Below you will find the updated Privacy Policy for Hotwire (www.hotwire.com).
We understand that booking online involves significant trust on your part. We value your trust, and make it a high priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of the personal information you provide to us. Please read the following policy to learn about our privacy practices. By visiting this website, you are accepting the practices described herein.
What information we collect from you
In General
We receive and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way. This includes information that can identify you ("personal information"),
including your first and last name, telephone number, postal and email addresses, fax number, and billing information (such as credit card number, cardholder name,
and expiration date). We may also request information about your hotel room preferences, and frequent flyer and car rental program information.
You can choose not to provide information to us, but in general some information about you is required in order for you to register as a member;
book travel; complete a traveler profile; participate in a survey, contest, or sweepstakes; ask us a question; or initiate other transactions on our site.
Travel Companion Information
When you make a reservation for someone else through this website, we will request personal information and travel preferences about that individual.
You should obtain the consent of other individuals prior to providing us with their personal information and travel preferences, as any access to
view or change their information will be available only through your account.
Information from Other Sources
We also may periodically obtain both personal and non-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 include: updated delivery and address information, purchase history,
and demographic information.
Automatic Information
We automatically collect some information about your computer when you visit this website. For example, we will collect your IP address, Web browser software
(such as Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer), and referring website. We also may collect information about your online activity, such as trips viewed and
bookings made. Our goals in collecting this automatic information include helping customize your user experience and inhibiting fraud. For more information,
please see Cookies and other technologies.
How we use your information
We use sensitive billing information (such as cardholder name, credit card number, and expiration date) for the purpose of completing the travel bookings you conduct on our site. We use other information about you for the following general purposes: to provide you with the products and services you request; to provide you with travel confirmation and updates; to manage your account, including processing bills and providing travel notifications; to communicate with you in general; to respond to your questions and comments; to measure interest in and improve our products, services, and website; to notify you about special offers and products or services that may be of interest to you; to otherwise customize your experience with this website; to reward you as part of any reward and recognition program you choose to join; to solicit information from you, including through surveys; to resolve disputes, collect fees, or troubleshoot problems; to prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities; to enforce our Terms of Use; and as otherwise described to you at the point of collection.
We often receive testimonials and comments from customers who have had positive booking and/or travel experiences on our website. We occasionally publish such content, using first name plus last initial, only, for attribution.
E-mail Communications
We want to make it easy for you to take advantage of travel-related opportunities on our website. One way we do this is by sending you email messages
that contain information about your apparent travel-related interests. For example, if you search for a flight to New York on our website and have
saved your itinerary or otherwise not yet booked your travel, we may send you an email message reminding you about your saved travel itinerary or
about a special airfare to New York. Similarly, if you receive an email from us about New York travel and demonstrate an interest in New York
hotels by affirmatively clicking on a link about New York hotels in the email, you may receive an email about New York hotel offers. We believe
these email messages will provide you with useful information about travel-related special offers available through our site. Please note that you
will have the opportunity to choose not to receive these email messages in any such email we send.
Please review Your choices with respect to the collection and use of your information below.
With whom we share your information
This website may share your information with the following entities:
Suppliers such as hotel, airline, car rental, and activity providers, who fulfill your travel reservations. Throughout this site, all services provided by a third-party supplier are described as such. We do not place limitations on our suppliers' use or disclosure of your personal information. Therefore, we encourage you to review the privacy policies of any travel supplier whose products you purchase through this site. 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.
Third-party vendors who provide services or functions on our behalf, including credit card processing, business analytics, customer service, marketing, distribution of surveys or sweepstakes programs, and fraud prevention. We may also authorize third-party vendors to collect information on our behalf, including as necessary to operate features of our website or to facilitate the delivery of online advertising tailored to your interests. Third-party vendors have access to and may collect information only as needed to perform their functions and 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 website. You can tell when a third party is involved in a product or service you have requested because their name will appear, either alone or with ours. If you choose to access these optional services, we may share information about you, including your personal information, with those partners. Please note that we do not control the privacy practices of these third-party business partners.
Referring websites. If you were referred to this website from another site (for example, through a link you clicked on another site that directed you to this one), we may share some information about you with that referring website. We have not placed limitations on the referring websites' use of your personal information and we encourage you to review the privacy policies of any website that referred you here.
Companies within our corporate family. We may share your personal information with our parent company and corporate affiliates, such as Expedia.com, CarRentals.com and Hotels.com, as well as international corporate affiliates such as Hotels.uk.com. This sharing enables us to provide you with information about products and services, both travel-related and other, which might interest you. 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. They also will comply with applicable laws governing the transmission of promotional communications and, at a minimum, give you an opportunity in any commercial email they send to choose not to receive such email messages in the future.
We also may share your information:
Other than as set out above, you will be notified when personal information about you will be shared with third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to have us share such information.
We also may share aggregate or anonymous 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. This information does not contain any personal information and is used to develop content and services we hope you will find of interest.
How you can access your information
Hotwire registered users can access and update their contact information by visiting the Hotwire My Account page. Hotwire email subscribers can access and update their subscription choices through Subscription Management links found in the footer of any Hotwire email. You can close your account by contacting us at the email address listed below. Please note that after you close 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. Please also note that we may retain certain information associated with your account, including for analytical purposes as well as for recordkeeping integrity.
