Privacy Policy

Key things you should know about our privacy practices:

• We may use your information (and the information of those travelling with you) for the purpose of completing travel bookings. This includes sharing your booking information with third parties as explained in this Policy in order for them to fulfil your booking.

• We may engage other third party vendors who provide services or functions on our behalf.

• We may use the information we collect for marketing activities, such as to let you know about any special offers that may be of interest to you, including our loyalty programs. You have the option to opt out at any time.

• You can contact us about updating or accessing your information. Please see how in the "How to contact us” section below.

• We may use information like cookies for purposes such as: to improve your experience our Services; provide us with analytics information that will help us improve our services generally; and to collect information about travel destinations of interest to you so that you will see more relevant ads and offers.

• From time to time and usually following an interaction with us, we may ask you for your feedback to provide you and others with better service. If you are using our Services outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated.

What personal information do we collect and why?

Information that you provide directly to us

We receive and store any information you provide when you use our Services, such as to register as a member, book travel, complete a traveler profile, participate in a survey, contest, or sweepstakes, ask us a question, request a link for our mobile apps, or initiate other transactions on our site. This may include personal information such as your first and last name, telephone number, postal and email addresses, date of birth, and billing information (such as credit card number, cardholder name, and expiration date). If you create an account, we will ask you to provide a login name or email address and a password. We may also request information about your hotel room preferences and/or frequent flyer and car rental program information, if relevant. You may also be asked to provide information about any other travelers on your booking, your marketing preferences, or other information if you participate in a survey, contest, or competition.

If you’re an employee of a corporate account, a vendor or other type of business partner such as a property owner, property manager, travel agent, other information collected can include employer, employee identification number, or other relevant details. 

 Certain personal information requested is mandatory. We may not be able to provide you with our Services if you do not provide us with the requested personal information.

Information about travel companion(s)

When you make a reservation for someone else through our Services, we will collect the personal information and travel preferences that you choose to provide. You should obtain the consent of any other individual(s) prior to providing us with their personal information and travel preferences. Your travel companion's information will only be available to view and amend through your account. Should your travel companion want to request to access, amend, or delete their information themselves they can contact us directly at the information in the “Contact Us” section at the bottom of this policy. 

Special Categories of Personal Information

Certain types of personal information, such as some government-issued identification numbers, religion, health or sexuality, are considered sensitive and require additional protection under applicable laws. We take appropriate steps to limit the circumstances under which we may collect sensitive personal information; examples of this information include the following:

• Health-related information may be needed to provide appropriate travel accommodation and accessibility or facility requirements.

• Government-issued identification numbers like passport or driver’s license number may be required for flights, vehicle rental or other travel reservation.

• Other information that you can specify at your option and which may imply or suggest information like religion, health or other information, such as dietary needs.

Information that we collect automatically

We automatically collect information about you when you use the Services. This information includes:

• Log and Usage Information:  We collect information related to your access to and use of the Services, including the type of browser you use, the Internet Service Provider, app version, access times, pages viewed, trips viewed, your IP address, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.

• Device Information:  We collect information about the computer or mobile device you use to access our Services, including the hardware model, operating system and version, device identifiers (including the advertising identifier assigned to your mobile device), and mobile network information.

• Location Information:  We may derive the approximate location of your device from your IP address. For more information on location data, please refer to the Information we collect when you use Apps section below.

Information we collect when you use Apps

When you use a smart phone app, tablet app, or applications for other platforms (collectively “App” or “Apps” as applicable), we may also collect, for example:

• Information about the functionality of the Apps you access and use. This allows us to identify those areas of the Apps that are of interest to our customers so that we can refine and continuously improve the Apps.

• Your device’s unique device identifier (“UID”). Each App sends us the device's UID, a sequence of numbers or characters that are unique to your device. We use this on the first opening of the App so that we can confirm to our advertising networks the number of downloads resulting from clicks on their respective ad banners and other marketing tools. When an email address is provided, we associate this with your current UID/cookie ID for the purposes of providing a seamless experience across your devices. 

• Information about your current location. When you use an App’s ‘find hotels near your current location’ or similar features that suggest relevant content based on location, or otherwise provide location-based services, we use information about your current location – provided by your device using GPS or similar technologies – to show relevant content or other localized information. We do not collect location data unless you expressly use a location-based feature, and you can switch off location data collection at any time through your phone settings menu.

• Error reporting information. This enables us to investigate the error and to improve the stability of the App for future releases. As part of these error reports, the App sends us information about the mobile device type and version, the UID, the time the error occurred, the feature being used and the state of the application when the error occurred. We may use this information to investigate and remediate the error and to assist you in completing an impacted booking.

You have the ability to control certain information an App sends to us. You can exercise this control either by changing the settings of the App under its setting menu or changing the settings of your mobile device. Alternatively, you can remove the App from your device entirely and access our services through our website.

