Pricing for OTAs

The section below explains which partners can pull pricing from FareHarbor. A “Pricing API” is the ability for an OTA to pull pricing information from the FareHarbor dashboard.

Viator

We are currently conducting limited testing to offer the functionality to have Viator pull pricing from FareHarbor. This cannot currently be enabled for all clients. If a client is requesting to connect pricing to Viator, please reach out to Connectivity.

GetYourGuide

FareHarbor has the functionality to have GetYourGuide pull pricing from FareHarbor. This feature needs to be enabled by the Connectivity team per dashboard as well as in the client’s GetYourGuide account.

• Deals: Clients have the ability to create deals (which is a promo or special offer) in GetYourGuide’s system. We are able to enable a feature for clients where the promo rate will be reflected on the bookings. To enable this, the GYG affiliate must have connected invoice sheets. After that, to enable this setting, please reach out to the Connectivity team.

Note: Manual rebooking done on the dashboard will not carry over the “promo” cost on the booking, but rather revert to the original cost based on the customer type prices set on the price sheet.

Expedia.com

FareHarbor currently does not have the functionality to have Expedia pull pricing from FareHarbor. The functionality exists, but due to low volume of bookings passing through this connection, we have not connected to Expedia’s Pricing API. If a client is requesting to connect their pricing to FareHarbor, please submit a product request.

Google Things to do

Google Things to do bookings are made via ASN links, so the pricing will always pull from the price sheet assigned to the Google affiliate on the FareHarbor dashboard. We can set special pricing for the Google integration. To do so, please submit a request to the Connectivity team to update the pricing and the mapping, as this requires an additional adjustment to the integration.

All other OTAs (External API)

All External API partners have the option to pull pricing from FareHarbor, and we make that information available to them. It is up to the OTA whether they connect to pricing. We keep the API Partner Glossary up to date with known pricing API connections. If a client would like to connect pricing to an External API, they need to contact the OTA in order to do so.

Dynamic Pricing

This section is meant to help guide internal teams through a conversation with clients who want to connect dynamic pricing with OTAs. The ideal state for Dynamic Pricing to work via API connections would be a Pricing API, to pull pricing from FareHarbor, and a Webhook, to notify OTAs of pricing changes.

Clarify the client need: First, when a client asks to connect dynamic pricing with OTAs, please ask them to clarify what they are trying to accomplish. Often we see the phrase being used in a very broad way, and enabling the dynamic pricing feature in FareHarbor won’t solve the client’s needs. Clients could be referring to:

• Creating price schedules, i.e. week/weekend, or high/low season
• A limited time, reduced price promotion,
• Different pricing on different customer types/availabilities.
• FH Dynamic pricing, which are price schedules with dynamic rules. I.e. Increase price by 20% when there are 3 spots remaining, or Discount the first 5 spots to be $20 cheaper than the remaining 15.

Before moving forward, please confirm that the client wants to use dynamic pricing rules in FareHarbor and have those reflected on the OTAs front end.

Viator

Dynamic pricing does not currently work with the Viator API. Viator has not published a pricing API, so we are unable to send price info or price updates to their system. Viator had a pricing API in the past that has now been deprecated while the Viator team works to revamp the feature. Ventrata and Bokun have some products connected to this old pricing API. If a client would like to connect dynamic pricing to the Viator API, please submit a product request.

GetYourGuide

We have the functionality for dynamic pricing (except time based rules) since we have a pricing API and a webhook that pushes price updates to GetYourGuide. These price updates need to be enabled by the Connectivity team.

Expedia.com

Dynamic pricing does not currently work with the Expedia.com API as we have not connected to the Expedia Pricing API (see pricing section) and they do not have the ability for us to send price updates to their system. If a client would like to connect dynamic pricing to Expedia, please submit a product request as well as tell the client to contact the Expedia team to request this feature.

Google Things to do

Dynamic pricing works with Google Things to do as long as the schedule has been applied to the Google affiliate on the dashboard. The Connectivity team does need to confirm with the Google team that the price is available on three availabilities in the next 30 days.

All other OTAs (External API)

Dynamic pricing is not fully supported due to the nature of refresh times and the probability for time based or capacity based rules to affect what’s reporting in FareHarbor vs. what’s cached/displayed on the OTA side. We can experiment with partners as long as they know there is a possibility of the incorrect price displaying on the OTA’s site vs what will show in the check-out page. We are currently exploring the possibility to expand our functionality to better support dynamic pricing through our API. If you have clients who request this, please submit a product request.

Additional Notes

API Fee Terms and Pricing

According to the API Fee Terms in our Terms of Service, clients are responsible for having accurate pricing loaded in FareHarbor for their OTA affiliates.

Frequency of Pricing Updates

Pricing updates are not instantaneous. Pricing changes will reflect on the OTA’s site in 4–24 hours because the system needs to refresh (which cannot be triggered manually). The refresh times are different depending on each individual OTA. If a customer tries to book after the price has changed, they will be charged the updated price.

Price Sheets

All pricing updates need to be made on the price sheet assigned to the OTA affiliate. In order for pricing to be accurate on the OTA’s site, pricing should not be updated on the availability level.