Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Why would I want to use a sessioned workflow?
A: Travelport’s Universal API Session Sharing gives customers the ability to establish a session (temporary workspace), allowing it to better control the workflow, to hold inventory during the booking flow, and respond meaningfully to errors to control transaction behavior. The session workflow is intended to be granular or incremental, allowing the user to validate or branch based on success or failure.
Q: Are all products available in the sessioned workflow?
A: No. At this time only air and hotel are supported.
Q: What is the “session key” or "session token ID (SessTok id)" used for?
A: This key is used in the header and body for all requests to identify the session that will be updated.
Q: How can I test if I'm provisioned for sessioned workflows?
A: The simplest test is to create a new Booking Start Request.
Q: How long do session keys “live”?
A: As of this writing, session tokens live for 15 minutes of inactivity unless ended. The idle timer is refreshed every time a token is used.
Notes:
- The best practice is to solicit a session key “on demand” just before it is needed.
- Please do not solicit tokens at start-up or before they are needed.
- Ensure you destroy your session tokens after your workflow is complete.
Q: How do I end the record and/or destroy the session?
A: You can send the BookingEndRequest with End, Ignore, or EndQueue. For example,
<shar:SessionActivity>End</shar:SessionActivity>
</shar:BookingEndReq>
Q: Can I emulate/override to another Pseudo City Code (PCC) during session book?
A: Yes, Universal API supports Override PCC, as long as the user credentials have rights to the requested PCC.
Q: When should I use TerminalReq from the Terminal service versus the BookingTerminalReq from the SharedBooking service?
A: These transactions should have equivalent functionality.
Q: Will using Universal API Session Transactions affect my excessive transaction thresholds?
A: Possibly. Excessive Transaction threshold include all channels. Continue to use Universal API requests as efficiently as you use your agent desktops to minimize this possibility.
Q: Can I send more than one Universal API sessioned transaction in at a time using a session token?
A: In general, no. Please use care to protect against this scenario. BookingAirExchangeQuote supports concurrent operation,
Q: Can my “business logic” use Universal API sessioned and sessionless transactions at the same time?
A: Yes. Your business logic can call Universal API sessioned and sessionless requests as part of your workflow. Keep in mind, however, that when you do this, Universal API transactions that are not sharing the session will not have access to the same transient data (data that has been updated in session but is not yet end-transacted). Use caution if attempting to collaborate on a single PNR/BF record locator. You will need to end the record before Universal API sessionless transactions can see the changes in the record. As a rule, remember you cannot have more than one Universal API transaction pending at a time with the same session token.
Q: Can my centralized “business logic” platform have Universal API transactions pending with more than one session token at the same time for the same HAP?
A: Yes. But each session token can only be associated with a single Universal API transaction at a time. The number of parallel (unique) tokens with Universal API transaction pending at the same time for a given HAP is limited by provisioning.