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Lorizer Bortie (CS Global)
22 jul 2026, 15:11 CEST
Your Ref:
Case number: 15217385
Our Ref: 40-864331599
Dear Ricardo ,
Following a review of the above-referenced claim, we are able to advise on the following:
Currently, flights on the Booking.com platform are provided via a third-party aggregator, which acts as an intermediary to the airline(s).
When a customer makes a flight booking through the Booking.com platform, the booking is directly with the airline. Booking.com is not a contractual party to the flight booking concluded by the customer, and it only acts as the intermediary between the customer and the respective third-party aggregator and service provider (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Airline Service Providers”).
Booking.com only provides the platform on which service providers (such as third-party aggregators and airlines) can promote and sell their travel experiences (including flights) and the consumer can search for, compare and book them. Indeed, when a customer makes a flight booking on the Booking.com platform, the customer concludes two separate agreements:
(i) an intermediation contract with the third-party aggregator (for the flight ticket) and
(ii) a contract of carriage with the service provider/airline (for the flight itself).
These agreements between the customer and the Airline Service Providers can be accessed and reviewed from the payment page at the end of the booking flow and are concluded when Booking.com sends the customer a confirmation email on behalf of the Airline Service Providers that the offer has been accepted.
Booking.com is a party to neither the intermediation contract nor the contract of carriage concluded between the customer and the Airline Service Providers. Therefore, Booking.com is not responsible nor liable for the performance of the above-mentioned contracts.
This is clearly stated in Clause E2. (Contractual relationship) of the Booking.com Customer terms of service.
In this case, we fully and explicitly deny liability and disagree with and reject the above-mentioned claim and any claimed amount for the reasons set out above.
As soon as we received the claim, we promptly contacted the third-party aggregator in order to address the requests mentioned therein. The third-party aggregator communicated the following:
GotoGate stated that, upon reviewing the order, they confirmed that a formal request for a full refund has been correctly submitted to Qatar Airways.
GotoGate further stated that they are currently waiting for the airline to process the request and release the funds. GotoGate stated that, as soon as Qatar Airways transfers the refund to them, they will immediately process the payout to You.
GotoGate also stated that they understand Your frustration regarding the timeline and that they are actively monitoring the status of this request with the airline.
The Claim was submitted against a Support Company (please see further information about the Support Companies at 2.2.2 above) which hereby denies all liability in respect of the Claim because:
(i) the Support Company does not operate the Platform. The Platform on which the Booking was made, is operated, hosted, controlled, managed, offered, made available and maintained by Booking.com in and from within the Netherlands;
(ii) the Support Company has no relationship whatsoever with visitors of the Platform;
(iii) the Support Company does not operate and is not authorized to act as any form of process or service agent of Booking.com.
Therefore, there is no (legal/factual/contractual) relationship between You and the Support Company on the one hand and between the Support Company and the Service Provider on the other hand. Furthermore, the Support Company has no involvement in, nor any responsibility for the service or any matter, event, circumstance, action or omission related to, in or (caused) by the Service Provider.
The Claim should be submitted against Booking.com BV, which is (as already mentioned) incorporated and registered in the Netherlands. Any relevant correspondence, notices or communications in respect of the Claim or the Platform should therefore be addressed to: Customer Relations Booking.com BV Oosterdokskade 163 1011 DL Amsterdam The Netherlands in accordance with the appropriate and relevant mandatory service requirements.
Please note that - as explicitly set out in the Legal notice on the Platform - Booking.com does not accept or assume any domicile at any place, location or office in the world (also not at the office of its Support Companies), other than its above-mentioned registered office in Amsterdam.
Finally, please note that the above is not an exhaustive summary of our position, rights, defense, claims and evidence. Please consider this a preliminary response. I hope (and trust) that we have informed you sufficiently.
If you have any further questions or comments regarding the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards,
Ms L.Bortie
CS Legal Support Advisor
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