Techtalks: Traveltech

Hi, Francisco!
Thank you for your question and feedback

First of all, let me draw your attention to the fact, that from API point of view your request is not correct. {flight-orderId} you can see in Amadeus API reference for bookings management is not a PNR. This is an order ID, you can find this order ID in /booking/flight-orders response when you create a booking using POST verb. This is Amadeus internal identificator that is required to get PNR information using self-service or enterprise REST API of Amadeus.

However your assumption about access issue is also correct. You can not retrieve any PNR from GDS without appropriate permissions and not always PNR that passengers see on their tickets are the same PNRs that can be retrieved from Amadeus. If several systems are involved in the booking process, (say, an OTA booked a flight via Sabre, but an airline operating the flight hosts its CRS in the Amadeus system), each of them generates its own booking reference to the file with flight details. 
So, to work with a certain flight order in Amadeus, you have to enter the record locator (6-character code) returned particularly by Amadeus  — not the PNR number you see on the e-ticket or in the booking confirmation e-mail.

Please contact us in case you have more questions, we will be happy to help you with GDS integration for your business

Hi Cho
 
Yes, Travelpayouts looks like a nice option. Rome2Rio doesn’t have booking capability. It has search only.
 
If you’re fine with affiliate programs, also check Skyscanner, Allmyles, and KIWI. You may also consider Booking.com and Expedia affiliate programs, but they mostly address accommodation booking.

It depends. There’s no single best flight API. Your choice depends on the specific problem you’re trying to solve (e.g. enable flight and fare search, or track flight status with departure and arrival times, or enable flight booking). Generally, there are two basic options: source data from global distribution systems (or GDSs, the major, worldwide flight aggregators) or directly from airlines. In some cases, you can check APIs by tech providers like FlightStats.

If you need the widest airline coverage and you want to implement flight booking, check GDS APIs by Sabre, Travelport, and Amadeus. Each of them covers about 400 active airlines. They search for flights and low fares, and do booking and ticketing. The problem with this approach is that some airlines like Lufthansa set surcharges for booking through GDSs because they want to encourage direct booking or direct cooperation with resellers.

So, the option is to integrate and partner directly with each airline you need. That, however, presents an even larger number of problems as there are only about 40 airlines that have standardized XML-based APIs and each of them is slightly different. So, the engineering effort may be enormous. On the bright side, with direct connections, you get the widest ancillary booking support, seat selection, baggage customization options, etc. The most balanced approach to flight search and booking is to combine GDSs with some direct integrations.

If your goal is general info without booking capabilities, you may not need GDS or direct integration. The first place to go for fresh flight fare data is ATPCO, the main fare distribution provider. The largest pool for timetables, routes, and connections is provided by Innovata, a travel tech company. Also check FlightStats and Flightradar24 for flight and airport details like delay indexes, arrivals and departures, aircraft equipment, airport FIDS, flight status, etc.
If you need something simple and don’t want to go through raw airline data, you may contact OTAs or metasearch platforms to integrate their APIs. The key provider here is Skyscanner, but also consider Expedia or Kiwi.

For more details, have a look at our travel API's articles.

Galileo is one of three GDSs along with Apollo and Worldspan that comprise Travelport GDS. Travelport has a pretty straightforward workflow to get started with product.

1. Request trial access to Galileo APIs and submit a form on Travelport’s website. There, you’ll have to choose your preferred GDS from the three (Galileo in your case). This is free, and you will receive a key to Galileo in a few minutes. Here’s a link to documentation to help you.
2. When you’re done with testing, contact an Account Manager from your profile or Travelport itself, and they will supply you with authorization.
3. After you are authorized, contract finalization and certification will start. This is called the Pre-Production stage. Travelport asks you to complete a Universal API Requirements Questionnaire [.docx] to evaluate your capacity needs. After completion, you should request a sales representative call to review your questionnaire and finalize certification.
4. When you receive your API certification, you enter the Production system. Make sure your developers and systems comply with Travelport’s requirements. You will receive further instructions from your account manager.