Your choices with respect to collection and use of your information
Cookies and other technologies
Cookies are small data text files and can be stored on your computer's hard drive (if your Web browser permits). This website use cookies for the following general purposes:
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 disable cookies altogether. Please note that if you refuse to accept cookies, you may not be able to access many of the travel tools offered on our site.
In addition to the above cookies, we use Local Shared Objects, also referred to as "flash cookies," on our website. 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. By themselves, they cannot do anything to or with the data on your computer. Like other cookies, they can only access personally identifiable information that you have provided on this site, and cannot be accessed by other websites. To find out more about flash cookies or how to disable them, please click here: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/526/52697ee8.html.
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 site to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to this 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 help us understand which emails have been opened by recipients and to track the visitor traffic and actions on this site. This helps us measure the effectiveness of our content and other offerings.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us using our customer service and feedback form.
Display of tailored advertising/Your choices
Data collected by this website to serve you with relevant advertising
Hotwire is committed to providing you with relevant content and information. To do this, we may collect, through cookies and other technologies
information about your travel-related searches, such as whether you are looking for airline flights or hotels, and use this information to serve you with ads,
on our website or elsewhere online, that match your apparent interests. So, for example, if you search for a flight to Florida on our site, you may see an ad
for a Florida travel package on our site or on another website you visit.
Please note that we do not combine the information we collect about your travel-related searches on this website with personal information (such as email address) to serve you with ads across other websites. We also do not share your personal information with third parties so they can serve you with advertisements. You can choose not to receive tailored online advertising on other websites, based on your travel-related searches on this website, by clicking here. Note that if you choose not to receive tailored ads, you will see online advertisements, but they will be more general and less relevant to you.
Data collected by business partners and ad networks to serve you with relevant advertising.
The advertisements you see on this website are served by us or by our service providers. But we also allow third parties to collect information about your
online activities through cookies and other technologies. These third parties include (1) business partners, who collect
information when you view or interact with one of their advertisements on our site, and (2) advertising networks, who collect information about your
interests when you view or interact with one of the advertisements they place on many different websites on the Internet. The information gathered by
these third parties is used to make predictions about your characteristics, interests or preferences and to display advertisements on our site and
across the Internet tailored to your apparent interests. We do not permit these third parties to collect personal information about you on our site,
nor do we share with them any personal information about you.
Please note that we do not have access to or control over cookies and 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. These companies may offer you a way to opt out of ad targeting based on their cookies. You may find more information by clicking on the company names above and following the links to the websites of each company. Some of these companies are members of the Network Advertising Initiative, which offers a single location to opt out of ad targeting from member companies. To learn more, please click here or here.
Data collected by companies that operate cookie-based exchanges to serve you with relevant advertising.
Like other companies operating online, Expedia.com participates in cookie-based exchanges where anonymous information is collected about your browsing
behavior through cookies and other technologies and segmented into different topics of interest (such as travel).
These topics of interest are then shared with third parties, including advertisers and ad networks, so they can tailor advertisements to your apparent
interests. We do not share personal information (such as your email address) with these companies and we do not permit these companies to collect any
such information about you on our site. Please click here to learn more about cookie-based
exchanges, including how to access information about the topics of interest associated with cookies on your computer and how to decline participation
in these programs.
How we protect your information
We want you to feel confident about using this website to make hotel and travel arrangements, and we are committed to protecting the information we collect. While no website can guarantee security, we have implemented appropriate administrative, technical, and physical security procedures to help protect the personal information you provide to us. For example, only authorized employees are permitted to access personal information, and they only may do so for permitted business functions. In addition, we use encryption when transmitting your sensitive personal information between your system and ours, and we employ firewalls and intrusion detection systems to help prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to your information.
Children's privacy
This is a general audience website and does not offer services directed to children. Should a child whom we know to be under 13 send personal information to us, we will use that information only to respond directly to that child to inform him or her that we must have parental consent before receiving his or her personal information.
External links
If any part of this website links you to other sites, those sites do not operate under this Privacy Policy. We recommend you examine the privacy statements posted on those other websites to understand their procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing personal information.
Visiting our website from outside the United States
If you are visiting our website from 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. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country, but please be assured that we take steps to ensure that your privacy is protected. By using our services, you understand that your information may be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this Policy.
Secure Flight Privacy Notice
Privacy notice (found in Section 1560.103 of the Secure Flight Final Rule): The Transportation Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires us to collect information from you for purposes of watch list screening, under the authority of 49 U.S.C. section 114, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Providing this information is voluntary; however, if it is not provided, you may be subject to additional screening or denied transport or authorization to enter a sterile area. TSA may share information you provide with law enforcement or intelligence agencies or others under its published system of records notice. For more on TSA Privacy policies, or to view the system of records notice and the privacy impact assessment, please see TSA's website at www.tsa.gov.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy in the future. We will notify you about material changes to this Privacy Policy by sending a notice to the email address you provided to us or by placing a prominent notice on our website.
How you can contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy (or your travel planning or purchases), please contact us at:
Our customer care associates are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you wish to email us, we respond to most customer emails within two hours or less. Depending on the nature of your inquiry and the time of day, our response may take a bit longer.
