Best Travel APIs You Should Know About in 2025: Tips How to Choose and Integrate

Updated 26 Aug 2025

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Travel API, or Application Programming Interface, allows travel companies to offer comprehensive booking services via a single platform. Instead of creating separate apps to book flights, hotels, or car services, API allows businesses to combine all options from different travel providers to offer customers a seamless user experience and increase client loyalty.

As a travel software development company with 13+ years of experience, we at Cleveroad are here to share our comprehensive knowledge of the best travel APIs, explain how to choose the one that suits your needs, and unveil the benefits of booking API integration.

Here are the key takeaways from this guide:

  • Travel APIs enable real-time experiences. By connecting your platform directly to flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities, APIs allow instant search, booking, and personalized recommendations, ensuring users stay engaged and satisfied.
  • Choosing the right API impacts business efficiency. Evaluate data coverage, API features, flexibility, and pricing models carefully to ensure the solution supports your platform’s workflows, scaling needs, and customer expectations.
  • Structured integration ensures performance and reliability. Proper sandbox testing, authentication setup, and endpoint implementation reduce errors, prevent downtime, and ensure your travel platform delivers fast, accurate, and stable services.
  • The right API drives growth and competitive advantage. Efficient, customizable, and secure APIs boost conversions, simplify travel planning, and enhance user trust, making your platform more attractive to customers and investors alike.

What Is Travel API and How It Works?

A travel API is a web service set that allows travel businesses to access real-time data from various third-party services aggregators, such as flight bookings, hotel room reservations, car rentals, and other travel-related services, extracting them from a broad list of providers. The key function of travel booking APIs is to transfer data across travel agencies.

Travel API serves as a bridge between travel service providers, enabling businesses to integrate external data directly into their platforms, offering seamless booking experiences and up-to-date information for customers. Travel portal API raises usability, value, and engagement in your travel platform and allows you to present the most relevant available flight or hotel variants to the audience.

How exactly do travel APIs work?

To understand what exactly gives the implementation of travel booking API solutions, let's consider how the network of travel API works:

  • Request API: When a customer searches for flights, or car rentals on your platform, the system sends a request to the travel API suite, which connects to the service provider's database.
  • Data retrieval: The travel site API receives up-to-date information (availability, prices, schedules) from the service provider and transmits it to your platform.
  • Data processing: Your system processes and formats the data into a user-friendly interface, displaying the available booking options.
  • Option selection: Once the user selects an option, the system sends a new API services request to confirm the booking, and the service provider's system processes it.
  • Booking confirmation: The customer instantly receives confirmation and details, allowing the transaction to occur without leaving your platform.

Thus, using travel APIs provides you with the ability to link your platform directly to travel providers' services, allowing you to provide customers with a convenient and comfortable way to book all the services they need in a comprehensive solution for travel activities.

How does travel APIs work

Travel API work principle

What Do You Get From Implementing Travel APIs?

Travel booking APIs bring a wide range of benefits for travel services providers, allowing to open up new opportunities for business growth. Let’s explore them in detail.

Access to a broader supply

By integrating a leading travel API, you can instantly connect with global travel suppliers of flights, hotels and travel packages, car rentals, and activities. Instead of negotiating multiple contracts or relying on limited local providers, the hotel booking API and a robust API pull updated inventory from hundreds of sources.

By simultaneously covering different types of travel options you provide your users with more options and flexibility. A properly implemented search API ensures fast, accurate results for both web platforms and mobile app experiences. Using this integration, your business can provide real-time pricing and personalized travel recommendations, ensuring a superior customer experience.

Faster time-to-market

Building travel products from scratch can take months and require heavy infrastructure investments. An API for accessing travel services accelerates product launch by providing pre-built connections with booking engines, payment gateways, and providers that offer flights, hotels, and experiences.

A hotel price and flight API provide accurate, real-time rates, while integration with major online travel platforms accelerates development. REST APIs enable flexible data access, and a single, robust solution manages bookings, cancellations, and inventory updates. At the same time, leveraging top travel deal APIs helps travel businesses launch faster, streamline operations, and generate revenue sooner.

