Third-party inventory rates FAQs

• TPI rates are accommodation offers sourced from external providers through Booking.com’s third-party inventory system.
• These rates may come with different pricing, policies, or confirmation processes compared to direct Booking.com listings.

• You are not onboarded for TPI.
• You are sending a multi-room search (TPI supports single-room searches only).
• The extras field is missing or does not include "products".
• There may be no available TPI rooms for the selected date and accommodation.

• Commissionable (Sell) rates - Include a margin for your business. You collect payment from the traveller.
• Net rates - Exclude margin; you are responsible for setting the final price.

• Pricing flexibility - Net rates allow you to apply your own mark-ups, giving you greater autonomy in promoting and selling accommodation options, while directly optimising your profitability. You can adjust pricing in line with your overall strategy, market conditions, and demand.
• Real-time reporting - Real-time reporting is available, providing maximum visibility and control over your pricing strategy.
• Improved price competitiveness - Greater price competitiveness and the ability to participate in promotional offers enable you to further enhance your value proposition to customers.
• New growth opportunities - Net rates can be easily incorporated into opaque package deals that include other travel services, such as flights and car hire.
• Seamless integration - Net rates are available via the latest version of the Demand API (v3.1 and above), enabling seamless integration with advanced technology.

• Retrieve the product rates using the accommodations/availability endpoint.
• Validate the product and retrieve final details using orders/preview.
• Confirm the booking via orders/create, including the appropriate payment method.

• Net rates - Require a Virtual Credit Card (VCC).
• Sell rates - Require Credit Card or Virtual Credit Card (VCC).

• The selected product ID.
• Traveller details.
• Order token.
• Correct payment method.

The field method_required under general_policies in the Orders/preview response identifies whether a payment method is needed in the order.

The method_required can be:

• True -- This means that a payment method (such as a credit card) is mandatory - This is the option we need to use in the requests for TPI rates.

• False -- The product does not require a credit card for booking. This is not supported for TPI rates.

• The pincode.
• The confirmation number.
• The check-in number.

These are required for the traveller to check in and for customer support validation.

These are included in the response from the orders/create endpoint under third_party_inventory.

• The policy is flexible and cancellation is allowed.
• Do not attempt cancellation for non-refundable or partially refundable products — doing so will return a 500 error.

Check the cancellation policy in:

• The accommodations/availability response (policies.cancellation)
• The orders/preview response.

This typically indicates the booking is non-refundable. Always check the cancellation policy before calling /orders/cancel.

Ensure the correct payment method is used:

• Use VCCs for Net rates.
• Use Credit Cards or VCCs for Commissionable Sell rates.

Ensure your request includes "credit_card_required": true in the payment configuration of your orders/create call.

• Your regular AID for Sell rates.
• Your dedicated AID for Net rates.

Contact your Booking.com account manager if you’re unsure.