If you're looking to enhance your travel website with real-time flight, hotel, and booking information, integrating the Amadeus API can be a game-changer. The Amadeus API offers a wealth of travel-related data, enabling you to provide users with up-to-date travel options, pricing, availability, and more. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of integrating the Amadeus API into your travel website and explore some project examples that showcase its capabilities.

Step 1: Register and Access the Amadeus API:
To get started, visit the Amadeus for Developers website and create an account. Once registered, you can access your API credentials, including your API key. This key is essential for authenticating requests and gaining access to the Amadeus API endpoints.

Step 2: Choose the Right API Endpoints:
Amadeus offers various API endpoints that cater to different travel needs. Whether you're looking for flight data, hotel information, or travel activities, select the relevant endpoints based on your website's offerings. For example, if your site focuses on flight search and booking, you might use the Flight Offers Search API.

Step 3: Integrate the API into Your Website:
The integration process involves making API requests from your website's backend to fetch data and display it to users. You'll need programming skills to implement API calls using your chosen programming language (such as JavaScript, Python, or PHP). Most APIs use RESTful architecture, so you'll craft HTTP requests to access the data you need.

Step 4: Handle API Responses:
API responses come in JSON format and contain the information you requested. You'll need to parse these responses to extract the relevant details, such as flight prices, hotel availability, or booking options. Your programming skills will come in handy here to manipulate and present the data in a user-friendly format on your website.

Step 5: Implement User Interface Elements:
Integrating the API isn't just about data retrieval—it's about creating a seamless user experience. Design user interface elements, such as search forms, result displays, and booking interfaces, that allow users to interact with the data you've fetched from the Amadeus API.

Step 6: Test Thoroughly:
Thoroughly test your integration to ensure that API requests are working as expected, responses are accurate, and the user experience is smooth. Address any bugs or errors that arise during testing.

Step 7: Monitor and Maintain:
Once your integration is live, monitor its performance and usage. Keep an eye on API changes and updates from Amadeus that might require adjustments in your code. Regularly update your API credentials to ensure security.

Amadeus API Integration Examples:

1. Flight Search and Booking:
Imagine you have a travel website that allows users to search for flights and make bookings. By integrating the Amadeus Flight Offers Search API, you can provide users with real-time flight options, prices, and availability. Users can input their travel details, and your website will display relevant flight choices from the API.

2. Hotel Information and Booking:
For a website focusing on hotel bookings, integrating the Amadeus Hotel Search API can provide users with information about available hotels, prices, amenities, and more. Users can search for hotels based on their preferences, and your website will fetch data from the API to display the options.

3. Travel Inspiration and Activities:
If your website aims to inspire travelers and suggest activities at various destinations, integrating the Amadeus Points of Interest API can offer details about attractions, landmarks, and activities. Users can explore travel ideas and receive information about things to do in different locations.

Incorporating the Amadeus API into your travel website empowers you to offer valuable and dynamic travel information to your users. By leveraging the capabilities of the Amadeus API and combining them with your website's features, you can create a comprehensive and engaging travel platform that enhances the user experience. ClearHolidays™, with its expertise in the travel industry, can guide you in optimizing your Amadeus API integration for maximum impact.

The main providers of car rental APIs are global distribution systems (GDSs): Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport. You should contact them directly to gain access and receive and API key.

It may be a challenging task for a small business to get full access to GDSs solutions, so you can consider traveltech providers that support car rental connection like Trawex or Travelpro.

There’s also some support at online travel agencies (Skyscanner, Priceline, etc). To access those, you normally must use affiliate partner contacts. Finally, one of the largest car rental suppliers, Avis, has a public API.

Besides APIs, many suppliers support affiliate links and banners, if that works for you. You may check car rental connectivity options in our article in more detail.

