Booking.com

A popular online travel agency that serves as a marketplace for booking accommodations, flights, car rentals, and travel experiences. It connects travelers with a vast global inventory of lodging, from hotels and apartments to vacation homes, and provides tools like search filters and user reviews to help users find and reserve options.

This partnership is designed to save clients time by consolidating systems and allowing Booking.com to pull live availability, content, and pricing from FareHarbor. As a result, clients do not need to manage their product listings manually in Booking.com, and bookings made on Booking.com will flow into the client’s FareHarbor dashboard automatically.

Currently only eligible in USD, EUR and GBP currencies.

In order to start the integration process, the client will need to be enrolled with FareHarbor’s Distribution Network. If the FHDN API affiliate is added to the client’s affiliate list with permissions, they are already enabled.

FareHarbor items must utilize the Content Builder optimization tool for their listing info.

FareHarbor items must meet the minimum content eligibility requirements set by Booking.com.

Pre Go-Live

AE will gather any content information and the affiliate will be automatically added to any new dashboards as a part of the auto-opt in process for FHDN (if clients have not opted out). The Connectivity Team is notified of any new dashboards with the FHDN API affiliate when they go live. The Connectivity New Connections team adds the shortname to Airtable with a proper SLA based on client tier. Once the record is claimed by an available agent, they begin the review process and map any eligible items, up to 30 for larger dashboards. Clients can request more if they would like to add additional inventory in the future.

NOTE: In order for this to work, the Dashboard builder must ensure the FHDN API affiliate is added to the Affiliates section of the dashboard before the client is set to “Active” in Close.

Post Go-Live

• If you have a client that’s interested and previously opted out please submit a Mapping Request Form using the “New Connection” request option to notify the Connectivity Team.

• The Connectivity Team will follow the appropriate process as described above. If there are eligibility issues we will work with clients to specify the missing criteria and provide Booking.com’s content requirements. Adjusting content is a self service action unless the client needs further assistance navigating the dashboard.

We are not able to guarantee that a client is live on Booking.com. As with any FHDN partner products are available to connect but those are listed at the partner’s discretion. To see if a client has been enabled and mapped for Booking.com check for the shortname in the Connectivity Airtable with a status “Visible to Booking.com”. If they’ve been enabled and have followed the content guidelines they are much more likely to appear. The content guidelines are not flexible.

Booking overview:

Custom fields and custom field pricing on not connected at this time.

Yes! If changes are made to a FareHarbor item that is connected to Booking.com, the Connectivity team needs to manually update the corresponding mapping files to keep the connection intact. What kinds of changes should be submitted to the Connectivity team?

• Removing customer types from availabilities and adding new ones
• Deleting/archiving a connected item and replacing it with a new one
• Content is the client’s responsibility, if that is changed they will need to ensure this aligns with Booking.com requirements.
• Note that call-to-book, cancelled, or closed and hidden availabilities are read as unavailable through the API.

Always check admin notes for Connectivity-specific notes! If you’re ever unsure if a change has broken a connection, please submit a mapping request to the Connectivity team so we can check (see below)!

Please submit an API Mapping Request Form so we can follow up with the client. Please include as much detail as possible!

Does pricing pull from FareHarbor?

Yes, Booking.com pricing does pull from FareHarbor and requires the client’s online rates. FHDN specific pricing and price sheets are not permitted.

**Note: Booking.com does not pull priced custom fields but is responsible for displaying accurate pricing. Items with additional fees are not supported.

What kind of limitations should I look out for when searching for eligible items in FareHarbor?

Booking.com does not currently support the following (we will continue to update this page as improvements are made):

1. Tiered pricing of any kind, per person or per group.
2. Items priced using a custom field.
3. Multi-language items where the language is not specified by the customer types (i.e. only uses public headlines).
4. General Admission/Opening Hour style tours.
5. Items that include transportation or pickup options (as those cannot be collected from end customers).
6. Multi-day activities.
7. Activities with mandatory fees, surcharges, or additional costs not included in the base ticket price.
8. Items that don’t use content builder.
9. Items with no photos.
10. Items with pricing listed in the description, headline or “what’s included” section.
11. Items built in a language other than English.
12. Items without a start or primary location or that have an incomplete location assigned (must have Google place ID).

