Question 1

Can I see real-time availability and prices from multiple hotel suppliers all at once, or do I have to check each one separately?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a hotel API can pull availability and prices from multiple suppliers in a single search, so your customer sees all the options together on one results page. The way this works is that when someone searches for a hotel on your portal, the API sends that request out to the suppliers it is connected to, collects all the results back, and displays them side by side. This saves your customer time because they do not have to visit ten different websites to compare what is available. However, the speed and completeness of those results depend on which suppliers your API is connected to and how those suppliers work. Some suppliers have more hotels in certain regions than others, and some update their availability faster than others. If a supplier is slow to respond or does not have much stock in the area your customer is looking for, those results might not show up, or they might take a few extra seconds to appear. You should check with us about which suppliers are included in your plan and how comprehensive their coverage is for the destinations you want to sell. One more thing to keep in mind is that the price you see in the search results might not include everything your customer will pay. Some suppliers include taxes and fees in their headline price, while others add those on later. Your customer should always review what is included before they commit to a booking. Have a look at your API documentation or ask us which suppliers are connected to your account and what their coverage looks like for your main markets.

Question 2

If I connect to a flight API, can I see which airlines are available on a route before I decide to start using it?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can search for flights on a route through the API to see what airlines and schedules come back, and this helps you decide whether it will work for your business. Most flight APIs let you run test searches without having to commit to anything or start paying fees, so you can check availability on the routes your customers actually want to book. This is smart to do before you build your portal or tell your customers what you offer, because you want to know whether the airlines they expect to fly with will show up in your results. Keep in mind that the airlines available can shift over time. New airlines might start flying a route, or existing ones might stop, and seasonal routes come and go. The API will show you what is available right now, but you should plan to check back regularly, especially if a customer later asks for a flight you saw during your test searches but cannot find anymore. Some airlines also have blackout dates or limited schedules, so what you see on one search might not be the same on another day. The best approach is to test the API on all the routes you plan to sell, or at least the most popular ones, and make a note of which airlines show up and how often flights run. If you find that important airlines are missing or flights are too thin on the ground for your market, you will know before you invest time and money in building your portal. Talk to your provider about which suppliers are connected to the API and whether they can add more if you need them.

Question 3

Can I see how many bookings my travel agents have made each month, and how much commission they have earned?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the software gives you reporting tools so you can track bookings and commissions by agent or team member over any time period you choose. You can see how many flights and hotels each person has booked, the total value of those bookings, and how much commission has been earned based on the rates you set for them. This helps you understand which agents are most active and gives you the data you need for payouts and performance reviews. The reports you can pull depend partly on which plan you are on and what features you have set up. For example, if you have multiple commission rates for different agents or different types of booking, the system will break down the earnings by those rules. If you use sub-agents or let other travel agencies sell through your portal, you can also see their activity separately from your own team. You can usually export this data into a spreadsheet so you can use it in your own accounting software or share it with your finance team. Some agencies use these reports to spot training needs, reward top performers, or check that commissions are being calculated correctly. Check what reporting options come with your plan and whether you can customize the reports to show exactly what you need to see.

Question 4

If I connect to a flight API, how long does it usually take to get a booking confirmation after my customer pays?

Accepted Answer

This depends on the airline and how their system works with the API. Most of the time you will get a confirmation within minutes, and your customer will receive their ticket details straight away. Some airlines are faster than others, and a small number may take a few hours to issue the ticket, particularly if they need to carry out extra checks or if there are system delays on their end. When your customer pays on your portal, the booking request goes to the airline through the flight API. The airline then issues the ticket and sends it back through the system. During busy times or for certain routes, this process can sometimes take a bit longer than usual. You should always let your customer know that they may need to wait a short time before they see their ticket, rather than promising it will appear instantly. The best thing to do is check with your API provider about what happens after payment and how long confirmations typically take for the airlines you will be selling. They can tell you whether there are any airlines on your portal that are known to be slower, and whether there are any steps you need to take to speed things up. You should also set clear expectations with your customers about when they can expect to receive their ticket confirmation.

Question 5

If a hotel becomes fully booked after I show it to my customer but before they pay, will the booking still go through?

Accepted Answer

No, the booking will not go through if the hotel runs out of rooms between when your customer sees the price and when they complete their payment. This is one of the main reasons we ask you to understand how hotel APIs work before you start selling rooms to your customers. When a hotel API shows you a room and a price, that is not a guarantee that the room is still available. The API is showing you what was available a moment ago, but hotels sell rooms constantly and inventory changes very quickly. Some portals hold rooms for a short time to give customers a chance to book, but most do not. The hotel API will only confirm that a room is actually yours when the payment goes through successfully. If your customer tries to pay and the room is no longer available, the payment will fail and you will need to offer them a different room at the same hotel, a different hotel altogether, or give them their money back. This is frustrating for your customer and for you, but it is how the hotel industry works because hotels cannot lock rooms away for every person who looks at them online. Before you launch your portal, ask your supplier what happens when a booking fails due to lack of availability and whether they can hold rooms for a short time. This will help you set the right expectations with your customers and know what to do when it happens.

