EXPEDIA CONTEST: TERMS & CONDITIONS (“Terms and Conditions”)

1. Definitions:

(i) “Contest” shall mean the promotion on IndiBlogger.in by Expedia where travel bloggers will submit stories on interesting people they have met while travelling in India or abroad; Eligible Applicants will submit their responses (“Entries”) as per the following Terms and Conditions below. The opening date of the Contest shall be 16th Feb 2012.
(ii) “Eligible Applicant” shall mean an Indian citizen resident in India aged 18 years or above as on 16th Feb, 2012.
(iii) “Expedia” shall mean Expedia Online Travel Services India Pvt Ltd.

2. Terms & conditions of Contest (“Terms and Conditions”):

2.1. This Contest shall be open only to Eligible Applicants possessing a valid passport with validity till September 2012, as required for undertaking travel. Employees, officers and directors of Expedia and its agencies, their immediate family members (parents, spouse, siblings and children) and persons living in the same household of such employees/officers/directors, whether related or not are not eligible to participate.

2.2. Entry Submission Guidelines:
2.2.1 Independent Entries: Each Eligible Applicant shall submit independent Entry only – group Entries will not be entertained.
2.2.2 Fresh Entries: Each Eligible Applicant has to submit a fresh Entry for the Contest, i.e., previous blogs about their travels shall not be considered for the Contest.
2.2.3 Multiple Entries: Eligible Applicants are allowed to submit multiple Entries in relation to the Contest.
2.2.4 Selection Criteria: Winning entries will be decided by certain jury members appointed by Expedia and IndiBlogger to judge the Contest and the selection criteria shall include, without  limitation:
(i) content generated by such Eligible Applicants on their Entries; and
(ii) relevance, creativity and interaction. The judges’ decision shall be final. IndiVine votes shall not be considered for the purposes of judging the Contest.
2.2.5 All entries must have a link to http://www.expedia.co.in/.
2.2.6 Display of entries: The Entries will be displayed from 9 PM on 20 February 2012 onwards and the Contest shall close at 11:59 P.M. on 03 March 2012.

2.3. Scope of Expedia’s liability:
2.3.1 On entering the Contest, the Eligible Applicant is deemed to have given his/her unconditional consent to use / exhibit / circulate the Entry(ies) for the purposes of judging the Entries amongst jury members to be appointed by Expedia and IndiBlogger and other related purposes.
2.3.2 Entries must be entirely the Eligible Applicant’s own original work and must not breach any copyright or any other third party rights. The Entry must not include any defamatory, offensive or unlawful content. By participating in the Contest, the Eligible Applicant affirms and declares that Expedia is not responsible for any violation or infringement of any third party rights by the Eligible Applicant or for violation or infringement of the Eligible Applicant by third any party.  Expedia shall not be liable for any damages or losses to the Eligible Applicants or any third person in relation to the Entries. By virtue of submitting the Entry, the Eligible Applicant shall be deemed to agree, affirm and declare that the Eligible Applicant shall indemnify and hold harmless Expedia, its affiliates, employees, directors, agents and other personnel against any claims, losses, damages, expenses (including attorney’s fees) which may be raised by any third party. Regardless of the merits of any such claim by a third party, Expedia shall be entitled to proceed on the basis that the Entry breaches these Terms and Conditions and may proceed against the Eligible Applicant as per legal remedies available. In the event that a selected Entry is shortlisted and/or wins, and is later on challenged by a third party, Expedia shall have the right to disqualify the Eligible Applicant from participating in this Contest any further and / or collecting any prizes as available under this Contest.

2.4. Data Protection / Privacy Policy:
The Eligible Applicant is deemed to be providing personal information (as required) to Expedia. The Eligible Applicant agrees to the collection, processing and storage of such personal information by Expedia for purposes of this Contest. The Eligible Applicant shall be deemed to be familiar with Expedia’s privacy policy and user agreement.

2.5. Schedule:
The last date for receiving Entries for the Contest is 29th Feb 2012. Results for the Contest will be announced after 9th March 2012. Expedia reserves the right to extend the Contest deadline at its discretion. If there is a revision, the revised date will be published on IndiBlogger.in, the official website of Expedia and the date for results will be announced accordingly.

3. Winning:

The shortlisted Entries will be reviewed by Expedia’s esteemed jury panel and accordingly winners of this Contest will be selected (“Winners”). The decisions made by such jury panel with respect to the Winners shall be final and binding in all respects.  Within 96 hours from the announcement of the results of the Contest, the Winners shall be intimated by Expedia on the telephone number provided by the Eligible Applicant and shall be informed that they are eligible for the Prize. The phone call made by Expedia shall have instructions on the further process required to be adhered to by the Winner(s). In the event the Winner(s) fails to adhere to the instructions, that Winner’s selection shall be invalidated and Expedia shall not be liable to that Winner(s) in any manner whatsoever and may, at its sole discretion, select another Winner(s). Expedia shall make a total of 2 (two) attempts to contact the Winner as mentioned above. In the event the telephone number is engaged, or lines on the route are busy, or it is ringing but there is no answer, or if the Winner is unavailable to speak, Expedia shall make up to a total of 2 (two) attempts over 2 (two) days, i.e.  1 (one) attempt per day.  In case any Winner(s) is unavailable on both days, the selection of that Winner shall be invalidated and Expedia at its sole discretion may select another Winner. Expedia shall not be responsible if the Winner(s) is not available at the telephone number provided by them and as a result of which, the Winner(s) loses his/ her chance to receive the Prize.

4. Prize:

5 (five) selected Winners shall be entitled to the following prizes:
4.1. Winners will be flown by Expedia to international destinations chosen by Expedia in its sole discretion that may include, without limitation, USA, Australia, UK, Japan and Singapore. Expedia shall endeavour to provide the first prize winner a trip to USA, the second prize winner a trip to Australia, the third prize winner a trip to UK, the fourth prize winner a trip to Japan and the fifth prize winner, a trip to Singapore. 
4.2. The date of such travel will be during second week March 2012. The Winner must travel on the dates provided by Expedia and such dates are final and not changeable. If the Winner is unable to travel on such date, Expedia reserves the right to invalidate the Winner and declare another Eligible Applicant a Winner. However, the dates are subject to change and Expedia reserves the right to choose another date for travel which it shall communicate to the Winners.
4.3. Expedia shall decide the air carriers at its sole discretion and the class of travel shall be economy class. In the event the Winner upgrades himself/ herself, the cost of up-gradation shall be borne by the Winner. In the event the Winner is accompanied by any companion(s), all costs in relation to the same shall be borne by the Winner and Expedia shall not be liable and/or responsible for such costs in any manner whatsoever.
4.4. Duration of the trip shall be 6 days (“Trip”). The itinerary for the first 3 (three) days of the Trip shall be decided by Expedia Facebook contest winners. During these first 3 (three) days, Winners will also travel to Expedia’s offices to establish Expedia’s presence across the world. During the remaining 3 (four) days, the Winners shall be free to engage in such activities as they deem fit. The Winner shall be deemed to agree, affirm and declare that the Eligible Applicant shall indemnify and hold harmless Expedia, its affiliates, employees, directors, agents and other personnel against any claims, losses, damages, expenses (including attorney’s fees) which may be raised by any third party in relation to the Winners’ activities during the duration of the Trip.
4.5. Expedia shall provide the Winners with a per diem allowance of [USD 150 – USD 300 depending on the destination visited]  for the Trip, which will include expenses relating to food and beverage and travel.  The Winner shall be solely responsible for the arrangement of themselves and their guests (if any) for any additional travel to and from airport to their hotel / residence and the cost attached thereto. Further, the Winner(s) shall be solely responsible for any and all incidental expenses if any, in relation to the Prize including but not limited to the cost of shopping, food, beverages, etc., ordered and/or consumed by the Winner during their Trip. Further, the Winner shall be solely responsible for any further expenses with respect to extended period in accommodation, over and above the duration of the Trip.
4.6. Winners shall blog about their travel experiences to the destinations as mentioned above, during their Trip.
4.7. The Winner is solely responsible for travel to and from the Indian airport specified by Expedia and at the international destination to the hotel. The Winner is responsible for and shall bear any other costs, expenses and charges not specified as being included in the Prize description. For the sake of clarity, Expedia shall not be responsible to pay for any taxes, duties, levies, insurance, travel insurance, or any other costs as required under applicable laws and the same, if applicable, shall be solely borne by the Winner.
4.8. The Eligible Applicant shall execute any and all documents as may be required by Expedia in its sole and absolute discretion in order to claim the Prize and make travel and stay arrangements.
4.9. Expedia and its partners will assist the Winners in applications for visas and will bear costs for the same. However, Expedia or its partners shall not be held liable for rejection of any such applications or for late arrival of visas.
4.10. 10 (ten) Eligible Applicants as runners-up will receive Expedia vouchers worth INR 10,000 (Rupees Ten thousand) each and 20 (twenty) Eligible Applicants as runners-up will receive Expedia vouchers worth INR 1,000 (Rupees One thousand) each (“Coupon”).
4.11. The Prize is non-transferrable, non-redeemable and non-exchangeable. For the purpose of clarity, no cash equivalent or alternative prize will be given to the Winner(s) and the Winners cannot exchange the Prize for a gift of similar value.  Further, the Prize won is personal to the Winner and the Winner may not transfer the Prize to any other person.  During the duration of the Prize or the Trip, if any loss/damage, etc., is caused /incurred by the Winners and / or any guests travelling with them, Expedia shall not be liable for any such loss/damage etc. Further, Expedia shall not be responsible or liable for any change in flight schedule and/ or any other changes of such nature. Neither Expedia nor its employees have given a guarantee or any warranty regarding the quality of the Prize, or other arrangements made during the Trip and the Winner(s) agree not to hold Expedia and its employees, responsible with regards thereof. It is clarified that Expedia shall not be responsible for the quality, value, etc., in connection to the Prize.