Phone Toll-Free - within the U.S. and Canada
1-866-HOTWIRE (1-866-468-9473)
Phone - outside of the U.S. and Canada
1-417-520-1680 (regular toll charges apply)
Hotwire Customer Care
655 Montgomery Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94111
U.S.A
This Privacy Policy is effective as of January 13, 2012.
Please read the following Terms and Conditions closely before using our Web site (the "Site"). By accessing, browsing and using this Site, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to comply with the terms and conditions stated here. To the extent you book any travel products or services on this Site through our call center agents, you agree that these Terms and Conditions shall apply to all such transactions. If you do not agree with any part of these Terms and Conditions, YOU MUST NOT USE THIS SITE.
Hotwire may at any time modify these Terms and Conditions, and your continued use of this Site will be conditioned upon the terms and conditions in force at the time of your use View Hotwire Travel Products Rules and Restrictions .
REGISTRATIONS
Seller of Travel: Hotwire, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is located at 655 Montgomery Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94111. More information about Hotwire may be found at http://www.hotwire.com/about-hotwire/index.jsp. Hotwire is a registered seller of travel in each of the states listed below:
Seller of Travel:
California registration number: 2053390-50
Florida registration number: ST35196
Iowa registration number: 861
Nevada registration number: 20030209
Washington registration number: 602-218-781
Registration as a seller of travel in California does not constitute the state's approval.
New York Tax Registration: Hotwire's New York sales tax vendor registration number is 742938016 and its New York City hotel occupancy tax registration number is 0033922.
Please click here for additional information: New York State certificate New York City certificate
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Copyright and Trademark Notices
All contents of this Website are: © 2013 Hotwire, Inc. All rights reserved. Hotwire, Inc. is not responsible for content on websites operated by parties other than Hotwire, Inc., Hot Fare, Hot Rate, Hotwire, Hotwire.com, TripStarter, the Hotwire logo, the Airplace “Favicon” Design and the Hotwire.com logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos and product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
If you are aware of an infringement of our brand, please let us know by e-mailing us at hotline@expedia.com. We only address messages concerning brand infringement at this email address.
Claims of Copyright Infringement & Counter-Notification
Hotwire, Inc. respects the copyrights of others. If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by us infringe your copyright, you (or your agent) may send us a written notice that includes the following information. Please note that we will not process your complaint if it isn't properly filled out or if the complaint is incomplete:
Notices with respect to this Website should be sent to us by email to copyright@hotwire.com for the fastest resolution.
You may also send us your notice using the contact information below:
Hotwire, Inc.
Attn: IP/Trademark Legal Dept., DMCA Complaints
c/o NRAI
2875 Michelle Drive
Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92606
OR you may fax it to: (425) 679-7251, Attn: IP/Trademark Legal Dept., DMCA Complaints
We will review and address all notices that comply with the requirements above. If we remove or disable access in response to such a notice, we may notify the owner or administrator of the affected site or content so that he or she can make a counter notification.
We suggest that you seek legal counsel before filing a notice. Any misrepresentations in your notice regarding whether content or activity is infringing may expose you to liability for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees). In one case involving online content (See Online Policy Group vs. Diebold, Inc.), a company paid more than $100,000 in costs and attorneys fees after targeting content protected by the U.S. Fair Use Doctrine.
For any additional questions regarding the DMCA process for Hotwire, Inc. please contact us at 425-679-3756.
ACCOUNT TERMINATION:
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and other applicable law, Hotwire, Inc. has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and at Hotwire Inc.’s sole discretion, subscribers or account holders who are deemed to be repeat infringers. Hotwire may also at its sole discretion limit access to the Site and/or terminate the accounts of any users who infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement. If you believe that an account holder or subscriber is a repeat infringer, please provide information sufficient for us to verify that the account holder or subscriber is a repeat infringer when filing your notice.
COUNTER-NOTIFICATION:
Hotwire, Inc. does not tolerate false claims of copyright infringement. If you believe that content that you posted to our site was mistakenly removed due to a false claim of copyright infringement, then you can submit a DMCA Counter-Notice. When we receive a properly completed counter notification, we will forward it to the complaining rights owner. In the U.S., the DMCA allows us to restore your content if the rights owner does not file a court action against you within 10 business days of receiving the copy of your counter-notice.
To file a counter notification with us, you must provide a written communication by fax or regular mail that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that content is not infringing the copyrights of others. If you are not sure whether certain material infringes the copyrights of others, then we suggest that you first seek legal counsel.
To expedite our ability to process your counter notification, please send us your notification using the following format:
Hotwire, Inc.
Attn: IP/Trademark Legal Dept., DMCA Complaints
c/o NRAI
2875 Michelle Drive
Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92606
OR you may fax it to: (425) 679-7251, Attn: IP/Trademark Legal Dept., DMCA Complaints
For any additional questions regarding the DMCA process for Hotwire, Inc., please contact us at 425-679-3756.
Use Restriction
This Site is intended for personal, noncommercial use. You may only use this Site to make legitimate requests to book the products or services offered (each, a "Request"), and shall not use this Site to make any speculative, false or fraudulent Requests, or any Requests in anticipation of demand. You may not use robots or other automated means to access this Site, unless specifically permitted by Hotwire. You represent that you are of sufficient legal age to create binding legal obligations for any liability you may incur as a result of your use of this Site. You agree to promptly update your membership information (if applicable) in order to keep it current, complete and accurate.
