Question 1

Can I use travel agency software to manage bookings across multiple suppliers and make sure I'm getting the best commission rates from each one?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software helps you track and compare what different suppliers offer you in terms of commissions and rates, though the detail of what you can see depends on the suppliers you work with and the plan you choose. When you connect multiple suppliers through the software, you get visibility into which ones give you the best deals on flights, hotels and other travel products. This means you can make smarter decisions about which supplier to book through for each customer, so you keep more of the money you make on each booking. The software stores information about your supplier agreements in one central place, so you do not have to hunt through emails or spreadsheets to remember what commission you get from each one. Some suppliers make this information available through their systems, while others require you to keep notes about your contracts yourself. Either way, having this tracked in your software means you can compare rates quickly when you are deciding which booking option to offer your customer. Keep in mind that commission rates can change, and some suppliers update their terms more often than others. You will need to stay on top of changes from your suppliers and update the information in your software as things change, or ask your software provider how they help you stay informed about rate updates. Check with your provider about what commission tracking features come with your plan and whether you can set rules that automatically steer bookings toward suppliers with better rates for you.

Question 2

Can I customize the colors, fonts and logos on my white label portal so it looks exactly like my travel agency instead of a generic booking site?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can customize the appearance of your white label portal to match your brand. When you set up a portal through glideFares, you have control over the design elements that make it feel like your own business rather than a generic travel booking tool. This means your customers see your logo, your colors, and your branding throughout the entire booking experience, which builds trust and keeps them focused on your agency rather than wondering whose site they're on. How much control you have over the customization depends on which plan you choose and what your white label agreement includes. Some plans let you change colors, fonts, logos and background images across the whole portal. Others may give you more advanced options like custom domains, custom CSS or the ability to add your own content and messaging in specific places. The level of customization available also depends on what your booking portal supplier can technically support, since some features require backend changes that go beyond simple visual adjustments. You should check with your account team about which customization options come with your plan and what additional branding work might be available as an add-on. They can walk you through exactly what you can change and what the process looks like for implementing those changes to your portal.

Question 3

Can I use the flight booking API to hold a price for my customer for a certain amount of time before they decide whether to buy the ticket?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the airline and the fare type, so this is not something we can promise across every search result. Some airlines and fares do allow a hold or price guarantee for a limited time, which gives your customer a window to think about the booking or check with their manager before they commit. Other airlines and fares require an immediate purchase with no hold period at all. When you search through the flight booking API, we return information about what each fare includes, and a hold period would be part of that detail if the airline offers one. The length of any hold varies widely. Some might be just a few minutes, while others could be several hours or even a day. You will see this information in the search results so you know exactly what you are working with for each option. This means you can tell your customer upfront how long they have to make a decision, or you can filter the results to show only fares that come with a hold period if that matters for your business. When you are ready to book, the API will let you know if the price and availability are still valid, so you will not accidentally charge your customer a different amount than what they saw. If the price has changed or the seats are gone, the system will flag that before the booking goes through. Check the details in each search result to see which fares give you a hold period that works for how your customers like to book.

Question 4

Can I use travel agency software to set different booking rules or restrictions for different types of customers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can apply different rules and restrictions depending on your customer type and business needs, though exactly what you can control depends on which features are available in your plan. For example, some agencies need to restrict certain customers to specific suppliers, set spending limits, require approval steps before bookings go through, or show different pricing to different customer groups. Travel agency software lets you build these kinds of controls into your booking portal or system so that each customer sees and can book only what you want them to see and book. The rules you can set up typically include things like limiting which suppliers appear for each customer, setting minimum or maximum price thresholds, requiring a manager to approve bookings before they are confirmed, applying different commission or markup rates to different customer groups, or restricting bookings to certain travel dates or destinations. Some systems also let you require additional information or documentation before a customer can complete a booking, or set quotas so customers cannot exceed a certain spending limit per month. Keep in mind that the restrictions you can apply will depend on what your travel agency software supports and what your suppliers allow. Some suppliers may override certain restrictions you try to set, and complex rules sometimes require manual setup or configuration rather than self-service controls. You should review the features available in your plan to see which restrictions you can apply, and test them with a small group of customers before rolling them out widely to make sure they work the way you expect.

Question 5

Can I use a white label portal to let my customers search and book trips in their own currency instead of always showing them prices in mine?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can set up your white label portal to display prices in different currencies based on where your customers are or what they prefer. This makes the booking experience more natural for them and removes confusion about exchange rates. The portal can handle the currency conversion in the background so your customers see prices in their local money while you manage everything in your home currency on your side. How this works depends on your setup and which suppliers you are connected to. Some suppliers support multiple currencies natively, which means the portal can pull pricing in different currencies directly from them. Other suppliers may only provide prices in one or two currencies, which limits your options. You will want to check with your account team about which currencies your suppliers actually support so you know what you can genuinely offer to your customers. Keeping track of exchange rates and making sure prices stay accurate across different currencies requires careful attention. Your portal can be set to refresh rates automatically or on a schedule you choose, but you should monitor this regularly to catch any major swings that might affect your margins. Some travel agencies choose to apply a small buffer to their currency conversion to protect themselves from rate changes between when they quote a customer and when the booking actually goes through. Talk to your account manager about which currencies your connected suppliers support right now, and ask what the process is for adding new ones if you need them for your customers.

