if applicable, further benefits (compare section 2.6.2.). There is no requirement to collect a minimum number of status/award miles.

topbonus Card Silver: In order to obtain a topbonus Card Silver and be able to claim the benefits linked to that Card, the member has to collect the number of status miles required at the relevant time and published online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus within a period of 12 complete months in his or her status/award mileage account. Depending on special offers, airberlin reserves the right to award the Silver Status in a different way, e.g. via a the use of a minimum number of flight segments which must be used within a period of 12 complete months. Corresponding information can be obtained at www.airberlin.com/topbonus.

topbonus Card Gold: In order to obtain a topbonus Card Gold and be able to claim the benefits linked to that Card, the member has to collect the number of status miles required at the relevant time and published online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus within a period of 12 complete months in his or her status/award mileage account.

The check-up procedure in order to determine whether the required number of status miles or flights associated with special offers for obtaining Silver or Gold Status is carried out monthly at the end of each month. Eligibility for the Silver or Gold Status and the benefits linked to it is given upon fulfilment of the prerequisites as of the following month, respectively for a period of 12 complete months. The check-up to determine whether the Silver or Gold Status will be extended is carried out one month before expiry of the current topbonus Card. The preceding 12 months shall be relevant for the eligibility/re-eligibility for the Silver or Gold Status and the benefits linked to it.

topbonus Service Card: Where and when available, there is an option to acquire a topbonus Service Card. The benefits conferred by the topbonus Service Card (see www.airberlin.com/servicecard) may be claimed for all flights with airberlin - and for flights with selected airlines participating in the topbonus program, if any – insofar as the departure date lies at least 48 hours after the purchase of the topbonus Service Card. Any crediting of benefits in retrospect on flights already used as well as the cumulating of benefits resulting from the topbonus Card Silver or Gold shall be excluded.  Further information on participating airlines as well as the applicability of benefits arising from the topbonus Service Card can be viewed under www.airberlin.com/servicecard.

2.6.1. Validity:
The topbonus Card Silver and topbonus Card Gold are valid for 12 months from the date of issue until the end of the month of expiry embossed on the Card. The topbonus Card Silver and topbonus Card Gold are extended by the same period if the member has again met the conditions for acquiring a topbonus Card Silver or Gold. If the member does not meet these requirements, he or she will be downgraded to the status for which the requirements have been fulfilled, and receive the topbonus Card applicable to the new status.

2.6.2. Status-dependent benefits:
Various benefits are linked to each topbonus Card. These special benefits are subject not only to these topbonus Conditions of Membership, but also to the special terms set out in the relevant topbonus communication media. Further details regarding current benefits together with the appropriate special conditions can be viewed on www.airberlin.com/topbonus. airberlin is entitled to offer further status-dependent benefits or discontinue benefits for topbonus cardholders. Equally these benefits may also be offered by partner companies. The nature, scope and period of these benefits are published online at www.airberlin.com/topbonus and can be viewed there.

3.1. Termination:
The member has the right to due termination of the contract governing topbonus membership without notice and without having to state any reasons for such action. Subject to an earlier expiration according to section 2.5., award and/or status miles already collected can be used up until 6 months after due notice of termination has been received by airberlin. Notice must be given at least in writing (Email suffices).

airberlin has the right to terminate the contract subject to 2 weeks’ notice, without having to state reasons for such action. Notice must be given at least in writing. After termination of the contract the member is no longer entitled to collect status/award miles or to claim other topbonus benefits, with the exception of the provision detailed below.

In case of termination by airberlin or discontinuation of the topbonus programm, award miles that have already been collected – unless they have expired earlier in accordance with section 2.5. and provided that they have been collected in accordance with the regulations – can be used up until 18 months after due notice of termination has been received by the member. Upon expiry of 18 months any status/award miles that remain will expire.

Both parties have the right to terminate membership without notice with immediate effect for reasonable cause. A reasonable cause shall occur if the party giving notice, taking all circumstances of the individual case into account and considering the interests of both parties, cannot reasonably be expected to continue the contractual relationship until expiry of the due period of notice. The statutory provisions apply if the contractual relationship is wound up after extraordinary notice of termination. In the event of justified, extraordinary notice by airberlin, the status/award miles expire with receipt of the notice of termination. In all cases the member may submit the notice of termination to the address set out in section 4.9. The member is obliged to return the topbonus Card held at that time without delay after termination of the contract.

3.2. Discontinuation of the program:
In the event of the program being discontinued, airberlin shall be entitled to issue due notice to terminate membership of the topbonus Program (see section 3.1.). The same applies in the event that the topbonus Program is replaced by another program. In this case the member is also entitled to give notice of termination in accordance with section 3.1., however, in such case miles already collected can be used up until 18 month after due notice of termination has been received by the member. The same applies if the operator and issuer of topbonus should change.