Hi Olexander
One more question you may be able to help with...although I suspect it'll be difficult to answer.
In the google hotel Ads API, if I understand it correctly, google requires connected hotels to provide all pricing data for a period of 30 days for each length of stay between 1 and 7 days. Do you know if google applies rate limiting to developers who may want to query this data?
Thanks
Ted

White label and an API are two different solutions which serve a similar purpose - communication between the two platforms.

White label is a ready-made unbranded template that you can deploy on your website and it will link you to the provider of certain services. So now your customers won’t need to leave your site as they can access what they need from your page. Additionally, you can tailor a white label to match your brand. This way your customers won’t tell that it’s not a part of your website but a third-party template.

An example of a travel white labeled product is a template solution by Expedia that allows for adding their accommodation bookings to your website. You can read more about it in our article about Expedia Partner Solutions.

Working in the back end, an API pulls out the requested data from external servers and displays it on your side in your way. This means that you design your own interface and use the data only. When deciding on a travel API, you can check our article with the major APIs on the travel market.

Of two options, API involves a more sophisticated integration but at the same time, it’s more adjustable. Prior to getting at it, answer yourself whether you do need an API for this specific product. Oftentimes it turns out that a white label solution will do for you. And with minimal tech resources (the company you take the white label from, does the work for you) you can quickly include a travel solution in your platform.

Integrating a flight API into your flight website involves a series of steps. First, select a suitable flight API provider and sign up to obtain API credentials. Familiarize yourself with the API documentation to understand the available endpoints, request/response formats, and authentication methods. Plan your integration based on the desired features, such as flight search and booking. Set up server-side integration using a programming language and any necessary SDKs. Implement flight search functionality by making API requests and displaying the results on your website. If desired, enable flight booking by integrating the provider's booking API. Implement proper error handling for API requests and consider edge cases. Thoroughly test your integration before deploying it to your live website. Stay updated with the API provider's documentation for any changes or updates. Remember to comply with the provider's terms of use and usage limitations.

ABH Trabill is one of the best travel agency management software. It has everything to operate back office of a travel agency. By this software you can manage your sales, office expenses, client ledger, vendor ledger, refund system, passport management and many more.

To operate this software you don’t need to know the pure accounting system. If anybody has small knowledge about computer operating system, he can easily operate this software.

List of module

Sales or invoice
Money receipt
Quotation
Refund
Vendors
Accounts/ cashbook
Client
Passport management
Dynamic product add system
Office expenses (Head, sub head wise)
Report like sales, collection, expenses, profit/loss, daily or monthly financial statement, product ledger, sales person commission, etc.
User management like sales, accounts, owner.

Hello Everyone ,

The Hotel Search Api I would recommend are -

1. Amadeus
2. Sabre
3. HotelBeds
4. Bedsonline
5. Travellanda
6. Travel Boutique Online

These are some of the hotel Search API I would suggest. If anybody wants to know more about HotelApi go through this link  .

Yes, their API has low entry requirement, but I often find their prices incompetitve.

The process of connecting a booking engine with Expedia via API can vary in time and cost depending on multiple factors such as the complexity of the integration, the number of features required, and the availability of resources. Connecting to Expedia's API can be a complex task that requires technical expertise, so it's recommended to hire a professional developer or a development team to handle the integration.

The cost of connecting to Expedia's API can also vary depending on the scope of the project and the rates of the development team involved. It's important to keep in mind that there may be additional costs associated with maintaining the integration, such as ongoing support, updates, and bug fixes.

As for whether a deposit is required, this is something that would need to be discussed with Expedia directly. The terms and conditions of the integration may vary depending on the agreement reached between the booking engine and Expedia.

The process of connecting a booking engine with Expedia via API can be complex, time-consuming, and costly, and it's recommended to hire a professional developer or development team to handle the integration. The cost and terms of the integration would need to be discussed with Expedia directly.

I’m sorry for the slow response. If you have IATA ID, you can try negotiating the Amadeus Enterprise partnership. It has wider API support across regions.