It is a violation of law to place a Request in a false name or with an invalid credit card. Please be aware that even if you do not give us your real name, your Web browser transmits a unique Internet address to us that can be used by law enforcement officials to identify you. Fraudulent users will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Permission is granted to electronically copy and print in hard-copy portions of this Site for the sole purpose of using this Site as a shopping resource. Any other use of materials or Content on this Site, including reproduction for a purpose other than that noted above without Hotwire's prior written consent is prohibited.
Reviews, Comments And Other Submissions
We encourage you to share your comments and questions with us, but we may not be able to respond to all of them. Please be aware that by submitting content to this Site by electronic mail, postings on this Site or otherwise, including any hotel reviews, questions, comments, suggestions, ideas or the like contained in any submissions (collectively, "Submissions"), you grant Hotwire and Hotwire's corporate affiliates (collectively, the "Hotwire Companies") and the affiliated, co-branded and/or linked website partners through whom we provide service (collectively, "Hotwire Affiliates") and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to (a) use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, publish, create derivative works from and publicly display and perform such Submissions throughout the world in any media, now known or hereafter devised; and (b) use the name that you submit in connection with such Submission. You acknowledge that Hotwire may choose to provide attribution of your comments or reviews (for example, listing your name and hometown on a hotel review that you submit) at our discretion, and that such submissions may be shared with our supplier partners. You further grant Hotwire the right to pursue at law any person or entity that violates your or Hotwire's rights in the Submissions by a breach of this Agreement. You acknowledge and agree that Submissions are non-confidential and non-proprietary. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any Submissions posted or submitted by you. We have no obligation to post your comments; we reserve the right in our absolute discretion to determine which comments are published on the Site If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, please do not provide us with any Submissions.
Please note that we assume no responsibility for reviewing unsolicited ideas for our business (like product or advertising ideas), and will not incur any liability as a result of any similarities between those ideas and materials that may appear in future Hotwire programs.
You are fully responsible for the content of your Submissions (specifically including, but not limited to, reviews posted to this Site). You are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from this Site: (i) any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, or other material or content that would violate rights of publicity and/or privacy or that would violate any law; (ii) any commercial material or content (including, but not limited to, solicitation of funds, advertising, or marketing of any good or services); and (iii) any material or content that infringes, misappropriates or violates any copyright, trademark, patent right or other proprietary right of any third party. You shall be solely liable for any damages resulting from any violation of the foregoing restrictions, or any other harm resulting from your posting of content to this Site. You acknowledge that Hotwire may exercise its rights (e.g. use, publish, delete) to any content you submit without notice to you.
Hotwire's policies with respect to claims by third parties that the content of the Site, including the content of any Submissions, infringes the copyrights owned by said third party can be found above in the Copyright Complaint Policy section of these Terms and Conditions.
Privacy
You confirm that you have read, understood and agree to the Hotwire Privacy Policy , the terms of which are incorporated herein, and agree that the terms of such policy are reasonable and satisfactory to you. You consent to the use of your personal information by Hotwire, its third-party providers, and/or distributors in accordance with the terms of and for the purposes set forth in the Hotwire Privacy Policy. If you are not a resident of the United States, please note that the personal information you submit to the Site will be transferred to the United States and processed by Hotwire in order to provide this Site and its services to you, or for such other purposes (as set forth in the Privacy Policy). Hotwire makes no representation or warranties with regard to the sufficiency of the security measures used for data handling and storage. Hotwire will not be responsible for any actual or consequential damages that result from a lapse in compliance with the Hotwire Privacy Policy because of a security breach or technical malfunction.
Prepaid Hotel Reservations
You acknowledge that the Hotwire Companies pre-negotiate certain room rates with hotel suppliers to facilitate the booking of reservations on your behalf. You also acknowledge that the Hotwire Companies provide you services to facilitate such booking of reservations for a consideration (the “facilitation fee”). The room rate displayed on the Website is a combination of the pre-negotiated room rate for rooms reserved on your behalf by the Hotwire Companies and the facilitation fee retained by the Hotwire Companies for their services. You authorize the Hotwire Companies to book reservations for the total reservation price, which includes the room rate displayed on the Website, plus tax recovery charges, service fees, and where applicable, taxes on the Hotwire Companies' services. You agree that your credit card will be charged by the Hotwire Companies for the total reservation price. Upon submitting your reservation request you authorize the Hotwire Companies to facilitate hotel reservations on your behalf, including making payment arrangements with hotel suppliers.
You acknowledge that except as provided below with respect to tax obligations on the amounts we retain for our services, the Hotwire Companies do not collect taxes for remittance to applicable taxing authorities. The tax recovery charges on prepaid hotel transactions are a recovery of the estimated taxes (e.g. sales and use, occupancy, room tax, excise tax, value added tax, etc) that the Hotwire Companies pay to the hotel supplier for taxes due on the hotel's rental rate for the room. The hotel suppliers invoice the Hotwire Companies for tax amounts. The hotel suppliers are responsible for remitting applicable taxes to the applicable taxing jurisdictions. None of the Hotwire Companies act as co-vendors with the supplier with whom we book or reserve our customer's travel arrangements. Taxability and the appropriate tax rate vary greatly by location. The actual tax amounts paid by the Hotwire Companies to the hotel suppliers may vary from the tax recovery charge amounts, depending upon the rates, taxability, etc. in effect at the time of the actual use of the hotel by our customers. We retain service fees as additional compensation in servicing your travel reservation. Service fees retained by the Hotwire Companies for their services vary based on the amount and type of hotel reservation.
