Why Travelling Companies Are Turning to Payment Orchestration for Cost Control

For travel companies, every booking comes at the end of a long and expensive process. From digital advertising to distribution costs, it often takes a significant marketing budget to bring a customer to checkout. Yet all of that investment can be lost in seconds if a payment fails or if cross-border fees eat into already thin margins.

The travel sector operates globally by nature but that very globality makes payment acceptance one of its most expensive and complicated functions. Airlines, OTAs (online travel agencies) and hotel chains are increasingly discovering that payment orchestration for travel companies is not just a technical upgrade, but a strategic cost-control tool that directly affects revenue and customer satisfaction.

So why are more travel companies turning to orchestration? 

The Unique Challenges of Travel Payments

Payments in travel are not like payments in standard retail. They come with higher risks, higher costs and more complexity.

Firstly, basket values are significantly higher. A long-haul flight or multi-night hotel package can run into the hundreds or thousands, making issuers extra cautious. Higher-value transactions are more likely to be declined, especially if they are cross-border.

Secondly, travel purchases are inherently international. A customer in Germany booking a hotel in Brazil or an airline in Singapore triggers multiple risk signals for issuing banks. Foreign exchange conversion, currency mismatches and lack of local acquiring coverage increase the chances of decline.

Thirdly, fraud is a constant pressure. Travel bookings are attractive targets for fraudsters because of their high value, instant delivery and cross-border nature. Chargeback rates are often higher than average, adding another layer of cost.

Finally, seasonality makes things worse. During peak periods such as holidays, summer months or major events, booking volumes spike. Without a resilient payments infrastructure, these surges can overwhelm systems, leading to downtime or failures at the worst possible moment.

It is no surprise that cross-border payment challenges in travel remain one of the biggest barriers to growth.

Why Payment Costs Are Hard to Control in Travel

Travel merchants face more than just fraud and declines. The actual cost of payments can be surprisingly high.

Consider the different fees:

• Interchange and scheme fees on card payments.
• Cross-border fees are incurred when transactions are processed by overseas acquirers.
• Foreign exchange markups occur when customers pay in a different currency.

On top of this, many travel companies work with multiple PSPs (payment service providers) across regions. Each comes with separate contracts, fee structures and reconciliation processes. 

The result? Lack of visibility and higher operational overhead.

For a global OTA or airline, this translates into millions in lost margin each year. Reducing these costs is no longer optional; it is a survival strategy. 

How Payment Orchestration Solves the Cost Challenge

This is where payment orchestration for travel companies becomes transformative. Instead of juggling multiple direct integrations with acquirers and PSPs, orchestration provides a single API that connects them all.

The benefits are immediate:

• Smart routing for travel transactions: Payments are automatically sent to the acquirer with the highest approval likelihood and the lowest cost.
• Local acquiring: Instead of paying cross-border fees, orchestration enables merchants to route transactions through domestic acquirers in the customer’s region, reducing costs and improving approval rates.
• Fast rollout of local payment methods: Adding PIX in Brazil, SPEI in Mexico or GCash in the Philippines can be done without heavy engineering effort.
• Consolidated reporting: Instead of piecing together spreadsheets from multiple providers, orchestration delivers unified data for better decision-making.

Orchestration empowers travel companies to regain control over their previously fragmented and costly operational areas.

Improving Approval Rates in Travel Checkout

Every failed transaction could mean a lost booking. Interested in how orchestration changes that? 

In travel, merchants rarely get a second chance. That’s why smart routing is key here. For instance, if analytics show that a particular acquirer has higher approval rates for cards issued in Southeast Asia, the orchestration layer will direct those transactions there automatically. This small adjustment can significantly improve overall success rates.

Equally important is supporting local payment methods in Latin America and Asia, where card penetration is low. Offering PIX, SPEI or Alipay not only boosts conversion but also reassures customers with familiar, trusted options.

When combined, these strategies directly answer the question of how to reduce payment failures in travel checkout by aligning the payment journey with customer expectations and optimising it with orchestration.

Operational Efficiency and Customer Experience

Cost control is just the beginning. The real impact of orchestration lies in efficiency and customer trust.

Centralised reconciliation saves finance teams countless hours otherwise spent managing mismatched transactions across PSPs. Compliance with PCI DSS and PSD2 becomes less burdensome when handled through a centralised platform. Fraud prevention can be applied dynamically without requiring merchants to build complex systems internally.

For customers, the result is a smoother booking flow. Fast approvals, trusted local payment methods and transparent multi-currency pricing create confidence at checkout. And in travel, confidence is everything.

Ready to reduce costs and improve approvals in your checkout? Talk to our team today.