Question 6

Can I get hotel room images and descriptions through the API so my customers can see what they're booking before they pay?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can access hotel room photos and detailed descriptions through the API, though the amount and quality of content depends on what each hotel supplier provides to us. Most suppliers give us a good range of images showing the room layout, bed types, bathrooms and key features, along with text descriptions of amenities like air conditioning, WiFi or views. This helps your customers make an informed choice about which room type suits them best before they commit to a booking. The content available varies from hotel to hotel and supplier to supplier. Some properties upload extensive photo galleries and detailed room information, while others provide just the basics. Occasionally a hotel might not have images available yet, even though rooms are bookable through the API. You can pull this information into your portal or white label website so customers see it during the search and booking process, the same way they would on a direct hotel website. Keep in mind that images and descriptions are only as current as the hotel keeps them updated with the supplier. If a hotel renovates a room or changes its setup, there can be a delay before those changes show up in the API data. You should test the API with a few different hotels and room types to see what level of detail you get, since the variation can be significant. This way you'll know whether you need to supplement the API content with your own descriptions or images for certain properties.

Question 7

Can I use travel agency software to manage bookings from multiple customers at the same time without getting them mixed up?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software is built to handle multiple customer bookings at the same time and keep them completely separate. Each booking has its own record with the customer's details, itinerary, payment information and confirmation numbers, so you can work with dozens of bookings without any confusion about who booked what or when. The software organizes all your active bookings in one place so you can search for a specific customer or trip, see the status of each booking, and access all the confirmation details whenever you need them. You can also set reminders for important dates like when a customer needs to check in, when their visa expires, or when they need to pay the final balance. This means you spend less time hunting through emails and documents to find information about a particular booking. You can also manage different types of bookings at the same time, whether that's flights, hotels, car rentals or packages that combine all three. The software tracks each one separately so you always know exactly what you have sold and what you still need to arrange. Some agencies also use the software to let customers log in and see their own bookings, which means they stop asking you for confirmation details and you save time answering the same questions over and over. Check what reporting and search features your software offers so you can find bookings quickly when a customer calls with a question or problem.

Question 8

Can I use the flight booking API to see what the total price will be before my customer commits to buying a ticket?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can see the total price through the API before your customer books. When you search for flights, the API returns pricing information that includes the base fare, taxes, fees and any other charges that will apply to that booking. This means you know the complete cost upfront and can show your customer exactly what they will pay before they click to purchase. The price you see in the search results is what your customer will pay at checkout, so there are no surprises after they commit. Some airlines and routes may have different fee structures, and those differences will show up in the total price the API returns. You can compare prices across different flights and airlines by looking at these totals side by side. Keep in mind that prices can change between the moment you search and the moment your customer actually books, since airfares update constantly throughout the day. The API shows you the current price at that moment, but if your customer waits before completing their purchase, the price could go up or down. If price changes matter to your business model, you may want to check how long a price hold lasts with each supplier before building that into your workflow.

Question 9

Can I see how many rooms a hotel has available at different price points through the API so I know what options to show my customers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the hotel booking API returns available rooms at different rates when you search, so you can see the range of prices and inventory for each property. When your customers search for a hotel, the API pulls back the rooms that property has open on those dates along with the rate for each one. This means you get visibility into what is actually available to book rather than just a single price or a generic room count. The exact details you receive depend on what the hotel supplier provides through their connection to us, since different properties share different levels of detail about their inventory. You can use this information to help your customers make better decisions. Instead of showing them one room at one price, you could display several options so they can compare. Some properties might have a basic room at a lower rate and a deluxe room at a higher rate, and your customers can pick what works for their budget. You can also see if a hotel is running low on availability, which might help you encourage customers to book sooner rather than wait. Keep in mind that room availability and pricing change constantly as other travelers book. The information you get through the API is current at the moment you search, but it can change within minutes. If you want to show your customers real-time pricing across multiple options at the same property, you would need to make your search request to the API and display those results right away. Check your API documentation to see exactly which room details and pricing breakdowns your hotel supplier connection includes.

Question 10

Can I let my customers search and book trips through my white label portal without giving them access to every single supplier in my system?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can control which suppliers appear in your white label portal and what your customers see when they search. When you set up your portal, you decide which airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies and other travel suppliers to include in your search results. This means you can curate the options available to your customers based on your business needs, your profit margins, your preferred partners, or any other reason that makes sense for your agency. How much control you have depends on your setup and your plan with us. Some agencies want to show customers everything available to give them maximum choice and transparency. Others prefer to limit results to a smaller set of trusted suppliers or properties that they have negotiated better rates with. You might also want different suppliers visible to different customer groups, or you might want to hide certain options during specific seasons. The flexibility you get comes down to how your portal is configured when we build it for you. You should talk to our team about what supplier filtering options are available in your plan and how to set them up in your portal. They can walk you through which controls you have access to and how to use them to show your customers exactly what you want them to see.