You may cancel or change your prepaid hotel reservation (except for Hot Rate reservations, which are non-changeable and non-cancellable), but you will be charged the cancellation or change fee indicated in the rules and restrictions for the hotel reservation. If you do not cancel or change your reservation before the cancellation policy period applicable to the hotel you reserved, which varies by hotel (usually 24 to 72 hours) prior to your date of arrival, you will be subject to a charge equal to applicable nightly rates, tax recovery charges and service fees. In the event you do not show for the first night of the reservation and plan to check-in for subsequent nights in your reservation, you must confirm the reservation changes with us no later than the date of the first night of the reservation to prevent cancellation of your reservation. You must make refund requests for no-shows or early checkouts within 60 days after checkout.
You agree to pay any cancellation or change fees that you incur. In limited cases, some hotels do not permit changes to or cancellations of reservations after they are made, as indicated in the rules and restrictions for the hotel reservation. You agree to abide by the terms and conditions imposed with respect to your prepaid hotel reservations.
Sales, use, and/or local hotel occupancy taxes are imposed on the amounts that we charge for our services (facilitation and/or service fee) in certain jurisdictions. For hotel stays in New York State, but outside of New York City, tax recovery charges, as described above, are collected to cover the taxes due on the rent received by the hotel for the room and there is no local hotel occupancy tax due on our services. The actual tax amounts on our services may vary depending on the rates in effect at the time of your hotel stay.
Travel Destinations
Although most travel, including travel to international destinations, is completed without incident, travel to certain destinations may involve greater risk than others. Hotwire urges passengers to review travel prohibitions, warnings, announcements and advisories issued by the United States Government prior to booking travel to international destinations. Information on conditions in various countries and the level of risk associated with travel to particular international destinations can be found at www.state.gov, www.tsa.gov, www.dot.gov, www.faaa.gov, www.cdc.gov, www.treas.gov/ofac, www.customs.gov.
Although not common, most countries reserve the right to disinsect aircraft if there is a perceived threat to public health, agriculture or environment. The World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization have approved the following disinsection procedures: (1) spray the aircraft cabin with an aerosolized insecticide while passengers are on board or (2) treat the aircraft’s interior surfaces with a residual insecticide while passengers are not on board. For more information, see: http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/policy/safetyenergyenv/disinsection.htm
BY OFFERING FOR SALE TRAVEL TO PARTICULAR INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS, HOTWIRE DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT TRAVEL TO SUCH POINTS IS ADVISABLE OR WITHOUT RISK, AND IS NOT LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OR LOSSES THAT MAY RESULT FROM TRAVEL TO SUCH DESTINATIONS.
No Warranties
Unless a Provider has agreed otherwise, all products, services, advice, merchandise and information available through this Site are provided on an "as is," "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, other than those imposed by law, including but not limited to, warranties of title or implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality or fitness for a particular purpose. Without limiting the above, no warranty or guarantee is made (i) regarding the acceptance of any Request; (ii) that a User will receive the lowest available price for goods and/or services available through this Site; (iii) regarding the availability of products and/or services through this Site or, where applicable, at any participating retailer or retailer location; (iv) that use of this Site and all software, products or services associated with this Site will be error-free; (v) regarding the results that may be obtained from the use of this Site; (vi) regarding the completeness, accuracy, reliability or quality of any information, Content, data, service, advice or merchandise provided or available through this Site; or, (vii) regarding the performance or non-performance of this Site including, but not limited to, any performance or non-performance in connection with or as a consequence of the passage of time. You expressly agree that the use of this Site is at your sole risk.
General Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE HOTWIRE COMPANIES, THE HOTWIRE AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PROVIDERSBE LIABLE FOR ANY INJURY, DEATH, LOSS, CLAIM, DAMAGE, ACT OF GOD, ACCIDENT, DELAY, OR ANY SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, WHICH ARISE OUT OF OR ARE IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY USE OF THIS SITE OR WITH ANY DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH THIS SITE, EVEN IF A PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Further, the Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates accept no responsibilities for any damage and/or delay due to Provider cancellations, shortages, sickness, pilferage, labor disputes, machinery breakdown, quarantine, government restraints, weather or any other causes beyond the Hotwire Companies or the Hotwire Affiliates control. No responsibility is accepted for any additional expense, omissions, delays, re-routing or acts of any governmental authority. The Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates shall not be responsible for any Provider's breach of any warranty including, but not limited to, implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose or of merchantability; nor shall the Hotwire Companies or the Hotwire Affiliates be responsible for any other wrongdoing of a Provider (including any liability in tort), as to any products and/or services available through this Site. The Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates shall not be responsible for any Provider's failure to comply with these Terms and Conditions, nor for any Provider's failure to comply with applicable federal, state and local law including, without limitation, laws governing the sale, warranty and return of perishables. To the extent allowed by applicable law, you agree that you will bring any claim or cause of action arising from or relating to your access or use of this Site within two (2) years from the date on which such claim or action arose or accrued or such claim or cause of action will be irrevocably waived.
