Choose the right migration path for your car rental integration and understand the main changes introduced in Demand API v3.2 and Beta.
Demand API v3.2 evolves the car rental capabilities available in v3.1 and introduces additional functionality across v3.2 and Beta.
Use this migration hub to choose the path for your current integration and access the relevant schema mappings, endpoint changes, and implementation guidance.
Direct car rental booking and selected post-booking capabilities are currently available in Beta only.
Choose the path that matches your current integration:
From XML to Demand API v3.2
Migrate directly from the legacy XML API to Demand API v3.2. Recommended for partners replacing an existing XML integration.
From Demand API v3.1 to v3.2
Upgrade your existing Demand API v3.1 Car Rentals integration to v3.2 and adopt the new booking and availability flows.
Use these migration guides if you are:
- Replacing an existing Rentalcars XML API integration.
- Upgrading an existing Demand API v3.1 car rental integration.
- Extending an existing car rental integration with booking or post-booking capabilities available in Beta.
The capabilities available to your integration depend on the API version.
| Integration flow | Availability |
|---|---|
| Content only | 3.1 3.2 |
| Search, look and redirect | 3.1 3.2 |
| Search, look and book | Beta |
| Post-booking management | Beta |
| Reporting and reconciliation | 3.1 3.2 |
If your integration needs direct car rental bookings, use the Beta endpoints and follow the Car rental tutorial for full guidance.
The changes you need to make depend on your current integration.
| Area | XML to v3.2/Beta | v3.1 to v3.2/Beta |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Significant changes | Significant changes |
| Availability validation | New Beta capability | New Beta capability |
| Booking | New Beta capability | New Beta capability |
| Redirect | Supported | Supported |
| Reporting | Review required | Review required |
| Terms and conditions | Significant changes | Significant changes |
Use the migration path selected above for detailed schema mappings and implementation changes.
Demand API v3.2 and Beta extend the existing car rental integration with additional availability, booking, legal-content, and post-booking capabilities.
Demand API v3.2 aligns car rental schemas more closely with patterns used across other Demand API travel services.
Examples include:
- Consistent naming conventions.
- More predictable object structures.
- Standardised payment timing identifiers.
- Updated pricing structures.
- Shared patterns across travel services.
These changes can simplify integrations that support multiple travel services.
Use /cars/availability to validate the availability and latest pricing of a selected car offer before continuing with a booking flow.
Beta supports the complete Search, look and book flow through:
- /cars/search
- /cars/availability
- /orders/preview
- /orders/create
Dedicated endpoints provide access to terms and conditions required before and after booking.
Beta introduces additional post-booking information to support traveller-facing experiences such as order management, legal information, FAQs, and booking details.
New endpoints support availability validation, booking, legal information, and post-booking functionality.
| Endpoint | Purpose | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| /cars/availability | Validate the availability and latest pricing of a selected car offer before booking. | Check car availability guide |
| /cars/terms-and-conditions | Retrieve the legal terms and conditions for a selected car offer before booking. | Pre-booking terms and conditions guide |
| Endpoint | Purpose | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| /orders/details/cars/terms-and-conditions | Retrieve the terms and conditions associated with a confirmed car rental order. | Post-booking terms and conditions guide |
| /orders/details/cars/faq | Retrieve booking-related FAQs to support traveller self-service experiences. | API reference |
| /orders/details/cars/live | Retrieve the latest car rental reservation details, including additional post-booking information. | Monitor and display live car order details guide |
Existing endpoints also include changes in v3.2 or Beta.
| Endpoint | Change | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| /cars/search | Updated request and response schemas. | v3.2 |
| /cars/depots | Updated structures and naming consistency. | v3.2 |
| /cars/constants | Updated payment timing and category identifiers. | v3.2 |
| /orders/preview | Supports car rental order preview. | Beta |
| /orders/create | Supports car rental order creation. | Beta |
The sequence of endpoints depends on the integration model you implement.
For a redirect integration:
- Search for car rental offers using /cars/search.
- Retrieve the supporting car, supplier, and depot information required by your experience.
- Present the available offers to the traveller.
- Redirect the traveller to Booking.com to complete the booking.
See the Car quick guide for the implementation instructions.
For a direct-booking integration in Beta:
- Search for car rental offers using /cars/search.
- Retrieve the supporting car, supplier, and depot information required by your experience.
- Validate the selected offer using /cars/availability.
- Retrieve the applicable pre-booking terms and conditions.
- Preview the order using /orders/preview.
- Create the order using /orders/create.
- Use the relevant Orders and car rental endpoints for supported post-booking experiences.
See the Car rentals tutorial for an end-to-end implementation walkthrough.
A dedicated sandbox environment is not currently available for car rental integrations.
When validating your migration, follow the approved testing process for your integration and coordinate with your Account Manager where required.
Make sure you validate:
- Request and response parsing.
- Error handling.
- Search and availability scenarios.
- Pricing and payment scenarios relevant to your integration.
- Booking flows if you use Beta booking capabilities.
- Post-booking processing where applicable.
After choosing your migration path:
- Follow the relevant migration guide for detailed schema and field mappings.
- Review the Demand API v3.2 Car rentals API reference for endpoint schemas.
- Check the Beta API reference for detailed specifications.
- Explore the Car rentals quick guide for Search, look and redirect implementation guidance.
- Follow the Car rentals tutorial if you are implementing a Search, look and book flow.