Travel

Payments in travel

Online travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, hotel booking engines and car-rental marketplaces sell high-ticket services that are delivered weeks or months after payment. Acquirers see delivery risk: if a supplier fails, chargebacks arrive long after settlement. That is why travel merchants are often asked for reserves or delayed settlement even when fraud is low.

What travel merchants look for

• Multi-currency acceptance with local pricing and settlement in their own currency — see cross-border & FX.
• Installments and BNPL for expensive packages (BNPL).
• Split payments and supplier payouts for marketplaces of hosts, guides and agencies (payouts).
• Strong fraud screening: card testing and stolen-card bookings are common; see antifraud.
• Virtual cards to pay hotels and airlines, often through BaaS providers.

Questions to ask a travel PSP

• Is settlement tied to the travel date, and what reserve applies to future-dated bookings?
• Which MCCs are supported (airlines, travel agencies, lodging) and in which countries?
• Are local wallets and bank transfers available in your source markets — for example UPI in India or PIX in Brazil?
• How are refunds, cancellations and partial refunds handled across currencies?
• Is 3DS applied selectively to keep conversion on mobile?

Using this page

Browse travel merchants and their Requests to see which GEOs and methods they need; providers can reply or publish terms on the offers board. For other marketplace models see marketplaces. If you run a travel business, post a request with ticket size, booking lead time and markets.