Can I see real time availability and prices when my customer is searching for flights, or might they book a flight that has sold out since I looked it up?

Yes, you can see real time availability and prices, but there is a small window where a flight could sell out between when your customer sees it and when they actually complete the booking. This happens because flight inventory moves very quickly, especially on popular routes, and the airline's system updates constantly throughout the day.

When your customer searches on your portal, the prices and seat counts come directly from the airline's live system at that moment, so what they see is accurate right then. However, once they select a flight and start filling in passenger details, other agents and customers around the world might be booking the same flight at the same time. By the time your customer reaches the payment screen and confirms their booking, that seat could theoretically be gone. This is rare on most flights, but it can happen on busy routes or with limited availability.

When this does happen, the booking system will tell you and your customer straight away that the flight is no longer available, and the customer will need to choose a different flight. You would then search again and find other options. The good news is that this kind of situation is uncommon because airlines release plenty of inventory, and it usually only becomes a real problem during peak travel times or when there are very few seats left on a particular flight.

To reduce the chance of this happening, you might ask your customers to book as soon as they have decided on their flight rather than taking time to think it over, especially if they are booking a route that looks busy or a flight that shows limited seats available.