e-HotelRates.com has a strong commitment to providing excellent service to all of our customers and visitors to this website. Please read these terms and conditions of use carefully before using or obtaining any materials, information, products or services through e-HotelRates.com. By accessing e-HotelRates.com, you agree to accept, without limitation or qualification, all of these terms and conditions of use. If you do not accept these Terms and Conditions of use, please exit e-HotelRates.com.

The terms “we”, “us”, “Company” refers to e-HotelRates.com and “you” refer to the customer booking a reservation through us directly through this website, or indirectly through any our affiliates through whom we provide our products and services. All reservations you book with us are subject to the following terms and conditions as they exist at the time the reservation is made. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions in the future.

This website is proprietary to e-HotelRates.com and is protected by copyright and other applicable intellectual property laws. All the contents of this website are property of e-HotelRates.com, its strategic partners, clients, customers or other users and are protected by applicable United States and international copyright laws. All of e-HotelRates.com trademarks are registered trademarks of e-HotelRates.com, Inc. in the United States. All other trademarks, located on this website or linked to this website, are registered trademarks of those respective individuals and entities. All other brands and names are the property of respective owners.

All use of any copyright, trademark, or other property interest contained on this website is strictly prohibited without first receiving explicit written permission by the respective owner. The use of any property interest shall be limited to the sole purpose that was described to and granted for by the respective owner. Unauthorized users of any property interest will be subjected to the full extent of prosecution, criminal and civil, available under all applicable laws.

This website does not collect personally identifiable information from your computer when you browse this website and request pages from our servers. This means that, unless you voluntarily and knowingly provide us with personally identifiable information we will not know your name, your e-mail address, or any other personally identifiable information. When you request a page from our website, our server logs the information provided in the HTTP request header including the IP number, the time of the request, the URL of your request and other information that is provided in the HTTP header. We use the HTTP request header information in order to make our website function correctly and provide functionality that you see on this website, as our servers use this information to deliver to you. We also use this information to better understand how visitors use our website and we can better tune our website, its contents and functionality to meet your needs.

When you use e-HotelRates.com, you provide name, address, telephone number, fax number, email address, and credit card information. This information is collected during the reservation process for the sole purpose of processing your reservation request only. However, should e-HotelRates.com need to contact you for further customer service, we would contact you by the use of your email address. In addition, you can choose to receive update emails regarding the meeting you are attending or you can elect not to receive any update information.

When you make a reservation through e-HotelRates.com, we ask you to provide personal information that will be used to process your reservation and to notify you of your reservation status with the email address you provide. Your confirmation will have a confirmation number which you can use to confirm your reservation, return to the e-HotelRates.com web site to access your reservation or process a cancellation.

After processing a reservation, you will receive an email confirming your reservation. In addition, if you book a reservation in the meeting group site, you will be asked if you would like to receive occasional updates in reference to the association and/or meeting you are attending. You have the option to answer Yes or No. The association and/or meeting planner – not e-HotelRates.com will then use your email address.

e-HotelRates.com does not process your purchase; therefore, we do not use an outside credit card company and/or bank check processing company. When you make a reservation on e-HotelRates.com, your request and information is forwarded to our partner. For example, if you book a hotel reservation, your name and contact information along with your credit card information is transferred by XML technology directly into the hotel’s reservation system. Your information is not “re-entered” in to the hotel’s reservation system.

You agree that your credit card will be charged for the full cost of your reservation when e-HotelRates.com accepts your reservation order. The cost of your reservation is the total of the product you purchased plus state and local taxes and our service fees.

Special offers or promotions available on e-HotelRates.com are offered by our partners. Any such program, offer or promotion is subject to the specific terms, conditions and restrictions listed in connection with such program, offer or promotion. Each program, offer and promotion is being offered at the sole discretion of our partner can be altered or eliminated by them at any time. Please refer to and read carefully the terms, conditions and restrictions included in connection with each program, offer or promotion.

A reference to a product or service on the website does not imply that such product or service is or will be available in your location. The content of the websites, including advertising content, is intended for use and display only where its use and display are permissible in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Each product or service is void where prohibited by law.

e-HotelRates.com takes every precaution to protect our users. When users submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When you are asked to provide sensitive information; such as a credit card number, that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry – SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon for browsers such as Netscape, Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just “surfing”.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information is restricted. Only employees who need the information to process or perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. Furthermore, all employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information is a secure environment, in a locked facility.

You may cancel or change your reservation, but you will be charged the cancellation or change fee indicated at the time you approved the transaction. You agree to pay any cancellation or change fee that you incur. In some cases, cancellations or changes might not be allowed and/or a fee might be required. You will be notified before the reservation order is completed and your credit card is charged. You agree to abide by the terms and conditions imposed with respect to any completed reservation order and specified on a reservation order form.

