Question 1

Can my website compare hotel rates from several suppliers in one search?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your website can search hotel availability from several suppliers and present the available options together. This can give your customers a wider choice of hotels, room types and booking conditions without making them search each source separately. The results need to be organised carefully because different suppliers may return the same hotel under slightly different names or descriptions. Where matching information is available, the booking portal can group those results so the customer can compare offers for the same property. Some duplicate listings may still appear if the supplier information is incomplete or inconsistent. The cheapest offer is not always the same product. Meal plans, room names, cancellation rules, payment terms and included taxes can differ between suppliers. The portal should show these details clearly so the customer can compare the full booking conditions before choosing. Availability and confirmation also remain subject to the supplier that provides the selected room. Check which hotel suppliers are included in your glideFares plan, whether they can be searched together, and how duplicate hotels and different room conditions will be displayed on your portal.

Question 2

Can I make the travel portal look like my own website instead of a separate booking system?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a white label travel portal can usually be presented with your own business name, logo, colours and website address. This helps customers feel that they are searching and booking directly with your travel business, rather than being sent to an unfamiliar booking service. The pages can be arranged to give customers a consistent journey from your main website through to search, booking and confirmation. The amount of design control can vary. Some portals allow changes to colours, images, menus, page wording and promotional sections, while others use a set layout with only basic branding choices. Your website address, payment page and customer messages may also need separate setup. What can be changed will depend on the portal plan, the travel products included and any limits placed on particular booking pages by the supplier or payment service. It is also worth checking how the portal will look on phones and tablets, since many customers will search and book from a mobile device. Ask to review a sample portal and confirm which parts can carry your branding, whether you can use your preferred website address, and which pages may keep a standard layout before you approve the final design.

Question 3

Can my travel agency software show me which destinations and travel products are selling best?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software can help you understand which destinations and types of travel are most popular with your customers. You can use booking reports to compare activity across flights, hotels, transfers, tours and other products that are available through your portal. What you can see depends on your plan, the reports enabled for your business and the information received from each supplier. Reports may help you review confirmed bookings, cancellations, travel dates, destinations, booking sources and the products your customers choose. Some reports may also separate bookings made by customers from those handled by your staff or sub agents. This information can help you decide what to promote, which destinations deserve more attention and where your team may need better offers. It is important to remember that a report only reflects bookings recorded in the system. Enquiries, abandoned searches and bookings handled elsewhere may not appear unless those details are captured separately. Check which sales and booking reports are included in your plan, then make sure the date range, booking status and product filters match the activity you want to review.

Question 4

Can my customers request adjoining rooms or an early check in when they book a hotel?

Accepted Answer

Yes, customers can usually add requests such as adjoining rooms, an early check in, a late arrival, a quiet room or a particular bed type during the hotel booking process. The request can be collected on your glideFares portal and included with the booking when the connected hotel API supports it. A special request is not the same as a confirmed room feature. The hotel supplier may pass the request to the property, but the property decides whether it can provide it. Availability can depend on the room layout, occupancy and arrangements on the day of arrival. The booking confirmation should therefore describe these items as requests unless the supplier clearly confirms them as part of the booked room. Some hotel APIs accept only certain request types, while others provide a general notes field or do not accept special requests at all. Important needs, such as an accessible room, should not be treated as guaranteed unless the booking details clearly say they are confirmed. The customer may also need to contact the property before travelling. Check which special request fields your connected hotel supplier supports, and make sure your booking page tells customers that requests remain subject to confirmation by the property.

Question 5

Can my customers hold a flight booking and pay later before the ticket is issued?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in some cases your customers can reserve a flight for a short time and pay before the ticketing deadline. This depends on the airline, the fare rules and the flight supplier connected to your glideFares portal. Some fares allow a booking to be held, while others require immediate payment and ticketing. When a hold is available, the booking can be created without issuing the ticket straight away. The customer or your staff must complete payment and issue the ticket before the deadline shown with the booking. A held fare is not always guaranteed until ticketing, and the airline may change the price, withdraw the seat or cancel the reservation if its conditions allow this. The length of the hold can vary by airline, route, travel date and fare type. Some suppliers may not return a hold option through their flight booking API at all. Your portal should only offer pay later when the connected supplier provides a valid ticketing deadline, so customers are not given an option that the airline will not accept. Ask glideFares which connected flight suppliers support held bookings on your plan, then check how ticketing deadlines and payment reminders will appear to your staff and customers.

