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Car rental API

Cars API for agencies and OTAs: rent a car from your own site

A cars API puts rental cars from many companies into your search results and lets you confirm them in real time. This page explains the codes, the search fields, the fine print on cover and deposits, and the life of a rental booking, then shows the car and transfer suppliers already connected to PHPTRAVELS.

  • ACRISS car codes
  • One-way and driver rules
  • Clear desk charges
  • Ready connectors

Read a car like an API does

Four letters describe every car in a car rental API

Rental APIs rarely promise a specific model. They return a car class as a four-letter ACRISS code, also called a SIPP code, plus a sample model "or similar". Pick a letter below to see what that position means, then swap in other values.

Example code

How big and how well equipped is the car?

This letter means:MiniEconomyCompactIntermediateStandardFullsizePremiumLuxurySpecial

Choose a value to change the code

What body style and how many doors?

This letter means:2 or 3 doors2 or 4 doors4 or 5 doorsWagon or estatePassenger vanSUVConvertibleSpecial

Choose a value to change the code

Manual or automatic, and which wheels are driven?

This letter means:Manual, drive unspecifiedManual, 4WDManual, AWDAutomatic, drive unspecifiedAutomatic, 4WDAutomatic, AWD

Choose a value to change the code

What does it run on, and is there air conditioning?

This letter means:Fuel unspecified, with air conditioningFuel unspecified, no air conditioningDiesel, with air conditioningPetrol, with air conditioningHybrid, with air conditioningElectric, with air conditioningLPG or compressed gas, with air conditioning

Choose a value to change the code

ACRISS is the code set maintained by the Association of Car Rental Industry Systems Standards, and most rental companies, brokers and GDSs use it. Because every supplier speaks the same four letters, a booking engine can sort an economy car from one company beside an economy car from another, filter by automatic gearbox, and apply one markup rule to a whole class.

The code is a promise about the class, not the model. A traveller who books CDMR gets a compact, four-door, manual car with air conditioning, whatever the badge on the bonnet. Say so on the results page and you avoid most "this is not the car I booked" complaints.

In PHPTRAVELS every vehicle, from your own fleet or from a supplier, is mapped to its code in the Cars & transfers, so the Car rental system filters and prices cars the same way whatever the source.

The search request

Five things a car rental API needs before it can price a car

A car search is a journey with two ends. Everything between pick-up and drop-off changes the price, so the request carries more than a city and two dates.

Rental cars from several suppliers connected to one booking server, with a car key, a map pin and a laptop showing car results
Pick-upDrop-off

Rental days are counted from these two times

  1. Pick-up and drop-off locationAn airport code or the supplier's own location ID. Airport desks, shuttle lots and city branches are different locations with different opening hours.
  2. Date and time at both endsRentals are charged in 24-hour periods, so the clock matters: returning a few hours late can add a whole day.
  3. One-way or round tripReturning the car somewhere else is a separate request flag. Many suppliers add a one-way fee or refuse some routes, such as across a border.
  4. Driver ageYoung-driver and senior-driver surcharges, and the classes a driver may book at all, depend on age. Send it with the search, not at checkout.
  5. Country of residenceRates and included cover often differ by the driver's country of residence, so the same car can be priced differently for two travellers.

The PHPTRAVELS search form collects the pick-up, drop-off, dates and driver age, and each connector passes on what its supplier requires. Rental companies with their own branches can manage locations, hours and one-way fees directly in the Car rental system.

Inclusions and charges

What the API says, what you show, what the driver pays at the desk

Most rental complaints start at the counter, not on your website. The fix is to show every inclusion the API returns and to say plainly what is settled locally. What is included varies by supplier, country and rate, so read it per offer.

