Publication Date: 13th February 2024
Effective Date: 13th March 2024
This Partner Policy sets out Skyscanner’s key expectations of its partners, and key actions or omissions which if taken by partners could result in their temporary or permanent removal from Skyscanner. It applies to all partners in all markets (including Direct Booking partners) and also sets out how Skyscanner will handle any removal from the platform, and how to resolve matters.
In this policy “We”, “Us”, “Our” or “Skyscanner” means Skyscanner Limited and any group company of Skyscanner and “You” or “Your” means you, Skyscanner’s partner (whether online travel agent, carrier, hotel, car hire partner or otherwise). “User” means a user of the Skyscanner platform who has access to Your goods and/or services via Our platform (whether or not the User ultimately transacts with You).
General
1. The content and travel data You provide to Us shall be accurate and not include any prices that are not available on Your website/app/platform.
2. You shall provide Us, within a reasonable period of time upon Our request, with all data which We reasonably ask You to provide to Us, to allow Us to offer Your goods or services to Our Users. We reserve the right, on giving fifteen (15) days’ notice, to vary the type or format of data We require You to provide.
3. You shall not take any actions (or make any omissions) which have the likely or deliberate effect of harming Our ability to ensure the information You provide to Us is accurate.
4. Nothing that You deliver to Us for presentation to Our Users shall include any information that is or could reasonably be regarded as misleading (whether relating to pricing or general terms and conditions).
5. You shall not incorporate unfair, misleading or unreasonable charges in Your prices or booking processes or deal in currencies that are not appropriate to the relevant market. The pricing information You provide is also subject to Our Payment Policy.
6. You shall ensure that any and all optional extras require the informed, ‘opted-in’ consent of the User (and that no pre-ticked boxes are used), that optional extras are marked clearly as being optional and that the terms and conditions applicable are clear and not misleading.
7. All the services that You provide to Our Users shall be of a professional standard.
8. You will comply with the terms of all applicable laws and regulations in the supply of goods or the provision of services to Our Users. It is Your responsibility to determine what laws and regulations apply and to ensure You comply with them.
9. Nothing in the content or data You provided to Us shall result in Us being in breach of any applicable laws or regulations.
10. You shall comply with all Skyscanner policies notified to You from time to time, including Skyscanner’s Modern Slavery Policy, Anti-Bribery Policy and Payment Policy.
11. Where You are selling flights to travellers and are a travel agency or other entity that is not the relevant operating airline, You agree that You shall (i) promptly pass on any communication received from the relevant airline regarding flight disruption or other critical issue (“Critical Communication”) to the User(s) affected in sufficient time to enable the User(s) to consider and act upon the Critical Communication; and (ii) make appropriate customer service available to support the User(s) in dealing with such Critical Communications in line with good practice in the travel industry.
12. To maintain a straightforward User booking experience, You shall not offer Users app installations prior to a User completing their booking with you following a redirect from any Skyscanner platform.
Protected Self-Transfer Itineraries
13. For connecting flight itineraries where the User must self-transfer between flights under separate bookings (and therefore must collect any checked luggage, exit customs and recheck themselves and their luggage between connecting flights) (known as a “self-transfer” itinerary), Skyscanner will approve such itineraries offered by You in accordance with the process outlined here. Skyscanner retains the right to filter out self-transfer content from the Skyscanner platform should we have a reasonable belief that You have not provided the User with adequate protection for the relevant itinerary and / or if We receive a sharp increase in User complaints relating to this content. In this context, “adequate protection” includes, but is not limited to, alternative trip protection, a full refund for a cancelled flight, flight replacement cover, cover for accommodation and other reasonable User expenses. All conditions of any self-transfer connection protection or guarantee You offer to Users must be clear and prominent in the User booking experience and post-booking confirmation email, and You must ensure that all self-transfer itineraries are supported by 24/7 phone support.
Pricing Accuracy
14. Accuracy of pricing information provided to Us is critical. We use different methods to ensure that the pricing information You provide to Us is accurate, including testing based on actual User redirects and complaints provided by Users. You shall take all reasonable steps that We require to allow Us to effectively monitor price accuracy.
15. You shall not take any deliberate steps to mislead Us about the accuracy of pricing information You provide to Us.
Removal and Reinstatement of Content
16. A material breach of this Partner Policy (or another policy We have notified to You from time to time) may result in the immediate removal of Your content from the Skyscanner platform without notice.
17. Where We reasonably believe:
- You are deliberately seeking to provide inaccurate or misleading information to Us which, in Our belief, has or will have a harmful or misleading effect on Users;
- You are not maintaining a straightforward User booking experience following redirect from our website, and this may have a negative affect on Users; and / or
- You have used tactics which risk having the effect of breaking the chain of attribution for the purposes of reporting and/or payment of fees to Us (such as any type of app download prompt prior to a User completing their booking),
We may remove that content (or all content You provide to Us) from the Skyscanner platform without giving You advance notice.
18. When prices shown by You on the Skyscanner platform are found to be inaccurate through Our testing processes (or otherwise) or where We become aware of a breach of Our Payment Policy, We may remove the inaccurate content from Our platform immediately and without notice.
19. Where We become aware of something that is likely to lead to the removal of Your content from the Skyscanner platform (for example, an increasing number of User complaints) We will take reasonable steps to notify You in advance to discuss how to avoid removal.
20. Where some or all of Your content has been removed from the Skyscanner platform, whether advance notice has been given or not, the following process will be followed:
-
- After removal of the content, You will be contacted by the relevant member of Our Partner Support Team without undue delay (usually the following business day), to explain the reason(s) for that content being removed;
- If removal relates to accuracy issues, You will receive sample results of recent inaccuracies including API requests, responses and screenshots of each issue.
We will discuss with You steps You must take to ensure better accuracy of information and pricing information, and/or other information relevant to Your content being shown on the Skyscanner platform;
21. Where removal is because of accuracy issues, Your content will in most cases be automatically reinstated (and available on the Skyscanner platform) 24 hours after it is removed, provided We are satisfied that the issue has been resolved. If the issue is not resolved, content will not be automatically reinstated until the issue is resolved; and
22. If We believe Your content should not be released to Users because it is harmful, needs further investigation or is indicative of a wider issue with accuracy, or where We have removed Your content because You have materially breached the terms of this Partner Policy or any other policies notified to You from time to time, then the content will only be released to the Skyscanner platform after We are satisfied that the issues are resolved.
23. The duration of any removal of Your content will be influenced by the severity of the issue(s), the corrective actions We ask You to take, Your compliance with them and whether or not You have previously breached this Partner Policy or any other Skyscanner policy.
24. Where We become aware of deliberate and/or repetitive action taken which has or is likely to have the effect of misleading Users, the removal of some or all of Your content is likely to be for a longer period.
25. Any removal and reinstatement of Your content is at Our discretion. We will always act fairly, transparently and in the best interests of Our Users.
If You have any questions, comments or complaints regarding this Partner Policy or its enforcement at any time, please contact Us via Zendesk.
We may amend this Partner Policy from time to time and will notify You when We do and what any changes mean for You. This Partner Policy is supplemental to any written agreement (including Partner Order Form) already in place between You and Us.