Updated 14 February 2022
1A. Definitions and Who we are
Some of the words you’ll see have very specific meanings, so please check out the ‘Booking.com dictionary’ in our Terms of Service.
When you book an Accommodation, Booking.com B.V. provides and is responsible for the Platform – but not the Travel Experience itself (see 1B below). Booking.com B.V. is a company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands (registered address: Herengracht 597, 1017 CE, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Chamber of Commerce number: 31047344; VAT number: NL805734958B01).
1B. How does our service work?
We make it easy for you to compare Bookings from many hotels, property owners and other Service Providers.
When you make a Booking on our Platform, you enter into a contract with the Service Provider (unless otherwise stated).
The information on our Platform is based on what Service Providers tell us. We do our best to keep things up to date at all times, but realistically it can take a few hours to update e.g. text descriptions and lists of the facilities that Accommodations provide.
1C. Who do we work with?
Only Service Providers that have a contractual relationship with us will be displayed on our Platform. They may offer Travel Experiences outside our Platform as well (so what they offer on our Platform may not be exhaustive).
We don’t own any Accommodations ourselves - we’re separate companies that have agreed to work with each other in a certain way.
Our Platform tells you how many Accommodations you can book through us worldwide - and our search results page tells you how many of them might be right for you, based on what you’ve told us.
1D. How do we make money?
We don’t buy or (re-)sell any products or services. Once your stay is finished, the Service Provider simply pays us a commission.
And we don’t charge you any booking fees at all.
1E. Our default ranking - and sorting options
Our search results show all the Accommodations (hotels, apartments, etc.) that match your search. If you like, you can use filters to narrow down your results.
To see all the booking options an Accommodation offers, just click it.
When you first see your search results, they’ll be sorted (‘ordered’) by ‘Our top picks’:
* At the moment, this ranking factor only applies to US Accommodations booked by US-based customers.
If you like, you can sort your results in lots of other ways, such as:
* Check out ‘Star ratings, review scores and quality ratings’ (1J) below.
And whatever sorting option you choose, the factors described in ‘Our top picks’ may still influence things. For instance, those factors might act as ‘tiebreakers’ between two or more Accommodations that would otherwise appear in the same spot.
1F. Reviews
Each review score is between 1-10. To get the overall score that you see, we simply add up all the review scores we’ve received and divide that total by the number of review scores we’ve received. In addition, guests can also give separate ‘subscores’ in crucial areas, such as: location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money, and free Wi-Fi. Note that guests submit their subscores and their overall scores independently, so there’s no direct link between them.
You can review an Accommodation you booked through our Platform if you stayed there.
We do show some review scores from other well-known travel websites. We make it clear when we’ve done this.
Ideally, we would publish every consumer review we receive, whether positive or negative. However, we won’t display any review that includes or refers to (among other things):
To make sure reviews are relevant, we may only accept reviews that are submitted within 3 months of checking out, and we may stop showing reviews once they’re 36 months old - or if the Accommodation has a change of ownership.
An Accommodation may choose to reply to a review.
When you see multiple reviews, the most recent ones will be at the top, subject to a few other factors (what language a review is in, whether it’s just a rating or contains comments as well, etc.). If you like, you can sort and/or filter them (by time of year, review score, etc.).
1G. Prices
The rates displayed on our Platform are set by the Service Providers. We may finance rewards or other benefits out of our own pocket.
When you make a Booking, you agree to pay the cost of the Travel Experience itself and any other charges and taxes that may apply (e.g. for any extras). Taxes and fees may vary for different reasons, such as the Service Provider’s location, the kind of room selected and the number of guests. The price description tells you whether any taxes and charges are included or excluded. You’ll be able to find more information about the price while you’re booking.
Our Platform provides descriptions of any equipment and facilities that Service Providers offer (based on what they tell us). It also tells you how much extra they’ll cost, if anything.
1H. Payments
There are three ways you might pay for your Booking:
If you cancel a Booking or don’t show up, any cancellation/no-show fee and any refund will depend on the Service Provider’s cancellation/no-show policy.
1I. Host type
We ask Service Providers, wherever they are in the world, to tell us if they’re acting as a ‘private host’ or as a ‘professional host’, as defined by EU law.