Enhanced user journey

Customer satisfaction in travel heavily depends on smooth search, booking, and confirmation processes. A travel site API ensures consistent, accurate, and real-time data across the platform. A travel tech company offers an API that helps streamline operations and improve user experience.

By choosing the right travel APIs, businesses can avoid errors like showing unavailable flights or outdated hotel prices, reducing booking abandonment. For mature businesses building large travel platforms, integration of self-service APIs makes scaling easier.

Scalability and business growth

As demand grows, you’ll need systems that can scale without major reengineering. A travel website API can help you add new services, like insurance, transfers, or package tours, without disrupting the existing system. This modular approach supports sustainable growth, enabling you to adapt to customer needs and expand into new markets efficiently.

Learn about our custom travel app development services that include travel API integration for better development cost optimization

Best Travel APIs for Different Needs

We have accomplished thorough research and collected the best travel APIs for different tourist needs - from booking flights and taxis to detailed travel planning and finding entertainment and activities. Let's take a look at the best travel API providers for each service:

Best APIs

Best travel APIs

Flight APIs

Flight booking APIs are essential for travel companies that offer flight booking services. Such API gives access to up-to-date flight schedules, prices, seat availability, and fare classes. In addition, flight API providers can utilize site data from multiple airlines worldwide, allowing your customers to choose the suitable option without leaving your travel platform and get the best travel experience.

Best flight booking API list:

  • Amadeus Flight API – Offers comprehensive global travel data, including flight search, booking, and seat selection.
  • Skyscanner Flights API – Provides real-time flight prices from multiple airlines, with advanced search filters for best deals.
  • FlightAware API – Specializes in live flight tracking, providing real-time flight status updates and operational data.
  • Travelport Flight API – A powerful tool that integrates with airline databases for seamless flight booking and fare management.
  • Sabre Flights API – Delivers flight availability, ticketing, and ancillary services with connections to multiple global airlines.

Hotel APIs

Hotel API providers give your app access to extensive hotel databases, allowing users to search for rooms, compare prices, check availability, and book accommodations. Hotel content API simplifies the booking process by automating room search and reservation management, providing convenience to travelers, and increasing the efficiency of travel platforms.

Best hotel booking APIs:

  • Booking.com API – Provides access to one of the largest online hotel inventories with extensive filtering options.
  • Expedia Hotel API – Allows businesses to search, book, and manage hotel reservations from a vast global network.
  • Amadeus Hotel API – Offers global accommodation options with real-time availability and instant booking confirmations.
  • TripAdvisor API – APIs provide access to hotel reviews, ratings, and availability to assist in booking decisions.
  • HotelsCombined API – Compares prices across major hotel booking platforms for the best rates and deals.

If you want to create a custom app focusing on hotel booking services, our comprehensive guide on hotel booking app development will help you dive deeper into details

Car rental APIs

Car rental APIs are useful for businesses that want to offer customers access to car hire services. These APIs are designed to provide real-time information about vehicle availability, pricing, and location. Users can search and book rental cars at various destinations, compare prices from multiple providers, and receive instant booking confirmations. This travel content API is designed to offer additional travel services and improve customer retention.

Top travel APIs for car rental:

  • Rentalcars.com API – Offers access to rental car options from hundreds of providers, with pricing and availability information.
  • Avis Car Rental API – Provides real-time vehicle availability and booking services from Avis.
  • Hertz API – Enables seamless booking of rental cars with access to Hertz’s global inventory.
  • Amadeus Car Rental API – Offers integration with multiple car rental services with real-time availability and pricing.
  • CarTrawler API – Connects travel companies with car rental options worldwide, enabling smooth booking experiences.

Transportation APIs

Transportation API allows travel agencies and businesses to combine bookings of various transport (e.g., taxis, buses, trains, and ridesharing) into their platform. Such travel API provides real-time data on routes, pricing, schedules, and availability, helping travelers efficiently plan their journeys. Integration of transportation APIs ensures that customers can access various commuting options, making it convenient for travelers to manage all phases of their trip from a single solution.

