We understand that making purchases online involves a great deal of trust on your part. We take this trust very seriously and make it our highest priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal information. Please read the following policy to learn about our privacy practices.
How we protect your information
We want you to feel confident about using our Site to plan and purchase your travel, so we are committed to protecting the information we collect. While no website can guarantee full 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.
What information we collect from you
In General. We receive and store any information you enter on our Site 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 e-mail addresses, and, in some cases, billing information (such as credit card number, cardholder name, and expiration date). We also may request information about your traveler preferences, including meal requests, seat selection, frequent flyer/hotel/car rental program information, and ticketing options. 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; purchase products or services; complete a traveler profile; ask us a question; or initiate other transactions on our site.
Passenger Information
When you make travel or other arrangements for someone else through our Site, we will request personal information and travel preferences about that individual. You should obtain the consent of other individuals prior to providing our Site with their personal information and travel preferences, as any access to view or change their information will be available only through your account.
Automatic Information.
We automatically collect some information about your computer when you visit our Site. For example, we will collect your IP address, Web browser software (such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer), and referring Web site. We also may collect information about your online activity, such as trips viewed and purchases made. One of our goals in collecting this automatic information is to help customize your user experience.
Cookies and Other Web Technologies.
When you visit our Site, we may assign your computer a “cookie” (a small, unique identifier text file). For example, whenever you sign in as a member, we record your member ID and the name on your member account in the cookie file on your computer. We also may record your password in this cookie file, if you checked the box entitled “Save this password for automatic sign-in.” Note that member IDs, passwords, and any other account-related data included in such cookies are encrypted for security purposes. You can always choose not to receive a cookie file by enabling your Web browser to refuse cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie. Please note that if you refuse to accept cookies from our Site, you may not be able to access many of the travel tools offered by Our Site.
How we Use Your Information
Our Site uses sensitive billing information (such as cardholder name, credit card number, and expiration date) for the purpose of completing the travel purchases 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 Web site; to notify you about special offers and products or services that may be of interest to you; to otherwise customize your experience with our Site; 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.
External Links
If any part of the Our Site Web site links you to other Web sites, those Web sites do not operate under this Privacy Policy. We recommend you examine the privacy statements posted on those other Web sites to understand their procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing personal information.
Exactly who we share your information with
Our Site may share your information with the following entities:
- Suppliers, such as hotel, airline, cruise, car rental companies, or activity providers, who fulfill your travel reservations. Throughout Our 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 Our Site. Please note that these suppliers also may contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about you or to facilitate your travel reservation.
- 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. These companies have access to personal information needed to perform their functions but are not permitted to share or use the information for any other purpose.
- Business partners with whom we may jointly offer products or services. You can tell when a third party is involved in a product or service you have requested because their name will appear 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 and recommend you evaluate their practices before deciding to provide your personal information.
We also may share your information:
- In response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; to establish or exercise our legal rights; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law. In such cases we reserve the right to raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us.
- 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 Site, our customers, or others; and in connection with our Terms of Service and other agreements.
- In connection with a corporate transaction, such as a divestiture, merger, consolidation, or asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.
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 a Web site receives or what are the most popular 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.
National Security
In order to protect national security, and to ensure travel security, the United States Government and other governments may request access to passenger name records, which typically includes name, flight origin, flight destination, flight time, duration of flight, seat location, travel agent, form of payment, credit card numbers, travel itinerary, address, telephone number and meal requests. In response to such request, we will give access to all the information you provide at the time of making your reservation to the applicable government agencies of the countries to or from which you are traveling.
How you can access your information
You can access your information at various points on our Site. These include:
- The My Profile page on our Site, where you can view, update, or change your personal information. On this page, you also can change your password; elect to have an automatic password sign-in when logging on to our Site; add new travelers and delete existing travelers from your member profile; update or correct names, phone numbers, and emergency contacts for travelers associated with your profile; and update your travel preferences.
- The My Itineraries page, where you can view, update, or delete your saved trip itineraries.
You can close your account by selecting the Account Closure option. We will send you an e-mail confirming your request to close your account to the e-mail address contained in your member profile. 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 for analytical purposes as well as for recordkeeping integrity.
How we use the information we collect
We use Personal Information in order to provide and enhance the Products or Services offered on our Site:
- To record your travel preferences, to make reservations or acquire travel insurance on your behalf, or to communicate with you about your travel plans;
- To issue invoices, administer accounts, collect and process payments;
- To provide tips or guidance on how to use our Site, inform you of new features on our Site, or provide other information that may be of interest to users;
- To personalize the service we provide to you, tailor your experience at our Site to your interests and make more appropriate travel recommendations;
- To send you e-mails, e-newsletters, personalized offers via direct messaging or other communications about our services, if you have subscribed to receive this information or you have not advised us that you do not wish to receive such communications;
- To manage our Site, diagnose technical problems, improve content, and allocate the resources of our systems so that your experience with our Site is as efficient as possible;
- To process and track your transactions and to send you information about our and our affiliates’ and business partners’ products and services and other information and materials that may be of interest to you;
- To develop, enhance, market, sell or provide our Products or Services, or those of companies with which we have a commercial relationship, but only if you have granted us permission to do so or we are otherwise able to do so under applicable law;
- To evaluate credit standing and to match credit bureau or credit reporting agency information; to investigate, detect and protect and other third parties against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activities;
- To effect a corporate transaction, in connection with the sale, merger, spin-off, or other corporate reorganization of our corporation, where the information is provided to the new controlling entity in regular course of business;
- To audit compliance with our policies and contractual obligations;
- As permitted by, and to comply with, any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; or
- For any other purpose to which you consent.
Your choices with respect to collection and use of your information
- As discussed above, you can choose not to provide us with any information, although it may be needed to make travel purchases or to take advantage of certain features offered on Our Site.
- You also can add or update information on the My Account and My Itineraries pages and close your account as described above.
- 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 from our Site, you will not be able to access portions of our site.
Children’s privacy
Our Site does not sell travel or other services for purchase by children. Should a child whom we know to be under 18 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.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Our Site 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 e-mail address you provided to us or by placing a prominent notice on our Web site.
