Can I see real-time availability through the flight booking API so I know which flights are actually left in stock before I offer them to my customer?

Yes, the flight booking API shows you what flights are available at the moment you search, but availability can change very quickly because other travel agencies and customers are booking at the same time. When you search for flights to a particular destination on a particular date, the API returns the flights that are in stock right then, with seat counts and fares. This is real-time information that reflects what the airlines are actually selling through the system we connect to.

However, the moment you see a flight on your screen, another agent somewhere else might be booking it too. Seat counts can drop or a fare can sell out between the time you show it to your customer and the time they decide to book. This is why some travel agencies ask customers to decide quickly when they find a flight they like. The good news is that when you actually go to book the flight through the API, the system will tell you straight away if that exact flight and fare are still available, so you will not accidentally promise your customer something that is no longer there.

Different airlines and different routes can have different levels of stock, and some flights sell out much faster than others. If your customer is flexible on dates or times, you can run multiple searches to compare what is available across a few options and then show them the choices. To understand how quickly inventory moves on the routes your customers usually book, just watch what happens over a few weeks as you use the API and you will get a feel for it.