Riya Connect vs TBO vs Tripjack: which India consolidator portal should you use in 2026?
By Kabir Malhotra (Kabir Malhotra writes about how Indian travel buyers actually pay — UPI vs credit card vs forex card surcharges, reward-point math on the top travel credit cards, RBI tokenisation, EMI-on-flights and the small fees that compound across a year of bookings.) · Published · 12 min read
Riya Connect, TBO, and Tripjack dominate the India B2B air ticketing landscape, and choosing the wrong one as your primary portal costs you real money. Each has a different sweet spot: inventory width, wallet flexibility, markup tools. Here is an honest look at how they compare.
TL;DR — the short answer
All three — Riya Connect, TBO (Travel Boutique Online), and Tripjack — are legitimate, widely-used B2B consolidator portals for Indian travel agents. TBO tends to have the widest international inventory and is the default first choice for agents doing heavy international ticketing. Tripjack is often sharper on domestic fares and has a cleaner markup tool for WhatsApp-era retail agents. Riya Connect sits somewhere in between and has a loyal following among agents who also book holidays and hotels (Riya's hotel inventory is strong). Most serious agents use two of the three — one primary, one backup for when a fare or availability doesn't come through on the first.
What actually is a consolidator portal, and why does the choice matter?
A consolidator aggregates net fares from airlines — sometimes via GDS (Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo), sometimes via direct API connections, sometimes via a mix. They pass those fares to registered agents at a net-of-commission rate, and the agent adds their own markup before presenting the price to the traveller. The portal takes a spread; the agent earns the markup.
The choice of portal matters because:
- Net fare quality varies. On a given flight, TBO's net fare, Tripjack's net fare, and Riya's net fare may differ by ₹100–₹400 per sector. Over hundreds of bookings a month, that's real money.
- Wallet mechanics differ. Each has its own advance-deposit wallet system with different credit limits, top-up timelines, and refund processing speeds. A slow refund on a cancelled booking can tie up working capital.
- Markup flexibility varies. Some portals let you set a fixed per-booking markup, some let you set percentage-based, some have a 'display price' tool so travellers see your marked-up fare without seeing the net. If your retail channel is WhatsApp screenshots, this matters a lot.
- Support quality. When a PNR goes wrong — wrong date booked, name mismatch, involuntary reschedule — how fast can the portal's helpdesk actually get on the phone with the airline? This is the one thing you only discover after a crisis.
TBO (Travel Boutique Online): the international workhorse
TBO is the largest of the three by registered agent count and typically wins on international inventory breadth. If you need to book a codeshare on a Gulf carrier or a multi-city itinerary involving an Asian low-cost, TBO's GDS connections (Amadeus-heavy) usually come through. Their domestic India inventory is solid but not always the sharpest on net fares — particularly for IndiGo, where Tripjack sometimes has a marginally better rate.
TBO's wallet system requires an advance deposit, and credit limits for new agents start conservatively — typically a few lakhs — and scale up with your booking history. The approval timeline for raising credit limits has been reported as 2–4 weeks by agents I've spoken to. Their refund processing on cancelled bookings is reasonable but not instant; expect 5–10 working days for most voluntary cancellations.
Markup tool: TBO allows agents to set a 'net to agent' price and mark up before generating a customer-facing itinerary. Their B2B portal has a reasonably clean interface, though the UX hasn't been dramatically overhauled in a while. Mobile experience is functional rather than slick.
Best suited for: agents doing significant international ticketing volume, particularly Gulf, Southeast Asia, and Europe routes.
Tripjack: the domestic-first, markup-friendly choice
Tripjack has carved out a strong position among domestic-focused agents and 'new generation' travel agents running solo or micro-agency setups — often people taking bookings via Instagram or WhatsApp. Their interface is genuinely cleaner than TBO's, and their markup tool lets you create a shareable customer quote with your agency branding, which is useful when your sales funnel is a phone call followed by a WhatsApp PDF.
On domestic fares, Tripjack is frequently competitive, particularly on IndiGo and Akasa routes. Their API access options are better documented than TBO's, making them a reasonable choice for tech-forward agents building their own booking interfaces.
Wallet: deposit-based, similar structure to TBO. Agent community feedback suggests Tripjack's credit limit increases are somewhat faster to process for well-established agents. Refund speeds are comparable to TBO — nothing to write home about, but not egregiously slow.
International inventory: decent for the main corridors (Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, UK) but thinner than TBO for less-common routings. If a traveller wants something unusual — Kolkata to Ho Chi Minh City with a specific connection — Tripjack may not have it.
Best suited for: domestic-first agents, solo/micro-agencies with a retail WhatsApp channel, agents wanting cleaner markup tools.
Riya Connect: the integrated play (flights + hotels + holidays)
Riya Travel Group has been around since the pre-OTA era, and Riya Connect reflects that heritage — it's built for agents who sell packages, not just point-to-point tickets. Their hotel inventory, particularly for international and domestic leisure destinations, is broader than either TBO or Tripjack. If you're putting together a Delhi–Bangkok flight + hotel + visa package and want to manage it in one portal, Riya Connect has the advantage.