Question 6

Can my staff manage customer enquiries together and see who is handling each one?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software can help your staff keep customer enquiries in one place and make it clear who is responsible for each request. This can reduce missed follow ups and prevent two people from replying to the same customer without knowing what the other person has done. An enquiry may include the customer's travel dates, destination, preferences, notes and the options already discussed. Staff can usually update its progress as they prepare a quotation, wait for a reply or turn the enquiry into a booking. The exact workflow depends on the features included in your plan, and some systems may require staff to update the status themselves rather than changing it automatically. Access can also depend on how staff roles are set up. A team member may be able to view all enquiries, only enquiries assigned to them or enquiries belonging to their branch. Notifications and reminders may be available, but their timing and delivery can depend on the chosen settings and communication service, so they should not be treated as a guarantee that every customer will be contacted. Before choosing your setup, check how enquiries are assigned, which notes are visible to each staff member and whether unfinished requests can be found quickly.

Question 7

Can my customers choose breakfast or another meal plan when they book a hotel?

Accepted Answer

Yes, customers can choose from the meal plans offered with a hotel room when that information is supplied through the connected hotel booking API. Depending on the hotel and supplier, this may include room only, breakfast, half board, full board, or another available arrangement. Each meal plan is normally linked to a particular room rate and its own booking conditions. The portal can show these choices separately so the customer can compare what is included before selecting a room. The wording and level of detail depend on the information received from the supplier. Meal plans are not available for every hotel or every room. A hotel may offer breakfast with one rate but not another, and the available choice can change with the dates, room type, or occupancy. Any special meal request, such as vegetarian food or allergy needs, may need confirmation from the hotel and should not be treated as guaranteed just because it was added during booking. Whether these options can be displayed clearly on your website also depends on your connected API and portal plan. Ask glideFares to check which meal plan details your hotel supplier provides and how they will appear during search and booking.

Question 8

Can a company ask a manager to approve an employee's trip before the booking is confirmed?

Accepted Answer

Yes, travel agency software can support an approval step before a business trip is confirmed. An employee can search for suitable travel, choose an option and send the request to the person responsible for approving company travel, instead of completing the booking immediately. The approval rules can usually be based on details such as the traveller's department, the type of trip or the company's travel policy. The manager may be able to review the selected flight or hotel, see the expected cost and approve or reject the request. The exact controls available depend on the portal and the plan being used. Approval does not always guarantee that the same option will still be available afterward. Flight seats, hotel rooms and fares can change while the request is waiting, because availability comes from the supplier. Some booking methods may also require immediate confirmation and cannot be held for approval. In that case, the employee may need to search again after approval or the company may need a different booking process. Before setting this up, check who should approve each traveller, how long requests can wait and whether your connected suppliers allow a selected option to be held before confirmation.

Question 9

Can families search for hotel rooms using their children's ages and get suitable options?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a hotel booking API can let families enter the number of adults and children, along with each child's age, so the search can return suitable rooms and rates. This helps avoid showing rooms that do not allow the requested mix of guests. The results depend on the information supplied by each hotel provider. Hotels may use different rules for child ages, maximum room occupancy, extra beds and meals. Some rates may include a child in the existing bedding, while others may require another room or an extra bed. The final price can also change when the ages or guest details are corrected. The booking page should carry the same guest details from the search into the room selection and final confirmation. It should also show the room occupancy, meal arrangement and any available notes about child policies before payment. However, the API may not always provide every detail about cots, extra beds or special family requests, and these may need confirmation after booking. Before offering family hotel bookings, check which occupancy and child age details your connected suppliers provide, then test several family searches to make sure the rooms, policies and final amounts are displayed clearly.

Question 10

Can I set different profit margins for flights and hotels on my travel portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your glideFares white label travel portal can usually be set up with different profit margins for flights, hotels and other travel products. This lets you choose how much you want to earn from each type of booking instead of applying the same margin to everything. The exact controls available depend on your portal setup and plan. A margin may be added as a fixed service charge or as a percentage of the booking value, depending on the product and the way the supplier sends its fares. In some setups, you may also be able to use different rules for particular destinations, suppliers, staff or sub agents. Customers normally see the final selling amount, while your underlying cost and earnings remain within the agency side of the portal. Not every fare can be adjusted in the same way. Some airlines, hotels or other suppliers may apply rules that limit markups, require certain charges to be shown separately or provide a fare that already includes commission. Taxes and fees may also need to remain unchanged. Because of this, the profit shown on one booking may be calculated differently from the profit on another. Before your portal goes live, check which margin options are included in your plan, which products allow markups and how the final amount will appear to your customer.