Response times

The Duffel API acts as a proxy, usually making multiple requests to external travel supplier APIs. This means that the total response time for a request is composed of:

While we continuously work in minimising our overhead latency - in practice, response times can vary widely between suppliers.

By default, the Duffel API will attempt to return results for search within 20s. In some cases (such as in flights), this can be extended using the supplier timeout option.

Some operations (such as order and booking creation) on the supplier APIs can occasionally be slow so we allow incoming requests to take up to 120s. In order to ensure you don't time out on your side we recommend setting your HTTP client timeout to something slightly higher, e.g. 130s.

Additionally, the Duffel API offers a range of parameters that allow fine-tuning requests, to accommodate to the speed and content needs of each user case (e.g. this guide covers the best practices to consider when building a flight search experience).

The Duffel API also provides a range of parameters that enable you to fine-tune requests to improve the relevance of content and response speed to what your users need. For instance, the Search Best Practices Guide enlist our recommendations for building a flight booking experience with the Duffel API.