Information that we obtain from third party sources

Periodically, we lawfully obtain personal information about you from affiliated entities, business partners, and other independent third party sources and add it to our account information. Examples of information we may receive includes updated contact information like email, purchase history, and demographic information.

Information we collect when you communicate with us via the following methods

Social Media:  If you make use of any of our social media features on our Services or otherwise through a social media provider, we may access information about you via that social media provider in accordance with their terms of use.

For example, if a social media provider indicates to us that you have chosen to share personal information in your social media account, we may access information such as your name, profile picture, gender, birthday, email address, town or district, and your location data.  We do not collect, store, or use any data related to the friends you are connected with on a social media site.

We encourage you to review the privacy policy and privacy settings of any social media provider you use.

Call Monitoring and Recording:  Calls to and from our customer service teams may be recorded or monitored for quality control purposes, analytics, to protect us in the event of a legal dispute, and for staff training. Any personal information obtained from you during the call will be treated in accordance with the provisions of this Privacy Policy. 

Other Online Communications:  Any interactions you have with us through our Services, such as chat, will be recorded and monitored for quality control purposes, to protect us in the event of a legal dispute, and for staff training. This information will be processed and maintained consistent with this Privacy Policy. 

Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies:

Cookies are small data text files and can be stored on your computer's hard drive (if your Web browser permits). This website may use cookies for the following general purposes, for example:

• To help us recognize you as a previous visitor and save and remember any preferences that may have been set while your browser was visiting our site.

• To help us customize the content and advertisements provided to you on this website and on other sites across the Internet. For example, when you access a page on our website, a cookie is automatically set by us, our service providers, or our partners to recognize you as you navigate on the Internet and to present you with information and advertising based on your apparent interests. See the “Advertising and analytics services provided by others” section below for more information about our online advertising practices and your choices.

• To help measure and research the effectiveness of website features and offerings, advertisements, and email communications (by determining which emails you open and act upon).

The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to request to disable cookies. Please note that if you refuse to accept cookies, you may not be able to access many of the travel tools offered on our sites.

In addition to the above cookies, we may use Local Shared Objects, also referred to as "flash cookies," on our web site. These are used to enhance your user experience, for example, by storing your user preferences and settings, such as your volume/mute settings, and in connection with animated content on our website. Local Shared Objects are similar to browser cookies but can store data more complex than simple text. To find out more about flash cookies or how to disable them, please visit: Flash Player Help site. 

This site may also use Web beacons (also known as clear gifs, pixel tags or Web bugs), which are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, that are placed in the code of a Web page. We use Web beacons to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within our sites to another, to deliver or read cookies, to understand whether you have come to our site from an online advertisement displayed on a third party website, and to improve site performance. We also may allow our service providers to use Web beacons to, for example, help us understand which emails have been opened by recipients and to track the visitor traffic and actions on our site. This helps us measure the effectiveness of our content and other offerings.

We may combine the information you give us with information related to your transactions and information we receive about you from third parties who carry out services on our behalf. The information received via Cookies and similar technologies may allow us and third parties to track your activities, preferences, interests, devices, and user data across online services.

Advertising and analytics services provided by others

We are committed to providing you with relevant content and information. To do this, we may allow others to collect information about you, such as your travel related searches to serve you with more relevant ads on our Services, across the internet, and on other devices that you may use. Note that if you choose not to receive tailored ads, you will still see online advertisements, but they will be more general and less relevant to you.

We may allow others to provide analytics services and serve advertisements on our behalf across the web and in mobile applications. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and other websites and applications, including your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in apps, links clicked, and conversion information. This information may be used by us and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on our Services and other websites and mobile apps, and better understand your activity.

Please note that we do not have access to or direct control over cookies or other technologies these third parties may use to collect information about your interests, and the information practices of these third parties are not covered by this Privacy Policy. Some of these companies are members of the Network Advertising Initiative or Digital Advertising Alliance, which offers opt outs of online and mobile ad targeting from member companies. To learn more, please click here.

Some web browsers may transmit "do-not-track" signals to websites with which the browser communicates. Because of differences in how web browsers incorporate and activate this feature, it is not always clear whether users intend for these signals to be transmitted, or whether they even are aware of them. Participants in the leading Internet standards-setting organization that is addressing this issue are in the process of determining what, if anything, websites should do when they receive such signals. We currently do not take action in response to these signals. If and when a final standard is established and accepted, we will reassess how to respond to these signals. 

Who do we share your personal information with?  

• Expedia Group companies

   

  may share your personal information with affiliated companies within the Expedia Group family, listed at the

   

  website. This sharing enables us, for example, to enhance the products and services we offer, as well as potentially provide you with information about products and services, both travel-related and other, which we believe might interest you. Also, if you inquire about booking a vacation rental stay through another Expedia Group brand, such as HomeAway, we may on occasion share with the property owner information about your booking history with Expedia Group. To the extent that our parent company and corporate affiliates have access to your information, they will follow practices that are at least as restrictive as the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

• Third party services providers

   

  who provide data processing services to us (for example, to support the delivery of; provide functionality on; or help to enhance the security of our Services), or who otherwise process personal information for purposes such as business analytics, customer service, marketing, and distribution of surveys or sweepstakes programs. Where third party service providers process data they will only do so as appropriate to perform their functions. They are not permitted to share or use the information for any other purpose.

