API Integration related FAQs

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API Integration related FAQs

Question 1: What are the Airlines and city pairs available in sandbox?

Answer: The sandbox environment allows you to test functions. We provide routes for 10 airlines to ensure you can test various scenarios. You can find available airline and route information in the API document (). Navigate to: API Reference → Atlas Sandbox → Sandbox Test Routes.

Question 2: Can you add specific airlines as per our requirement in sandbox?

Answer: The sandbox environment allows you to test functions. We provide routes for 9 airlines to ensure you can test various scenarios. You can find available airline and route information in the API document (). Navigate to: API Reference → Atlas Sandbox → Sandbox Test Routes.

Of course, if you'd like to test a specific airline or route, feel free to share your testing scenarios and desired airlines or routes with us. Our team will promptly respond to your request.

Question 3: Can we create a booking with up to 9 passengers?

Answer: Many airlines don't provide the maximum available seats for specific fares in their responses. To maintain high bookability, we generally allow bookings for up to 4 passengers by default. We've expanded the maximum seats to 9 for some carriers based on our customers' needs and airlines’ capability. If you require this feature for specific airlines, please let us know, and our team will promptly address your request.

Question 4: Who will support us during the integration process?

Answer: We will initiate a kick-off call where a walk-through will be done for the whole implementation process. The Director - Customer Solutions and the Sales contact will be your support during the integration process.

Question 5: What are the different APIs that Atlas provides for integration?

Answer: Please refer to API documentation in ATRIP where all the available APIs are listed.

Question 6: Can you provide a list of Atlas APIs?

Answer: Please refer to API documentation in ATRIP where all the available APIs are listed.

Question 7: What is the sandbox endpoint for Atlas API?

Question 8: What is the meaning of display currency in your API document?

Answer: This currency and the related amount is converted from the settlement currency using the Atlas currency exchange rate. This amount is only for display purposes and will not be used for fare comparison or accounting purposes.

Question 9: Do you have free Cabin and checked-in baggage information in search API response?

Answer: Yes. Both cabin and checked-in baggage are available in not only search API, but also verify and order API response. Please refer to the "baggageElements" tag.

Question 10: What support will be provided to your customer during the implementation of Atlas's API?

Answer: Atlas will assign a project team to support the customer's integration of Atlas' API. Customers will have access to a preferred communication platform (such as Slack) for the entire integration process. Multiple resources will be available on this platform.

Question 11: What support will be provided to the customer after the implementation of Atlas's API to ensure desired and optimal results are achieved?

Answer: After integration, our growth team will collaborate with your growth team to increase transactions. Meanwhile, if you have any questions about integration, our team is always available to assist you.

Question 12: How many records does Atlas return in the search request? What is the sorting order?

Answer: We have the backend configuration for the response records. The default is 100. The sorting is by fares from low to high.

Question 13: Is there any option to filter the search results?

Answer: The customer can filter the search results using the "airlines" element in the search.do request. Up to 5 airlines can be filtered in the search.

Question 14: Does Atlas have Special Fare with passenger restrictions?

Answer: Special Fare with passenger restrictions like age and nationality are not supported currently.

Question 15: What does TransactionFeePerPax mean?

Answer: Please ignore the field “transactionFeePerPax” as it is a historic field. It's replaced by these two elements: “transactionFee” is the fee negotiated between Customers and Atlas, and "TransactionFeeMode" is the criteria for calculating the transaction fee as per the contractual agreement.

Question 16: What’s the usage of seat count in the search response?

Answer: We do our best to provide the lowest fare to our customers. To achieve this, we collect the fares for the number of seats which we understand would provide us with the best fares. This is the maximum number of seats that can be booked in a single booking with this fare.

Question 17: Why is the Tax breakdown missing in the API response?

Answer: We collect the fares from the airline search page on their website. A lot of LCCs don't provide the tax breakdown in their search response. Hence, we do not provide this information in our search.do response.

Question 18: What is the max time gap allowed between search and revalidation?

Answer: The routingIdentifier is valid for 2 hours. Please note that it is best to verify the fare at the earliest as, when the time gap is longer, the price change possibility will be higher.

Question 19: What is the max time gap allowed between revalidation and order?

Answer: The sessionID is valid for 30 minutes. Please note that it is best to place the order at the earliest as, when the time gap is longer, the price change possibility will be higher.

Question 20: What will you do when the order hold function happens?