How is availability synced and refreshed for Booking.com

Calendar availability pulls for the next 180 days. New mapped activities are imported every Monday and Thursday.

Content, availability, and pricing is updated in real time because it’s refreshed anytime a user searches or lands on a product page. The Booking.com team only audits content once (when initially imported).

How is location info pulled for Booking.com guests.

Booking.com pulls location details from the Info & Policies tab on each item. It first checks for a Primary Location and if that does not exist it checks for a Start Location.

All address info must be complete (Country, State or province, City, and Zip/Postal Code) and Google Place ID is required. Long Google Place IDs are not considered valid.

How does Booking.com determine age ranges?

We are able to set age minimum and maximums per customer type in FareHarbor by editing the customer type settings under Options & prices. Those are then provided to Booking.com for their listing.

If there are no age ranges present on the mapped customer type, Booking.com defaults to Adults (18-100), Children (2-17), Infants (0-1), and Group (0-100).

Can the same item be connected to multiple Booking.com products?

No, currently we can only map an item 1 item to generate 1 corresponding product listing with Booking.com.

Can clients contact Booking.com customers through the FareHarbor booking overlay?

Yes, Booking.com sends through a customer email address in case additional communications are necessary. Please note, any amendments or cancellations from the customer need to go through Booking.com customer support so they can be correctly adjusted and refunded. Bookings will be updated via API for new travel dates or cancellations.

If clients need to cancel tours, they should contact support@fareharbor.com so we can notify Booking.com as well. Booking.com does not receive push notifications for dashboard cancellations or refunds but are ultimately responsible for issuing refunds.

What FareHarbor emails are and are not sent out on Booking.com bookings?

FareHarbor reminder/confirmation emails can be enabled for FHDN API bookings under the FHDN API affiliate settings.

Follow-up emails are sent automatically on every API booking.

Can a supplier have multiple FareHarbor dashboards connected to one Booking.com account? What about multiple Booking.com accounts to one dashboard?

Yes, we can connect multiple FareHarbor dashboards enabled for Booking.com. Since they are pulling products from FHDN inventory, there is not a Booking.com “supplier account” to coordinate.

How do cancellations and refunds for Booking.com bookings work?

Cancellations follow the standard 24hr policy set for all FHDN bookings and flow through the API to mark a booking as cancelled and refunded in FareHarbor. The refund must be done through Booking.com since the payment was collected on their site. Customers must contact the Booking.com team directly to request a refund.

Clients may subscribe to affiliate notification emails in FareHarbor, which will notify them when Booking.com cancels a booking. (To do this: go to Client FH Dashboard > “Users and Permissions” > “Edit” > “Account” > “Email Notifications”)

How do amendments (rebookings) work?

Amendments to Booking.com bookings flow through the API and the original booking will automatically update in FareHarbor.

Can a client limit availability on Booking.com?

Clients can choose to only sell certain items, days/dates, or times using affiliate rules to control availability to all FHDN affiliates. It is not possible to create restrictions only for Booking.com. Restrictions applied for Booking.com will impact all partners connecting to the client through FHDN.

Can a client have a different currency on Booking.com than on FareHarbor?

No. The currency of a client’s Booking.com will match the currency set in their FareHarbor dashboard.

Currently only USD, EUR and GBP are supported.

Can Booking.com book into unlisted items in FareHarbor?

Yes.

Can Booking.com book into unlisted availabilities in FareHarbor?

Yes.

Can Booking.com pull FareHarbor’s QR codes?

No, ticket scanning in FareHarbor is not currently available for Booking.com bookings.

How much does a client have to pay for this integration?

All bookings created through FHDN API are subject to a 25% commission as outlined here. Additional API fees are not applied to FHDN API bookings.