Best online travel APIs for transportation:

  • Uber API – Integrates ridesharing services, allowing customers to book rides directly through the platform.
  • Google Maps Directions API – Provides optimized routes and real-time traffic data for multiple transportation modes.
  • Rome2rio API – Allows users to plan multi-modal journeys combining flights, buses, trains, and ferries.
  • BlaBlaCar API – Offers carpooling options for travelers looking for budget-friendly transportation.

Travel API integration significantly simplifies transportation app development. Read our detailed guide to learn more

Tour and activity APIs

Tour and activity API enables travel management companies to provide customers access to local tours, attractions, events, and other travel activities. These APIs are used to enable users to browse, book, and pay for tours and activities during their trip. Integrating these travel site APIs for tourist app development enhances the customer experience by offering additional travel services.

Top tour and activity travel APIs:

  • Viator API – Provides access to various tours, activities, and excursions, with real-time availability and booking.
  • Tiqets API – Specializes in ticket booking for museums, theme parks, and attractions worldwide.
  • GetYourGuide API – Offers an extensive range of tours and activities, allowing seamless booking and payment integration.
  • Klook API – Provides diverse travel experiences and tours with instant bookings and mobile vouchers.
  • TourRadar API – Focuses on multi-day tours and activities, providing various travel experiences.

Travel planning APIs

Travel planning API offers businesses the ability to provide trip-planning services by aggregating travel-related data into one place. These travel APIs can be used to build itineraries, plan routes, book multiple services, and optimize travel plans. By integrating such travel data API, you will transform your application into a free travel agent and offer an all-in-one solution for trip planning.

Best API for travel planning:

  • TripIt API – Helps users organize and manage travel itineraries, integrating flight, hotel, and rental information.
  • Rome2rio API – Allows users to plan comprehensive travel routes with multi-modal transportation options.
  • Google Travel API – Provides personalized travel planning services with data-driven recommendations based on user preferences.

If you are considering travel app development, you can integrate any travel API type that suits the services you are targeting or even go beyond one to build a comprehensive solution with a set of APIs that will allow you to master the tourism niche in your region.

Need help choosing the best travel API?

Book a consultation with our Travel domain experts, who will analyze your travel software goals and requirements and help you select and integrate the best APIs

Travel APIs Integration Flow

Let’s break down the travel APIs integration flow in 5 comprehensive stages. By examining this roadmap you’ll better understand what you may go through during the process.

Step 1. Choose an IT vendor to set API requirements

It all starts with selecting an experienced IT vendor who understands both your business goals and the complexity of travel systems. Together, you define travel API requirements, whether it’s for flights, hotels, or rentals. The vendor assesses which APIs (such as GDS, NDC, or third-party suppliers) fit your business model, maps required functionalities (availability, pricing, booking, cancellations), and plans integration architecture to align with scalability and compliance needs.

We’d like to give you an idea of how travel and transportation app development flow goes, by representing our recent case – a P2P ridesharing solution called MoveUp.

The client approached us with the need to create a ride-hailing platform designed for riders with disabilities and medical needs. Unlike standard Uber-like models, the business required advanced filtering to connect riders with properly equipped drivers, offline driver validation, and flexible payment scenarios, including free-ride options.

Cleveroad’s team built a custom solution reinforced by several APIs. Google Maps API was integrated for real-time location tracking and optimized routing, while a payment gateway API (Stripe/Braintree) handled secure multi-option payments. A custom driver verification API ensured compliance with offline validation requirements, and notification APIs provided timely updates for riders and drivers. These APIs were implemented through modular microservices to ensure scalability, security, and seamless integration across platforms.

As a result, the client received a ready-to-use and scalable transportation system that met all core business objectives. The API-driven architecture enabled accessibility and safety, and gave the company flexibility to expand features quickly in response to market needs.

Here’s what John Salmon, owner of MoveUp says about cooperation with us:

John Salmon, owner of MoveUp provide feedback about cooperation with Cleveroad:

Step 2. Configure the sandbox and credentials

Once the right travel API provider is chosen, the vendor sets up access credentials and sandbox environments. A sandbox acts as a safe testing environment that mimics real booking scenarios without financial risk. Here, your IT vendor establishes API keys, tokens, and endpoint configuration. This step allows your team to validate how the API behaves with live-like data, including edge cases such as booking failures, timeouts, or seat unavailability.

