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Quickstart

Introduction​

Hotel-X API is a powerful aggregation solution that allows you to get results from the largest network of Sellers in a single request. Whether it's at the hotel, room type, or rate plan level, you have the flexibility to aggregate data to meet your specific needs.

What sets Hotel-X API apart is its innovative structure: with a single integration, you can access the products of all Suppliers in the Marketplace, aggregate results, and easily add plugins or apps to extend functionality. This unique feature is complemented by Hotel-X's ability to provide pre-processed responses, ensuring your system tasks are efficient and hassle-free.

  Hotel-X Overview

Using the Hotel-X API, you will be able to access static information, make bookings, and manage reservations. In this quickstart tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple sample booking.

Let's Get Started: How to Make a Booking​

Hotel-X offers a powerful GraphQL-based API that simplifies the process of booking hotels and managing reservations. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just getting started, this guide will walk you through the basics of using the API to make hotel bookings.

Prerequisites​

Endpoint​

Hotel-X, being a GraphQL-based API, utilizes a single endpoint for all operations:

https://api.travelgate.com

Request Headers​

To interact with the API, you'll need to include three essential request headers:

  • Gzip Compression: This header helps optimize data transfer between your application and the API.
Accept-Encoding: gzip
  • Keep Alive: In order to increase performance and improve response times.
Connection: keep-alive
  • API Key: You can find your API Key on the Travelgate website in API Keys.
Authorization: Apikey xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

If you don't have an API key yet, don't worry — you'll be able to test the upcoming query and mutation examples using a test API key and preloaded test data directly in the playground. You can also find full details of the credentials and hotel data used in the Development credentials and test data section below.

Supported Operations​

Lastly, please note that the Hotel-X API supports two types of operations:

  • Query: which are "read-only" and used for retrieving data from our system. You can use queries to search for hotels, check availability, and more.

  • Mutation: which allow for changes, additions, or deletions of data within our system. This is where you can create bookings, update reservations, etc.

But now this quickstart guide will focus on the basics of using the Hotel-X API to make hotel reservations, so let's dive in and get started!

1. Find available hotels based on your search criteria​

The Search query is where the adventure begins in our shopping journey.

In Hotel-X, a Buyer can decide the scope of each Search request:

  • Send the request to all connected Suppliers.
  • Send the request to only specific Suppliers.
  • Send the request to only specific accesses (credentials).

In this example, we'll explore availability for a single hotel using its FastX code and we will send the Search request to 2 specific accesses: '2' and '5647'.

Remember, an access is a unique code representing the credentials that a Supplier provides to allow you to query their portfolio. By specifying the accesses in your search, you can retrieve options from one or more Suppliers for the same hotel, all in a single request.

This step lets you explore your options before committing to a booking, ensuring you understand what each Supplier offers for the same property.

 

If you execute the previous Search query by clicking the play button, you'll get a sample Search response with all available options and rates for the requested hotel and criteria.

For each option, you will receive key details such as Supplier, FastX and Supplier codes, room type, price, cancellation policies, and more. This example focuses on the essential fields, but Hotel-X API supports many additional capabilities. To explore all Search features, check the full search step documentation.

tip

As explained in the detailed Search documentation, the more Suppliers and accesses you include in a single request, the larger the response can become.

To keep responses manageable and improve performance, we strongly recommend using an aggregation plugin such as Cheapest Price or Preference. With aggregation, Hotel-X can internally group equivalent options (for example, same hotel, board, and room type) across Suppliers and return only the N best options, based on your configuration.

This is one of the key advantages of FastX: in a single request, you can query all suppliers or only selected ones, and then aggregate results automatically. 🚀

2. Quote your selected option​

Now, let's dive into the exciting part! After carefully reviewing all the options in the search results and finding the hotel that perfectly suits your journey, it's time to move forward and request a quote. This Quote operation is like getting an exclusive preview before the grand booking. It provides you with up-to-the-minute pricing, a detailed breakdown of your expenses, and crucial information about cancellation policies.

To make this happen, you'll need to retrieve the optionRefId from the option of the search results that you want to valuate and use this value as the input for the Quote request:

 

Important

OptionRefID is a unique identifier assigned to each option. It must not be modified and must not be used or interpreted externally, as it is an internal Travelgate system identifier.

3. Confirm and book the option!​

You're almost there! After securing your quote and ensuring all the details align with your travel plans, it's time to proceed with the booking. In this step, you confirm your reservation and officially lock in your stay.

You'll need to provide the optionRefId returned in the Quote step and enter all the necessary passenger information. Upon a successful booking request, you'll receive a confirmation along with essential reservation details. Congratulations! Your hotel stay is now officially booked.

 

note

Make sure to change the value of the clientReference field so that the Book can be confirmed correctly.

Development credentials and test data​

To help you get started, we provide test credentials and example data that you can safely use during the development phase. These credentials allow you to run test queries and explore the structure and behavior of Hotel-X without impacting real live Suppliers.

Credentials

  • Apikey: test0000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  • Client: client_demo

Example Suppliers and Hotels

  • Travelgate test supplier (supplier code: HOTELTEST - context: HOTELTEST)

    • Access Code: 2
    • Available Hotel Codes: ES284122, BR1518

  • Smyrooms test supplier (supplier code: TTHOTTEST - context: LOGITEST)

    • Access Code: 5647
    • Available Hotel Code: BR1518

  • FastX test supplier, to retrieve static master data such hotel and board codes (code: FASTX)

    • Access Code: 34538
Important

These credentials and hotel codes are for development and testing purposes only. Please do not use them in a production environment, as they are shared and may not reflect live availability.

Next Steps​

Congratulations on completing this quickstart tutorial! 🎉 You've successfully learned the basics of creating a sample booking. But there's a world of knowledge waiting for you:

  • Explore the Making Requests section to dive deep into how a GraphQL API works and maximize its performance.
  • Discover various queries and mutations grouped by the following actions:
    • Retrieve static information: Explore accessing static data, including how to obtain the list of unique FastX codes for hotels and boards, as well as the additional information provided by the Sellers.
    • Make a booking: Learn how to book with more details.
    • Manage reservations: Get the hang of reservation management.
  • Unleash the full potential of your business with our diverse range of plugins.

Our documentation is a treasure trove of additional features and functionalities to enhance your business. To uncover these valuable resources, explore our documentation further and make the most of these methods. Enjoy your journey!