Hotel API Rate Limits and Throttling Guide

How suppliers enforce rate limits

Every hotel API enforces rate limits to protect its infrastructure. Common patterns include per-second request throttling (5-50 requests per second per API key), daily volume quotas (10K to 1M requests per day per contract tier), and burst limits with token-bucket algorithms.

Exceeding limits typically returns HTTP 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header. Persistent overuse can trigger account suspension.

Rate limit handling best practices

• Implement exponential backoff on every 429 response.
• Cache search responses for the supplier-recommended TTL to reduce request volume.
• Use bulk endpoints (batch search, multi-destination) where available.
• Distribute requests across time windows; do not burst all traffic at :00 of every hour.
• Monitor per-supplier quota usage in real time. Alert before hitting hard limits.

How Vervotech pools quota across suppliers

When you call Vervotech for a search, Vervotech routes to the fastest available supplier that has quota. If Hotelbeds is throttled, the request routes to WebBeds or another mapped source with the same property. Your effective quota is the sum of every supplier quota, not any single supplier ceiling.

Vervotech also caches search responses at the mapping layer per supplier TTL rules and serves cached content when the request permits, further reducing per-supplier request volume.