How to get GDS API access. Sabre, Travelport and Amadeus, step by step.

Who can get GDS API access?

GDS APIs are sold to businesses that sell travel, or that build software for them. Access is granted per customer and tied to an agency identity, so who you are decides your path.

The ticketing question matters most. A GDS can let you search and book, but issuing a ticket needs accreditation through the BSP or ARC, or a partner that has it. Our guide on how to get IATA accreditation covers that side, including the GDS contract that some IATA country checklists require.

Sabre API access: Dev Studio, then an account manager

Sabre separates trial access from customer access. Anyone can open a free Sabre Dev Studio account, browse the API catalogue and call a subset of REST APIs through the API Explorer. Those test credentials are not permanent and only reach publicly available APIs in Sabre's certification environment, not your agency's data.

Customer access goes through your Sabre account manager:

1. Sign a contract covering the APIs and regions you need. Some APIs carry their own entitlement; Sabre notes, for example, that Bargain Finder Max needs separate access.
2. Receive credentials. Once the account manager creates your API order, Sabre emails token credentials: your PCC or iPCC, an EPR (an individual employee profile linked to that PCC), a domain and a password, plus an optional client ID and secret for your application.
3. Build and test in CERT. Sabre tokens work only in the environment that issued them, so a certification token cannot call production.
4. Certify and go live. AltexSoft, which builds on Sabre as an authorised developer, puts certification at four to eight weeks in its experience and the whole project at several months to a year.

Sabre says whether you are issued a PCC or an iPCC depends on your type of agency. AltexSoft notes that iPCCs are typically issued to online travel agencies for API-only use.

Travelport API access: trial, sales enquiry, certification

Travelport's developer site promotes its TripServices JSON APIs for flights, hotels (Stays) and payments, with instant trial access and no payment required. Trial credentials let you build and test realistic workflows.

Production access follows a sales route:

1. Become a Travelport customer through a sales enquiry. Travelport then provisions both pre-production and production credentials for the APIs you have contracted.
2. Authenticate with OAuth 2.0. A token is valid for 24 hours, so your system must refresh it daily.
3. Raise a certification case in the support portal, with example requests and responses for every API you will use. For flights, Travelport asks for adult, child and infant passengers and a round trip with a connection.
4. Give notice. Travelport wants at least 15 days' notice before you move to production, and issues production credentials at the end of certification.

Two details catch teams out. Travelport may decline certification if you refresh tokens more often than every 23 hours without a justified reason. And its older SOAP XML API Services (formerly Universal API) follow a separate certification path with a questionnaire and a move-to-production call.

Amadeus API access after the Self-Service shutdown

Until 2026, Amadeus Self-Service was the easiest way to try GDS-style APIs. Amadeus decommissioned that portal on 17 July 2026: self-service API keys stopped working and its GitHub SDKs were archived the same day. Our Amadeus Self-Service alternatives guide covers the migration in detail.

Amadeus told PhocusWire that its Enterprise portal and Enterprise APIs remain fully available. Enterprise access is for Amadeus customers, and existing customers were told to work through their account managers. Amadeus does not publish eligibility rules or prices for it, so the practical steps are:

• Contact Amadeus sales or your local Amadeus office and describe your business model, markets and expected volumes.
• Expect a commercial agreement, and an Amadeus Office ID (the Amadeus equivalent of a PCC) to identify your agency.
• Plan for a different API surface from the old self-service endpoints. Traditional GDS traffic is built on EDIFACT messaging, and GDSs now also offer REST and NDC interfaces, so confirm in writing which interfaces and content your contract covers.

PCCs, Office IDs and certification: what every GDS checks

All three GDSs tie API calls to an agency office. Sabre and Travelport call it a pseudo city code; Amadeus calls it an Office ID. PNRs, queues, private fares and ticketing rights all sit on that identifier, which is why production credentials are issued per agency rather than per developer.

Certification is the GDS checking that your software will not harm its systems or your bookings. Expect reviews of:

• Message quality: valid requests, correct versions and headers, and complete passenger scenarios.
• Efficiency: sensible search volumes and token handling. Excess searching shows up in your look-to-book ratio, which contracts can limit.
• Security: how credentials and traveller data are stored.
• Workflow coverage: booking, ticketing, cancellation and changes, not only search.

Certification is repeated when you add APIs or move to new versions, so build an adapter layer that keeps GDS-specific code in one place.

How much does GDS API access cost?

No GDS publishes an API price list. Costs are negotiated in the commercial contract, and the structure is easier to describe than the figures.

• Airlines pay per booking. Sabre's annual report says its distribution revenue comes mainly from transaction fees paid by travel suppliers when an agency books their product.
• Agencies may pay or be paid. The same report lists fees paid by agency subscribers for solutions integrated with the GDS, and incentive payments to larger agencies that commit volume.
• Contracts run for years. Sabre says most of its travel buyer contracts run one to three years, while major agency customers typically sign non-exclusive contracts of five to ten years.
• Expect volume terms. Segment targets, minimums and search-to-booking limits are common negotiating points; ask for every threshold in writing.

Airlines add their own charges too. Lufthansa Group, for example, raised its distribution cost charge on GDS-issued tickets from 1 January 2026 to EUR 18 for Amadeus and EUR 22.50 for Sabre bookings. See our guide to GDS surcharges. Development, certification and maintenance usually cost more than the access itself.

Alternatives to a direct GDS API

A direct contract makes sense when you have accreditation, volume and a development team. Otherwise, three alternatives are common:

• A travel API aggregator that has already certified with one or more GDSs and exposes them, often with NDC and low-cost carriers, through one interface. See what a travel API is.
• An NDC aggregator for network airlines' NDC offers, useful where an airline's richest fares or ancillaries are on NDC, though coverage is limited to the airlines each aggregator connects.
• A consolidator's API if you are not accredited and want the consolidator to ticket.

Ask any provider which GDSs and airlines are live in your markets, who issues the ticket, and whether you can bring your own PCC later. Comparing the three GDSs first? Read Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport.

How ReservationHub fits

ReservationHub has Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport pre-integrated, along with NDC through aggregators such as Verteil and Duffel and low-cost carriers through Travel Fusion. Accredited agencies can use their own GDS credentials, and non-IATA agencies sell through consolidator connections.

Developers can reach this content through the TripGic Travel API, a REST/JSON API from USD 1,499 one-time. The full list of more than 110 pre-built integrations is on our partners page.