About Booking.com inventory rates v3.3

Learn how to identify the source of accommodation inventory and distinguish Booking.com Sell-rate and Net-rate classifications in post-booking responses.

About this guide

Demand API v3.3 returns inventory information in accommodation order details.

The inventory object identifies whether an order or product is facilitated by a third-party supplier.
Where available, its type field provides additional information about the rate classification.

This guide explains how to interpret those fields in:

The inventory classification does not provide a separate margin value. Do not use price amounts to infer whether a rate is a Sell rate or a Net rate.

Booking.com Sell rates and Net rates

Booking.com inventory can use either the Sell-rate or Net-rate distribution model:

💼 Commissionable rates (Sell rates)

Sell rates are commissionable. You earn commission according to your existing partnership model.

Use case: Public and restricted-access distribution (subject to your setup).
Revenue model: Commission earned per sale.
Types:sell_broad, sell_narrow, sell_packaged, sell_privileged.

🔒Net rates

Non-commissionable rates shown only in opaque or gated channels. You receive the net-rate proposition and apply your own commercial treatment. .

Use case: Closed user groups or opaque channels.
Revenue model: Margin-based.
Types:net_broad, net_narrow, net_privileged

Access and availability

Booking.com inventory rates are available only to eligible partners.

Access may require a specific Affiliate ID (AID) and account settings.
Availability may also depend on the market and point of sale.

The initial rollout is limited to US properties and US point of sale or domestic travellers. Confirm your eligibility, market coverage and applicable commercial terms with your Account Manager.

Use Demand API v3.3 to retrieve the post-booking inventory classifications described in this guide.

Booking.com inventory rates restrictions

These are some general restrictions to take into account:

Area	Support details
Cancellations	✓ Cancellations are supported for all the orders with Booking inventory rates, using the orders/cancel endpoint
Modifications	✗ Modifications may vary depending on type of rate.
Rates combination	✗ Booking.com-sourced rates cannot be combined with TPI rates in the same order.

Some other restrictions may apply. Contact your Account Manager for details.

Interpret the inventory fields

The inventory object contains these fields:

Field	Meaning
`third_party`	Indicates whether the order or product is facilitated by a third-party supplier. `false` - Identifies Booking.com inventory. `true` - The source of the inventory is a third party supplier. See TPI rates for details.
`type`	Identifies the inventory type. Interpret this value together with `third_party`; Do not use `type` alone to determine the inventory source.

For example, type: sell can identify a standard Sell rate or a third-party Sell rate. Check third_party to identify the source.

Booking inventory types

When third_party is false, the type field can return the following values:

Type	Meaning
`sell`	A standard Sell rate.
`sell_broad`	Booking.com Sell-rate inventory in the broad distribution tier. Booking.com provides the selling price.
`sell_narrow`	Booking.com Sell-rate inventory in the narrow distribution tier. Booking.com provides the selling price.
`sell_privileged`	Booking.com Sell-rate inventory in the privileged distribution tier. Booking.com provides the selling price.
`sell_packaged`	A Sell rate that can only be sold as part of a package.
`net_broad`	Booking.com Net-rate inventory in the broad distribution tier. The partner receives the net-rate proposition and applies its own commercial treatment.
`net_narrow`	Booking.com Net-rate inventory in the narrow distribution tier. The partner receives the net-rate proposition and applies its own commercial treatment.
`net_privileged`	Booking.com Net-rate inventory in the privileged distribution tier. The partner receives the net-rate proposition and applies its own commercial treatment.

The distribution-tier names describe the classification returned by the API. They do not define partner eligibility for each tier.

Third-party inventory types

When third_party is true, the type field can return these values:

`type`	Meaning
`sell`	A Sell rate provided by a third-party supplier.
`net`	A Net rate provided by a third-party supplier.

For more information, see About third-party inventory rates.

Interpret `hybrid` at order level

An accommodation order can return inventory.type: hybrid when its products have different inventory types.

The API returns hybrid only in the order-level inventory object.
It does not return hybrid for an individual product.

To identify each product’s classification, inspect its inventory.type in /orders/details/accommodations.

Find inventory details after an order is created

Endpoint	Response field	Meaning
/orders/details	`accommodations.inventory`	Inventory classification for the accommodation order. The `type` can be `hybrid` if the products have different inventory types.
/orders/details/accommodations	`inventory`	Inventory classification for the accommodation order. The `type` can be `hybrid` if the products have different inventory types.
/orders/details/accommodations	`products[].inventory`	Inventory classification for each reserved product. Product-level `type` values do not include `hybrid`.

Examples

The following examples show response fragments. They include only the inventory fields relevant to this guide.

Booking.com Sell-rate inventory

This example shows a Booking.com Sell-rate classification at order level and product level:

{
  "inventory": {
    "third_party": false,
    "type": "sell_broad"
  },
  "products": [
    {
      "inventory": {
        "third_party": false,
        "type": "sell_broad"
      }
    }
  ]
}

A standard Booking.com Sell rate can also return type: sell:

{
  "inventory": {
    "third_party": false,
    "type": "sell"
  }
}

Booking.com Net-rate inventory

This example shows a Booking.com Net-rate classification at order level and product level:

{
  "inventory": {
    "third_party": false,
    "type": "net_broad"
  },
  "products": [
    {
      "inventory": {
        "third_party": false,
        "type": "net_broad"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Hybrid inventory type in an order

If products in an accommodation order have different inventory types, the order-level type can be hybrid.

This is an example of an hybrid type in an orders/details/accommodations response.

{
  "inventory": {
    "third_party": false,
    "type": "hybrid"
  },
  "products": [
    {
      "inventory": {
        "third_party": false,
        "type": "sell_broad"
      }
    },
    {
      "inventory": {
        "third_party": false,
        "type": "net_broad"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Check each product’s inventory object to identify its classification.

Third-party inventory

The type value alone does not identify the source. For example, sell can be used for both standard Sell rates and third-party Sell inventory.

Check third_party:

{
  "inventory": {
    "third_party": true,
    "type": "sell"
  }
}

For more about third-party inventory, see About Third-party inventory rates.