Many travel agencies start out with a spreadsheet for bookings, an inbox for customer conversations and a separate invoicing tool. While the business stays small, that works. Then bookings pile up, the team grows, and the same information ends up typed in three times, in three different places.
That is usually when agencies start looking for management software. But between tools built for large networks, generic business software and travel-specific solutions, the choice is not obvious. Here are the criteria that really matter.
1. Start from the way you work
Before comparing software, describe your business. Do you mostly sell tailor-made trips, group tours, flights only or packaged holidays? Do you work with many suppliers or a few loyal partners? Do you have one office or several?
Also write down your daily pain points: the forgotten invoice, the supplier payment nobody can find, the quote request left unanswered. Good software should fix those first, not add features you will never use.
2. One tool, from catalogue to invoice
The first benefit of management software is entering each piece of information only once. An offer created in the catalogue should become a booking, then an invoice, then a payment, without retyping anything.
Check that the tool covers at least:
- the catalogue: flights, hotels, holidays, tours, packages;
- bookings, with their passengers;
- the customer file and its history;
- quotes and invoices;
- customer payments and supplier payments.
If one of these is missing, you will end up with a spreadsheet on the side again, and the original problem will come back.
3. Financial tracking, booking by booking
In a travel agency, money flows both ways: customers pay deposits and then a balance, and the agency pays its suppliers. Without an overview, it becomes hard to know what is still to be collected, what is still to be paid and what margin each booking really makes.
During the demo, ask to see a booking with a partly paid invoice, the amount still due and the related supplier payments. If that view does not exist, cash flow will remain an end-of-month exercise. We cover this in detail in our article on payment tracking in a travel agency.
4. Your offers online, without a web agency
Your customers search online first. A static website that a contractor has to update for every new offer quickly falls behind. The most complete tools let you publish your offers on your own website, straight from the management software, and receive quote requests in the same place as your bookings.
Ask: are the offers on the website the ones from the catalogue, or do they have to be entered again? What happens to a request sent from the website?
5. Ease of use
Software the team does not use is useless. During the demo, count how many clicks it takes to create a booking, find a customer or issue an invoice. Ask how long the setup takes and whether training is included.
A good benchmark: a new team member should be able to handle a simple booking after a short training session, without a hundred-page manual.
6. Several users, several offices
Even a small agency has several people working on the same bookings. Check that each team member has their own login and that permissions can be restricted (a sales agent does not necessarily need to see the cash position).
If you have, or plan to open, several branches, make sure the software handles them, with a consolidated view for management.
7. Clear, predictable pricing
Pricing models vary widely between vendors. Compare what is actually included:
- is the price per agency or per user?
- are there setup fees, and are they mandatory?
- how long is the commitment?
- are the website, training and support included?
- can you try it before committing?
Publicly displayed pricing is already a good sign: you can compare without sitting through three sales meetings.
8. Your data: hosting, security, portability
Your software holds your customers’ personal data, sometimes their passport details. Check where it is hosted (in Europe, to stay within the GDPR), that access is secured and that backups are automatic.
Think about leaving, too: if you change tools one day, will you be able to get your data back?
Questions to ask during the demo
- Show me the full journey: an offer, a booking, its invoice and its payment.
- How do you track a deposit, and then the balance?
- How do you pay a supplier, and where does it show in the booking?
- How do my offers get onto my website, and what happens to a quote request?
- How long does it take to get started, and who helps me?
- What is included in the price, and what is an option?
- Where is my data hosted?
Where does ATHIX fit in?
ATHIX was designed for travel agencies and tour operators with these criteria in mind: catalogue, bookings, customers, invoices, suppliers and treasury in a single tool, plus a booking website fed by your offers. Prices are shown per agency on the Pricing page, and the video demo, tailored to your business, is free.
The easiest way is to see for yourself: book a demo with one of your real bookings.
