Travel agencies and the like would be using it. It's a lot better and cheaper than trying to get access to a GDS (which can be expensive, negotiating with a host agency, etc).

I wanted to poke around at it myself but it seems like I'd need a $99/mo package package to use it? (I legitimately actually want pseudo-GDS access for my personal cohort so we can coordinate flights and conventions together as the logistics leader of the group. I know I'm not the enterprise customer you're looking for, buuuuuut...)

I could see some bespoke tech savvy experience all inclusives wanting a product like this as well. Like let’s say you are a tour operator that only does one thing like sell packages to go ride motorcycles around Southeast Asia for a week or two. These kind of packages are already offered by tour operators as all inclusive save for the flights. They can now easily add flights to that and it’s a bonus for both them and the customer - the package is truly all inclusive now, plus the customer no longer needs to provide flight details for transportation to and from the airport. In this case you probably wouldn’t even want to add a markup - the added value of having the flight info immediately on hand would be enough to make it worthwhile.

But it seems like the customer is still the one searching for the flights, so then what's the point of using a travel agent's website? Just for the pleasure of spending an extra 5% in fees to the agent?

Yes, that's correct, only available on a paid plan today. API still available on a PAYG basis though!

When we shopped for a Galapagos trip, different operators had different offerings, but it was on us to line up “here’s how to get everyone from where they live to the boat” which this has the (theoretic, but perhaps not practical) means to solve.

Does Google flights sell flights directly?

No (which is very much preferable, IMO); they link you directly into the airline's purchase flow. The search results include a lot of folks who do, like Expedia, if you want the third party experience. It's not much fun when things go wrong.

Kayak, for instance, now sells all flights through third parties, like ChatDeal. The internet abounds with tales of ChatDeal not actually purchasing the tickets, or canceling them at the last minute. Any issues go through these third-party sites, who do not care about customer service or getting you to your destination.

The idea of buying any ticket not directly from the airline terrifies me now.

They actually do on some airlines. For instance, check out the first booking option here: https://www.google.com/travel/flights/booking?tfs=CBwQAhpHag...

That looks like it'll still result in a direct Spirit booking, though.

Yeah. It feels like they’re acting more like a travel agent. Kind of like what this original post would be doing.

It's unclear to me from the Duffel page which scenario happens. https://duffel.com/flights/airlines seems to indicate some airlines have a direct connection, but the vast majority go through something called Travelport.

If I ask the airline to cancel my booking, what happens? Do they do so? Does the Duffel markup come back to me?

This wouldn't be a random site: it could be your bank, an hotel, an events/experiences marketplaces, etc. And there would be a reason for them to offer flights alongside their core experience: it might be they want to enable you to redeem points for travel, have special deals with airlines that they want to pass along to their customers or there's a benefit from a UX standpoint to selling you flights alongside other products.

> Who handles support for rebookings, cancelations, etc.? It's bad enough having to go through an OTA with airlines/hotels when there's a problem; they tell you to call Expedia.

As much as possible we try to enable our merchants to offer self-service flows for cancellations, changes, etc. The airline systems don't always let you do everything programmatically so at that point whoever is selling the flight who be in charge of the customer. We're exploring ways we could provide support ourselves, to take that load off of our customers.

> The airline systems don't always let you do everything programmatically so at that point whoever is selling the flight who be in charge of the customer.

OK, so this is my sticking point.

There are horror stories of Expedia somehow accidentally not booking the flights they've sold. You get to the airport, there's no ticket and no seat. Airline says "nothing we can do, call Expedia".

They can't call Duffel. I can't do it programmatically. Customer's sitting angry at an airport. What happens?

> You get to the airport, there's no ticket and no seat

We issue instantly issue tickets / pay for the booking so and for a lot of the major airlines we're plugged directly into their reservation system so this should be an extremely rare occurrence, if an occurrence at all. Nobody should ever miss a honeymoon because of that imo.

Customers won't be able to call Duffel but can get in touch with the merchant that sold them the flight.

> this should be an extremely rare occurrence

I think this dramatically overestimates the levels of perfection in airline IT.

> Customers won't be able to call Duffel but can get in touch with the merchant that sold them the flight.

Who can take what action to fix the problem?

> Customers won't be able to call Duffel but can get in touch with the merchant that sold them the flight.

As a merchant using your software, would we have priority access to the airlines' support lines? I ask as Duffel looks like a very attractive idea but if we're forced to wait on hold for 3 hours to speak to United's standard customer service for any customer issues that can't be fixed through the API, that would be really tough.

...don't you mean, AN 'oneymoon?