EU consumer law says we have to tell you this. So if you’re in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you might see that some Accommodations in our search results have a ‘managed by a private host’ label, and a description of what that means. All other Accommodations, to the best of our knowledge, are managed by ‘professional hosts’.
This label has no relevance in terms of tax, including VAT and other ‘indirect taxes’ that relate to added value, sales or consumption.
1J. Star ratings, review scores and quality ratings
We don’t assign star ratings. Depending on local regulations, they’re assigned (a) by the Service Providers themselves or (b) by independent third parties (e.g. organisations that rate hotels). Either way, star ratings show you how Accommodations measure up in terms of - amongst others - value, facilities and available services. We don’t impose our own standards for star ratings, and we don’t review these star ratings, but if we become aware that a star rating is inaccurate, we’ll ask the Service Provider to either prove they deserve it… or adjust it!
What a star rating looks like: 1 - 5 yellow stars next to the property’s name.
We don’t assign review scores. Our customers do. See ‘Reviews’ (1F) above.
What a review score looks like: a blue square with a white number in it (1 - 10).
We do assign quality ratings. To help customers find the ideal Accommodation for them, we assign quality ratings to certain Accommodations on our Platform. Each rating is based on 400+ features, which fall into 5 major categories:
We use these features to figure out statistical patterns, and we carry out an analysis using machine learning. This automatically calculates a quality rating of between 1 and 5.
What a quality rating looks like: 1 - 5 yellow squares next to the property’s name.
1K. Help and advice - if the unexpected happens
If you have any questions, or something doesn’t go according to plan, just contact us. You can do this by accessing your Booking, or through our app, or through our Help Centre where you’ll also find some useful FAQs). We handle complaints as soon as possible, treating the most urgent ones as the highest priority, and we resolve 65% of complaints within 24 hours - and 85% within 14 working days.
You can help us help you as quickly as possible - by providing:
Whatever the issue, we will try to assist you (which includes handling any request or complaint), and will do what we can to help you.
For more information, check out ‘What if something goes wrong?’ (A15) and ‘Applicable law and forum’ (A19) in our Terms of Service.
1L. Overbooking
Once your Booking is confirmed, your Service Provider is required to honour it. If the Service Provider is ‘overbooked’, they’re responsible for finding a solution as soon as possible - but we provide them with guidelines, as well as practical help.
In the unlikely event that they can’t give you the option you booked and they can’t offer you a suitable alternative, you can either choose alternative accommodation of a similar category or better on our Platform that costs the same (if available), or cancel your Booking at no cost (with a refund of anything you’ve paid).
When it comes to refunds...
In any case, if you stay at an alternative Accommodation, please send us your invoice so we can process any refund you’re owed.
2A. Definitions and Who we are
Some of the words you’ll see have very specific meanings, so please check out the ‘Booking.com dictionary’ in our Terms of Service.
When you book an Attraction, Booking.com B.V. provides and is responsible for the Platform – but not the Travel Experience itself (see 2B below). Booking.com B.V. is a company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands (registered address: Herengracht 597, 1017 CE, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Chamber of Commerce number: 31047344; VAT number: NL805734958B01).
2B. How does our service work?
We provide a place for you to find and book Attraction services.
When you make a Booking on our Platform, you enter into a contract with the Service Provider - or with the company that’s acting as an intermediary/reseller.
The information on our Platform is based on what Service Providers and/or Third-Party Aggregators tell us. We do our best to keep things up to date at all times.
2C. Who do we work with?
We have contractual relationships with various Third-Party Aggregators. Only Service Providers that have a direct relationship with them will be displayed on our Platform.
In some cases, those Third-Party Aggregators act as intermediaries to the Service Providers - and in some cases, they actually buy Attraction services and resell them.
Both Service Providers and Third-Party Aggregators may offer Travel Experiences outside our Platform as well (so what the Third-Party Aggregators offer on our Platform may not be exhaustive).
Our Platform tells you how many Attractions you can book through us worldwide - and our search results page tells you how many of them might be right for you, based on what you’ve told us.
2D. How do we make money?
We don’t buy or (re-)sell any products or services - when you make a Booking, the Third-Party Aggregator simply pays us a commission.
