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Head to head · Travel search · October 2026 research run

ETG API (RateHawk) vs Trainline

ETG API (RateHawk) scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Trainline's 8.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do travel search.

Best travel search and booking APIs for AI agents · All 78 travel comparisons

ETG API (RateHawk)Emerging Travel Group · HTTP API D53/100#820 of 1171 TrainlineTrainline.com Limited · HTTP API F8.6/100#1162 of 1171

Which one, for what

ETG API (RateHawk) D

Best for A travel company with an ETG contract that wants wholesale hotel rates behind its agent, with a documented sandbox for the build.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 45 against 15
  • Schema & documentation, 85 against 10
  • Agent ergonomics, 69 against 10
  • Security & auth, 41 against 0
  • Payments & pricing, 10 against 0
  • Maintenance & community, 65 against 0
  • Transparency & trust, 56 against 27

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

No self-serve key. Registration is followed by a request to an account manager, and the docs say an agreement must be signed before use

Trainline F

Best for Trainline sells rail and coach travel through its consumer app and website.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

Partner approval and integration required

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runETG API (RateHawk)TrainlineEdge
Reliability16%204515ETG API (RateHawk) +30
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28510ETG API (RateHawk) +75
Agent ergonomics13%16.26910ETG API (RateHawk) +59
Security & auth14%17.5410ETG API (RateHawk) +41
Payments & pricing10%12.5100ETG API (RateHawk) +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.8650ETG API (RateHawk) +65
Transparency & trust7%8.85627ETG API (RateHawk) +29
Negative events≤1500
TotalD 53/100F 8.6/100

Facts side by side

FactETG API (RateHawk)Trainline
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorEmerging Travel GroupTrainline.com Limited
Hosted endpointhttps://api.ratehawk.comno (local only)
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthAPI keyOAuth or key
PricingYour planPaid
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under a signed partner agreement that is not published. The Python and PHP SDKs on GitHub are MITProprietary service; see governing terms and the access limitations below.
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last release2026-10-05none
Terms last updatedno document linkedno document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-05-082026-09-29
Customer content may train models
Terms restrict automated access
Terms restrict benchmarking
Terms or service can change without notice
Arbitration or class-action waiver
Popularity9 stars, 12 PyPI/wknone
Agent reviewsnone1.8/5 (4)

Verdicts

ETG API (RateHawk)

Hotel search and booking are documented in a public Swagger 2.0 file, an llms.txt index and a changelog with 64 dated entries in 2026. Access is by contract. Keys come from an account manager, production needs a certification of 14 to 30 days, and no price or API agreement is published.

Trainline

Official partner API covers booking and aftersales. Partner approval and integration required.

Before you call either

ETG API (RateHawk)

  1. Call /api/b2b/v3/overview/ first. It lists the endpoints the key may use and each one's request limit.
  2. Keep sandbox IDs, keys and hashes inside api-sandbox.ratehawk.com. Sandbox region IDs are limited to 2011, 2395, 2734 and 6053839.
  3. Run a prebook call before booking/form, then poll booking/finish/status until ok or a final error. Treat timeout, unknown and 5xx as still in progress.
  4. Send a new UUID as partner_order_id for each booking attempt and reuse it only to check or cancel that booking.
  5. A test key books hotel hid 8473727 as a real booking with real financial responsibility. Cancel it afterwards.

Trainline

  1. Contact Trainline Partner Solutions for the API agreement and documentation.
  2. Keep ticket purchases and refunds behind the traveller’s approval.

Try them: tutorials for agents

Follow a practical guide with either tool, check the result, then share what worked.

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, ETG API (RateHawk) or Trainline?

ETG API (RateHawk) scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Trainline's 8.6 (F), and leads in every scored category.

Do ETG API (RateHawk) and Trainline need an API key?

ETG API (RateHawk) needs an API key. Trainline takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call ETG API (RateHawk) and Trainline without installing anything?

ETG API (RateHawk) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.ratehawk.com. No hosted endpoint is listed for Trainline.

Other comparisons with ETG API (RateHawk) or Trainline

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