Step 3. Implement authentication and core API endpoints

Security is critical in travel platforms, as transactions often involve personal and payment data. Your IT vendor implements secure authentication protocols (OAuth 2.0, API keys, or JWT) to manage user access. Next, the development team integrates core API endpoints that cover functions such as search (flights, hotels, cars), booking, payment, and cancellation. The architecture must be modular so additional services (e.g., insurance or loyalty programs) can be plugged in later without rework.

Step 4. Test and optimize integration

At this stage, the vendor runs functional testing (search accuracy, booking confirmation), performance testing (handling peak loads), and security testing (protecting sensitive data). For businesses building large travel applications, optimization can include caching strategies for frequently searched routes, error-handling mechanisms for failed bookings, and response time improvements to keep results under milliseconds for end-users.

A flight search API provides reliable real-time data, while a partner solutions API can be integrated with other platforms to expand functionality. When developing a travel platform for online travel agencies or other travel industry players, choosing the right API ensures smooth operations and scalability. Leveraging travel APIs for your business helps maintain consistency, improve customer experience, and support rapid growth.

Step 5. Launch with your IT vendor support

After successful testing, the API integration moves to production. The vendor supports you during rollout by monitoring system health, ensuring all endpoints respond correctly, and fixing any post-launch issues in real time. This stage may also include setting up monitoring dashboards, logging systems, and scaling the infrastructure based on live traffic. Vendor support ensures that the API integration remains stable, compliant, and adaptable to changing supplier or customer demands.

Need a reliable tech partner for travel API integration?

Contact us! Our engineers will help you carefully assess your actual business needs, define travel API integration requirements, and assist you in aligning your vision with a top-notch tech solution

What to Assess to Choose Relevant Travel APIs for Your Specific Case?

There is a wide variety of travel booking API providers, so it is quite challenging to select the one that suits you best. In this section, we’ve gathered some valuable tips that will help you to make the right choice among multiple travel APIs.

Type of data processed

When evaluating a travel agency API, start by examining the type of data it processes. APIs may handle flight schedules, hotel availability, car rentals, or package tours, and accuracy here is non-negotiable. If you’re wondering what is an API for travel in practical terms, think of it as a bridge that provides your system with real-time data from providers. The relevance of this data to your business model directly affects customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

API features

The value of a travel site API depends heavily on its features. Look for options such as multi-source search, advanced filtering, real-time booking, or cancellation management. Strong travel api integration ensures that your system can deliver seamless customer experiences while keeping manual intervention to a minimum.

Assess your business needs

Before implementing any solution, analyze your exact business requirements. For example, an online booking platform may need a broad catalog of hotel and flight options, while if you’re a niche operator, you may prioritize tour booking features. The appropriately chosen means you’ll manage to align functionality with long-term objectives, scalability, and operational workflows.

Compare pricing models

Pricing is one of the most practical aspects to assess. Some providers charge per request, while others use monthly subscription tiers. A well-selected plan ensures cost-effectiveness without limiting service delivery. Travel API integration tools can help you test and monitor requests to avoid unnecessary costs while optimizing performance.

Here are key pricing models you can choose from:

Travel APIs pricing models

Travel API pricing modelKey featuresSuits best for:

Pay-per-transaction

Fee per booking or transaction; costs scale with usage

Businesses with predictable transaction volume

Pay-per-call

Charge per API request, regardless of outcome

High-volume operations needing granular control

Monthly subscription

Fixed monthly fee with usage limits. Predictable for budgeting

Steady usage and cost predictability

Freemium

Basic features free; advanced features paid

Testing or low-scale projects

Tiered pricing

Pricing varies by usage, features, or support

Scaling businesses wanting flexibility

Revenue share

Provider takes a % of revenue generated via the API

Businesses preferring aligned incentives

Custom enterprise pricing

Negotiated for large-scale needs, often includes premium support and SLAs

Enterprises with complex requirements

Customization needs

Not all APIs offer the same level of flexibility. Some solutions allow tailoring search filters, workflows, or branding, while others provide only fixed endpoints.

