Booking Types

Transfer Types

An important part in identifying the type of booking is the transfer type, which is defined by the transferType field of each pricing option.

It describes the type of transfer when there are multiple segments on an itinerary (more than one flight to get to the destination).

Here are all of the possible transfer types that can be returned by the Flights Live Prices API...

transferType	Description
TRANSFER_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED	The transfer type is not specified.
TRANSFER_TYPE_MANAGED	A protected transfer, managed by the agent. If a flight is delayed and the travellers miss their connection, the agent will find alternatives at no extra cost.
TRANSFER_TYPE_SELF_TRANSFER	A non-protected transfer. The travellers will have multiple booking references. If a flight is delayed and the travellers miss their connection they will have to buy a whole new ticket.
TRANSFER_TYPE_PROTECTED_SELF_TRANSFER	Self transfer flights that are protected by the online travel agent rather than the airline. If a flight is delayed and the travellers miss their connection they can contact the travel agent to help with the rebooking.

For more details, please see What does it mean when I see ‘Non-protected transfers’ or ‘Self-transfer flight’ on Skyscanner?.

Booking Types

Standard (Managed Booking)

A standard flight itinerary will have a single agent and a transferType of TRANSFER_TYPE_MANAGED.

This includes itineraries with multiple legs and even multiple segments per leg. In this case, the traveller is fully protected by the agent should anything go wrong.

Information

For this type, if there are multiple flights in a single journey, then usually the traveller won’t need to check-in/out their bags, as the transfer will be fully managed.

Example response

The response from the Flights Live Prices API for a standard booking will look similar to the following example...

{
  "pricingOptions": [
    {
      "agentIds": ["easy"], // Single agent ✅
      "items": [
        // Single booking link ✅
        {
          "agentId": "ba",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        }
      ],
      "transferType": "TRANSFER_TYPE_MANAGED" // Transfer type is TRANSFER_TYPE_MANAGED ✅
    }
  ]
}

OTA Virtual Interlines

For some itineraries, an OTA will piece together different flights that are not part of the same airline or that don’t have a commercial agreement.

At Skyscanner, we call this an "OTA Virtual Interline", and you can read more information about them and how we implement them at Skyscanner here.

In this case, the traveller is also usually covered by OTA should anything go wrong.

Although there is still a single booking managed by the OTA (and therefore a single booking link), there may be multiple Booking IDs under the hood, for each separate flight.

For this type, if there are multiple flights in a single journey, then usually the traveller WILL need to check in/out their bags, as it will not be handled by the airline automatically.

Important

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND making your traveller aware of the self transfer AND to check the level protection/cover with the OTA if something goes wrong.

Example response

The response from the Flights Live Prices API for an OTA Virtual Interline will look similar to the following example...

{
  "pricingOptions": [
    {
      "agentIds": ["skyp"], // Single agent ✅
      "items": [
        // Single booking link ✅
        {
          "agentId": "skyp",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        }
      ],
      "transferType": "TRANSFER_TYPE_PROTECTED_SELF_TRANSFER" // Transfer type is TRANSFER_TYPE_PROTECTED_SELF_TRANSFER ✅
    }
  ]
}

Mash-ups

In other cases, Skyscanner will piece together different flights from various agents or airlines.

At Skyscanner, we call this a "Mash-up", and you can read more information about them and how we implement them at Skyscanner here.

Because of this, there will be multiple links for the traveller to book each part of their journey separately.

There are 2 types of mash-up we have at Skyscanner...

Sum-of-one-ways

An itinerary may require separate bookings for each leg. We call this type of mash-up a "Sum-of-one-ways".

Important

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND informing your traveller to open each booking link severalty first before booking each flight, to ensure their is availability for all parts of their journey.

Important

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND making your traveller aware of the lack of protection/cover if something goes wrong.

Example response

The response from the Flights Live Prices API for a Sum-of-one-ways mash-up will look similar to the following example...

{
  "pricingOptions": [
    {
      "agentIds": ["easy", "ryan"], // Multiple agents ✅
      "items": [
        // Multiple booking links - link for each leg ✅
        {
          "agentId": "easy",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        },
        {
          "agentId": "ryan",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "legIds": [ // Multiple legs ✅
    "13554...",
    "11235...",
  ]
}

Non Protected Self Transfer

A Skyscanner mash-up may also require the traveller to check in/out their bags if we’ve pieced together different flights for the same leg. We call this type of mash-up a “Non Protected Self Transfer”.

In this case, there will be multiple booking links for a single leg (one for each segment).

Important

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND informing your traveller to open each booking link severalty first before booking each flight, to ensure their is availability for all parts of their journey.

Important

We also HIGHLY RECOMMEND making your traveller aware of the self transfer AND the lack of protection/cover if something goes wrong.

Example response

The response from the Flights Live Prices API for a Non Protected Self Transfer mash-up will look similar to the following example...

{
  "pricingOptions": [
    {
      "agentIds": ["easy", "ryan"], // Multiple agents ✅
      "items": [
        // Multiple booking links - link for each segment ✅
        {
          "agentId": "easy",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        },
        {
          "agentId": "ryan",
          "deepLink": "https://skyscanner.pxf.io/..."
        }
      ],
      "transferType": "TRANSFER_TYPE_SELF_TRANSFER" // Transfer type is TRANSFER_TYPE_SELF_TRANSFER ✅
    }
  ]
}

Combinations

In some cases, there could be a combination of booking types, for example, a non-protected self-transfer for the outbound, and a managed transfer for the inbound.

In these cases, pay extra attention to the information highlighted to the traveller, to ensure they are best informed before proceeding with the booking.

Minimum recommendations

At a minimum, we highly recommend to do the following...

Condition	Recommendations
transferType is TRANSFER_TYPE_SELF_TRANSFER	✅ Highlight to the user there is a self transfer and provide clear information about what they need do, e.g. re-check their baggage. ✅ Highlight to the user the risks and lack of protection/cover between the parts of their journey, and provide all relevant information.
transferType is TRANSFER_TYPE_PROTECTED_SELF_TRANSFER	✅ Recommend to the user to check the level of protection/cover provided by the OTA if something goes wrong. ✅ Highlight to the user there is a self transfer and provide clear information about what they need do, e.g. re-check their baggage.
Itinerary is a "Sum-of-one-ways" mash-up	✅ Highlight to the user the risks and lack of protection/cover between the legs of their journey, and provide all relevant information.
Multiple items/deeplinks for a pricingOption	✅ Make it very clear that the user must make multiple bookings - they MUST visit all links and book separate tickets to complete booking their full itinerary. ✅ Recommend users open all links in their browser first to ensure each agent has availability before booking each flight.