Launch Requirements - B2C Standalone

1.2 No use of Expedia or EPS names or logos

None of the Expedia or EPS names or logos may be used on partner sites for any purpose. Any exceptions must be approved by legal and relevant groups within Expedia, with approval attached to the partner launch record.

Example

1.3 Partner is providing accurate Traveler Information

a) Traveler Name

EPS bookings must always be submitted with the name of the actual travelers staying in each booked room. This means that in your booking request body, the values for given_name and family_name within the rooms object must match the first and last name of the main guest checking in for each room.

Code Sample

……
  "rooms": [
    {
      "title": "Mr",
      "given_name": "John",
      "family_name": "Smith",
……
            

Example

b) Traveler Phone Number

The booking must include a viable contact number for the traveler. Include this number in your booking request's phone field within the rooms object. EPS will not contact the traveler if the partner’s agents provide direct support to end customers.

Example

1.4 Links to the EPS booking Terms & Conditions URL to be displayed in the Partner's Terms and Conditions

You must provide a link to the EPS Terms and Conditions within your site's own Terms and Conditions text. Place the following linkin an easy-to-find location, such as top of your own Terms and Conditions page: https://developer.expediapartnersolutions.com/terms/en

Example

1.6 Customer support numbers to be clearly displayed, including links to online customer service tools

Clearly display EPS's support number, or your own if you are not relying on EPS's customer support centers. You must also provide links to online customer service tools to allow customers to retrieve and review their own bookings.

Example

Customer service number and self-service tools presented in top menu/header area

1.7 Proper use and display regarding credit card regulations

Partners must follow PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations when requesting, handling, and storing customer credit card data. A complete reference for these regulations is available at the official PCI Security Standards web site.

To assist with the PCI rules most critical to your integration, EPS provides a targeted guide for partners: Credit Card Guide.

By following the above guide, you will ensure that:

• CSV is required on all booking requests
• Card number truncation requirements met for display and storage
• SSL used on all booking-related pages
• Brand parity requirements met

1.8 Evidence of PCI compliance supplied for applicable partners

Where EPS is Merchant of Record, evidence of PCI compliance, such as an an Attestation of Compliance (AOC), must be supplied.
EPS Partners must use the PCI Security Standards Council's Self-Assessment Questionnaire file "SAQ D - Merchants" to produce the proper AOC.
You can review the instructions and guidelines for SAQs and find the "SAQ D - Merchants" file on the official PCI Security Standards Document Library, or download the SAQ D - Merchants file directly as a PDF or Word document.

1.13 Billing Information

a) Payor Name

For Customer, Corporate & Virtual Card:

• Partners must send the name of the cardholder whose card is being charged by EPS.

For Affiliate Collect / EAC Partners:

• Wherever possible, EPS strongly recommends that partners send the name of the actual end payor for the booking.
• This information is required for regulatory / sanctions screening purposes.
• If it is not possible to provide the name of the actual end payor provide the name of the partner's company / legal entity paying EPS. 

If the POS = Russia, Ukraine,Venezuela, then TRUE payor information is always required.

b) Billing Country

Must represent the individual name passed in the billing contact / payor name field.

c) Billing Zip

Must represent the individual name passed in the billing contact / payor name field.

For countries that do not maintain a Zip Code, this information does not need to be provided.

2.1 Where partner allows children to be included in bookings, proper messaging and input of child ages is implemented

If your integration permits child guests, you must offer the ability to specify child guests and their ages separately from adult guests for all Expedia Collect properties. This information is provided via the child_ages element (see code sample below).

When customers specify child guests, the API response may contain age restrictions and/or extra occupancy or crib charges that may affect the cost or eligibility of the booking. These items must be clearly messaged to customers during shopping and before checkout.

Each hotel configures what age range they classify as a child. Typically individuals aged 17 or younger are considered children. Some properties do not allow guests under age 18.

Code Sample

…
"number_of_adults": 2,
<strong>"child_ages": [4,5]</strong>
…
  

3.1 If a tax and fee breakdown is provided, individual charges must be clearly displayed

Providing a breakdown of charges is optional for the hotel list results page. If you choose to display additional charges along with the nightly rates, you will need to display all taxes and fees as returned by the nightly and fees arrays in the Shopping response. The fees returned by the fees array must be displayed separately, as these are collected by the property (not EPS or local governments) at check-in or check-out. The full breakdown would include the nightly array's base_rates and tax_and_service_fee values, any additional nightly fees, all fee amounts, and a chargeable total.

