Question 1

Can I take my customer and booking records with me if I ever move to different travel agency software?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in almost all cases you can. The records belong to your business, and travel agency software is normally able to export your customers, your bookings and your invoices into an ordinary spreadsheet file that you can open, keep and hand to another system. What comes out cleanly is usually the list style information, such as customer names and contact details, booking references, travel dates, suppliers, amounts and the status of each booking. The parts that travel less well are the things attached around a booking, like scanned passports, tickets, supplier confirmations, staff notes and the message history with a customer. Those often have to be downloaded separately, and on some systems they come out as a folder of files rather than something the next system can read straight in. How much of this you can do yourself does depend on the software and the plan you are on. Some let you export any screen you can see, some prepare a full copy of your account only when you ask the support team, and some charge for that help. It is also fair to ask how long your information is kept after you stop paying, because you do not want to discover the answer at the moment you are leaving. The sensible step is to try an export during your trial rather than years later, open the file, and check that the columns you actually care about are really in there.

Question 2

Can my staff cancel a hotel booking through the hotel booking API without contacting the hotel?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most cases your staff can cancel a hotel booking straight through the API, without calling or emailing the hotel. You send a cancellation request with the booking reference, the supplier handles it, and you get an answer back saying whether the cancellation went through and what the booking looks like now. Whether a booking can be cancelled at all depends on the rate your customer chose and on the supplier behind it. Refundable rates usually allow a cancellation up to a deadline, and after that deadline a charge may apply or the booking may no longer be cancellable online. Non refundable rates often cannot be cancelled through the API even though the request is still accepted, and the reply will simply tell you that nothing is due back. A few suppliers do not support cancellation through their API at all, so those bookings still have to go through their support team. Because of that, it helps to put the cancellation terms in front of your staff on the booking screen, so nobody promises a customer a free cancellation that the rate never allowed. It is also worth saving whatever reference the supplier sends back when a cancellation succeeds, since that is your proof if a charge is questioned weeks later. Check which of your connected suppliers allow cancellation through the API and what each one sends back, then decide whether your team cancels from your own screens or whether a few suppliers still need a manual step.

Question 3

Can the flight booking API tell me if a flight time has changed after my customer has booked?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a flight booking API can normally tell you when an airline has changed the time of a flight your customer has already booked, but the way that news reaches you is not the same with every supplier. The usual method is a retrieve booking call. You send the booking reference and the API sends back the reservation exactly as the airline holds it at that moment, including the current flight times. If the airline has moved a departure, swapped the aircraft or cancelled a leg, the new details appear there, and each flight carries a status that tells you the segment has been changed rather than simply confirmed. Many agencies run this call automatically each day for every booking that has not yet travelled and compare the result with what was stored at booking time, so a change cannot slip past. Some suppliers go further and push the change to you instead of waiting to be asked. They place a message on a queue or send a notification to a web address you register with them, and your system picks it up shortly after the airline makes the change. That is the faster arrangement, but it depends on the supplier and on the agreement you hold with them, so please do not assume it is switched on until you have checked. Low cost carriers often behave differently here from full service airlines, and a handful pass changes on only to the contact left on the booking. The sensible next step is to ask each of your suppliers which of these two methods they support, then agree how often bookings that have not yet departed should be checked and who contacts the customer once a change appears.

Question 4

Can my customers pick their seats when they book a flight through the flight booking API?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most cases your customers can pick a seat while they book, although what you are able to offer depends on the airline and on the fare they have chosen. Seat selection normally works in two steps. Once a flight is selected, the API returns a seat map for each part of the journey, showing which seats are free, which are already taken and which carry an extra charge. Your customer chooses a seat, and that request is sent to the airline along with the booking. Seats near the front, by a window or beside an exit are often paid seats, so the seat map also carries the cost of each one, and that amount is added to what your customer pays before the booking is completed. The honest limit is that not every airline shares a seat map, and some release seats only at check in rather than at the time of booking. Low cost carriers and full service carriers behave quite differently here, and the same airline may allow free seat selection on one fare and charge for it on another. When no seat map comes back, the booking still goes through as normal, and the sensible thing is to tell your customer they can choose a seat later with the airline directly. Before you promise seat selection on your website, it is worth asking us which of the airlines you are connected to return seat maps, and whether paid seats are included in your plan.

Question 5

Can my travel agency software keep track of refunds owed to my customers after a cancellation?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software can keep track of refunds owed to a customer after a cancellation, and it is worth setting up early. When a booking is cancelled, the software records the cancellation against the original booking, so what your customer paid, what the supplier will give back and the cancellation charge you keep are all held in one place instead of in someone's notebook. What the software cannot always do is work out the refund amount by itself. That comes from the airline, hotel or other supplier, and it often arrives days or weeks later. Where the supplier connection sends refund information back automatically, your software can pick it up and update the booking. Where it does not, or where the cancellation has to be arranged by email or through a supplier portal, your staff will need to enter the amount once it is confirmed. Once a refund is recorded, most systems show you which refunds are still waiting, so nothing sits forgotten while a customer keeps calling to ask. You can usually see refunds owed to customers and refunds owed to you by suppliers separately, because the two rarely arrive together. Whether you also get reminders about them, or a fuller accounting view, depends on your plan. The thing to check next is how each of your main suppliers passes refunds back, and whether refund tracking is already included in your current plan or needs adding.