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, e-HotelRates.com may be required by law to disclose information you have provided in obtaining our travel products or services. e-HotelRates.com may also disclose information against someone who poses a threat to e-HotelRates.com’s interests (such as customer fraud) or whose activities could bring harm to others.

You may use e-HotelRates.com web site and can enter into binding contracts if you are at least 18 years of age. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your Group ID, passwords and admin login passwords. You will be financially accountable for all uses of the web sites by you and anyone using your password and login information. You may only use the web sites to make legitimate reservations or purchases. You may not use the web sites: to make any false, fraudulent or speculative reservation or any reservation in anticipation of demand; to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law; or for any other purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms and Conditions of use. We may, at any time and without advance notice or liability, terminate or restrict your access to all or any component of the web sites.

Your use of this web site is at your own risk. e-HotelRates.com and its affiliates make no representations about the suitability of the information, products and services contained on this website for any purpose. The company and its affiliates hereby disclaim all implied warranties including the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

In no event shall the company or its affiliates be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages (including claims for lost profit or lost business) arising out of or in any way connected with the use of this website, with the delay or inability to use this website, or for any information, products, reservations, or services obtained or contracted for through this website, or otherwise arising out of this use of this website. Whether based on tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if the company or its affiliates have been advised of the possibility of damages.

All users, through the use of this website, hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless e-HotelRates.com, its officers, employees, agents and designers from any and all claims, demands, causes of actions, liabilities, damages, cost and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of the use or viewing of this website, materials or content.

We provide information about travel either reserved or purchased on e-HotelRates.com to the suppliers who will fulfill your travel reservation. Although e-HotelRates.com offers travel products from hotel, air and car, etc. suppliers that are reputable companies, we have not placed limitations on these suppliers from using or disclosing your information without your permission. Therefore, we encourage you to review the information privacy practices of any travel suppliers whose products you purchased on e-HotelRates.com. In addition, these travel suppliers may also contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about your confirmed reservation.

We do not review or monitor any web sites linked to e-HotelRates.com and are not responsible for the content of any such linked websites. Your linking to such website is at your own risk. In addition, you agree not to link your website or any other third party website to e-HotelRates.com without our approval prior to written consent.

By using this website or booking a reservation through e-HotelRates.com, you agree that this website is controlled and operated by e-HotelRates.com from its corporate offices in Chicago, IL within the State of Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. Although the Internet is global in nature, the laws regulating the manner in which e-HotelRates.com operates are not.

Any user outside the United States does so on her/her own initiative and takes the responsibility of complying with applicable law(s). This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without giving effect to any principle of conflicts in law. If any provision of this Agreement shall be unlawful, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this Agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

This website may link to other sites produced by companies that may be or may not be affiliated with e-HotelRates.com including some that operate outside the United States. No user shall construe anything on those sites as a promotion or solicitation for any product or services or for the use of any product that is not authorized by the applicable laws or regulations governing the user. Those users who choose to access those websites do so on their own initiative and are responsible for the compliance of any applicable law.

You hereby agree that any dispute arising from or relating to the use of this website or reservation order(s) made through us will be subject to binding arbitration under the commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration shall be conducted in Cook County, Illinois, USA before neutral arbitrators.

Our website uses “cookie” technology. “Cookies” are encrypted strings of text that a website stores in the user’s computer. Our website requires the use of a cookie throughout the online reservation process. Without cookies we will not be able to keep information you enter on multiple pages together. For example, unless e-HotelRates.com can remember the dates you used in your hotel search we will not be able to check room availability. Cookies also enable us to customize our website and offerings to you and provide you with a better online experience on e-HotelRates.com.

e-HotelRates.com and its third party service providers use pixel tags (also known as “clear gifs”, “beacon gifs”, etc). Pixel tags are not visible to the user of the website and consist of a few lines of computer coding. Pixel tags are not used to collect any personally identifiable information about you apart from that which you voluntarily provide us in your dealings with e-HotelRates.com. e-HotelRates.com and our e-mail service provider uses tags to:

• track responses to e-HotelRates.com advertisements and site content;
• determine your ability to receive HTML-based e-mail messages. Our e-mail service provider includes a pixel tag, which they refer to as a “coded sensor”, in all of the HTML-based messages sent on our behalf. The sensor activates when the e-mail message is opened and flags the address of the user as one that is capable of receiving HTML-based e-mail messages. This capability helps our service provider to send the e-mail in a format you can read. The sensor does not collect or use any other information. If you cannot receive HTML, you will not receive a functioning sensor.
• know how many users open an e-mail and allow our service provider to compile aggregated statistics about an e-mail campaign for us; and
• allow us to better target interactive advertising, enhance customer support and site usability provided offer and promotions that we believe would be of interest to you.

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement. This homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.