If you choose to display only the room rate, this can be shown as either individual per-night rates, or a total of the rates for the dates selected without taxes (shown in image to right).

Code Sample

These blocks contain the charge arrays referred to for this requirement

…
  "occupancies": {
   "2": {
     "nightly": [
       [
         {
           "type": "tax_and_service_fee",
           "value": "74.38",
           "currency": "USD"
         },
         {
           "type": "base_rate",
           "value": "399.39",
           "currency": "USD"
         }
       ]
     ],
     "fees": [
       {
         "type": "resort_fee",
         "value": "14.19",
         "currency": "USD"
       }
     ],
     "totals": {
       "exclusive": {
         "value": "399.39",
         "currency": "USD"
       },
       "inclusive": {
         "value": "473.77",
         "currency": "USD"
       }
     }
 …
  

4.1 Taxes and Fees are clearly stated as a separate line item

When a price breakdown is provided on the room availability page, the value returned for tax_and_service_fee must be displayed separately for all tax references. 

This display must include the exact text below, as it is legally required for all Expedia Collect inventory when referring to any "taxes and fees" totals. Base your display on the point of supply of the hotel, not the customer's location.

• Europe: "Tax Recovery Charges"
• All Other Regions: "Tax Recovery Charges and Service Fees"

Example (Europe)

4.2 Sales tax values are reported separately when applicable

When providing a charge breakdown on the room availability page, sales_tax must be displayed separately as it is returned by the nightly array. This item details taxes collected by local municipalities or states and must be displayed per local laws. Display this item separately within your charge breakdown.

4.3 Bed type descriptions and room names are present on each room

Shop responses may return the bed_groups array with a single value or multiple options. Display the values contained in the configuration array to describe the customer's bed choice(s).

When the bed_groups array returns with multiple options, display the price_check links provided by the Shop response for each bed type to allow selection by the customer.

You must also display messaging to the traveler that choices between multiple bed types for the same room are requests only and may not be honored at the hotel if availability does not permit.

Room names are returned within the Shop response's rooms array as room_name.

Code Sample

Shop Response Example - Room Name

[
  {
    "property_id": 19248,
    "rooms": [
      {
        "id": 180482,
        "room_name": "Fancy Queen Room",
        "rates": [
          …

Example Shop Response - Single Bed Option

 "bed_groups": [
              {
                "links": {
                  "price_check": {
                    "method": "GET",
                    "href": "/2/properties/availability/19248/rooms/abc123/rates/abc123/price-check?token=MY5S3j36cOcLfLBZjPYQ1abhfc8CqmjmFVzkk7euvWaunE57LLeDgaxm516m"
                  }
                },
                "configuration": [
                  {
                    "type": "Bed",
                    "size": "Queen",
                    "quantity": 1
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],

4.4 Check-in instructions displayed

The contents of the checkin, checkout, fees, and policies objects must be displayed for each room as returned in the property content definition. These instructions may include critical information such as fees that can be incurred at check-in, or after-hours access instructions.

Code Sample

…
"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "<strong>instructions</strong>": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. <br />Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. <br />Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. <br />",
      "min_age": 18
    }, 
……

4.5 Non-refundable policies are clearly visible

Non-refundable availabilities are indicated by refundable=false in the Shop availability response. This value always takes precedence over any differing policy data. These reservations are not refunded by the property under any circumstances. 

When refundable=false is returned in an availability response, clearly label the applicable rooms wherever individual availabilities are offered - full room selection pages, partial selections on list result pages, etc.

Code Sample

   "rates": [
          {
            "id": "200706716",
            "available_rooms": 12,
            "refundable": <strong>false</strong>,
  

4.6 Partner is displaying the contents of special_instructions when returned

The contents of the checkin object's special_instructions field must be displayed for each room when returned in the property content definition.
This field may include information critical for check-in that is not included in the checkin object's instructions field, such as a requirement to notify the property of expected arrival time, check-in at a different location from the guest building, or an alert to expect special check-in instructions from the property via email.
Display this information in the same area as the primary check-in instructions.

Code Sample

"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "instructions": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. <br />Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. <br />Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. <br />",
      <strong>"special_instructions":</strong> "There is no front desk at this property. To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property ahead of time using the information on the booking confirmation.",
      "min_age": 18
    },

5.1 SSL encryption is present for sensitive data

When sending or transmitting sensitive data, you must use SSL encryption. Sensitive data includes guest names, phone numbers or emails, payment card details, and booking/itinerary receipts and confirmation pages.