And we don’t charge any booking fees at all.
2E. Our default ranking - and sorting options
Our search results show all the Attraction services that match your search.
You can sort (or ‘order’) your results in various ways - for example:
Whichever sorting option you choose, you’ll be able to narrow down your results using filters - such as:
2F. Reviews
After your visit, you’ll get an email asking you to give it a thumbs up/thumbs down - and inviting you to submit a review.
When you’re on the ‘Attraction’ page on our Platform (the page right after Search Results), you’ll see the feedback (if any) that we’ve received from other customers:
2G. Prices
The rates displayed on our Platform are set by the Service Providers and/or Third-Party Aggregators - but we may finance rewards or other benefits out of our own pocket.
When you make a Booking, you agree to pay the cost of the Travel Experience itself and any other charges that may apply (e.g. for any extras, insurance or taxes). The price description tells you whether any taxes and charges are included or excluded. You’ll be able to find more information about the price while you’re booking.
Our Platform provides descriptions of any equipment that Service Providers offer (based on what they tell us). It also tells you how much they’ll cost.
Any currency conversion is for information purposes only; actual rates may vary.
2H. Payments
When you make a Booking on our Platform, Booking.com will organise your payment. For details, check out ‘Payment’ (A7) in our Terms of Service.
2I. Help and advice - if the unexpected happens
If you have any questions, or something doesn’t go according to plan, just contact us. You can do this by accessing your Booking, or through our app, or through our Help Centre (where you’ll also find some useful FAQs).
You can help us help you as quickly as possible - by providing:
Whatever the issue, we will try to assist you (which includes handling any request or complaint), and will do what we can to help you.
For more information, check out ‘What if something goes wrong?’ (A15) and ‘Applicable law and forum’ (A19) in our Terms of Service.
3A. Definitions and Who we are
Some of the words you’ll see have very specific meanings, so please check out the ‘Booking.com dictionary’ in our Terms of Service.
When you book a Rental, Booking.com Transport Limited provides and is responsible for the Platform – but not the Travel Experience itself (see 3B below). Booking.com Transport Limited is a company registered in England and Wales (company number: 05179829; registered office: 100 New Bridge Street, London, EC4V 6JA).
3B. How does our service work?
We make it easy for you to compare Bookings from many different car rental companies. The information on our Platform is based on what Service Providers tell us. We do our best to keep things up to date at all times.
Our Platform tells you how many Rentals you can book through us worldwide - and our search results page tells you how many of them might be right for you, based on what you’ve told us.
When you book your car, you enter into a contract with us: we’re agreeing to arrange and manage* your Booking.
When you sign your Rental Agreement at the counter, you enter into a contract with the rental company: they’re agreeing to provide the car. You’ll already have seen and accepted all the key terms (while you were booking the car).
* We’re here for you if you need to change or cancel your Booking, or if you have any questions – before, during or after your Rental.
3C. Who do we work with?
Every rental company on our Platform is a trusted partner, who passed all our tests before we started working with them. Only Service Providers that have a contractual relationship with us will be displayed on our Platform. However, they may offer Travel Experiences outside our Platform as well (so what they offer on our Platform may not be exhaustive).
We even have a specialist team that visits rental companies before they appear on our Platform.
All Service Providers on our Platform are professional traders.
3D. How do we make money?
We make money when we find you your perfect Rental. There are two ways we do this:
Either way, we offer our customers a lot of choice at competitive prices. Plus, our Platform is free for you to use.
3E. Our default ranking - and sorting options
Our search results show all the car rental Bookings that match your search.
When you first see your search results, they’ll be sorted (‘ordered’) by ‘Recommended’:
If you like, you can sort your results in other ways, such as:
If you choose ‘Price (lowest first)’ or ‘Rating’, the factors described in ‘Recommended’ will still influence things. For instance, those factors might act as ‘tiebreakers’ between two or more Bookings that would otherwise appear in the same spot.
And whichever sorting option you choose, you’ll be able to use filters to narrow down your results.
* If we see that our customers aren’t happy with a rental company, or if any company fails to live up to our high standards, we can take action. Even if its ratings used to be great, that company could well find itself bumped down the list… or removed from our site altogether. Apart from that, the only reason we’ll exclude any result is because we know it’s sold out.