Answer: We do not have an order "hold" function. We provide 30 minutes for each order after it is generated. You can pay for it during this period.

Question 21: Will you hold inventory when the order API calls, if yes, then what is the mechanism to release the inventory?

Answer: We provide 30 minutes to pay for the order. You may consider this as the "hold" function. We manage this feature at the backend with the airlines to provide the best and the most inexpensive content to our customers. We will hold the inventory after the order API calls (wherever available with the airline), and we have our own mechanism to release the inventory. The mechanism varies for different airlines. We can't provide you a function to release the inventory if you request to release it. This will not impact your transaction with Atlas.

Question 22: How do we get the test API credentials?

Question 23: Does Atlas have an option to get fares in user-requested currency?

Answer: Currently, we give the results with the currency which we will settle with the customer (transacting currency). Atlas has also added a new parameter (displayCurrency) for conversion into any currency of the customer's choice. This converted amount is just for information purposes and does not impact billing.

Question 24: How to get special service information like meals, baggage, seat map apart from search and validation API response also? Can we control this information not to be passed in the search response as this will increase response size?

Answer: Currently, Atlas provides two types of ancillaries in the ticketing flow: baggage and seats. For baggage, information is available in both search and verify responses, and it cannot be removed. Regarding concerns about data size, we accept GZip compression, which effectively mitigates this issue. For seats, we offer a dedicated function to provide seat maps and seat availability. This function can only be called after the verify call.

Question 25: Does order API hold the inventory?

Answer: We do not have an order "hold" function. We provide 30 minutes for each order after it is generated. You can pay for it during this period.

Question 26: Can the customer hold the inventory? If yes, what is the mechanism to release it?

Question 27: While going through the Segment Element schema, a few critical nodes are missing like booking class, fare basis, etc. Why?

Answer: We collect the fares from the airline search page on their website. A lot of LCCs don't provide all the possible flight and fare information on the search screen. Hence, a lot of information you receive in the GDS may not be available for LCC carriers. Our API element to get the booking class (RBD) is the "cabin" element.

Question 28: Can a customer modify booking APIs to perform actions like cancellation of PNR, partial cancellation, adding special service meal, baggage, and seats?

Answer: At present, we have post-ticketing baggage and refund functionality via API as well as in ATRIP. We are evolving our post-ticketing features and will add more functionality in the coming months.

Question 29: Can we shop an airline for live inventory?

Question 30: Are credit card surcharges added to the price in your search API?

Answer: We have done thorough analysis and understand the surcharges applicable for different airlines. Wherever applicable, the credit card surcharges are added to the total price of the fare in the search.do API request.

Question 31: What FX exchange rate do you use to convert POS currency prices into the currency setting agreed with Atlas?

Answer: We use the Mastercard exchange rate for converting the currency into the transacting currency.

Question 32: What is the Atlas bookability rate?

Answer: Atlas is currently running at a bookability rate of 97% via our cache results, meaning in only an average of 3 cases per 100 is there a fare change from our cache prices at the ticketing stage.

Question 33: Can the same routingIdentifier be used after a time gap (2-24 hrs) to re-price the fare?

Answer: Sorry, it's not available now. If the workflow is to confirm the booking after a period of time after the initial search, you will need to conduct a search again and then revalidate and get the present price from the airline.

Question 34: Is the vendor currency always the same as the currency of the point of journey commencement?

Answer: The vendor currency is the currency in which Atlas pays the airline. The vendor currency is available in the API responses where Atlas accepts VCC mode of payment from customers. However, the currency is not always the same as the point of journey commencement. The logic depends on: 1) Airline route’s original pricing; 2) Some currencies not supported by Atlas, which are converted into a supported currency.

Question 35: Is pricing with account number/corporate number supported?

Answer: We can't support this feature generally at the moment. Could you please provide specific user scenarios? Our team will review them and get back to you.

Question 36: Are connecting flights supported?

Answer: Yes. We support all the flights available on the airline’s list of routes.

Question 37: Is open-jaw, multi-city, circle trip supported?

Answer: At the moment, we do not support open-jaw, multi-city, and circle trips.

Question 38: Is a mix of carriers within a single transaction supported (e.g., LS+ G9)?

Answer: Generally, we don't offer mixed carrier options. However, for round-trip search, we provide a configuration that allows you to receive one-way + one-way fares if they're cheaper than the round-trip fare.

Question 39: Is credit card payment supported?

