How higher-margin rates and incentives increased commission

HeyTrip offers distribution services for cars, flights and hotels worldwide. They first integrated with Rapid API—our fast and light API solution—in 2018 to deliver an end-to-end booking experience primarily used by local agents in China.

In early 2024, HeyTrip launched a new travel management company (TMC) to expand to overseas agents and made plans for a Rapid API integration on their consumer platform. To support this expansion, they needed to:

• Tap into competitive global supply to acquire new customer;
• Maximise their revenue on bookings by activating the most profitable supply.

HeyTrip met the needs of a wide range of travellers by using Rapid API to unlock access to our supply of 750,000 properties and diverse rate types.³ They also leveraged Rapid’s high-quality property descriptions and high-resolution images to improve their user experience, leading to increased conversions and repeat business.

HeyTrip partnered with their account manager to learn more about some of Expedia Group’s most profitable rate types and incentives. As a Rapid API partner, HeyTrip could access higher-margin B2B Distribution Rates from more than 31,000 properties that often match standard rate pricing. 

They could also capitalise on additional commission incentives across 51,000 properties, offering deeper margins for specific booking and stay dates throughout the year.⁴

HeyTrip leveraged the ‘sale_scenario’ and ‘marketing_fee_incentives’ fields in the Rapid API Shopping response to prioritise the most profitable rates in their selection algorithms and display them in their booking tool. While it can be challenging for businesses to prioritise this type of development work due to limited resources or conflicting priorities, HeyTrip was able to provide a clear case for implementation based on the value of these higher-margin rates.

HeyTrip educated agents on the high value of this supply to the business. They highlighted these standout rates in their booking tool with banners and recommended hotel lists, making them easy to find and book. This helped boost engagement, usage and growth.

HeyTrip saw impressive year-over-year growth in their B2B business. Their strategy of prioritising B2B Distribution Rates and commission incentives resulted in: 

• An 8.0ppts YoY increase in their B2B mix⁵ (proportion of their total production that comes from B2B Distribution Rates; 
• Nearly a 300% growth in their share of Expedia Group bookings that had active commission incentives.⁶

These results were a major contributor to their overall growth in bookings and Expedia Group commission, and HeyTrip was very satisfied with the results of our collaborative efforts and partnership.