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Most Popular Travel & Booking API's in 2021

Most Popular Travel & Booking API's in 2021

Travel APIs are used by online travel companies, travel agents, hotels, resorts, homesteads, vehicle rentals and customers to make their travels easy and hassle-free. Applications built with trendy APIs will definitely remain a favorite with your customers. 

The latest APIs in the market aim to provide rich user-experience and highly efficient when compared to the previous versions. Travel APIs act as control panels for developers that makes it easier for them to link different software components without tinkering with the main source code. The idea is to make the customer’s life easier by making third-party integrations, so a person who wants to book a hotel room, can book it at the hotel, and order a car rental as well. 

The most common type of API used globally is the GDS API or Global Distribution System that acts as a single point of access for accommodating flight tickets, hotel booking, car rentals, ferries and other travel products used by online booking websites, travel agents, travel corporations. Resellers of travel services don’t have to connect with individual service providers, but rather, connect to a single API. The most commonly used GDS providers are Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre.

People like to use all-in-single-place platforms, henceforth the requirement of an application programming interface that connects different software products, their data streams and functionalities is quite high. A developer team that knows the best APIs in the market is an asset to application development. The whole idea is to draw the customer closer and eliminate any discomforts they are likely to feel while travelling and booking tickets. Here are the most commonly used APIs in the travel industry. 

  • Amadeus API

The newest version for Amadeus for developers was developed in November 2018 and the old version was decommissioned. The new platform will definitely bring innovation and enable the developers to try out new ideas by providing quick access to Amadeus travel APIs. Not only can they develop and launch apps quickly, but they can also collaborate with each other and use all the resources and support that they need.  

Amadeus API comes in two formats – Self-service APIs and Enterprise APIs, each of them designed to meet different customer demands. Self service APIs are more suitable for independent developers or small startups and for those who need to Start or test new REST/JSON APIs in minutes. With its pay-as-you-go pricing model, you may not be able to customize, since it has only selected APIs. However, Amadeus constantly updates its APIs so there is always something new to look out for. 

Amadeus Enterprise APIs holds an entire catalog of customized APIs that would let developers scale needs as and when required. With the Enterprise API option, the customized pricing scheme lets the developers go on a full creativity mode, and get decimated support from account managers. It is also possible to use APIs from both the catalogs depending on what the project requires. 

Once an application is developed with the Amadeus API, it is possible for the customers to search and book flights, perform fare search, compare flights, search hotels, book rooms, rent transport, do a destination content search and plan an entire trip, including travel insurance reservations . 

  • Travelport API

Travelport API makes it possible to join data from other GDS systems too like Apollo, Worldspan and Galileo. The major advantage of this API is that it has the biggest number of listed hotel properties, but it doesn’t have the insurance or allow for transfers inside its API. The bundle of functions include Air API Connect, Rail API Connect, Travelport rooms, Branded Fares and other services, Customer profiles, etc. 

Travelport Trip Services API is another special feature of the API and it gives the perfect balance of speed and performance. The API is designed specifically for mobile applications, hence it comes packed with high performance and lightweight. The pilot program has been released and the initial users are happy with the performance. Developers will find this API easy to use since the requests are modelled on Open Travel Alliance (OTA) API standard and Open Distribution Methodology (ODM) concepts. 

The API does come with its set of limitations as it doesn’t allow for automated sea travel booking; it is however available for direct manual booking.

Popular flights  data API are Skyscanner APIs, FlightsStats API, SITA API for flight booking, each with its own set of features and limitations.  Hotelbooking APIs can be Hotelbeds Group APIs, JacTravel API, Bonotel API, HotelsPro, Travco XML API, 

  • Sabre APIs

Sabre APIs comes with almost the same features as Amadeus, and it covers 8 utilities:

  • Airlines reservation system
  • Cruise reservation system
  • Hotel booking system
  • Profiles
  • Trip management
  • Session management
  • Utility
  • Car rental and rail support 

And just like Travelport, Sabre also doesn’t support insurance and transport options. Otherwise, the features are all encompassing. For example in Sabre Airline APIs, it is possible to check seat availability, low-cost flights, flight schedules, fare changes and online bookings. Once the APIs are integrated into the website, it is possible to manage multiple bookings without a hitch. 

Conclusion

Travelers like to have all their options in hand when they plan a trip. This is where a travel API comes in handy because it makes the job of the developers faster, and with more accuracy. People wish to make their reservations in a single platform without having to visit multiple websites. If you are looking to build a travel website, then integrate all the required GDS into the booking mechanism of the website. This way, the customers do not have to visit other websites to get their travel bookings done.  

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