If the customer's browser does not employ a secure connection to send or receive this information, SSL is not properly incorporated .

Example

A valid SSL certificate as viewed in a browser

5.2 Clear breakdown of charges must be provided

A breakdown of charges is required for your booking pages. The breakdown must clearly provide individual charges in full as they are returned by the nightly and fees arrays in the price check response.

Remember to display fees returned by the fees array separately, as they are collected by the property (not EPS or local gov'ts) at check-in or check-out.
Include either each individual per-night rate for the dates selected, or a total of all night rates without taxes. Your final breakdown should include nightly rates (total or per-night), any additional nightly fees, all fees amounts, and a chargeable total.

Code Sample

These blocks contain the charge arrays referred to for this requirement. You must use the data from the same price check response used to obtain your booking token link.

……
  "occupancies": {
   "2": {
     "nightly": [
       [
         {
           "type": "tax_and_service_fee",
           "value": "74.38",
           "currency": "USD"
         },
         {
           "type": "base_rate",
           "value": "399.39",
           "currency": "USD"
         }
       ]
     ],
     "fees": [
       {
         "type": "resort_fee",
         "value": "14.19",
         "currency": "USD"
       }
     ],
     "totals": {
       "exclusive": {
         "value": "399.39",
         "currency": "USD"
       },
       "inclusive": {
         "value": "473.77",
         "currency": "USD"
       }
     }
……
  

Example

5.3 Taxes and Fees are clearly stated as a separate line item

The value returned for tax_and_service_fee must be displayed separately for all tax references and/or where a price breakdown is provided on your booking form(s).

The exact text below is legally required on your site for all Expedia Collect inventory when referring to any "taxes and fees" totals within a price breakdown. Base your display on the point of supply of the hotel, not the customer's location.

• Europe: "Tax Recovery Charges"
• All Other Regions: "Tax Recovery Charges and Service Fees"

A description of the Tax Recovery Charges & Service Fees must be provided relaying the information below. This can be displayed as a pop-up, plain text, modal, or other implementation:

This charge includes the estimated amount we pay the hotel for the occupancy-related taxes owed by the hotel and any amounts charged to us for resort fees, cleaning fees, and other fees. The balance of the charge is a fee we, the hotel supplier and/or website you booked on, retain as part of the compensation for our and/or their services which varies based on factors such as location, the amount, and how you booked.

5.4 Total price charged is clearly displayed

Example

5.5 Partner service or booking charges must be clearly separated

If you will charge your own booking or service charge, it must be clear to the customer that the charge is levied by you, the partner, and not EPS for a separate service (i.e. not a further charge for the provision of accommodation). Charges may not be included inside of existing tax & fee line items.

Partner booking or service charges may not be bundled into the price and must be broken out separately.

Example:

The example room below has a tax and service fee total of 27.09 euros. In the incorrect example, the partner service charge has been rolled into the EPS fee total. The correct example provides the partner service charge separately and clearly identifies its source.

5.6 City/Mandatory tax values must be reported separately

When a mandatory_tax value returns, return this value separately in your charge breakdowns as an additional charge due at the hotel. These charges are collected directly by the hotel and are not part of standard tax recovery charges.

5.7 Sales tax values are reported separately when applicable

When sales_tax is returned by the nightly array, display this item separately within your charge breakdown. This item details taxes collected by local municipalities or states and must be displayed per local laws.

5.8 Check-in instructions displayed

The contents of the checkin, checkout, fees, and policies objects must be displayed for each room as returned in the property content definition.This information must be displayed on your pre-booking pages to ensure the customer is aware of any potential fees at check-in or special access instructions before they finalize their booking. These instructions may include critical information such as fees that can be incurred at check-in, or after-hours access instructions.

Code Sample

"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "<strong>instructions</strong>": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. 
      Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. 
      Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. ",
      "min_age": 18
    },

5.9 Partner is providing customer email address OR monitored email mailbox with each booking request

The email element within BillingContact must contain the customer's email address OR the mailbox your integration monitors for confirmation email handling. This is required for cases of booking disputes or troubleshooting.

5.10 Pre-Pay booking to state payment is taken in full

Booking pages for Expedia Collect availabilities must state that the credit card provided will be charged immediately for the full amount of the reservation. Confirmation pages for Expedia Collect bookings must state that payment was made for the full amount of the reservation.