If, despite the limitation above, the Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates or their respective Providers are found liable for any loss or damage which arises out of or in any way connected with any of the occurrences described above, then the Hotwire Companies, the Hotwire Affiliates, or their respective Providers liabilities will in no event exceed, in the aggregate, the greater of (a) the fee or charge you paid to Hotwire in connection with such transaction(s) on this Site, or (b) One-Hundred Dollars (US$100.00).
The limitation of liability reflects the allocation of risk between the parties. The limitations specified in this section will survive and apply even if any limited remedy specified in these terms is found to have failed of its essential purpose. The limitations of liability provided in these terms inure to the benefit of the Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates and/or their respective Providers.
Some states-to the extent their law might be deemed to apply, notwithstanding the selection of Delaware law as described (below)-do not allow the limitation of liability, so the foregoing limitations might not apply to you.
Third Parties
If you use this Site to submit Requests for or on behalf of a third party ("Third Party"), you are responsible for any error in the accuracy of information provided in connection with such use. In addition, you must inform the Third Party of all Terms and Conditions applicable to all products or services acquired through this Site, including all rules and restrictions applicable thereto.
Indemnification
You agree to defend and indemnify the Hotwire Companies, the Hotwire Affiliates, and/or their respective suppliers and any of their officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any claims, causes of action, demands, recoveries, losses, damages, fines, penalties or other costs or expenses of any kind or nature including but not limited to reasonable legal and accounting fees, brought by third parties as a result of:
Links to other Web sites and Services
To the extent this Site contains links to outside services and resources, any concerns regarding such services or resources should be directed to the particular outside service or resource provider. None of the Hotwire Companies and the Hotwire Affiliates guarantees or warrants the accuracy or completeness of the information or content included on the web sites of these outside services and resources. The outside services and resources are in no way related to Hotwire, and are neither its employees nor agents.
Termination of Usage
User access to all or part of this Site may be terminated or suspended at any time, without notice and for any reason.
Payment Methods
All Booking Requests must be submitted with a major credit card unless otherwise expressly stated. The total price will be billed in the currency indicated on the booking screen.
Bank and Credit Card Fees
Some banks and credit cards impose fees for international transactions. If you are making a booking from outside of the United States on a US credit card, your bank may convert the payment amount to your local currency and charge you a conversion fee. This means the amount listed on your credit or bank card statement may be in your local currency and therefore a different figure than the figure shown on the billing summary page for a reservation booked on the Website. In addition, a foreign transaction fee may be assessed if the bank that issued your credit card is located outside of the United States. Booking international travel may be considered to be an international transaction by the bank or card company, since Hotwire may pass on your payment to an international travel supplier. The currency exchange rate and foreign transaction fee is determined solely by your bank on the day that they process the transaction. If you have any questions about these fees or the exchange rate applied to your booking, please contact your bank.
Miscellaneous
The captions in these Terms and Conditions are only for convenience and do not, in any way, limit or otherwise define the terms and provisions of these Terms and Conditions.
None of the Hotwire Companies or the Hotwire Affiliates is responsible for any errors or delays in responding to a Request caused by an incorrect email address provided by you or other technical problems beyond their control.
Entire Agreement
These Terms and Conditions, together with the Privacy Policy and those terms and conditions incorporated herein or referred to herein, constitute the entire agreement (collectively, the "Agreement") between you and Hotwire relating to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any prior understandings or agreements (whether oral or written) regarding the subject matter, and may not be amended or modified except in writing or by making such amendments or modifications available on this Site. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions will not in any way be affected or impaired.
Governing Law
The internal laws of the State of Delaware shall govern the performance of these Terms and Conditions, without regard to such state's conflicts of laws principles. You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in Delaware, USA, for all disputes arising out of, or relating to, the Terms and Conditions and use of this Site.
Revision Date April 18, 2013
Please click here to find the additional terms and conditions that specifically apply to:
Airline Travel, Hotel Reservation, Car Rental Services, Vacation Packages, HotDollars, and Warsaw Convention as indicated.
Travel Service Limitation of Liability
Hotwire is acting solely as an intermediary facilitating the booking of travel products and services provided by airlines, hotels or other travel service providers (collectively, "Travel Suppliers") in providing travel services, or in accepting reservations or bookings for such services to be provided to you. Hotwire does not assume liability for any injury, damage, death, loss, accident or delay due to any fault, act of negligence, omission or default of a Travel Supplier, or by an act of God. Further, no responsibilities are accepted for any damage and/or delay due to sickness, pilferage, labor disputes, machinery breakdown, quarantine, government restraints, weather or other causes. No responsibility is accepted for any additional expense, omissions, delays, re-routing or acts of any governmental authority or entity other than Hotwire. The contract of carriage in use by a Travel Supplier, when issued, shall be between the Travel Supplier and the passenger.
Airline Ticket Restrictions
For Oregon Residents
Transportation, lodging and all other services are sold to you by the supplier via Hotwire on a nonrefundable basis. If you cancel any service for any reason, sums paid by you for Hotwire's service will not be refunded.
