CLIA Global Travel Trade Member Validation API

Verify CLIA membership status for travel agents and travel agencies.

The CLIA Global Travel Trade Member Validation API enables third-party applications to verify CLIA membership status for travel agents and travel agencies. Requests are validated against CLIA's membership database, and responses include membership details and validation status.

Base URL https://api-membervalidation.cruising.org

Authentication

All requests must include a valid API key in the x-api-key request header. Query string API keys are not supported.

Request Header

x-api-key: your-api-key

Requests made with an invalid or missing API key will receive a 401 Unauthorized response.

API Key Management

API keys are issued and managed by the CLIA Digital Solutions & Information Technology team. Keys are scoped to specific applications or users and must not be shared with unauthorized parties. The IT team reserves the right to revoke or rotate keys in cases of misuse, inactivity, or security concerns.

Endpoints

The API provides a combined endpoint that supports both agent and agency validation, as well as dedicated endpoints for each membership type. For most integrations, the dedicated endpoints are recommended as they do not require a membertype parameter.

GET/validate

Combined endpoint for agent or agency validation. Requires a membertype parameter.

GET/agent-validate

Dedicated full validation for travel agents.

GET/agency-validate

Dedicated full validation for travel agencies.

GET/simple-agent-validate

Lightweight agent validation returning a single result code. Recommended for high-volume integrations.

Response Conventions

Membership outcomes

A membership is valid (ResponseCode 2) when the record is an active Travel-Trade member with dues paid through a future date.
A membership is expired (ResponseCode 1, “Dues are expired”) when the dues-paid-through date is in the past, when no dues date exists on the record (DuesPaidThru is null), or when the record carries CLIA's expired Travel-Trade member type.
A record that is not a Travel-Trade member returns ResponseCode 1 with MembershipType “Non-Member”.
MemberTypeID values returned by the API are internal CLIA member type identifiers. Contact CLIA if your integration needs a key to these values.

MembershipType by outcome

The MembershipType response field follows a standard convention across all full-validation endpoints:

Outcome	/validate (agent)	/agent-validate	/validate (agency)	/agency-validate
Valid membership	Agent	Agent	Agency	Agency
Dues expired	Agent	Agent	Agency	Agency
Not a Travel-Trade member	Non-Member	Non-Member	Non-Member	Non-Member
Name mismatch (404)	Agent	Agent	n/a	n/a
No record found (404)	Non-Member	Non-Member	Non-Member	Non-Member
Server error (500)	Agent	Agent	Agency	Agency

HTTP Status Codes

Status Code	Description
200	Success
400	Bad Request — Missing or invalid parameters
401	Unauthorized — Invalid or missing API key
404	Not Found — No matching record found
429	Too Many Requests — Quota limit reached
500	Internal Server Error — An unexpected error occurred

Rate Limiting & Quota

Rate Limiting

The API enforces a default rate limit of 300 requests per minute per API key. Requests that exceed this limit will receive a 429 Too Many Requests response. Rate limits can be adjusted for specific use cases or clients upon request.

Quota

API usage quotas are in effect and vary based on your contracted or arranged plan. If you need to review or adjust your quota, please contact your primary contact at Cruise Lines International Association for more information.

Exceeding Limits

Requests that exceed your rate limit or quota will return a 429 response. Implement appropriate retry logic with exponential backoff to handle these responses gracefully.

Acceptable Use

By accessing or using CLIA-provided APIs, you agree to comply with all applicable laws and CLIA's terms of service and data protection standards. Unauthorized or malicious use of the API, including excessive requests, data scraping, or reverse engineering, is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate suspension or termination of access, as well as legal action.

Support

For API access requests or technical support, please contact the CLIA technical team.