• Business partners

   

  with whom we may jointly offer products or services, or whose products or services may be offered on our Services, such as a third party loyalty program. If you choose to access these optional services, we will on occasion share information about you, including your personal information, with those partners.

• Travel suppliers

   

  such as hotel, airline, car rental, insurance, Property Owners, and, where available, activity providers, rail or cruise lines, who fulfil your travel reservations. Services provided by a third party supplier are generally described as such. Please note that these suppliers also may contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about you, facilitate your travel reservation, or respond to a review you may submit in accordance with their own independent Privacy Policy. From time to time, we may share anonymous reviews with our hotel suppliers. On such occasions, we do not share reviewer names or contact information unless you have explicitly told us that we may. We are not responsible for the hotel deducing your identity from the content of your review and contacting you directly.

• Social media providers

   

  when you access certain social media features through our Services, you will share information with the social media provider. The information you share will be governed by the social media provider's privacy policy (including any data we may access via the social media provider). Social media providers should inform you about how you can modify your privacy settings on their site. 

If you connect your account with us to a social media provider, we may make available to that social media provider the information related to your use of our Services, such as our rewards and loyalty programs or the reviews you post on our Services. 

• Any

   

  competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third party

   

  where we believe disclosure is (i) necessary or permitted by applicable law or regulation, (ii) necessary to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or (iii) necessary to protect our interests or those of any other person;

• When we believe it is appropriate to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal or suspected illegal activities; to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of our company or this website, our customers, or others; and in connection with our Terms of Service and other agreements; or

• In connection with a corporate transaction, such as a divestiture, merger, consolidation, or asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy. In the case of any acquisition, we will inform the buyer it must use your personal information only for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

On occasion, we may share aggregate or deidentified information with third parties, including advertisers and investors.  For example, we may tell our advertisers the number of visitors our website receives or the most popular hotels and vacation destinations. 

How do we use your personal information? 

We use the information we collect to manage your account, provide you with the products and services you request, including completing your travel bookings, processing your bills, provide you with travel updates, and to administer any rewards program you choose to join.

We also use the information we collect for business purposes including, for example: 

• measure interest in and improve our products, services, and website functionality;

• communicate with you about special offers, coupons, sweepstakes, and travel-related products and services that may be of interest to you. You may receive these through various channels, including by email, SMS, push messages, post mail, or telephone, or via advertisements on third party sites, including through social media;

• troubleshoot and investigate errors in the Services;

• protect our rights as a company, including as to our intellectual property, for example;

• resolve disputes, collect fees, prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities and protect our rights and property of and of others; and

• as otherwise described to you at the point of collection.

How do we protect your personal information? 

We want you to feel confident about using our Services to make travel arrangements, and we are committed to taking appropriate steps designed to protect the information we collect. While no service can guarantee absolute security, we take reasonable steps to implement appropriate physical, technical, and organizational measures to protect the personal information that we collect and process about you.    

International data transfers

The personal information we collect, or that is collected on our behalf, may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the country in which you reside. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country (and, in some cases, may not be as protective). While such information is outside of your country of residence, it is subject to the laws of such other countries, and may be subject to disclosure to the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of such other country, pursuant to the laws of such country.

Specifically, the servers of our Services are located in the US, and our group companies and third party service providers operate around the world. This means that when we collect your personal information we may process it in any of these countries.    

Data retention 

We retain the personal information we collect from you where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so (for example, to provide you with a service you have requested or to comply with applicable legal, tax, or accounting requirements). 

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or deidentify the data or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will take steps to securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

We will deidentify or aggregate your data if we intend to use it for analytical purposes or trend analysis over longer periods.

Your information choices

You can access, update, or correct certain contact information in the Account section of our Online Services. You can request to de-activate your account at any time either by contacting us through the contact information listed below. After you de-activate an account, you will not be able to sign in or access any of your personal information. However, you can open a new account at any time.

If you wish to contact us in relation to any personal information through means other than described in this Privacy Policy, including your request to access, correct, delete, or stop the collection, processing, or use of, your personal information, you can contact us at the information listed in the “How to contact us” section below.

Changes to this notice and how to contact us

Updates to this Privacy Policy

Changes to this Privacy Policy will be made when required in response to changing legal, technical, or business developments. When we update our Privacy Policy, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make, and in accordance with applicable law. 

You can see when this Privacy Policy was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the top of this Privacy Policy. 

If you have any questions about changes to this Privacy Policy, please contact us at the contact details found below.