Travel API Integration: Top APIs & Reasons to Implement Them

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Key Takeaways

• Modern travel businesses leverage travel APIs to stay ahead of hospitality tech trends and create multifunctional, user-friendly services.
• Travelers plan to increase spending on experiences in 2024, prioritizing online marketplaces that consolidate services like transfers, flights, hotels, and homestays.
• Travel agencies, hotels, tour operators, aggregators, and car rental companies can enhance their platforms with additional functionality through travel API integration.
• Projected to grow from its $36.94B valuation in 2024, the B2B travel market is expected to reach $78.30B by 2030.

Travel API integrations have revolutionized how travel businesses access and present content from various suppliers. Application programming interfaces create a unified platform where customers can find all travel products in one place.

Despite economic pressures, travelers plan to increase their spending on experiences in 2024. At the same time, they prefer online marketplaces that offer comprehensive services with airport transfers, flights, hotels, and homestays in one place. Therefore, travel businesses need to consolidate all travel products on their platform.

At Acropolium, we’ve been enhancing business operations with sophisticated hospitality software solutions, ranging from custom development to API integrations. In this post, we’re discovering travel API types, discussing their benefits, and sharing tips for successful integration into your system.

What is a Travel API, and Why Do Travel Businesses Need Integrations?

Travel APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) enable developers to integrate travel-related data and services into applications. They allow travel companies to offer flight, hotel, and car rental bookings on their websites.

Here’s how they work: the company sends a request to the service provider’s server, which retrieves and returns the necessary data. The company then displays customized options, including prices and availability, to customers, who can book directly on the site while the API manages the transaction in the background.

It can be anything from a flight status API to APIs for hotel searches that provide travelers with more insights and control over the trip information. Hotel, flight, and booking APIs are utilized across various sectors in the travel industry to enhance services and streamline operations:

• Travel agencies use APIs to access and book travel services directly from their websites.
• Hotels and accommodation providers integrate APIs for overall hotel data management, which helps them manage room availability, pricing, and bookings in real-time.
• Tour operators and travel planners leverage integrations to offer customized tour packages and itinerary planning.
• Travel insurance providers utilize them to provide insurance quotes and coverage options based on travel itineraries.
• Car rental companies implement APIs to display vehicle availability, prices, and booking options.
• Travel deal aggregators need APIs to gather and compare travel deals from multiple sources, offering users the best options.

Types of Travel APIs

Modern travel and leisure businesses strive to keep up with the emerging hospitality tech trends to win the hearts of travelers. And travel APIs help them with the technical part, where complex frameworks form multifunctional, user-friendly services. Furthermore, the B2B travel Market, valued at $36.94B in 2024, is projected to reach $78.30 billion by 2030.

Let’s explore the common types of APIs used by travel service providers.

Flight Booking APIs

Airline APIs provide access to flight schedules, prices, seat availability, and booking. This way, they enable travel companies to create flight booking systems or display flight information, usually coordinating well with flight tracker APIs.

Hotel APIs

An API for hotel search will offer information on room availability, rates, and booking. It allows travel companies to build hotel booking systems or showcase hotel details. Some even cooperate with hotel chatbots, allowing the bot to deliver information gathered through the API.

Payment APIs

Big data-based frameworks for financial operations facilitate access to payment systems, allowing travel companies to process payments for bookings on their platforms.

Car rental APIs

Such interfaces supply car availability, rates, and booking details, helping travel companies create car rental systems or display rental options.

Destination APIs

APIs for flight information use AI/ML algorithms to collect details about destinations, including weather, local attractions, and events. In this way, travel companies can build destination guides or offer destination information.

Hotel and Room Mapping APIs

Powered by machine learning and IoT technology, hotel APIs eliminate duplicate and inconsistent hotel listings, standardizing hotel and room content. This helps to deliver unique and detailed information to the customers.

Popular Travel and Flight Booking APIs

Depending on your company’s size and scope of operations, you can pick the right framework to integrate into your existing system. We have compiled the most widely used travel APIs for different purposes, breaking down their key features, pros, and cons.

