Integrating Commissionable TPI rates

Learn how to identify, display and book commissionable third-party inventory (TPI) Sell rates with Demand API. v3.3 v3.2

Commissionable TPI Sell rates are accommodation rates facilitated by third-party suppliers and offered on a commissionable basis. They complement inventory sourced directly by Booking.com and can provide additional availability and competitive prices.

In Demand API, TPI describes the inventory source, while Sell describes the rate type.

From Demand API v3.2 responses, these are represented separately:

• inventory.third_party indicates whether the inventory is facilitated by a third-party supplier.
• inventory.type indicates whether the rate is a Sell or Net rate.

Some benefits of enabling Commissionable third-party sell rates:

To use commissionable TPI Sell rates, make sure that:

• Your account is enabled for commissionable TPI Sell rates.
• You use your regular Affiliate ID (AID). You do not need a separate AID for Sell rates.
• Your integration supports pay_online_now and the applicable payment methods: credit cards and/or Virtual Credit Cards (VCCs).
• You use Demand API v3.1 or later.

In the Search, look and redirect flow, travellers search and compare accommodation options on your platform, then continue to Booking.com to complete their booking.

1. Search for eligible properties with accommodations/search.
2. Check real-time prices and policies with accommodations/availability.
3. Display the available options and redirect the traveller using the URL returned for the accommodation.

Check the inventory object for each returned rate. A TPI Sell rate has both third_party: true and type: sell:

Example of availability response:

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

• Do not identify a rate as TPI based on inventory.type: sell alone. Sell rates can also be sourced directly by Booking.com.
• Use the availability response to display current rate details, including price, cancellation policy, meal plan and payment timing.
• The response may also include a property URL or deep link for the redirect flow.

In a whitelabel integration, eligible TPI Sell rates appear on Booking.com’s branded landing pages and may be labelled “Partner Offer”.

You can then market these offers via your whitelabel setup:

In the (Search, look and book integration), travellers search, view accommodation details and complete supported bookings on your platform.

1. Search for eligible properties using the accommodations/search endpoint.
2. Check real-time prices and policies with accommodations/availability.
3. Preview the selected booking with orders/preview endpoint.
4. Create the booking with orders/create using the information returned by the preview.

• Your account must be enabled for Sell rates.
• The rate must support pay_online_now.
• Your integration must support credit card and/or VCC payments.
• Use the product ID and payment information returned for the selected booking.
• Use the payment timing returned by the API. The order_token returned by orders/preview expires after 15 minutes.

For an implementation walkthrough, see the step-by-step TPI rates guide.

Keep these restrictions in mind when designing your booking flow:

For cancellation guidance and TPI transaction reporting, see the TPI post-booking and reporting dedicated guide.

Here are some common issues you might encounter and how to resolve them:

Want to optimise your integration? Explore these additional resources: