When an agency sets up the flights side of its travel booking panel, the first technical question is where the fares will come from. There are three broad answers: a GDS, NDC connections with airlines, and low-cost or aggregator APIs. Most agencies end up with a mix, but each source behaves differently, costs different amounts of effort and suits different markets.
This guide explains the three in plain words, without jargon, so you can talk to suppliers and to your platform team with confidence.
Why the source of flight content matters
A traveller only sees a price and a booking button. Behind that button, the source decides:
- Which airlines and fares you can show.
- What extras, such as seats or bags, can be sold.
- How the booking is ticketed and changed later.
- What contract and credentials your agency needs.
A travel booking panel can search several sources in parallel and merge the results, but it cannot create content you have no contract for. The decision is therefore commercial as much as technical.
Option one: the GDS
A Global Distribution System such as Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport collects fares and availability from a large number of airlines and presents them through one interface. Agencies have used GDS terminals for decades.
Strengths
- Broad airline coverage through a single contract.
- Standard fare rules, ticketing and after-sales processes your staff may already know.
- Well suited to network carriers and complex itineraries.
Things to consider
- You need an agency agreement with the GDS provider, usually arranged through its local office.
- Some airlines now offer their best fares or extras outside the GDS.
- Low-cost carriers are often missing or limited.
When it fits
If your agency already issues tickets through a GDS, connecting that account is usually the first step. Your existing contract carries over, and the panel simply gives the content a modern search screen and a booking flow for travellers and agents.
Option two: NDC connections
NDC (New Distribution Capability) is a standard that lets airlines sell directly to agencies with richer content: bundles, fare families, seats and other extras described the way the airline wants. Many large airlines encourage agencies to book through NDC.
Strengths
- Access to airline-specific offers and bundles.
- Better descriptions of what each fare includes.
- A direct relationship with the airline.
Things to consider
- Each airline connection may need its own agreement and setup.
- Fare families from different airlines must be shown in a comparable way, which the panel handles by mapping them to one simple layout.
- After-sales handling can differ from airline to airline.
When it fits
NDC is worth adding once you know which airlines matter most to your customers. Agencies that sell a lot on a few carriers often gain the most.
Option three: low-cost and aggregator APIs
Low-cost carriers often sell outside the GDS. Aggregators and API providers such as Duffel, Mystifly, PKFARE or Kiwi.com package content from many carriers, including low-cost airlines, into one API.
Strengths
- Low-cost and regional carriers your customers ask for.
- One integration can unlock many airlines.
- Often quick to start with.
Things to consider
- Each provider has its own commercial terms and payment model.
- Rules for changes and refunds vary by carrier.
- Content can overlap with what you already get from a GDS.
When it fits
If your travellers fly short routes or price-sensitive leisure trips, low-cost content is often essential. Aggregators are a practical way to add it without many separate airline contracts.
How the travel booking panel combines them
The real value of a travel booking panel is not any single source but the way it combines them.
- Parallel search. One search goes to every connected source at the same time, each with its own time limit, so a slow supplier never holds up the page.
- Merged results. When the same flight comes from two sources, it appears once, with the best fare shown first. Staff can still see the alternatives.
- Comparable fares. Fare families from GDS and NDC content are mapped to one model, so travellers compare basic, standard and flexible options side by side.
- Price check before payment. The selected offer is revalidated with its source before the card or agent wallet is charged.
- One booking record. Whatever the source, the PNR, passengers, payment and ticket sit on one booking in the admin.
That is what turns three different technologies into one flight product your agents and travellers can use.
Choosing a mix for your agency
There is no single right answer, but these patterns are common.
- Corporate and network-carrier agencies: start with the GDS, then add NDC for key airlines.
- Leisure agencies on short routes: combine a GDS with a low-cost aggregator.
- Consolidators supplying sub-agents: connect every source you have contracts for, because partners expect broad choice in the B2B travel portal.
- Umrah and pilgrim specialists: focus on the airlines that serve your departure cities and add group fares where available.
Whatever you choose, use your own contracts. Connections in the panel use your agreements and credentials, so the commissions and rates you negotiate stay with your agency.
Questions to ask each supplier
Before signing, ask every flight content provider:
- Which airlines and routes are included for our market?
- How are tickets issued, and who handles changes and refunds?
- What are the payment terms: deposit, credit or card per booking?
- Which credentials will our platform need, and how long does certification take?
- Is there a test environment we can connect first?
The answers tell you how much work the connection will be and whether the content justifies it.
Beyond flights: the same logic for hotels and activities
The same thinking applies to the rest of the travel booking panel. Hotels come from bedbanks and wholesalers such as Hotelbeds, RateHawk or TBO, and from hotels you contract directly through an extranet. Activities can come from suppliers such as Viator or Tiqets, or from tours you run yourself. In every case the panel searches the sources you have contracts for, merges identical offers, applies your markup and keeps one booking record. Once your team understands how flight sources are combined, the hotel and tour lines will feel familiar.
Testing a new connection safely
Every new source should be tested before travellers see it. A sensible routine looks like this:
- Connect the supplier's test environment first, if it offers one.
- Search a handful of routes your agency sells often and compare the results with what your staff see in the supplier's own tools.
- Make a test booking and cancellation, and check that the PNR, payment and ticket appear correctly in the admin.
- Switch to live credentials and repeat one real booking with a colleague as the passenger.
- Only then open the source to the B2B travel portal and the public website.
This takes a little time, but it prevents the most painful kind of problem: a traveller who has paid for a fare that was never ticketed.
Common mistakes
- Connecting everything at once. Start with the source that covers most of your sales, then add others.
- Ignoring after-sales. A cheap fare that is hard to change can cost more in staff time than it earns.
- Showing raw fare codes. Travellers and agents need plain descriptions of what a fare includes.
- Forgetting markups. Each source should carry the right margin for each channel, which you set once in the panel.
What changes for your staff
Once sources are merged, consultants stop asking which system to check first. They search once, see every option and spend their time advising the traveller instead of copying fares between screens. Supervisors see every booking, whatever its source, in one admin with the same status labels.
Related reading
For a wider buying checklist, our sister site explains how to compare platforms in its guide to choosing travel booking software. Inside this site, the flight booking system page shows how the flights line works, and our article on how a booking flows through an online travel booking system follows a single fare from search to ticket.