Amadeus for Developers

The Amadeus API is an AI-powered tool that simplifies finding and comparing flights and fares. It allows businesses to track the lowest fares, most booked destinations, book flights, analyze pricing trends, and predict delays.

The enterprise package includes nearly 200 APIs, featuring new RESTful APIs for self-service and legacy SOAP APIs with deeper functionality.

Best for: travel agencies, airlines, hotel chains, travel insurance providers, and car rentals

Key features:

• Access to real-time flight schedules, availability, and pricing from multiple airlines.
• Capability to book flights directly, select seats, and pick ancillary services.
• Live updates on flight status and gate information.
• Detailed fare rules, restrictions, and fare pricing options.
• Ability to find the lowest available fares across multiple airlines and dates.
• Functionality for complex itineraries, including multi-city and round-trip bookings.
• Features for modifying, canceling, and managing existing bookings.
• Access to additional services such as baggage, meals, and in-flight services.
• Secure payment processing capabilities.
• Collection and management of traveler details and preferences.

Disadvantages: Ticketing via Amadeus API integration is only available through consolidators, meaning you won’t have access to negotiated corporate rates.

Sabre API

Sabre APIs offer real-time access to essential travel information. This includes alternate dates, airports, fares, and rules, as well as flight bookings, ticketing, payments, and reservation management.

They also provide seat maps, reporting, and data analytics. Sabre’s standout feature lies in itinerary management, allowing users to modify flight segments, dates, and details to customize travel plans efficiently.

Best for: corporate travel management companies, travel deal aggregators, travel insurance providers, hotels, travel agencies.

Key features:

• Access to essential travel data from flight schedules, fares, rules, and availability in real-time.
• Seamless handling of flight ticketing and payment processing.
• Reservations management, itineraries, and Passenger Name Records (PNRs).
• Availability of seat maps to select preferred seating options.
• Access to comprehensive reporting and data analytics for insights into travel trends and performance.
• Flexibility to add or remove flight segments, change dates, and customize travel plans.
• Customizable options and integration features with other systems and platforms.
• High scalability and reliability to support large-scale travel operations.

Disadvantages: Sabre API integration for commercial use may entail supplementary charges.

Skyscanner API

The Skyscanner flight search API is known for its ability to find affordable flights. Its travel API is renowned for its ease of integration, supporting multiple languages like JSON, XML, and JSONP, making it compatible with various programming frameworks and greatly valued by engineers for its flexibility.

Best for: hotel booking platforms, travel deal aggregators, mobile app developers, travel meta-search engines, airline companies, travel agencies

Key features:

• Comprehensive search functionality to find flights based on destination, dates, and price criteria.
• Ability to compare prices across airlines and booking platforms to find the best deals.
• Access to live flight information, including schedules, availability, and pricing.
• Options to customize flight searches based on preferences such as cabin class, number of stops, and airline preferences.
• Integration with booking platforms to facilitate flight bookings directly from the application.
• Ability to search for flights from specific locations and to find nearby airports.
• Features to discover new destinations and travel ideas based on user preferences and interests.

Disadvantages: The flight booking API’s availability is limited to specific countries and regions globally.

Booking.com APIs

The Booking.com API is a valuable resource for developers, offering detailed insights into hotel data like availability, prices, facilities, and policies to enrich your platform. This is a go-to choice for companies seeking reliable travel booking APIs, as it facilitates hotel bookings’ retrieval, creation, and modification.

Best for: hotel booking platforms, travel agencies, tour operators

Key features:

• Access to extensive hotel information like room availability, prices, facilities, and policies.
• Capability to facilitate direct hotel bookings through the API, enabling users to complete reservations seamlessly.
• Support for easy integration into websites, mobile apps, and other platforms, enhancing the user experience.
• Access to real-time data on room availability, ensuring accurate booking information for users.
• Ability to provide hotel information and booking functionalities in multiple languages to cater to varying user needs.
• Options to customize search parameters, filtering criteria, and display preferences to tailor the user experience.
• Availability of rate plans, promotions, and special offers to provide users with the best booking options.

Disadvantages: Integration with this travel API may pose additional fees, potentially representing a substantial expense.