4.1. Taxes, charges:
All taxes (e.g. airport taxes), charges (e.g. security charges), duties and other surcharges (e.g. fuel surcharge) associated with the issuing or claiming of an award shall be borne by the customer. In the case of certain awards, airberlin may include the taxes and charges in the award or offer the option of paying for these taxes and charges with additional award miles. This only applies if this option is explicitly mentioned in conjunction with the relevant award. If the taxes and charges are not included or paid by award miles, the member shall be required to pay these on redemption of the award by using a method of payment accepted by airberlin.

4.2. Benefits granted under the topbonus Program as non-cash benefits/flat-rate taxation:
Since the benefits granted under the topbonus Program are non-cash benefits within the meaning of article 3 section 38 EStG (German income tax act), they are subject to flat-rate taxation in accordance with article 37a EStG for topbonus members resident in Germany. The flat-rate taxation implemented by airberlin is deemed to be full settlement of the payable tax, which means that the person receiving the award does not have to declare the non-cash award in his or her personal income tax return. The non-cash benefits on which flat-rate taxation is paid are not subject to social security contributions.

4.3. Misuse:
airberlin reserves the right to demand compensation instead of the amount in miles required to redeem an award if a member redeems an award using miles that have been improperly acquired or acquired on the basis of unlawful acts and if the balance in miles, after the improperly acquired miles have been deducted, is insufficient to redeem the award. The amount of compensation per mile is based on the miles selling price applicable at the time when the damaging event occurred. airberlin also reserves this right in the event that the mileage account shows a negative balance in other cases of misuse or because of the member’s contravention of the regulations. The member has the right to prove that no damage or lesser damage was incurred.

4.4. Liability:
airberlin and its vicarious agents bear unlimited liability towards the member in the event of criminal intent or gross negligence or if a guarantee has been provided. Liability in the event of ordinary negligence is unlimited if there is injury to life, body or health. Any further liability is excluded. This does not apply to claims based on the German product liability act or the Montreal Convention.

4.5. Non-availability of benefits:
The non-availability of the benefits associated with a topbonus Card Classic, topbonus Card Silver, topbonus Card Gold, topbonus Service Card or airberlin/topbonus Credit Cards does not entitle the customer to claim compensation and/or indem¬nification from airberlin, provided that airberlin was not responsible for such non-availability by intent or gross negligence.

4.6. Data protection:
The personal data submitted by the member when applying for membership of the topbonus Program are processed and utilised in accordance with the applicable data protection regulations for purposes serving the implementation of the program. airberlin is entitled to entrust service providers with tasks and to transmit personal details for this purpose, in so far as this is necessary for implementation of the program. further information on dealing with personal data can be viewed at www.airberlin.com/datenschutz.

The member agrees for his/her personal details to be used for postal advertising (information about special offers of airberlin) by airberlin. Such agreement for personal details to be used for the communication of advertising material by post and/or electronically may be revoked at any time without reasons having to be given. airberlin must be notified of such revocation at least in writing. The address to which notice of revocation must be sent is shown in section 4.9.

4.7. Loss, theft:
To avoid misuse, each member is required to ensure that no unauthorised third person obtains the topbonus Card and/or gains access to the password. Taking the risk into consideration that topbonus benefits could be utilised by an unauthorised person if the topbonus Card and the associated password are lost, airberlin has to be notified immediately if the topbonus Card is lost or stolen. The same applies if the topbonus Card is damaged. A handling fee of 5 EUR is charged for re-issuing a Card. The member is free to prove that no handling fee or a lesser handling fee was incurred.

4.8. Changes:
airberlin reserves the right to change or supplement terms and conditions of membership, partner companies, card categories and benefits, tables for collecting status/award miles, awards or other processes described in the topbonus Program documents. The member will be informed of these changes and additions in writing. The member is therefore advised to log in at regular intervals to obtain the appropriate notification for his or her member profile. The change is deemed to be approved unless the member objects within 4 weeks of receiving notification of the change or addition. The period allowed for objections to be registered, as well as the consequences of silence are again expressly pointed out to the member in the notification that is sent out. If the member objects to a change or addition, airberlin shall be entitled to issue due notice of termination in accordance with section 3.1. The same applies in the event that airberlin subsequently extends the topbonus Program to further co-issuers.

4.9. Contact details:

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG
topbonus
Saatwinkler Damm 42-43
13627 Berlin
Germany
e-mail: topbonus@airberlin.com

4.10. Applicable law, severability clause:
This contract is governed by German law exclusively. If individual provisions of this contract are ineffective or impracticable in whole or in part, the effectiveness of the contract shall not be affected. The parties to the contract undertake that in such an event they will replace the ineffective and impracticable provision by one that is effective or practicable and that is as close as possible to the economic intent of the ineffective or impracticable provision, in whole or in part, within the scope of the overall contract. In the event that the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved with effective and practicable regulations, either party to the contract shall have the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect for reasonable cause.