If your business requires a more unique customer journey, consider starting with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) using the API. This approach helps you test features, gather user feedback, and define the actual customization needs before committing to a full-scale integration. Ensuring the provider supports API-level customization is critical for aligning with your company’s goals and guaranteeing that the travel api integration delivers long-term value.

Learn about MVP development services we provide at Cleveroad to learn how it may help you test Travel API integration with lower investments in money and time

Potential Drawbacks in Travel APIs Integration

Despite the fact that implementing travel booking APIs brings numerous advantages and significantly simplifies and accelerates travel software development, there are certain challenges you should be aware of before deciding to use them and moving on to selecting the best options. Let's take a look at the key nuances and ways to address them.

Data inconsistency across providers

Travel APIs often pull information from multiple sources such as airlines, hotels, car rentals, and third-party aggregators. Differences in formatting, timing of updates, and data granularity can lead to inconsistencies, including mismatched prices, unavailable inventory, or incorrect schedules. This can harm customer trust, create booking errors, and increase manual correction efforts.

Cleveroad’s solution: At Cleveroad, we implement a centralized data normalization and validation layer that standardizes information from diverse providers. By applying real-time reconciliation algorithms, duplicate detection, and error-handling protocols, we ensure the data presented to users is accurate, consistent, and reliable. This helps us improve operational efficiency and enhances user confidence, ultimately boosting conversion rates and reducing customer support overhead.

Slower system performance due to API calls

High-volume API calls, particularly during peak booking periods or in multi-provider integrations, can overload systems, causing latency, slow response times, or even downtime. Performance bottlenecks impact user experience, leading to abandoned bookings and reduced revenue.

Cleveroad’s solution: Cleveroad optimizes performance using caching strategies, asynchronous API calls, and load balancing across servers. By pre-fetching frequently requested data and using intelligent throttling for high-demand endpoints, we minimize delays while maintaining real-time accuracy. Additionally, our system continuously monitors API response times and adjusts request flows dynamically, ensuring a smooth, responsive platform that scales efficiently as traffic grows.

Security and compliance risks

Integrating multiple travel APIs introduces vulnerabilities, as sensitive customer data (personal info, payment details, travel history) flows through various endpoints. Non-compliance with regulations such as GDPR, PCI DSS, or local data protection laws can lead to legal penalties, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.

Cleveroad’s solution: We design secure API gateways with end-to-end encryption, token-based authentication, and role-based access controls. Each API call is validated, monitored, and logged to detect suspicious activity.

For example, we implement APIs in travel applications using such security measures:

  • Industry-standard data encryption
  • Data encryption at rest and on client devices
  • Activities tracking
  • Role-Based and Permission-Based Access Control (RBAC/PBAC)
  • MFA, automatic logouts

Versioning issues with frequent API changes

Travel APIs are frequently updated, including endpoint modifications, deprecated features, or changes in data structure. These updates can break integrations, disrupt service, and require urgent fixes that strain internal teams. Continuous monitoring is essential to prevent downtime and maintain a seamless booking experience.

Cleveroad’s solution: Cleveroad implements version-controlled API layers, automated change detection, and backward-compatible integration strategies. Our development team sets up monitoring scripts that track API updates in real time and deploy adaptive middleware to accommodate changes without affecting the end-user. This approach reduces maintenance overhead, ensures uninterrupted service, and provides flexibility for future expansions or integrations with additional travel providers.

How Cleveroad Can Help You Choose and Integrate the Best Travel APIs

Cleveroad is a travel app development company with more than 13 years of experience in the domain. We deliver professional travel and hospitality software development services to help travel agencies, airlines, and hotel chains automate business management and improve client engagement. Among the tourism solutions we build are hotel management systems, travel portals, booking engines, travel agent software, hotel CRMs, etc.

