Introducing a New and Unique Solution to Maximize Per Booking Profitability

Online travel agents, tour operators and travel management companies now have a new opportunity to avoid airline surcharges, increase per booking profitability, and improve accuracy and timeliness on reconciliation and reporting. The newest solution introduced by our team at WEX Travel, the WEX Solution for Airline Payments, will create opportunities to improve operational efficiency in finance, save money by cutting the 2% surcharge that is squeezing margins on flight bookings and enable travel organizations to become more competitive.

A Direct Response to Customer Needs

Travel companies that book flights on behalf of customers have to follow the practice of holding funds in trust accounts for instance via the ATOL scheme set up by the Civil Aviation Authority, which has created cash flow challenges for the middle man especially if the volume of flight bookings is significant.

Kumar Edara, Director of WEX Customer Truly Travel, found this new technology immensely useful to gaining an edge:

“Prefunding flights on behalf of our customers whilst their money is tied up in trust accounts was getting very challenging for us, especially with the volume of flights our customers book. WEX has given us the ability to improve our cash position whilst reducing costs significantly which is helping us to become much more competitive. Working with a partner who listens to your needs and is able to turn those into significant business benefits has been crucial and the reason that we greatly value our partnership with WEX.”

How WEX Solution for Airline Payments Benefits Customers

The solution, which utilizes a Virtual Card Number (VCN), offers a credit facility to fund debit card accounts. As our customers seek increased visibility and agility, this new solution provides them unique benefits, which they can’t find in the traditional airline payments spectrum:

• Credit facility to fund airfares and ability to increase cash flow
• Debit Virtual Card Number (VCN) to avoid 2% airline surcharges
• Marketing advantage through more competitive flight prices
• Payment and settlement in multiple currencies without FX or conversion fees
• Automated transaction reconciliation and reporting

This is in addition to the streamlining and automation of reconciliation and reporting, saving customer’s hours of manual work while minimizing risk and increasing productivity. Jim Pratt, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Virtual Payments at WEX shares why this is so important in a quote:

“Airline bookings in the travel industry are increasingly competitive as customers are becoming more price conscious. The 2% surcharge incurred when booking seats with airlines means that margins are squeezed even further. With the introduction of our new Solution for Airline Payments, our customers can bypass this charge without having to prefund accounts. This results in reduced costs and allows customers to become more competitive, improve their cash position and benefit from an automated booking flow, reporting and reconciliation.”

Learn more about WEX Solution for Airline Payments, as well as other solutions for travel brands:

• Why Effective Reconciliation Benefits Travel Brands
• What is a Virtual Credit Card?
• WEX Travel Solutions Overview
• Key Takeaways from GBTA 2015
• How Virtual Cards Make Hotel Booking Easier