What the API returnsWhat you show before paymentWhat happens at the desk
Collision damage waiver (CDW)Whether CDW is included in the rate, and the excess the driver still owes after damage.Included or not, with the excess amount next to it in the offer's currency.The counter may offer to reduce the excess with an extra daily product.
Theft protectionWhether theft protection is included, often with its own excess.A separate line, so travellers do not assume CDW covers theft.Nothing extra if it is included; otherwise it may be sold locally.
Third-party liabilityThe liability cover in the rate. Many countries require a legal minimum.Included, and a note when the supplier sells higher limits.Optional top-up cover may be offered.
MileageUnlimited, or a distance allowance with a charge per extra kilometre or mile.Unlimited mileage as a filter; any cap written out on the card.Extra distance is charged on return when a cap applies.
Fuel policyA policy code, such as full to full or pre-purchased tank.The policy in plain words on the results card and the voucher.Return it short on full to full and the supplier charges for the missing fuel.
DepositDeposit amount and the cards accepted, when the supplier sends them.The deposit and that it needs a credit card in the main driver's name.A refundable hold is placed on the card at pick-up and released after return.

The exact amounts belong to each supplier and rate. PHPTRAVELS displays what the API returns and never invents a figure that is not in the offer.

The rental lifecycle

From quote to return: six stops, two places

The first three stops happen through the API on your site. The last three happen at the rental counter, and the voucher is the bridge between them.

  1. Through the API

    Quote

    Search returns priced offers with code, inclusions and terms. Re-check the price before payment.

  2. Through the API

    Book

    Send the driver details and the chosen offer. The supplier returns a confirmation number.

  3. Through the API

    Voucher

    Print the confirmation, desk address, opening hours, deposit and what to bring.

  4. At the counter

    Pick-up

    The driver shows a licence, the voucher and a credit card. The deposit hold is placed.

  5. At the counter

    Return

    The car is checked for fuel, damage and time. The hold is released when all is in order.

  6. At the counter

    Extras at the desk

    Child seats, extra drivers or cover bought locally are paid to the supplier, not to you.

Cancellations and changes go back through the API before pick-up, and the booking stays in the same admin as flights and hotels. Airport transfers, explained on the Airport transfer technology page, follow the same flow with a meeting point in place of a desk.

Live connectors

Car rental and transfer suppliers connected today

These are the live connectors in the cars category of PHPTRAVELS. Some sell rental cars, others sell airport and city transfers. Each one is switched on with your own supplier account.

Want a brand that is not listed? The Alamo Rent A Car API and Sixt car rental guides explain how agencies reach those cars today, and our team can build a Custom API integration once you have access. All connectors sit inside the wider Travel APIs hub.

Book a car on a live PHPTRAVELS site

Open the demo, search a pick-up and a drop-off, and follow a rental from results to voucher. Then compare plans for your own domain.

Open the live demoSee pricing

Cars API questions

Car rental API: common questions

Talk to sales

A cars API, or car rental API, is a set of web services a rental company or broker opens to travel sellers. Your site sends a location, dates and driver details, receives priced cars with their inclusions, and can then create and cancel bookings in real time.

It is a four-letter code that describes a car class: category, body type, transmission and drive, and fuel with air conditioning. CDMR, for example, is a compact four-door manual with air conditioning. Most rental suppliers use it, so cars from different companies can be compared like for like.

Usually not. Car rental APIs book a class, shown with an example model "or similar". A few suppliers offer guaranteed models on some cars, and when the API returns that flag it can be shown on the results card.

Yes. You sign with each car rental or transfer supplier and receive your own credentials and commercial terms. PHPTRAVELS does not provide supplier credentials; you enter yours in the admin and the connector is switched on.

Transfers come from their own suppliers, but PHPTRAVELS sells them in the same cars module and checkout. That is why the live list above includes both rental and transfer connectors.

Show what the API returns for each offer: whether collision damage waiver, theft protection and liability are included, the excess, the fuel policy, the mileage and the deposit. Then say clearly that any extra cover bought at the counter is paid to the supplier.

Most car rental APIs accept a different drop-off location in the search. Whether a route is allowed and what it costs is decided by the supplier and returned with the offer.

Yes. You set markups on supplier rates in the admin, and the B2B agent portal has its own markups and agent wallets, so you control the selling price in each channel.

The Enterprise plan includes a documented REST API and webhooks, so your mobile app or partner sites can search and book through your PHPTRAVELS platform, with every supplier behind one interface.

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