Question 6

Can the hotel booking API book several rooms at the same hotel in one reservation?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most cases it can. A hotel booking API usually lets you search for more than one room at once, telling it how many guests are staying in each room, and it will come back with what is available and what each room costs so the whole party can be booked together. When you send the booking, the API normally asks for a guest name for every room, because the hotel needs to know who is arriving in each one. What comes back varies by supplier. Some return a single reference that covers all the rooms, and others split the stay into separate references, one per room. Both are normal, and your booking screen should show whichever the supplier gives you so your staff can quote the right reference if they need to call the hotel. There are limits worth knowing. Suppliers usually set a ceiling on how many rooms can go through in one request, and once a party is larger than that it becomes a group booking, which the hotel handles on its own terms rather than through the ordinary API. Cancellation rules can also apply to each room separately, so cancelling part of a party does not always work the way people expect. Rooms can sell out between the search and the booking as well, especially when you are asking for several at once. Ask your supplier how many rooms they allow in a single reservation, and make sure your portal collects a guest name for each room before the booking is sent, so nothing is held up at the hotel on arrival.

Question 7

Can a flight booking API search and book a trip with several stops?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a flight booking API can support searches and bookings for trips that include several cities. This can help your staff or customers plan one journey with different flight sections, such as flying into one city, travelling onward from another, and returning from a third. The available routes and fares come from the airlines and other flight suppliers connected to the API. The search can usually show suitable flight times, cabin choices, fare conditions and the total journey details before the traveller decides. However, not every airline or fare can be combined in one booking. Some journeys may need separate reservations or tickets, and this can affect baggage transfers, changes, cancellations and support when a flight is disrupted. These details should be shown clearly before payment whenever the supplier provides them. A multi city booking may also have different ticketing deadlines or fare rules for each part of the trip. Availability can change while the traveller is choosing, so the itinerary and fare should be checked again before the booking is completed. The exact options depend on the airlines, suppliers, API connection and features included in your glideFares plan. Ask glideFares to confirm whether your connected flight suppliers support multi city searches and how separate tickets and fare rules will be displayed on your booking portal.

Question 8

Can travel agency software remind my staff to follow up with customers after their trip?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software can help your staff remember to contact customers after they return from a trip. A follow up task can be linked to the booking and given to the staff member who handled it. This gives the team a clear reminder without relying on personal calendars or handwritten notes. The follow up can be used to ask whether the journey went well, request feedback, check if any issue still needs attention, or start a conversation about future travel. Staff can record the result against the customer or booking, so another team member can understand what happened if they need to help later. The exact options depend on the software setup and the plan you use. Some systems may create reminders automatically from the return date, while others may require staff to add a task themselves. Messages may also need to be sent manually unless a suitable communication feature is included and has been set up with the required customer permission. Check whether your current setup can create tasks from booking dates, assign them to the correct staff member, and record the outcome, then decide when and how your agency wants each follow up to happen.

Question 9

Can my white label travel portal match my agency's branding?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your white label travel portal can usually be presented with your agency's branding so customers feel they are booking with your business. This can include your business name, logo, brand colours and selected images across the main search and booking pages. The amount of control available depends on your plan and the design used for your portal. Some parts may allow a choice of colours, wording and page content, while certain booking steps may follow a fixed layout. Travel details, fare rules and other supplier information must also remain clear and accurate, so not every label or message can always be changed. A consistent design helps customers recognise your business as they move from searching to booking and viewing their confirmation. Before launch, it is sensible to check the portal on both computers and mobile devices, especially the logo, menus, buttons, forms and payment pages. You should also review any customer notices and booking terms to make sure the wording suits your business and the travel products you sell. Next, gather your current logo, preferred colours, suitable travel images and approved customer wording, then check which branding options are included in your glideFares plan.

Question 10

Can a hotel booking API show how far each hotel is from the places my customer needs to visit?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a hotel booking API can often help show how close a hotel is to an airport, attraction, business area or other place that matters to your customer. This can make it easier to compare suitable hotels without checking every address separately. The information available depends on the hotel supplier and the details returned through the API. Some suppliers provide an accurate hotel location that can be used to calculate distance, while others may provide only an address or a general area. A map service may also be needed if you want to show the route, driving distance or expected travel time. Distances should be presented clearly because a straight line distance is not the same as the distance by road. Travel time can also change because of traffic, transport options and local conditions. For this reason, the result should help with the search rather than be treated as a guaranteed journey time. Check which location details your chosen hotel suppliers provide, then decide whether your booking page should show distance, a map or both.