Hotelbeds API

The Hotelbeds API is designed to streamline the integration of hotel reservations into websites and apps. Partners gain access to Hotelbeds’ extensive global accommodation inventory in real-time, simplifying tasks like searching for options, confirming bookings, managing reservations, and more.

Best for: hotel booking platforms, tour operators, travel agencies

Key features:

• Quick access to a global inventory of accommodations.
• Streamlined integration of hotel reservations into websites and apps.
• Simple search for accommodation options.
• Quick and direct confirmation of bookings.
• Tools for partners to manage and update their inventory of accommodations.
• Live-updated pricing information on pricing and availability.
• Reporting and analytics features to track booking performance and user engagement.

Disadvantages: This API for hotel search may require technical expertise for integration and could incur costs based on usage.

Travelport API

The Travelport API is a set of tools and resources provided by Travelport, a global technology company serving the travel industry. It allows developers to access and integrate travel content, including flight, hotel, car rental, and other travel-related services, into their applications and platforms.

Best for: corporate travel departments, travel agencies, car rentals, travel insurance companies

Key features:

• Live access to up-to-date information on pricing, availability, and booking options.
• Smooth booking and reservation functionality.
• Flexible integration into websites, mobile apps, and travel booking systems.
• Distribution of travel content across multiple channels,
• Reporting and analytics tools to monitor booking performance and user satisfaction.
• Access to travel content from around the world, catering to various travel needs and preferences.
• Secure payment gateways for risk-free transactions.
• Comprehensive documentation, SDKs, and developer support to facilitate integration and development processes.

Disadvantages: Since this travel API comprises a large set of functionalities, its implementation may require higher expertise and thus cause additional expenses.

TripAdvisor API

The TripAdvisor API is one of the company’s widgets. Its major advantage lies in its capability to display reviews. By integrating this framework, companies can foster user engagement and potentially enhance website conversion rates.

Its functionality encourages customer participation and cultivates a perception of credibility and trustworthiness for the brand.

Best for: travel agencies, hospitality software providers, restaurant booking platforms, travel blogs and websites, travel app developers, tourist destination companies

Key features:

• Access to a vast database of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more.
• Features to encourage user participation, such as leaving reviews, ratings, and photos.
• Customization features to match the branding and design of the website or application.
• Location-based recommendations and suggestions for hotels, restaurants, and attractions.
• Dynamic content updates to ensure that the latest reviews and ratings are displayed to users.
• Reporting and analytics and reporting tools for user engagement and trends tracking.
• Integration with various websites, mobile apps, and third-party applications.

Disadvantages: This content travel API is restricted solely to websites and applications related to consumer-facing travel services. Furthermore, reliance on user-generated content may lead to inconsistent or biased information, requiring careful management and moderation.

Advantages of Using Travel APIs

There are many reasons why companies implement travel booking engine API, as every company’s operations are different and unique. Still, whether it’s a flight status API or hotel room search framework, it can bring lots of benefits business-wise when integrated right.

Cost Reduction through Smooth Data Flow

Manual management of reservations and customer data often results in errors and inefficiencies. Travel APIs facilitate seamless data flow between systems, eliminating redundant tasks and reducing overheads.

Faster Launch of Fresh Offerings

Traditional development processes for customized travel products can be time-consuming. However, APIs grant instant access to real-time travel data and pre-built tools, enabling rapid prototyping and validation of new offerings.

Personalized User Experiences

Travel APIs consolidate booking information, empowering customers to customize their travel experiences based on preferences like budget, location, and preferred brands. This streamlined process allows for creating tailored packages within a single platform.

Additional Monetization

In addition to core travel services, APIs enable the integration of supplementary offerings like travel insurance and local activities into the booking process. As one of the famous AI/ML use cases in hospitality, this functionality facilitates upselling opportunities and drives higher transaction values.

Scalability and flexibility

Leveraging flexible and scalable API platforms simplifies the integration of new data sources and third-party services, ensuring readiness for future growth and innovation. Moreover, companies operating with custom hotel booking systems or management software usually have built-in integration protocols that allow for easy connection to the chosen tools.