Example

5.11 If applicable, child ages must be clearly stated

If your integration permits child guests and the customer specified child guests for their room selection, you must clearly confirm the number of child guests and their ages on your booking pages for all Expedia Collect properties. This information is provided via the child_ages element.

When customers specify child guests, the API response may contain age restrictions and/or extra occupancy or crib charges that may affect the cost or eligibility of the booking. These items must be clearly messaged to customers before checkout.

Each hotel configures what age range they classify as a child. Typically individuals aged 17 or younger are considered children. Some properties do not allow guests under age 18.

Example

5.12 Non-refundable policies are clearly visible

Non-refundable availabilities are indicated by refundable=false. This value always takes precedence over any differing policy data. Clearly state such rooms are non-refundable on room selection pages and reiterate the non-refundable policy on your final booking page. These reservations are not refunded by the property under any circumstances.

5.13 Cancellation policy clearly displayed

Before allowing customers to confirm their purchase on your final booking page, you must provide the cancellation policy for the selected room or rooms and require customers to accept the policy.
Customers must not be allowed to book without agreeing to the room's specific cancellation policy.

Cancellation policies must always be obtained from live shopping responses via the cancel_penalties array.

It is acceptable to include this agreement as part of the customer's acceptance of your own terms & conditions, e.g. "By [selecting this checkbox/continuing with the booking/etc], you agree you have read and accepted our Terms and Conditions as well as the cancellation policy for your selected room."

Example

5.14 Telephone number to be included in each booking request

The booking must include a viable contact number for the customer. Include this number in your booking request's phone field within the BillingContact object. Inform customers that this number will be used to contact them in the event a problem needs to be resolved with their reservation ahead of check-in time.

Example

5.15 Partner is displaying the contents of special_instructions when returned

The contents of the checkin object's special_instructions field must be displayed for each room when returned in the property content definition.
This field may include information critical for check-in that is not included in the checkin object's instructions field, such as a requirement to notify the property of expected arrival time, check-in at a different location from the guest building, or an alert to expect special check-in instructions from the property via email.
Display this information in the same area as the primary check-in instructions.

Code Sample

"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "instructions": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. 
      Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. 
      Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.",
      "special_instructions": "There is no front desk at this property. To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property ahead of time using the information on the booking confirmation.",
      "min_age": 18
    },
      

5.16 EPS MoR – Payment processing location displayed on checkout pages

Where EPS are Merchant of Record for transactions, the country where the payment will be processed must be displayed in a prominent place on the checkout page. The phrase “This payment will be processed in” must be inserted before the country name.

Use the Payment Options function of the Shopping API to retrieve this information.

Code Sample

   {
  "affiliate_collect": {
    "name": "Affiliate Collect"
  },
  "credit_card": {
    "name": "Credit Card",
    "card_options": [
      {
        "name": "AmericanExpress",
        "card_type": "AX"
      },
      {
        "name": "MasterCard",
        "card_type": "CA",
        "processing_country": "US"
      }
    ]
  }
}
  

5.17 Compliance with European Economic Area Regulations: Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2)

PSD2 Compliance is required for any partner that intends to transact with customers in the European Economic Area (EEA). Learn more here. 

Compliance will ensure that transactions continue to be successful after the PSD2 regulations are enforced by the EU on September 14th, 2019.

EPS MOR or Property Collect

If EPS is the Merchant of Record or Property Collect is used with European customers, the booking path must include the adoption of Rapid’s APIs for Two-Factor Authentication.

Affiliate MOR - General

Partners must follow the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements of the PSD2 regulations when transactions with customers are within the scope of the regulations. 

The complete text of the directive is available at the European Commission. 

Further information about the compliant standards that can be adopted is available in EMVCo’s “3-D Secure Protocol and Core Functions Specification”.

Affiliate MOR - Corporate Card or Virtual Card

Partners paying EPS with a partner-owned card, issued in a country within the EEA, must follow the requirements of PSD2 regulations.

To mitigate the need for PSD2 2FA a partner could use a card that is compliant for B2B payments and is exempt from 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication).   

Compliant options include: 

1. Single-use virtual cards
2. Multi-use corporate card that is used to the company (not a person).

6.1 Total price charged is clearly displayed

Example

7.1 Clear breakdown of charges is provided in confirmation emails

The emails/vouchers you send to customers must provide a charge breakdown.

7.2 Taxes and Fees are clearly stated as a separate line item

The value returned for tax_and_service_fee must be displayed separately for all tax references and/or where a price breakdown is given, such as room availability, booking form and confirmation results for Expedia Collect properties.

