Advantage Travel Partnership launches new industry guide to support payment strategy and opportunity

Advantage Travel Partnership has launched a new, comprehensive industry guide designed to help travel businesses better understand and optimise payments across the travel ecosystem, developed in collaboration with several leading payments and industry partners including Mastercard, AirPlus, ConnexPay and more.

Payments sit at the centre of every travel transaction yet remain one of the most complex and often least visible components of the travel lifecycle. With money moving across multiple parties, systems and currencies, travel businesses continue to face challenges around reconciliation, cost management, control and risk.

Building on the introduction of its payments proposition over the past year, Advantage has worked closely with its partners across the payments landscape to develop a practical, accessible guide that supports its members in navigating this complexity and identifying areas for improvement.

The guide provides a clear overview of how payments work across the entire lifecycle of the travel ecosystem. It covers key areas such as distribution models, payment flows, and the range of solutions available, including virtual cards, lodge accounts and alternative payment methods. It is designed not only to inform, but to help travel agents and travel management companies identify opportunities to streamline processes, reduce costs and adopt more effective payment strategies.

The publication reflects a collaborative effort, drawing on the expertise of multiple partners from across the payments ecosystem as well as wider industry contributors, ensuring a well-rounded and practical perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing travel businesses today.

By bringing greater transparency and structure to the payments landscape, Advantage aims to support its members in making more informed commercial decisions, while strengthening its broader proposition around technology, partnerships and business enablement.

Stephen Baxendale, Technology Partnerships Manager, at Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “Payments are a critical but often under-optimised part of the travel value chain. This guide is designed to simplify a complex area and provide our members with clear, practical insight into how payments work, where the challenges lie, and importantly, where the opportunities exist to drive efficiency and commercial value within their businesses and to benefit their customers.”

The travel payments guide contains contributions from:

• Mastercard
• AirPlus
• Boodil
• ConnexPay
• Rydoo
• Bird & Bird
• Up in the Air