Booking Orders
Understanding orders, reservations, transactions, and the complete booking lifecycle in Rahal
Booking Orders
Booking orders are the central entity that tracks the complete lifecycle of a travel booking—from initial payment through reservation creation to final confirmation or refund.
What is an Order?
An order represents a single booking transaction in Rahal. It captures:
- Who is making the booking (the buyer/user)
- What is being booked (flights, hotels, or travel packages)
- How payment is processed (payment provider)
- When key events occurred (creation, payment, finalization)
- Company context (for corporate bookings with policy/budget evaluation)
Each order can contain one or more reservations (individual flight or hotel bookings) and is linked to transactions (payment records) and events (audit trail).
Order Structure
An order contains multiple components:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Order | Top-level entity with buyer, payment info, and status |
| Reservations | Individual bookings (flights or hotels) with their own external IDs and statuses |
| Transaction | Payment record with amount, payment ID, and any refunds |
| Events | Audit trail of all actions: creation, payment, reservations, finalization |
Order Types
Orders support three types of bookings:
| Type | Description | Service Types |
|---|---|---|
| Flight | Air travel bookings | Single or multi-leg flights |
| Hotel | Accommodation bookings | One or more room reservations |
| Package | Combined travel packages | Pre-configured flight + hotel bundles |
Corporate vs Consumer Orders
Rahal supports two booking contexts:
Consumer Bookings
- Individual users booking personal travel
- Payment processed through Super QI, Checkout.com, or BNPL
- No policy or budget constraints
Corporate Bookings
- Company employees booking business travel
- Uses the CORPORATE_DIRECT payment provider
- Subject to company policies and budgets
- Policy violations are logged
- Budget is reserved and tracked
Corporate direct bookings don't require actual payment processing—the company is invoiced directly. Policy and budget evaluation happens during order creation.
Order Lifecycle Overview
- Creation: User initiates booking, prebook sessions are created
- Payment: Payment is processed (or CORPORATE_DIRECT for company billing)
- Reservation: External reservations are created with travel supplier (IRIX)
- Ticketing: For flights, tickets are issued (auto or manual)
- Finalization: Order is marked complete when all reservations succeed
- Refund (optional): Order can be refunded if needed
See Order Lifecycle for detailed status transitions.
Related Features
- Policies: Control what employees can book
- Budgets: Track and limit travel spending
- Booking Requests: Approval workflow for policy-blocked bookings
- Travelers: Manage traveler profiles and documents