3F. Reviews
After your Rental, you’ll be asked to leave a review, which may then be:
Ideally, we would publish every consumer review we receive, whether positive or negative. However, we won’t display any review that includes or refers to (among other things):
* We wouldn’t use your full name or your address.
** To help the rental company improve, we would need to tell them which Rental the review is about.
3G. Prices
The rates displayed on our Platform are set by the Service Providers or by us - but we may finance rewards or other benefits out of our own pocket.
When you make a Booking, you agree to pay the cost of the Travel Experience itself and any other charges that may apply (e.g. for any extras, insurance or taxes). Taxes and fees may vary for different reasons, such as the Service Provider’s location, the pick-up location or what you’re planning to do with your Rental. The price description tells you what taxes (if any) are included. You’ll be able to find more information about the price while you’re booking.
Our Platform provides descriptions of any equipment that Service Providers offer (based on what they tell us). It also tells you how much they’ll cost.
Any currency conversion is for information purposes only; actual rates may vary.
3H. Payments
When you book a Rental on our Platform, Booking.com will organise your payment. For details, check out ‘Payment’ (A7) in our Terms of Service.
3I. Help and advice - if the unexpected happens
If you have any questions, or something doesn’t go according to plan, just Contact us. If it’s about something that happened during your Rental, we’ll be able to help you more quickly if you provide:
If you do that, one of our agents will be in touch as soon as possible. They might need to ask you for some more details.
Whatever the issue, we will try to assist you (which includes handling any request or complaint), and will do what we can to help you.
For more information, check out ‘What if something goes wrong?’ (A15) and ‘Applicable law and forum’ (A19) in our Terms of Service.
4A. Definitions and Who we are
Some of the words you’ll see have very specific meanings, so please check out the ‘Booking.com dictionary’ in our Terms of Service.
When you book a Flight, Booking.com B.V. provides and is responsible for the Platform – but not the Travel Experience itself (see 4B below). Booking.com B.V. is a company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands (registered address: Herengracht 597, 1017 CE, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Chamber of Commerce number: 31047344; VAT number: NL805734958B01).
4B. How does our service work?
We provide a place for you to find and book Flights.
When you make a Booking on our Platform, you enter into a contract with the Service Provider and the Third-Party Aggregator.
The information on our Platform is based on what Service Providers and/or Third-Party Aggregators tell us. We do our best to keep things up to date at all times.
4C. Who do we work with?
We have contractual relationships with various Third-Party Aggregators, who act as intermediaries to the Service Providers. Only Service Providers that have a direct relationship with them will be displayed on our Platform.
Both Service Providers and Third-Party Aggregators may offer Travel Experiences outside our Platform as well (so what they offer on our Platform may not be exhaustive).
Our Platform tells you how many Flights you can book through us worldwide - and our search results page tells you how many of them might be right for you, based on what you’ve told us.
4D. How do we make money?
We don’t buy or (re-)sell any products or services. When people book Flights on our Platform, the Third-Party Aggregator will pay us a commission.
And we don’t charge any booking fees at all.
4E. Our default ranking - and sorting options
Our search results show all the Flights that match your search.
When you first see your search results, they’ll be sorted (‘ordered’) by ‘Best’:
If you like, you can sort your results in other ways:
If you choose ‘Cheapest’ or ‘Fastest’, the factors described in ‘Best’ will still influence things. For instance, those factors might act as ‘tiebreakers’ between two or more Flights that would otherwise appear in the same spot.
Whichever sorting option you choose, you’ll be able to narrow down your results using filters - such as:
4F. Prices
The rates displayed on our Platform are set by the Service Providers and/or Third-Party Aggregators - but we may finance rewards or other benefits out of our own pocket.
When you make a Booking, you agree to pay the cost of the Travel Experience itself and any other charges that may apply (e.g. for any extras, insurance or taxes). The price description tells you whether any fees and charges are included or excluded. You’ll be able to find more information about the price while you’re booking.
Our Platform provides descriptions of any equipment that Service Providers offer (based on what they tell us). It also tells you how much they’ll cost.
Any currency conversion is for information purposes only; actual rates may vary.
