Techtalks: Traveltech
What's the best flight fares API for getting started quickly and cheaply?
I'm just getting started building a prototype for a OTA startup and I want to incorporate real-time flight fare data. I've read the overview article on travel APIs and have gotten started using the Amadeus self-service API. However the Amadeus API seems limited in how the flight offers are bundled—it appears that flight offers are a bundle of departing a returning flights instead of allowing the user to select which flights they want for each segment.
I've briefly looked at the other GDSs to what their APIs offer but it appears that neither of them offer self-service. Does anyone have experience getting access to their APIs for prototyping purposes? Additionally, their APIs seem to be a bit dated in terms of the tech (SOAP vs REST, XML vs JSON).
I've also considered "downstream" flight fare APIs like Skyscanner. I applied for a Skyscanner account but have not received any response after a week. I'm curious whether they have revenue requirements that need to be met in order to get access. Are their other non-GDSs APIs worth considering?
Another thought was to look at ATPCO for flight fare data. I'm not exactly sure where ATPCO fits into this picture in terms of the data they have.
Any advice or direction is welcome. I'm just getting started in the flight API space. I have significant tech experience but the travel tech space is completely new to me. Also, it might be worth mentioning that I'm US-based and would be looking to start with domestic flight data to begin.
Thanks!
asked Dec 24, 2019
answered Dec 31, 2019
answered Feb 18, 2020
answered Mar 28, 2022