Question 6

Can I customize the look and feel of my white label portal to match my own brand, or does it have a fixed design?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can customize your white label portal to match your brand. The whole point of a white label solution is that your customers see your company name, your logo, and your colors when they use it. The portal appears under your own web address, not under the glideFares name or any other supplier name, so it feels like a natural part of your business. How much you can customize depends on your plan and what you need. You can typically change colors, upload your logo, adjust the layout, and customize text and messaging throughout the portal. Some travel businesses want simple changes like their logo and colors, while others want to adjust how features are organized or add their own policies and terms. The level of customization available does vary depending on which package you choose, so it is worth checking what options come with your plan. If you have specific branding needs that go beyond the standard customization, you should discuss that with the team so they can tell you whether it is possible and what it would take. Start by reviewing what customization options are included in the plan you are considering, and let the team know if your branding requirements are more complex than the standard setup.

Question 7

When a hotel API shows me a price for a room, can I be sure that price will not change between when my customer sees it and when they actually pay?

Accepted Answer

Not always, and it depends on the supplier and the type of rate. Some hotel rates are fully flexible and the price can shift up or down based on availability and demand, even after your customer has seen it on your portal. Other rates are fixed and locked in once your customer searches, so the price they see is the price they will pay. The hotel API will tell you which type of rate you are looking at, but you need to make sure your portal is clear with your customers about whether prices can change. Some portals show a note that says the price is only guaranteed once they complete the booking and payment goes through, while others hold the price for a short time after search. When your customer moves forward to payment, that is usually when the price is confirmed and locked by the hotel supplier. At that moment, if the rate has changed, most systems will either tell you the new price or pull the booking back and ask your customer to search again. The exact behavior depends on how the API is set up and what rules you have configured on your portal. You should check with your portal provider about how price changes are handled in your setup, and whether you want to show your customers a message that explains when prices are guaranteed. You should also look at the rate types coming through from the hotel suppliers so you know which ones are flexible and which ones are fixed.

Question 8

Can I set my own rules about which flights and hotels show up in the search results on my portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can control what appears in your search results, but the level of control depends on what you are trying to do. If you want to exclude certain airlines, hotel chains, or properties entirely, you can usually set those filters in your portal settings so they never show to your customers. You can also set rules around things like star ratings, price ranges, or specific amenities, so only the options that match your business model appear in the results. However, some filters work differently depending on whether you are pulling data from the supplier APIs or using your own contracted inventory. If you are selling flights and hotels that come directly from the suppliers, your ability to filter or reorder results may depend on what the API itself can do. For example, you might not be able to hide a particular flight time or hotel room type if the supplier does not offer that level of control through their connection to us. The same applies if you want to create custom rules that go beyond what the standard filters offer. If you have your own contracts with certain hotels or airlines, you have much more freedom to decide exactly which products show up and how they are displayed. You can choose to show only your contracted properties, or mix them with the supplier results and control the order they appear in. Some travel businesses use this to highlight their preferred partners or to ensure they are selling inventory they have already paid for. Check what filtering options are available in your specific portal plan, and talk to our team about any custom rules you want to apply beyond the standard search filters.

Question 9

Can I see what flights are available on a particular route before I build my booking portal, so I know which airlines to advertise?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can search the flight API to see what airlines and routes are available, but keep in mind that the results you see when you search will depend on the suppliers the API is connected to and the search filters you use. When you are setting up your portal, you can run test searches for the routes your customers are most likely to book, and that will give you a good idea of which airlines appear regularly and what kind of fares are on offer. This helps you plan your marketing and decide which routes to highlight on your homepage. One thing to understand is that the availability you see in a test search may change by the time your actual customers start booking. Flight schedules get updated, airlines add or remove flights, and fares go up and down all the time. So even if you see a particular airline on a popular route today, there is no guarantee it will always be there. The API will show you whatever is available at the moment your customer searches, which is what matters when they are actually ready to book. You should also know that some airlines may not be on the API at all, depending on how the suppliers are set up. If there are specific airlines you want to offer to your customers, check with us about whether they are included before you launch your portal. Run a few test searches on the routes that matter most to your business, and that will tell you whether you are getting the selection you need.

Question 10

Can I set up different commission rates for different travel agents or team members who book through my portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can set different commission rates and markups for different people who have access to your portal, though the exact way this works depends on how your portal is structured. If you have sub agents or team members booking through your system, you can typically configure their individual margins so that one person might add a certain percentage to flights while another adds a different amount to hotels, or one agent sees higher wholesale prices than another based on their agreement with you. The way this usually works is through separate login accounts or user roles in your portal. When you set up each person's access, you can also set their cost basis and the prices they see, so the system automatically calculates what they owe you or what they have earned based on those settings. This is much easier than tracking commissions manually on paper or in a spreadsheet, and it keeps your pricing consistent and fair across all your agents. However, the exact options available depend on your specific setup and which features your plan includes. Some portals let you set rates by individual agent, while others work at the team or location level. Some systems also let you set different margins for different suppliers or route types, which gives you more control over your pricing strategy. Check with your account manager about what commission and markup options are available in your particular setup, and they can walk you through how to configure them for your team.