For Washington Residents
If transportation or other services are cancelled by a participating airline, all sums paid to such airline for services not performed will be refunded to the User by Hotwire within 30 days of receipt of the funds from the airline; or if the funds were not sent to the airline, the funds shall be refunded within 14 days after cancellation to the User (unless the User requests the airline or Hotwire apply the money to another travel product and/or date).
Airline Ticket Restrictions
Airline tickets available through this Site are subject to the published conditions of carriage and rules of the applicable airline. Airfare is only guaranteed once the purchase has been completed and the tickets have been issued. Airlines and other travel suppliers may change their prices without notice. The following restrictions will apply:
For Hotwire Hot Rates: (formerly Hotwire Limited Rate)
For All Other Hotwire Rates (formerly Retail Fares)
Hotel Booking Restrictions
Hotel bookings available through this Site are subject to the published conditions of carriage and rules of the applicable hotel. Hotwire offers two kinds of rates: (1) Hotwire Hot Rate and (2) other Hotwire standard rates. A hotel rate that is accompanied by the phrase "Hotwire Hot Rate" in search results and/or on the booking details page is considered a Hotwire Hot Rate. Any rates not accompanied by the "Hotwire Hot Rate" phrase are considered other Hotwire standard rates. The following restrictions will apply:
For Hotwire Hot Rate Hotels
For Hotwire Standard Rate Hotels
Car Rental Restrictions
Car-rental bookings and reservations available through this Site are subject to the published conditions of carriage and rules of the applicable rental agency. Hotwire offers three kinds of rates: (1) Hotwire Hot Rate (formerly Hotwire Limited Rates), (2) Hotwire standard rates, and (3) Hotwire pre-paid standard rates from Alamo. A car-rental rate that is accompanied by the phrase "Hotwire Hot Rate" in search results and/or on the booking details page is considered a Hotwire Hot Rate. Any rates not accompanied by the "Hotwire Hot Rate" phrase are considered Hotwire standard rates. The following restrictions will apply:
For Hotwire Hot Rate (formerly Hotwire Limited Rate) car rentals
For Hotwire standard rate car rentals
For Hotwire pre-paid, standard rate car rentals from Alamo
Vacation Package Restrictions (For all packages booked on or before 9/17/09)
Vacation Packages Restrictions (For all packages booked after 9/17/09)
Payment
All prices and amounts shown on this Site are in U.S. Dollars (USD), unless otherwise noted. If a User submits a Hotwire Request for airline tickets, hotel rooms or other services, the User agrees that the total cost shown to the customer will automatically be charged to the credit card submitted by the User. The total cost shown will include all taxes, charges, surcharges, shipping/handling and Hotwire Request resubmission or other fees. Such amounts will be posted on this Site but will not be separately itemized. Rather, all tax recovery charges, fees, charges, surcharges, shipping/handling and Hotwire Request resubmission or other fees will be presented together as "Tax Recovery Charges and Fees."
You agree that your credit card will be charged for the full cost of your reservation upon submitting your booking request. The cost of your airline ticket booking is the total of: the indicated price per ticket which includes a tax recovery charge plus an additional amount for our service fees, including a booking fee. The cost of your hotel booking is the total of: the indicated nightly room rate multiplied by the number of days in your reservation, plus an additional amount for the tax recovery charges, our service fees and any taxes required to be collected by a tax authority. The cost of your rental car booking is the total of: the indicated rental rate multiplied by the number of days in your reservation, plus an additional amount for the tax recovery charges and our service fees. The cost of your package booking is the total of: the indicated price per person multiplied by the number of travelers, plus an additional amount for the tax recovery charges, our service fees and any taxes required to be collected by a tax authority. The tax recovery charge is assessed to recover the amount we pay to the vendor in connection with your reservation, including sales and use, occupancy, room tax, excise tax, value added and other similar taxes etc., and the balance of the additional amount is a fee we charge in connection with the handling of your reservation. Our service fee varies based on the amount and location of your reservation and can include variable fees and may be rounded up to the nearest dollar. Additionally, the tax recovery charge is assessed on the nightly room rate that we pay to the vendor for the hotel room reservation, which may be less than the nightly room rate charged to the User.
For tax recovery charges, we are not the vendor collecting and remitting said tax to the applicable tax authorities. The vendors bill all applicable taxes to us and we remit such tax directly to the vendor. We are not a co-vendor associated with the vendor with whom we book or reserve our customer's travel arrangements. Taxability and the appropriate tax rate vary greatly by location. Our actual tax cost paid to the vendor may vary from the tax recovery charge, depending upon the rates, taxability, etc. in effect at the time of the actual use of the airline ticket, hotel, rental car, etc. customer.
HotDollars
You must be a registered Hotwire user to earn and redeem HotDollars. You may use HotDollars only toward the full or partial cost of any booking on Hotwire of a hotel, flight or Hotwire Hot Rate rental car. All bookings are subject to applicable terms and conditions. One (1) HotDollar is equal in value to one (1) U.S. dollar. If you change or cancel a booking for which you used HotDollars, you will not receive a refund of the redeemed HotDollars. HotDollars must be redeemed from the account into which they were deposited. They are not transferable, assignable or redeemable for cash. HotDollars expire one (1) year after date of issuance. You may view your HotDollars balance at any time in the My Account section of Hotwire. Hotwire reserves the right to modify or discontinue the HotDollars program, or to restrict its availability to any person, in its discretion, at any time, without prior notice or liability to you. Our failure to enforce any provision of these HotDollars terms and conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision.