The exact text below is legally required on your site for all Expedia Collect inventory when referring to any "taxes and fees" totals. Base your display on the point of supply of the hotel, not the customer's location.

• Europe: "Tax Recovery Charges"
• All Other Regions: "Tax Recovery Charges and Service Fees"

7.3 Partner service or booking charges must be clearly separated

If you will charge your own booking or service fee, it must be clear to the customer that the fee is levied by you, the partner, and not EPS for a separate service (i.e. not a further charge for the provision of accommodation). Fees may not be included inside of existing fee breakdowns.
Partner booking or service fees may not be bundled into the price and must be broken out separately.

Example:

The example room below has a tax and service fee total of 27.09 euros. In the incorrect example, the partner service fee has been rolled into the EPS fee total. The correct example provides the partner service fee separately and clearly identifies its source.

7.4 City/Mandatory tax values must be reported separately

If a mandatory_tax value returned earlier for the property to be booked, return this value separately in your pre-book price breakdown. These charges are collected directly by the hotel and are not part of standard tax recovery charges.

7.6 Bed type descriptions are present on each room

Confirm the customer's selected bed types in your confirmation email/voucher. Shop responses may return the bed_groups array with a single value or multiple options. Display the values contained in the configuration array to describe the customer's bed choice(s).

Display the customer’s selected bed type as defined in the price_check link used prior to booking.

You must also display messaging to the traveler that choices between multiple bed types for the same room are requests only and may not be honored at the hotel if availability does not permit.

Code Sample

Shop Response Example - Single Bed Option

 "bed_groups": [
              {
                "links": {
                  "price_check": {
                    "method": "GET",
                    "href": "/2/properties/availability/19248/rooms/abc123/rates/abc123/price-check?token=MY5S3j36cOcLfLBZjPYQ1abhfc8CqmjmFVzkk7euvWaunE57LLeDgaxm516m"
                  }
                },
                "configuration": [
                  {
                    "type": "Bed",
                    "size": "Queen",
                    "count": 1
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
    

7.7 Check-in instructions displayed

The contents of the checkin, checkout, fees, and policies objects must be displayed for each room as returned in the property content definition. This information must be displayed on your confirmation email to ensure the customer is aware of any potential fees at check-in or special access instructions.

Code Sample

…
"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "instructions": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. 
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. 
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. 
",
      "min_age": 18
    }, 
……

7.8 Itinerary IDs displayed properly

If your integration will provide EPS's itinerary_id directly to customers, you must clearly display this number on your confirmation email. You must include the itinerary retrieval link directly in your confirmation emails. If applicable, you must provide evidence that your agents have access to the original EPS itinerary IDs should they require assistance from EPS customer support.

Code Sample

 …
{
  "itinerary_id": 8999989898988,
  "property_id": 8150374,
  "links": {
    "cancel": {
      "method": "DELETE",
      "href": "/2/itineraries/8999989898988?token=MY5S3j36cOcLfLBZjPYQ1abhfc8CqmjmFVzkk7euvWaunE57LLeDgaxm516m"
    }
  },
……

7.9 Partner is displaying the contents of special_instructions when returned

The contents of the checkin object's special_instructions field must be displayed for each room when returned in the property content definition. This field may include information critical for check-in that is not included in the checkin object's instructions field, such as a requirement to notify the property of expected arrival time, check-in at a different location from the guest building, or an alert to expect special check-in instructions from the property via email. Display this information in the same area as the primary check-in instructions.

Code Sample

"checkin": {
      "begin_time": "3:00 PM",
      "end_time": "11:00 PM",
      "instructions": "Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. 
      Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. 
      Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.",
      "special_instructions": "There is no front desk at this property. To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property ahead of time using the information on the booking confirmation.",
      "min_age": 18
    },
        

8.1 Partner is providing unique Affiliate Reference ID with each booking request

For every booking request, you must use the affiliate_reference_id element, with the intent of:

• Your own tracking
• Preventing duplicate bookings/duplicate charges from multiple form submissions
• Checking EPS systems for an itinerary if the reservation timed out or returned an empty result due to upstream timeouts.

8.2 Partner is providing the customer’s Country Code with each request

• The customer's Country_Code must be passed in all API calls. The country code must match the point of sale being accessed by the customer.
• This requirement ensures EPS's systems provide customers with relevant content and the most suitable rates based on their location.