Travel & future delivery
Travel Agencies & Tour Operators merchant accounts, placed with banks that write the category.
Needs a bank that writes the category on purpose. Roughly 5–10 business days, a dedicated gateway, and usually a reserve.
The underwriting objection
Why banks flinch at this category.
Travel is the textbook future-delivery risk: the customer pays today for something that happens in four months, and if you close in between, the bank refunds every booking out of its own pocket. Large tickets multiply that exposure. Nothing about your business needs to be wrong for a bank to say no — it is the delivery gap they are pricing.
Recommended setup
- Gateway
- High-risk gateway with virtual terminal for phone bookings and tokenized vault
- Settlement rail
- Card-not-present plus ACH for large final payments
- Reserve expectation
- Reserve is near-certain here — often a rolling reserve tied to unearned revenue
- Equipment
- Hosted checkout plus virtual terminal for agents
What we actually do
How we get this file boarded and keep it boarded.
Specific to your category — not a generic high-risk brochure.
Delayed-delivery underwriting handled properly, including how far out you book and your cancellation terms
Reserve structured against your actual booking calendar rather than a blanket percentage
Split deposit and final-payment billing so less money sits in the future-delivery window
Supplier-payment documentation that shows a bank the trip is really being bought
The process
Four steps, no mystery.
For travel agencies & tours, the honest window is: 7–10 business days; longer if your average booking window exceeds 90 days.
- 1
Call or send the form
Fifteen minutes. We confirm the category is one we can place and tell you which documents matter for your file specifically.
- 2
Document package
You gather statements, IDs and any category paperwork. This is the step that decides your timeline — a complete package moves fast.
- 3
Multi-bank submission
We submit to the banks that write your category, in the order most likely to approve on the best terms. Declines get diagnosed, not repeated.
- 4
Board and monitor
Gateway configured, equipment shipped or checkout integrated, chargeback alerts on. Then we watch your ratio and go back for better terms once history proves out.
Accounts placed through our processor and banking network
Free statement analysis
Get a travel agencies & tours account underwritten properly.
One application, submitted to the banks that write your category. If your current account is frozen or at risk, tell us on the form and we will work speed first.
Terrab Solutions is a registered agent/ISO partner. Rates and approval subject to underwriting. Estimates are not a binding quote.
Straight answers
Travel agencies & tours questions
7–10 business days; longer if your average booking window exceeds 90 days
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