Warsaw Convention
CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT AND OTHER IMPORTANT NOTICES
Please read the regulations below. Note: When you purchase this ticket, you agree to accept these rules and restrictions.
WARSAW CONVENTION AND MONTREAL CONVENTION
PASSENGERS ON A JOURNEY INVOLVING AN ULTIMATE DESTINATION OR A STOP IN A COUNTRY OTHER THAN THE COUNTRY OF DEPARTURE ARE ADVISED THAT INTERNATIONAL TREATIES KNOWN AS THE MONTREAL CONVENTION, OR ITS PREDECESSOR, THE WARSAW CONVENTION, INCLUDING ITS AMENDMENTS (THE WARSAW CONVENTION SYSTEM), MAY APPLY TO THE ENTIRE JOURNEY, INCLUDING ANY PORTION THEREOF WITHIN A COUNTRY. FOR SUCH PASSENGERS, THE APPLICABLE TREATY, INCLUDING SPECIAL CONTRACTS OF CARRIAGE EMBODIED IN ANY APPLICABLE TARIFFS, GOVERNS AND MAY LIMIT THE LIABILITY OF THE CARRIER.
NOTICE OF LIABILITY LIMITATIONS
The Montreal Convention or the Warsaw Convention system may be applicable to your journey and these Conventions govern and may limit the liability of air carriers for death or bodily injury, for loss of or damage to baggage, and for delay.
Where the Montreal Convention applies, the limits of liability are as follows:
EC Regulation No. 889/2002 requires European Community carriers to apply the provisions of the Montreal Convention limits to all carriage by them of passengers and their baggage by air.Many non-European Community carriers have elected to do so in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage.
Where the Warsaw Convention system applies, the following limits of liability may apply:
Further information may be obtained from the carrier as to the limits applicable to your journey. If your journey involves carriage by different carriers, you should contact each carrier for information on the applicable limits of liability.
Regardless of which Convention applies to your journey, you may benefit from a higher limit of liability for loss of, damage or delay to baggage by making at check-in a special declaration of the value of your baggage and paying any supplementary fee that may apply. Alternatively, if the value of your baggage exceeds the applicable limit of liability, you should fully insure it before you travel.
Time limit for action: Any action in court to claim damages must be brought within two years from the date of arrival of the aircraft, or from the date on which the aircraft ought to have arrived. Baggage claims: Written notice to the carrier must be made within 7 days of the receipt of checked baggage in the case of damage, and, in the case of delay, within 21 days from the date on which it was placed at the disposal of the passenger.
Notice of Contract Terms Incorporated by Reference
YOU CANNOT TRAVEL IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ALL REQUIRED TRAVEL DOCUMENTS, SUCH AS PASSPORT AND VISA.
GOVERNMENTS MAY REQUIRE YOUR CARRIER TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON OR PERMIT ACCESS TO PASSENGER DATA.
DENIED BOARDING: Flights may be overbooked, and there is a slight chance that a seat will not be available on a flight even if you have a confirmed reservation. In most circumstances, if you are denied boarding involuntarily, you are entitled to compensation. When required by applicable law, the carrier must solicit volunteers before anyone is denied boarding involuntarily. Check with your carrier for the complete rules on payment of denied boarding compensation (DBC) and for information on the carrier's boarding priorities.
BAGGAGE: Excess valuation may be declared on certain types of articles. Carriers may apply special rules for fragile, valuable, or perishable articles. Check with your carrier.Checked Baggage: Carriers may permit a free checked baggage allowance, which is set by the carrier and may differ by class, and/or route. Carriers may apply extra charges for checked baggage in excess of their permitted allowance. Check with your carrier. Cabin (Unchecked) Baggage:Carriers may permit a free cabin baggage allowance, which is set by the carrier and may differ by class, route, and/or aircraft type. It is recommended that cabin baggage be kept to a minimum. Check with your carrier. If more than one carrier is providing the transportation for your journey, each carrier may apply different rules on baggage (both checked and cabin).SPECIAL BAGGAGE LIABILITY LIMITATIONS FOR US TRAVEL: For domestic travel wholly between US points, federal rules require any limit on a carrier's baggage liability to be at least US$3300.00 per passenger, or the amount currently mandated by 14 CFR 254.5.
CHECK-IN TIMES. The time shown on the itinerary/receipt is the departure time of the aircraft. Flight departure time is not the same as the time you must check-in or the time you must be available for boarding. Your carrier may refuse you carriage if you are late. Check-in times, as advised by your carrier, are the latest times at which passengers can be accepted for travel; boarding times, as advised by your carrier, are the latest times at which passengers must present themselves for boarding.
DANGEROUS GOODS (HAZARDOUS MATERIALS). For safety reasons, dangerous goods must not be packed in checked or cabin (unchecked) baggage except as specifically permitted. Dangerous goods include but are not limited to: compressed gases, corrosives, explosives, flammable liquids and solids, radioactive materials, oxidising materials, poisons, infectious substances, and briefcases with installed alarm devices. For security reasons, other restrictions may apply. Check with your carrier.
Revision Date April 18, 2013