5. Reproduction Rights:

5.1. By entering the Contest, the Eligible Applicant is deemed to have given Expedia the exclusive right over such Entry made by the Eligible Applicant and Expedia shall reserve the right to use such Entry of the Eligible Applicants for any further promotion that may be contemplated, without any money payable to the Winner.   

6. Eligible Applicants must supply full details as required above, and comply with all rules to be eligible for the Prize (as mentioned in paragraph 4). Expedia shall not be held responsible for ineligible Entries or Entries fraudulently made by the Eligible Applicant. Proof of age or eligibility is required.

7. General Rules:

7.1. The computer of Expedia and its agencies shall be the official clock for purposes of this Contest.
7.2. Winner agrees to cooperate with Expedia in fulfilling any legal obligation (if applicable).
7.3. The Winners will be required to furnish valid, government-issued photo identification and other documentation as required, prior to the date of travel to the satisfaction of Expedia. If these documents are not furnished within the time specified, or if notification is returned as non-deliverable, or if the potential Winner is found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Terms and Conditions, the Prize (as mentioned in paragraph 4) may be forfeited and an alternate Winner will not be selected. By their Entry, Eligible Applicants are agreeing to these Terms and Conditions and that the decisions of the judges and Expedia are final and binding in all respects.
7.4. If, for any reason, the Contest (in whole or in part) is not capable of running by reason of damage by computer virus, worms, fraud, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, technical or system limitations or failures, acts of God or terrorist attacks, hacking, or any other causes which prevents the participant to participate in this Contest, Expedia shall not be responsible for the same. Expedia and its agencies are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, invalid, corrupted or garbled entries, all of which shall be deemed to be void. Expedia and its agencies assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or jumbled, scrambled transmission, communications line failure, theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to the website of Expedia  or program/programming error or failure, or failure to capture any Entry information. Expedia  and its agencies are not responsible for injury or damage to the Eligible Applicant’s or to any other person's computer, other equipment, or person relating to or resulting from participation in the Contest, or from downloading materials or accessing the website of Expedia or IndiBlogger.in.
7.5. Expedia reserves its rights to cancel, modify or alter any terms and conditions and/or the entire Contest[1]. No correspondence in this regard shall be entertained.
7.6. Expedia’s usual booking terms and conditions shall apply in case of bookings made pursuant to the Contest and all such bookings are subject to availability.
7.7. By entering the Contest, Eligible Applicants will opt in for marketing communications and promotional information from Expedia in any form, i.e. e-mail, messages on mobile phone, etc.

8. Eligible Applicants will be deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions and to have agreed to be bound by them while entering this competition.

9. Any and all taxes and/or levies applicable under the laws of India shall be borne by the Winner in relation to the Prize.

10. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of India and any dispute arising out or in connection with these Terms and Conditions shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in New Delhi.