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Flight API guide

Google Flights API: what exists, what ended and what books flights

Google Flights is a metasearch site: it compares fares and sends travelers to an airline or agency to book. There is no public Google Flights API for developers, and QPX Express, the paid flight search API from ITA Software, closed in 2018. Travel businesses that need flight search, booking and ticketing connect GDS, NDC and consolidator APIs to a booking engine they own.

  • No public developer API
  • QPX Express history
  • GDS, NDC and consolidator APIs
  • Search, book, ticket, service

The short answer

What teams mean when they search for a Google Flights API

Most people who search for a Google Flights API want developer access to flight times, availability and prices, and then a way to book and service those flights. Google Flights does not offer that. It shows fares that airlines and online agencies share with Google under partner agreements, and the booking itself happens on the seller's site. Its search technology came from ITA Software, which Google acquired in 2011; the related QPX Express API was a commercial, query-priced shopping service, not a booking API, and it has been closed. The practical route is a contracted flight content source, such as a GDS, an airline NDC connection or a consolidator, plugged into a flight booking engine that handles offers, PNRs, ticketing, changes and refunds. PHPTRAVELS is that booking layer.

  1. Decide whether you need search only or booking, ticketing and servicing
  2. Choose a flight content source: GDS, airline NDC or consolidator
  3. Sign the supplier agreement and receive test credentials
  4. Connect the source to PHPTRAVELS and set markups and rules
  5. Certify with the supplier, go live and service bookings
Try the flight booking demoSee pricing
Environment
Sandbox
Content source
GDS · Amadeus
Credentials
API key: ••••
Markup
6% on base fare · B2C
Ticketing
Auto-issue after payment

Booking lifecycle

What a flight booking API covers that Google Flights does not

Search is only the first step. A flight API you can sell from has to carry the booking through ticketing and every change after it.

  1. Shop

    Search by route, dates, cabin and passengers across the sources you have contracted.

  2. Price

    Re-price the selected fare, attach fare rules and baggage, and apply your markup.

  3. Book

    Capture traveler details, create the order or PNR and hold or take payment.

  4. Ticket

    Issue the ticket and send the e-ticket and itinerary under your brand.

  5. Service

    Handle date changes, cancellations, reissues and refunds on the same booking record.

  6. Report

    Reconcile sales, supplier costs and agent commissions in the back office.

Real alternatives

Flight content sources that replace a Google Flights API

Each source needs its own agreement with the supplier. PHPTRAVELS connects them to one search, one booking flow and one admin.

  • GDS connections

    Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre provide published and negotiated fares with PNR creation, ticketing and servicing for accredited agencies.

  • Airline NDC offers

    Offers and orders straight from airlines that support NDC, with bundles, seats and ancillaries the airline sells.

  • Consolidators and flight APIs

    REST and JSON flight APIs and ticketing consolidators that give agencies without their own accreditation access to bookable fares.

Flight suppliers you can connect:

  • Seeru
  • Amadeus
  • Duffel
  • Google Flights
  • Kayak
  • Kiwi
  • Mystifly
  • PKfare
  • Sabre
  • TBO Holidays
  • Travelport
Explore the flights module

Back office

Run your flight API from one admin

The controls a metasearch link never gives you: your prices, your rules and your records.

  • Markups and commissions

    Fixed or percentage markups by route, airline, cabin or channel, and commissions for B2B agents.

  • Source switching

    Turn a GDS, NDC or consolidator source on or off per market without changing the website.

  • Secure credentials

    Supplier API keys stored in your own installation, separate for sandbox and production.

  • Agent wallets

    B2B agents book against a prepaid wallet or credit limit, with every deduction logged.

  • Request logs

    Search, price and booking calls logged with errors, to debug supplier issues and certification.

  • Sales reports

    Bookings, tickets, refunds and margin by supplier, agent and date range.

Compare

PHPTRAVELS vs relying on Google Flights

Google Flights is built for travelers comparing fares, not for businesses selling them. This is how the two typically differ; check Google's current partner terms for details.

AreaGoogle FlightsPHPTRAVELS
Developer accessGoogle FlightsNo public API; listing through partner agreementsPHPTRAVELSYour own contracted GDS, NDC or consolidator APIs
BookingGoogle FlightsTravelers leave to book on the seller's sitePHPTRAVELSBooking, PNR and payment on your website
Changes and refundsGoogle FlightsHandled by the airline or agency that sold the ticketPHPTRAVELSHandled on the booking record in your admin
Pricing controlGoogle FlightsShows the seller's pricePHPTRAVELSMarkups, commissions and currencies you set
Customer dataGoogle FlightsBooking and traveler data stay with the sellerPHPTRAVELSBookings and customers in your own database

Use cases

Who builds a flight platform instead

  • Online travel agencies

    Sell flights under your own brand with search, booking and ticketing, instead of sending traffic to someone else's checkout.

  • Corporate travel and TMCs

    Flight search with travel policy, approvals and servicing, feeding travel and expense reporting.

  • Product teams and startups

    Teams that went looking for a Google Flights API and need a working flight booking layer to build on.

Why PHPTRAVELS

A flight booking layer you own

  • Source code included

    Self-hosted under a commercial licence, so your developers can extend the flight logic and APIs.

  • Your supplier contracts

    You agree terms with each flight supplier and keep the credentials in your installation.

  • Replaceable sources

    Add or switch flight suppliers while the website, bookings and reports stay the same.

  • Web, B2B and mobile

    One flight engine behind your website, agent portal and mobile apps.

FAQ

Google Flights API questions

What developers and travel businesses ask before choosing a flight API.

Talk to sales

No. Google does not offer a public, self-service Google Flights API. Google Flights is a metasearch site that compares fares from airlines and agencies and links to them for booking. For search and booking, businesses use contracted GDS, NDC or consolidator flight APIs.

QPX was the airfare shopping engine from ITA Software, which Google acquired in 2011. QPX Express exposed availability and price queries to developers under per-query pricing and quotas. It returned prices, not bookings, and Google closed it in 2018.

No. Free tools that read Google Flights pages usually scrape them, which is typically against the site's terms and cannot book or ticket. Bookable flight content comes through commercial agreements with flight suppliers.

Airlines and online agencies appear on Google Flights through partner agreements with Google, which are separate from your booking engine. Check Google's current partner requirements; the booking itself still happens on your site.

Documented REST or XML endpoints, sandbox credentials, clear rate limits, fare rules and baggage, PNR or order creation, ticketing, and support for changes, cancellations and refunds. PHPTRAVELS connects these sources to one booking flow.

PHPTRAVELS plans start with Startup at $2499 as a one-time licence; see the pricing page for Agency and Enterprise. Flight content is billed separately by each supplier under your agreement with them.

Keep exploring

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