4G. Payments
When you make a Booking on our Platform, your payment could be organised by us, or by a Third-Party Aggregator. For details, check out ‘Payment’ (A7) in our Terms of Service.
4H. Help and advice - if the unexpected happens
Once you’ve made a Booking, just contact us if you have any questions or something doesn’t go according to plan. You can do this by accessing your Booking, or through our app, or through our Help Centre (where you’ll also find some useful FAQs).
You can help us help you as quickly as possible - by providing:
Whatever the issue, we will try to assist you (including handling any request or complaint) and do what we can to help you.
For more information, check out ‘What if something goes wrong?’ (A15) and ‘Applicable law and forum’ (A19) in our Terms of Service.
5A. Definitions and Who we are
Some of the words you’ll see have very specific meanings, so please check out the ‘Booking.com dictionary’ in our Terms of Service.
When you book a transport service, Booking.com Transport Limited provides and is responsible for the Platform – but not the Travel Experience itself (see 5B below). Booking.com Transport Limited is a company registered in England and Wales (company number: 05179829; registered office: 100 New Bridge Street, London, EC4V 6JA).
5B. How does our service work?
We make it easy for you to compare Bookings from public and private ground transport providers. When you make a search, we’ll filter the results so you only see the most suitable vehicle in each category, based on what you’ve told us.
They’re independent companies: we don’t own them, and we don’t control the services you book on our Platform. The information on our Platform is based on what Service Providers tell us. We do our best to keep things up to date at all times.
And we’re here to provide any help or support we can: before, during or after your trip.
5C. Who do we work with?
We partner with more than 1,000 trusted transport providers in over 800 locations.
We won’t even start working with a company until we’ve thoroughly vetted their fleet (for quality and quantity) and checked their customer service standards. Once they’ve passed all our tests, we carry out regular checks to make sure they keep on meeting our high standards. Only Service Providers that have a contractual relationship with us will be displayed on our Platform. However, they may offer Travel Experiences outside our Platform as well (so what they offer on our Platform may not be exhaustive).
All Service Providers on our Platform are professional traders.
By the way, lots of us at Booking.com use these transport providers when we travel… which shows how we feel about our partners’ services.
5D. How do we make money?
We don’t buy or (re-)sell any products or services - when you make a Booking, we agree a commission with the transport providers for our services.
And we don’t charge any booking fees at all.
5E. Our default ranking
When you search on our Platform, we show the most suitable options at the top of the page. That means:
* If we see that our customers aren’t happy with a company, or if any company fails to live up to our high standards, we can take action. However good its ratings were in the past, that company won’t appear in our results at all until we’ve investigated the issue and we’re satisfied it’s been fixed. Apart from that, the only reason we’ll exclude any result is because we know it’s sold out.
5F. Reviews
After your Journey, you’ll be asked to leave a review, which may then be:
We may edit, reject, or remove any review that includes or refers to:
* We wouldn’t use your full name or your address.
** To help the Service Provider improve, we would need to tell them which Journey the review is about.
5G. Prices
The price of each Booking on our Platform is made up of (a) the base rate set by the Service Provider and (b) our commission, which we agree with the Service Provider. We may also finance rewards or other benefits out of our own pocket.
When you make a Booking, you agree to pay the cost of the Travel Experience itself and any other charges that may apply (e.g. for any tolls or waiting fees). Taxes and fees may vary for different reasons, such as the Service Provider’s location. All prices include any taxes and charges that apply. You’ll be able to find more information about the price while you’re booking.
Any currency conversion is for information purposes only; actual rates may vary.
5H. Payments
When you book a bus, train or Private Transport on our Platform, Booking.com will organise your payment. For details, check out ‘Payment’ (A7) in our Terms of Service.
5I. Help and advice - if the unexpected happens
Whatever the issue, we will try to assist you (which includes handling any request or complaint), and will do what we can to help you.
So if you have any questions, or something doesn’t go according to plan, just Contact us. If it’s about something that happened during your Journey, please provide your Booking reference number, and your contact details. We resolve the vast majority of issues within 14 days - and you can help us speed things up by providing any relevant documents or other information when you first get in touch.
For more information, check out ‘What if something goes wrong?’ (A15) and ‘Applicable law and forum’ (A19) in our Terms of Service.