Privacy Policy

Information We Collect, How We Use It and How You Can Update/Delete It

Browsing

When you browse our Sites, we do not collect personally identifiable information about you, such as your name, address, phone number and email address, unless you voluntarily provide it to us. This means that we will not know your personally identifiable information just because you browse our Sites unless you have created an account and login when you access the Sites or access the Sites from a link in an email that we sent to you.

When we need to collect personally identifiable information from you to provide you with a particular
service, we will ask you to voluntarily supply us with the information we need, as explained below.

General Information Collected

To monitor site usage and improve the quality of our Sites, we gather general information about the use of our Sites. We use web server logs and industry-standard website statistics software to count the number of users who visit our Sites and to count the number of views of particular pages, as well as to track other general statistics about our Sites. We do not track individual users' visits to our Sites. At times U.S. Travel may share with third parties aggregate, anonymous information about overall usage of our Sites and other Internet services that we collect, to provide general information about our Internet services, sell advertising, or establish sponsorships or other business relationships.

Information Collected from Surveys

We may conduct online surveys via pop-up windows on our Sites. Participation in such surveys is voluntary and you may decline to participate. In general, the data collected in such surveys will be used by U.S. Travel and not shared with any third parties.

Information Collected to Process a Transaction

To conduct a transaction on a U.S. Travel Site, visitors must have, or create, a login account.  Visitors who are Members of U.S. Travel will use their member login (i.e., user name) and password.  More information on Members is detailed below.  Non-members visitors will need to create an account to generate a unique login and password.  Information collected from non-members may include your name, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, and credit card number or other payment information.

Information Payment Method

Payment information, such as your credit card details, is collected only to process a transaction and is stored in an encrypted format. Reasonable measures are taken to ensure your payment information is not vulnerable to theft or interception.  We will not store or distribute your payment information in a manner that is not necessary for processing a transaction.

Members' Information

U.S. Travel offers members certain services through the restricted-access "Members Only" section of our Sites. In the Members Only section, members can access and update their Member Profiles, which include personal information we have collected from each member as part of their membership application. Member Profiles are maintained for the Main and Associate member contacts in our main membership database. This information includes information such as member ID number, name, firm/organization, address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.

The Member Profiles are used by U.S. Travel to distribute certain marketing materials by mail, fax or email. If you are a member and wish to elect not to be included in any of these communications, you may opt-out using the methods listed below.

Information Collected to Access Members Only Section

U.S. Travel collects a password for each member who uses the online Members Section. This information is used to verify members' identities in order to prevent unauthorized access to the Members Only section and members' personal information. Only a small number of U.S. Travel employees and employees at our third-party software vendor have access to this information. It is accessed only when necessary to provide members with online account-related information, provide technical support, or diagnose or repair problems with the Members Only section.

Emails/Newsletters

It is our intention to only send you email communications that you want to receive. When you provide us with your email address by creating a login account, we will periodically contact you via email about U.S. Travel programs and services. Every time you receive an email, you will be provided the choice to opt-out of future emails by following the instructions provided in the email. You may also opt-out by emailing feedback@ustravel.org or sending a letter to:

U.S. Travel Association
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
United States of America

Please allow 10 business days for us to process your opt-out and include your email address if you opt-out via postal mail.

Please note that U.S. Travel will never send you an email requesting your password, credit card number, social security number or other similar personal or private identification information. If you receive an email that looks like it is from U.S. Travel, but asks you for personal information, it is a fraudulent email and you should not reply or provide such information.

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

U.S. Travel uses the services of third parties, such as interactive marketing agencies, market researchers and email service providers, to assist us with marketing and promoting our Sites. These parties are contractually prohibited from using personally identifiable information for any purpose other than for the purpose U.S. Travel specifies. We do provide non-personally identifiable information to certain service providers for their use on an aggregated basis for the purpose of performing their contractual obligations to us. We do not permit the sale of personally identifiable information, with a limited exception for Member-related and IPW transactions.

Cookies and Pixel Tags

Our Sites use "Cookie" technology. "Cookies" are encrypted strings of text that a website stores on a user's computer. Our Sites require the use of a "Session" Cookie when accessing the online traveler community. "Session" Cookies are temporary and are automatically deleted once you close your internet browser. Session Cookies allow you to log-in and then view and update your content throughout the Site during the same session or visit. Our Sites use a "Persistent" Cookie to direct you to the correct country/language version of our Sites for subsequent visits. Persistent Cookies remain on your computer until you delete them or are otherwise removed upon expiration. We do not use Cookies to ascertain any personally identifiable information about you apart from what you voluntarily provide us. Cookies do not corrupt or damage your computer, programs, or computer files.

Pixel tags are not visible to the user of the Site and consist of a few lines of computer code. Pixel tags are not used to collect any personally identifiable information about you. Our Sites use pixel tags to track the aggregate number of page views made on our Sites by all Site visitors. Our email service provider uses pixel tags to determine your ability to receive HTML-based email messages. This capability helps our service provider send email in a format you can read. The sensor does not collect or use any other information. Pixel tags also allow us to know how many users open an email and allow our service provider to compile aggregated statistics about an email campaign for us.

Promotions

We have strategic marketing relationships with select third party organizations (e.g., American Express) to offer certain travel related products and services at discounted prices. As part of the purchase process for these products and services you will be required to provide personally identifiable information such as your name, address, email address, telephone number and credit card information. This information will be used by us and will be provided to the associated third party organizations (e.g., hotel, credit card processor) to execute the transaction. As part of these promotions you will also be given a choice to opt-in into periodic emails from U.S. Travel and the organizations we have selected to offer promotions so that we can keep you informed of future offers and promotions that may be of interest. Please note that there are specific terms and conditions that will be unique to each promotion. An example is the requirement to be a member of the loyalty program for a hotel brand that is included in the promotion. You should carefully review the terms and conditions associated with each promotion before making a purchase.

Securing Your Information

The personal information you provide is encrypted and sent to us using a secure method.  We treat personal information you provide as confidential information, and we use commercially reasonable security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. After personal information reaches U.S. Travel, it is stored on a secure server that resides behind firewalls designed to block unauthorized access.

However, please understand that no one can provide an absolute guarantee that information intended to be maintained as private, whether transmitted via the Internet or otherwise, cannot be accessed inappropriately or unlawfully by third parties. We have taken and will continue to take reasonable steps to ensure the secure and safe transmission of your personal information.

Other Sites

U.S. Travel is only responsible for the privacy policy and content of its Sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the use of cookies on websites from which you have accessed this Site, or non-U.S. Travel websites that you may access from this Site.  U.S. Travel encourages you to review the policies of other websites that you may access from this Site. 

Legal Issues

This is a United States website and is subject to laws of the United States and the District of Columbia. U.S. Travel may disclose personally identifiable information without your permission if required by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) comply with legal requirements or legal process served on U.S. Travel or one of its affiliates, or (b) investigate or protect against harmful activities to U.S. Travel or its associates, property (including our Sites) or to others.

Children Under the Age of Thirteen

U.S. Travel does not solicit data from or market to children under the age of 13. 

Changes to U.S. Travel’s Privacy Policy

In the future, we may need to change this privacy policy. All changes will be made here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information and whether we will disclose it to anyone. This policy was last updated on July 13, 2013.