Increased sales

With travel API-enabled systems, businesses can seamlessly integrate with potential distributors, expanding their sales reach and enhancing revenue streams.

Steps to Integrate Travel APIs

It takes a strategy to reveal the full potential of your future integration. Make sure to follow these steps before starting a conversation with the API’s vendor.

• Choose APIs for your specific needs. Some travel APIs specialize in specific sectors like flights or hotels, while others offer broader coverage. Choose accordingly for your application or business model.
• Look for easy-to-integrate options. Clear documentation, robust developer tools, and responsive customer support facilitate smooth integration into your application.
• Make sure the vendor’s data is secure and updated. Your app’s effectiveness hinges on reliable information. Opt for travel APIs that regularly update and meticulously curate their datasets to ensure users receive credible travel insights.
• Ensure the vendor’s pricing fits your budget. Evaluate the API’s pricing structure, which may involve subscription fees, per-call charges, or data consumption fees. Choose a pricing model aligned with your budget and anticipated usage scale. If you’re setting up the integration process with a web development company, make sure that their pricing is transparent and fits your financial expectations.

Challenges and Solutions in Travel API Integration

When planning integration with other software, it’s essential that your in-house team has the expertise to connect your system with the third-party provider’s framework. If your inner team experience is not enough, you can always turn to an outsourcing vendor, but it takes some research to find a verified partner.

Complex Integration

APIs often have intricate integration requirements due to the diversity of travel data and services. Businesses may struggle to understand and implement these requirements seamlessly.

Solution

Employ experienced developers or integration experts who have expertise in working with APIs. Their knowledge and skills can streamline the integration process and ensure smooth implementation.

Data Compatibility Issues

Incompatibility between the API’s data format and the business’s systems can hinder integration efforts. Companies may need help in accurately mapping and synchronizing data fields with the chosen frameworks.

Solution

Utilize middleware or data transformation tools to bridge the gap between different data formats. These tools can convert data into compatible formats, facilitating seamless integration between the API and the business’s systems.

Security Concerns

Integrating external travel APIs may introduce security vulnerabilities, including data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Solution

Enforce robust security measures like encryption, authentication, and access controls to protect data exchanged between the API and the business’s systems. Set up regular security checks and compliance audits to find and address vulnerabilities proactively.

Scalability Challenges

As business needs evolve, scalability becomes a crucial consideration for API integration. Scaling integration infrastructure to accommodate growing data volumes and user demands can pose technical difficulties.

Solution

Work with experienced developers or integration experts to design a scalable architecture accommodating future growth and expansion. Implement scalable cloud-based solutions and employ load-balancing techniques to distribute traffic efficiently across the integrated systems.

Why Integrate Travel APIs?

Many well-known travel applications and hotel platforms that offer integration capabilities already operate with external travel and airline APIs to ensure all-encompassing user functionality. Let’s examine some success cases from global hospitality leaders.

Airbnb

Airbnb integrated travel APIs from hotel and vacation rental providers, expanding its property inventory worldwide. This streamlined booking process improved user engagement, booking rates, and satisfaction, solidifying Airbnb’s position as a leading online travel marketplace.

Expedia

Expedia created a travel booking platform by integrating APIs from hotels, airline companies, and car rentals. This seamless integration enhanced user traffic, conversion rates, and customer loyalty, reinforcing Expedia’s status as a top online travel agency.

Final Thoughts

Travel APIs offer a wealth of benefits, from enhancing booking experiences to expanding accommodation options. However, the number of options is immense, and each may pose some implementation challenges.

At Acropolium, we understand the importance of secure software development. Through 20+ years of crafting innovative serverless solutions for global industries, our experienced team delivers GDPR-compliant software and ISO-certified processes.

Be it custom software development or integration for off-the-shelf tools that you use, we will be there to take your business up a notch with cutting-edge technology. From choosing the right APIs for your logistics, hospitality, or healthcare operations to their implementation, we will be there for you.

We offer flexible subscription-based cooperation to accommodate your needs and budget. Contact us today to discuss how we can elevate your project to new heights!

Sources of Information

• Global B2B Travel Report 2024 — Research and Markets