Air ticketing on Riya Connect is solid but not as consistently competitive on net fares as TBO for international or Tripjack for domestic, in my observation. The portal interface is functional; it has gone through several redesigns and is reasonably modern.
Their support infrastructure — phone helpdesk, chat, email — is generally considered responsive by agents who use them heavily. Riya has physical offices in multiple cities, which matters for agents who occasionally need to walk in and sort out a complicated refund.
Wallet and credit: similar advance-deposit model; their credit extension process is reportedly relationship-driven, meaning longer-tenured agents with a Riya rep often get faster approvals.
Best suited for: agents who sell holidays, packages, and hotel+flight combos more than pure point-to-point air.
How to actually pick one primary and one backup
Here is the framework most experienced agents use:
- Primary = where your volume goes. Consolidators give better credit terms, sometimes better net fares, and faster support to agents who do significant monthly volume with them. Splitting too thinly means you're nobody's priority when things go wrong. Pick one portal where you'll concentrate 70–80% of your bookings.
- Backup = for fills and gaps. Keep a funded wallet on a second portal for flights the primary can't get — specific fare classes, last-minute availability, or a route where the secondary consistently beats your primary on net.
- Always check two fares before issuing. Takes 60 seconds on a second tab. Over 200 bookings a month, even a ₹150/booking improvement adds up to ₹30,000+ in margin.
- Test support before you need it. Call each portal's helpdesk during business hours with a hypothetical — 'I have a PNR with a name issue, what's your process?' — and clock the response time. The answer tells you what to expect in a real crisis.
If you are building a B2B flight-search layer on top of your consolidator access, tools like the FlightGPT Partner portal can help you compare live fares across sources and manage your retail channel without re-entering data. It's particularly useful for agents who want a single search interface rather than toggling between three portals' tabs.
Also see our comparison of Air India Express's agent portal and how Akasa's B2B desk differs from the consolidator route.
Bottom line
There is no single 'best' portal — the right answer depends on your booking mix. International-heavy agencies tend to lean on TBO. Domestic-focused or newer solo agents often prefer Tripjack's interface and markup tools. Holiday and package sellers frequently find Riya Connect's integrated inventory useful. Most agents settle on two of the three and learn their quirks deeply. The cost of switching portals mid-flight (pun intended) is real — wallet deposits, learning curves, relationship-building with a new helpdesk — so choose thoughtfully, then commit to learning your primary portal's fee schedule and refund policy inside-out before your first high-value booking.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use all three portals simultaneously as a travel agent?
Yes — there's no exclusivity clause in any of the three's agent agreements. Most agents register with two or three and use them in parallel. The practical limit is working-capital: each requires an advance wallet deposit, so funding three portals simultaneously ties up more cash. Most agents keep two funded and dip into the third only for specific gaps.
Which portal is best for IndiGo domestic fares?
Tripjack is frequently cited as competitive on IndiGo net fares, but net fare differences across portals on the same flight are often in the range of ₹50–₹250 per sector — not always dramatically different. The only way to know for a specific routing is to check both in real time and compare. Some agents use a spreadsheet to track which portal wins most often on their most common routes.
How long does a refund take on Riya / TBO / Tripjack if a flight gets cancelled?
For airline-initiated cancellations (involuntary), the portal typically processes the refund within 7–15 working days after the airline credits them. For voluntary cancellations with a refundable fare, 5–10 working days is typical, but this varies by airline and fare type. Always verify the refund timeline for the specific fare class before issuing — low-cost carrier fares are often non-refundable, and the portal can only credit back what the airline credits them.
Do these portals support group bookings (10+ passengers)?
All three handle group bookings, but the process differs. For groups of 10 or more passengers, fares are often negotiated directly with the airline's group desk rather than pulled from the portal's standard inventory — the portal acts as an intermediary. Minimum group sizes and lead times vary; domestic groups typically need 7–14 days' notice for group fares, international groups often need 3–4 weeks. Contact the portal's group desk rather than booking through the standard interface.
Is there a commission or PLB system in these portals beyond the net-gross markup?
Yes, all three have some form of performance incentive. TBO and Tripjack offer quarterly or annual PLB (Performance Linked Bonus) structures for agents hitting volume targets — the specific tiers and percentages change annually and are negotiated as part of the agency agreement. Riya has a similar structure. These are over and above the base net-fare spread. Ask your portal's sales rep for the current PLB schedule rather than relying on any number quoted online.
Can new agents with no track record get credit limits on these portals?
New agents typically start on a fully prepaid (advance-wallet) model with no credit extension — you book only against funds already deposited. Credit limits are extended after 3–6 months of consistent booking history on the portal. Starting credit limits, once extended, are usually in the range of a few lakhs; they scale up based on monthly volume. Some portals require a letter of guarantee or security deposit to activate credit faster — ask during onboarding.