Answer: Yes. We accept credit card payment as a pass-through method, which means we will send your card to the airline directly to be charged by the airline. The airline may have restrictions on certain cards, and hence the payment can get declined.

Question 40: Are connecting flights displayed in the search response?

Answer: Yes, connecting flights are also available in the search response.

Question 41: Does Atlas support infant passenger type?

Answer: Yes. Infant passenger type is supported on Atlas' platform. There may be a few airlines where infants are not supported, which will be addressed in the search response "infantAllowed."

Question 42: What is the format of the Atlas schema?

Answer: Atlas schema is a RESTful API in JSON format.

Question 43: Do you have a Postman project for your API?

Answer: Yes. You can download the Postman project from ATRIP. The project is available in ATRIP → API Document → API Reference → Atlas Sandbox → UAT Submission Guide.

Question 44: What credit card details do we use in sandbox while creating a booking via VCC mode of payment?

Answer: You may use any fictitious details for the VCC details in the sandbox environment.

Question 45: Does Atlas support fare families?

Answer: We do not support fare families/bundles at the moment. We are working on the development of this product and expect to release it in 2025. If you don't mind, could you please share your user scenario for fare families?

Question 46: Are there any checks for duplicate bookings? If so, who is checking? Atlas or airline?

Answer: We have a duplicate booking check. We will compare the booking request with PNRs created in the last 10 days and check for duplication with existing PNRs within the Atlas system. This reduces errors during the ticketing process.

Question 47: How does Atlas construct options with connection flights? Is it by minimum connection time (shortest waiting time)? Is it by the cheapest price? Does Atlas cut some options based on criteria?

Answer: Atlas does not construct any options at its end for connecting flights. Whatever options are available with the airline are captured and provided to our customers during the search.

Question 48: Does Atlas compare the price returned in Verify with the price sent back in Order at the moment of fulfillment?

Answer: Yes, we compare the price during the booking with the verification price.

Question 49: If there is any price difference, how would Atlas react? Would it block the transaction with an error message?

Answer: Atlas would cancel the booking and send the error code "308 (Price changed)." If the customer has negotiated for Atlas to contact their operations team before canceling the order, we will get in touch via the preferred communication medium.

Question 50: What is the transaction fee returned in the SEARCH response?

Answer: The “transactionFee” is the fee negotiated between customers and Atlas. This amount should be read with "TransactionFeeMode." Please ignore the field "transactionFeePerPax" as it is a historic field.

Question 51: Are the flight options and their availability returned from Atlas cache?

Answer: Yes, we have a robust cache mechanism with a high success rate and a response speed of less than 500ms. To achieve this, we provide the flight options and availability from our cache.

Question 52: What happens if there are no seats available (all seats sold out) at the moment of Verify?

Question 53: What happens if the available fare is sold out and only a more expensive option is available?

Answer: Atlas would provide the price change information in the "priceChange" array at the bottom of the verify response.

Question 54: What about credit card payment fees? Are they added to the fare?

Answer: We have done thorough analysis and understand the surcharges applicable for different cards. Wherever applicable, the credit card surcharges are added to the total price of the fare in the search.do API request.

Question 55: How do we know what fields are mandatory in the booking request?

Answer: The mandatory information required in the booking request will be provided in the verification response as shown in the bookingRequirements array. We have an in-house table that regularly checks the requirements for the airlines and keeps it updated.

Question 56: Do we need to add the passport information for all passenger types?

Answer: Yes, if mentioned as "required" in the booking requirements info in the verify response, the passport information needs to be added for all passenger types. The mandatory information will be available in the verify.do response in the bookingRequirements array.

Question 57: Are all fields in the pay.do request for VCC pass-through mandatory?

Answer: Yes. These fields have been kept "mandatory" because some airlines need all the information. There is no way to identify which airline needs it as the policy of the airline may change from time-to-time.

Question 58: Why might ticketing in the sandbox environment take more than 10 minutes?

Answer: This is a sandbox environment used for various tests. These issues may occur in this environment. Sometimes the ticketing needs to be manually pushed in the sandbox environment.

Question 59: In which cases might there be more than one airlinePNR code?

Answer: To provide the lowest possible fare, two airlines may be combined to provide the cheapest option for a round-trip. As the itinerary has two different airlines, there will be two airlinePNRs in the airlinePNRs element.

Question 60: Can we send an Order request again with the same order number as originally done?

