Travel & bookings merchant accounts.
Travel is high risk because you collect deposits now for trips taken later, sometimes much later. Acquirers manage that exposure with reserves, and we place accounts with banks that specialize in it.
Request a reviewWhy this category is classified high risk
The gap between payment and delivery is often months, and the acquirer carries the liability if a trip isn't delivered or a supplier fails.
Travel involves chains of third parties — airlines, hotels, tour operators — and a failure anywhere in the chain lands as a dispute against you.
Disruptions like weather, cancellations, and supplier insolvency can trigger simultaneous disputes across many bookings at once.
What underwriting will want to see
- Clear terms covering deposits, balances, cancellations, and what happens if a supplier fails.
- Delivery evidence — itineraries, confirmations, and vouchers issued to the traveler.
- Financial underwriting; expect a rolling reserve sized to your booking lead times.
- Standard documents plus a description of deposit/balance structure and average time to travel.
What drives disputes here
Cancellations and disruptions drive dispute spikes — a clear policy and proactive refunds protect the ratio.
Deposit-vs-balance confusion generates disputes when customers don't recognize a second charge; itemized receipts fix it.
Long lead times produce late non-recognition disputes, so reminders before travel matter.
Descriptor & billing guidance
Reference the agency or trip in the descriptor and email confirmations and itineraries as receipts at each payment stage. When you collect a deposit and a later balance, label each clearly and remind the traveler before the balance charge so it's recognized.
Travel & bookings, specifically
- Why is a reserve required for travel?
- Because you're paid well before the trip happens. A rolling reserve covers the acquirer if travel isn't delivered. It's returned on a schedule and usually eases as you build history.
- How should I handle deposits and balances?
- Disclose both up front, use a consistent descriptor, and send an itemized receipt for each. Most deposit/balance disputes are recognition failures on the second charge.
- What if a supplier goes out of business?
- That's the core travel risk, and it's why terms and reserves exist. Clear policies on supplier failure and prompt communication keep disruptions from becoming a wave of chargebacks.
Tell us about your business. We'll tell you who will board it.
Describe what you actually sell and how you deliver it. We'll match you to an acquirer that wants the volume — or tell you plainly if it won't board.