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Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#41

Post by itamarst »

OzzyB wrote: post #21
danvoell wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard service to offer. The guy who originally built this and sold it to Google has posted on HN a few times about the intricacies of the industry.

Just did a little sleuthing and see that it was ITA[0] that Google acquired in 2010/11. Also I found this person on HN that looks like the guy you mentioned?[1] Lots of interesting comments for bedtime reading there. In any case, It's pretty clear that this is not some small insignificant service, which makes this somewhat blazé announcement of it's imminent shutdown (just find another service!) all the more infuriat…

It's quite possible that if you have large pile of money you can still get it (https://www.itasoftware.com/ has list of existing customers, and Sales button at bottom - I have no reason to think that customer list isn't still valid.) And at a very minimum Google is using this for Google Flights, that's what they bought ITA for.

There's other companies that will sell you the data, if you have a large pile of money (Sabre, Amadeus, etc.).

So it's problematic insofar as they're making it much harder for random small companies and hobbyists to get it. On the other hand, pre-acquisition this public API didn't exist. So it's not clear Google's acquisition of ITA made things worse in any way.

(Disclaimer: used to work for ITA. Have no inside knowledge of how things work now.)

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#42

Post by jpatokal »

rb808 wrote: post #35
4ad wrote: post #7

I think they want to shutdown the matrix[1]. They already discontinued the matrix smartphone app a year back. I will be truly lost (quite literally) once matrix is unavailable. I plan out very complex trips and only the matrix can do it. [1] https://matrix.itasoftware.com

I've seen that before but didn't keep it - What's the difference between that and regular google flights?

The power user interface, which lets you specify all sorts of wacky constraints any other OTA can't handle.

https://travelcodex.com/advanced-routing-language-in-ita/

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#43

Post by SiVal »

throwaway613834 wrote: post #34
Johnny555 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

7 > 5, so the 5 years are up.

They've been up for 2 years, so how is it " Now that five years are up, Google would want to deny competitors access to that data"? If that was their reasoning they would've done it 2 years ago. It's 2 years of extra advantage they didn't need to give their competitors, right?

If that was their reasoning, they could do it whenever they were ready and willing after five years. So this explains why they had to do it for five years and might explain why they won't be doing it much longer than that. It might also indicate that cutting off the API was intended but not urgent.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#44

Post by stefano »

FeepingCreature wrote: post #24
helloguillecl wrote: post #16

Six months ago, I started developing a Flight Alerting service for QPX Express API. I was always skeptical as to how long would they keep this API running, since it was a byproduct of a previous acquisition. But I said to myself, wishfully thinking: Why would they shut down this and lose their clients trust in developing with their APIs? Sadly, I was again proven wrong.

If a client hasn't learned by now, they're not gonna learn from this either. For niche apis Google has no trust left to burn, because all trust in its products is either already burnt or inflammable.

And yet, there are still a lot of companies using and relying on Google APIs and cloud services. I don't understand why there is still so much trust in them after they've shown multiple times they will terminate services with little warning. And no, I don't consider 1 year a long enough warning for something that has no clear drop-in substitute.

If you're using a Google service, you must be prepared for when they'll pull it from under your feet. And if you need to prepare for that, why use that service to begin with if an alternative exists?

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#45

Post by stefano »

monkmartinez wrote: post #32
tomc1985 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are guarantees associated with water and electrical services, and their sudden disappearance is grounds for riots and civil unrest. Cloud services are not conceived or configured for durability beyond financial stability, which makes them inherently unstable. A poor foundation for anything you want to last or not be bothered with.

Not really. I never signed a SLA with my power or water company. We know they try to keep the service(s) "up"... but if they can't, they can't. Sadly, people riot and fight over much less than the loss of an API... just wait until black friday or some team wins or loses a game.

> I never signed a SLA with my power or water company. We know they try to keep the service(s) "up"... but if they can't, they can't.

In Italy, these services must be provided by law. Even small mountain towns where it's not profitable to provide the service must be covered. I'd be very surprised if this wasn't the case in any first world country.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#46

Post by elmalto »

npolet wrote: post #36

I was part of a team developing a travel product which needed huge amounts of data from flights to car rental... My god the travel industry is a mess in terms of accessible data. It was the biggest pain point. API's would randomly change structure, endpoints would stop working with unknown errors, data would be significantly different across companies for the same data etc... It was a shambles. Never again will I dev…

I work in the flight industry and still dream of that standardized data structure...

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#47

Post by rb808 »

jpatokal wrote: post #42
rb808 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen that before but didn't keep it - What's the difference between that and regular google flights?

The power user interface, which lets you specify all sorts of wacky constraints any other OTA can't handle. https://travelcodex.com/advanced-routing-language-in-ita/

Thanks. Looks like google flights can do most of it but with gui elements. The one thing it doesn't do which I really like is to be able to specify a layover of 1-2 days, ita does it which is great. (OK I guess I can do it with multi city, but it isn't like the old days where layovers were sometimes a feature not something to be avoided)

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#48

Post by tanilama »

helloguillecl wrote: post #16

Six months ago, I started developing a Flight Alerting service for QPX Express API. I was always skeptical as to how long would they keep this API running, since it was a byproduct of a previous acquisition. But I said to myself, wishfully thinking: Why would they shut down this and lose their clients trust in developing with their APIs? Sadly, I was again proven wrong.

If it is free, and no ads, it is probably not going to stick long

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#49

Post by dorchadas »

npolet wrote: post #36

I was part of a team developing a travel product which needed huge amounts of data from flights to car rental... My god the travel industry is a mess in terms of accessible data. It was the biggest pain point. API's would randomly change structure, endpoints would stop working with unknown errors, data would be significantly different across companies for the same data etc... It was a shambles. Never again will I dev…

Ain't that the truth! I tried just messing around with it a while ago to make my own airfare searcher to check a few things for me and it was a mess. Ended up doing the Amadeus sandbox, but the cheapest flights aren't necessarily there and it's a real pita.

Re: Google is shutting down the QPX Express API for airfare data

#50

Post by nathancahill »

tanilama wrote: post #48
helloguillecl wrote: post #16

Six months ago, I started developing a Flight Alerting service for QPX Express API. I was always skeptical as to how long would they keep this API running, since it was a byproduct of a previous acquisition. But I said to myself, wishfully thinking: Why would they shut down this and lose their clients trust in developing with their APIs? Sadly, I was again proven wrong.

If it is free, and no ads, it is probably not going to stick long

It's not free, it's expensive.
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