Answer: Once an order is created, it cannot be amended. If a new order with identical information is submitted, it will be rejected as a duplicate. You must wait for the original order to expire before submitting a new one.

Question 61: What is the contact phone number format?

Answer: Please follow this format: XXXX (digital country code) - XXXXXXXX (phone number). Examples: 0001-87291810, 0086-13928109091, 0971-19201998. There is a limit of 30 characters (including the hyphen) for this field.

Question 62: What is tktLimitTime from the Order response, and what is its impact?

Answer: The tktLimitTime defines the time within which the payment needs to be made for the booking. This time limit is as per the SGT time zone. If the payment is not done within this time, the booking will expire.

Question 63: Can we test the API functionality before partnering with Atlas?

Answer: Yes, you can test Atlas API functionality before making a commitment. Please fill out the contact form, and we will get in touch with you within two working days. To protect our partner airlines, we need to confirm your details and get you to sign an NDA. After verification, test credentials will be sent to your inbox.

Question 64: Are there any restrictions on the API functionality for any of the airlines?

Answer: We strive to offer maximum opportunities for both our partner airlines and travel agencies. As new features are integrated, functionality is added to airlines incrementally.

Question 65: Does Atlas support promotional fare or promotional code-based pricing?

Answer: We currently offer general promotional fare functionality but don't support promo codes by default. For specific airlines, we may have this capability. Please leave a message if you're interested, and our team will contact you for details.

Question 66: Is there a timeout limit for Atlas APIs?

Answer: Yes, the timeout limits are as follows:

search.do: No limit defined
realTimeSearch.do: 120 seconds
verify.do: 15 seconds
order.do: 15 seconds for normal booking, 120 seconds for real-time booking
pay.do: No limit defined

Question 67: What is the API response time for each Atlas API?

Answer: Average response times are:

search.do: <500ms (98% of responses returned in less than 500ms)
realTimeSearch.do: 25 seconds
verify.do: 8 seconds (90% of responses returned in less than 8 seconds)
order.do: 8 seconds (90% of responses returned in less than 8 seconds)
pay.do: 2 seconds (90% of responses returned in less than 2 seconds)

Question 68: Can users change the currency to view ticket prices in their local currency?

Answer: Yes. Customers can use the parameter displayFare in the search and verify APIs to get the amount in their chosen currency. This fare is for display purposes only and will not impact billing.

Question 69: How many results does the search query return, and what is the default sorting order?

Answer: By default, the search query returns up to 100 results, sorted by fares from low to high.

Question 70: Does the OrderAPI hold the inventory? If yes, for how long?

Answer: Yes, inventory is held for 30 minutes after the order is generated. Payment must be made during this time.

Question 71: Can we release the inventory held at our end?

Answer: Inventory is managed at the backend. While we hold inventory for 30 minutes, there is no function to release it on request. This does not impact your transaction with Atlas.

Question 72: Atlas's obligations to maintain API connectivity.

Answer: We guarantee API connectivity 99.9%.

Question 73: Does Atlas have processes in place to monitor performance and trigger notifications to Sabre?

Answer: Yes. We monitor our vendors (airlines) round the clock. If vendor API quality does not meet expectations, we disable the vendor pricing in the search (shopping) API while continuing to check the API quality.

Question 74: What Data Protection measures does Atlas have in place for GDPR and PCI DSS?

Answer: Atlas is both PCI DSS and GDPR compliant.

Question 75: What Security standards does Atlas have in place to prevent breaches?

Answer: Atlas uses Alibaba Cloud Container Service and follows Alibaba Cloud security best practices. We also use GCP Container and follow GCP security best practices.

Question 76: Does Atlas have a Disaster Recovery plan?

Answer: We use three data centers in an “Active-Active-Active” mode, mitigating the risk of data loss for customers.

Question 77: What is the SLA to resolve errors where the Atlas API or service is unavailable or impaired?

Answer:

Severity 1: 30 minutes.
Severity 2: 3 hours.
Severity 3: 24 hours.
Non-critical issues: 2 days.

Question 78: Where will we find API documentation?

Question 79: Does Atlas provide monitoring console/dashboards?

Answer: Yes. A dashboard provides segment information, and more features are continuously being added.

Question 80: Is there any backend module available other than API for creating bookings in case of failover?

Answer: Not currently. We are exploring the possibility of booking via a portal in the future.

Question 81: What should we do if we encounter API failure?

Answer: Use the ATRIP web portal for post-ticketing services or contact the API support team.