For the past 15 years or so, business vultures have been circling to see if the traditional travel agency would die out. Fortunately, the tides have changed and there has been an upswing in the number of traditional travel agencies and the number of new ones entering the domain. What has not changed is that a travel merchant account is still regarded as high risk by the credit card industry.
With the advent of all the D-I-Y online ticket sales for all modes of transportation where you could print out your boarding pass and pick your seat, many consumers opted to spend time online seeing where they could find the best deal. The budget was the main consideration. Consumers knew they would be receiving budget service as well as a budget price.
Consumers can go to sites that offer low-cost hotel rooms. They can get the lowest rate offered and again cannot expect premium service for a budget rate.
If you know anything about the AARP lobby in Washington, you know the over 50 crowd is a force to be dealt with. Many boomers are now retired and since the recession is nearly over they are spending their money on more trips to exotic locations. Who wants to spend hours online trying to line up airfare, hotels, meals, excursions, translators, and others who will give important information on the ports of call?
A traditional travel agent has numerous contacts throughout the world. Perhaps a retired couple wants to spend a week in India. Their travel agent will take care of every detail door to door. If someone in the party is on a special diet – such as for diabetics, kosher, or other restrictions – the travel agent will issue instructions in advance. Perhaps the boomers want to tour on camel or visit an out-of-the-way historical site. Their agent will make all the arrangements and ensure the costs are included in the package.
“Flights booked by traditional travel agencies increased 11 percent over the past four years, according to the Airlines Reporting Corp.” Another reason the travel agencies have rebounded is that some travelers do not want a trip that it already etched in stone. They want their trip to be customized. Some travel agencies have excursions that are not available to anyone except their own customers.
Yet for all the good they perform for their clients, travel agencies are heaped in with several other categories of merchants and are considered high risk. Sometimes a new travel merchant account is close to impossible to secure. Without being able to accept credit and debit cards, the travel agent is predisposed to fail. This is where eMerchantBroker can come to the rescue.
eMerchantBroker has done the leg work and can get you the travel merchant account your business needs to thrive. There are no application fees and no setup fees. Your account will be CPI compliant as required by Visa and MasterCard. However, you must maintain your chargebacks to under the three percent benchmark. After the proper documentation has been provided and the agreement signed, your business can have an operational travel merchant account in as little as three days.