Here’s what benefits you’ll receive by cooperating with us:

  • Travel app development expertise. Our team specializes in building native, web, and cross-platform travel apps with integrated APIs for flights, hotels, and car rentals, ensuring smooth booking flows and real-time updates.
  • Cross-platform and mobile-specific solutions. We develop iOS and Android travel apps using Swift, Kotlin, and Flutter, fully optimized for API integration multi-device experiences.
  • Free solution workshop. Our free Solution Workshop aligns your travel app idea with tech feasibility, helping define API integrations, core features, and user flows before coding starts.
  • ISO-certified partnership. With ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications, we guarantee that travel app development and API connections meet the highest standards of data security, system reliability, and quality management.
  • Project Management Office (PMO). Our PMO ensures smooth travel app development and API integration, overseeing timelines, budgets, and communication for predictable delivery.

To represent our expertise in Travel software development with API integration, we’d like to share one of our recent projects – Web Platform for Searching Travel Activities and Accommodation.

Our client, a Singapore-based company, needed a solution that would bring together travelers looking for a place to stay and hospitality service providers, enabling travelers to find the right fit.

Web platform for searching travel activities

Web platform for searching travel activities designed by Cleveroad

To address the client's business needs, we developed a web platform that allows travelers to search for services and apartments based on user profiling filters and vendor offers posted online. In addition, we created a sophisticated proprietary search and ranking system to calculate Personal Value (PV) scores and enhance the user experience.

We provided extensive platform functionality through API integrations:

  • Elasticsearch API for efficient search and analytics, enabling quick retrieval of data and real-time filtering capabilities.
  • OXR API for accurate and up-to-date currency exchange rates, ensuring precise financial transactions and global pricing in your application.

As a result, the client received a travel platform with unique search algorithms that enabled them to attract investors to expand their business through a unique selling proposition (UTP) and value-added product. Customer's web solution is also popular among users. The platform has more than 900 reviews from 30 different destinations for now.

Here’s what Sylvain Labattu, founder of Korlago, says about our collaboration:

Sylvain Labattu
Sylvain Labattu
Founder at Koralgo,
SG flagSingapore
"Cleveroad’s team is responsive and has a wide range of capabilities. Their team is big enough to provide coverage when their teammates are unavailable or when my project needs additional support. They are very flexible."
Verified ON Clutch
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a travel API?

A travel API (Application Programming Interface) is a digital tool that allows travel businesses to access, share, and manage travel-related data, such as flights, hotels, car rentals, or activities, from third-party providers. It enables real-time availability, pricing, and booking functionalities directly on your platform.

How a travel API works?

Here’s how travel APIs work:

  1. Connects your platform to multiple travel data sources in real time.
  2. Fetches information like pricing, availability, and schedules.
  3. Allows users to book travel services without leaving your website or app.
  4. Sends booking confirmations and updates back to your system for seamless management.
Which travel API is best?

The best travel API depends on your business goals, coverage, and required features. Focus on reliability, speed, available data, customization options, and integration support rather than brand alone.

How to choose the best travel API?

To choose the best travel API, pay attention to the following factors:

  • Assess the types of data processed (flights, hotels, activities).
  • Evaluate API features like search filters, booking capabilities, and payment options.
  • Compare pricing models and subscription plans to match your budget.
  • Check customization needs to align with your user experience and workflows.
How to integrate travel APIs?

To properly integrate travel API, follow these steps:

  1. Choose an experienced IT vendor
  2. Configure sandbox accounts and credentials
  3. Implement authentication and core API endpoints
  4. Test and optimize integration
  5. Launch with IT vendor support
Author avatar...
About author

Evgeniy Altynpara is a CTO and member of the Forbes Councils’ community of tech professionals. He is an expert in software development and technological entrepreneurship and has 10+years of experience in digital transformation consulting in Healthcare, FinTech, Supply Chain and Logistics

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Comments

4 comments
A
Anonymous
25.08.2022 at 14:45

Very weird article, haven’t mentioned anything about the most important part of travel which is tours and activities

CB
Clara Berry
06.10.2021 at 08:04

A great list.. But many prominent companies are missing. Like Mystifly.

C
Chiluka
02.08.2021 at 04:36

Very much simplified Info. Easy to Understand!!!!!

AG
Ali Gammack
25.07.2020 at 08:21

No Airport Parking API?

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