If you don’t, try contacting consolidators. We had a positive experience with Mondee. If Mondee doesn’t work, check other consolidators. Here’s our article with several consolidator options to consider. You may also check Travelfusion. They must have ticketing covered and you don’t necessarily need IATA ID. 

Let me know if that helps! 

The top GDS integration for travel start-ups includes Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. When choosing a GDS provider, it's important to consider factors such as cost, range of services, and level of support and training provided. You should also consider your business's specific needs and requirements and how the GDS provider can meet those needs.

Good evening all
Please how do i create a flight booking, after getting data from flight offers, will i use the array i got from flight offers into "flight-orders"?
I have done all the process of flight search and my challenges now is the process of booking, please help

As per my outlook The best flight API are :-

1. Amadeus
2.  Flightapi
3. Sabre
4. Mystifly
5. TravelPort
6. Travelfusion

These are the api that I would suggest . Hope this information will help you . To know more about flight api go through this following link .

I am using Nobeds property management system API. It has Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and other channels accesible via API

In the digital age, travel APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) have revolutionized the way we plan, book, and experience travel. APIs allow developers to access and integrate various travel-related data and services into their applications, websites, and platforms. The availability of free travel APIs has opened up new opportunities for businesses and individuals looking to create innovative travel solutions without breaking the bank. In this guide, we'll explore how to access free travel APIs and leverage them for your travel-related projects.

1. Understand Travel APIs and Their Benefits:
Before diving into the world of free travel APIs, it's essential to understand what APIs are and the benefits they offer. Travel APIs provide access to a wide range of data, including flight information, hotel availability, car rentals, weather forecasts, and more. These APIs empower developers to create seamless travel experiences for users, making it easier for travelers to find information, compare options, and make bookings.

2. Identify Your Travel API Needs:
Determine what kind of travel-related data or services you need for your project. Are you looking for flight information, hotel availability, travel itineraries, or something else? ClearHolidays, a platform known for its travel insights, can be a great starting point to identify the types of APIs you may require.

3. Research Available Free Travel APIs:
Numerous online resources offer access to free travel APIs. Websites like RapidAPI, GitHub, and public API directories provide a wide range of options to choose from. Using search terms like "free travel APIs," "flight APIs," or "hotel APIs" can help you find the APIs that match your requirements.

4. Review API Documentation:
Once you've identified potential free travel APIs, carefully review their documentation. API documentation outlines the endpoints, request parameters, response formats, and authentication methods required to access the data. It's crucial to understand how to make API requests correctly to retrieve the desired information.

5. Register and Obtain API Keys:
Most free travel APIs require registration to obtain an API key. The API key serves as a unique identifier for your application and is often used for authentication purposes. Register on the API provider's website, create an account, and generate an API key to start using the API.

6. Test the API:
Before integrating the API into your application, it's recommended to test it using API testing tools or platforms. This step ensures that you're able to retrieve the data you need and that the API responses meet your expectations.

7. Integrate the API:
Once you're satisfied with the API's functionality, it's time to integrate it into your application. Whether you're building a travel booking website, a mobile app, or a travel assistant chatbot, incorporating the API's data will enhance the user experience.

8. Handle Errors and Updates:
Travel APIs may undergo updates or experience occasional errors. Stay informed about changes by subscribing to API provider notifications or monitoring their documentation. This proactive approach will help you manage any potential disruptions in your application's functionality.

Conclusion:
Free travel APIs have democratized access to valuable travel-related data and services, enabling developers to create innovative and user-friendly travel applications. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can successfully identify, obtain, and integrate free travel APIs into your projects. Whether you're a travel startup, a developer, or an individual with a passion for travel, leveraging APIs can elevate your travel experiences to new heights.

Remember, ClearHolidays can provide you with insights and ideas about which travel APIs might be the most suitable for your specific needs. Happy API exploration and travel innovation!

Hello,

You’ve come to the right place.

We at AltexSoft specialize in travel-related APIs integration. Only recently, we’ve rebuilt an OTA’s booking engine with Amadeus GDS integration.

Our sales team will be in contact with you shortly to discuss the details.