This summer at Phocuswright Europe, we unpacked a challenge that can quietly eat into travel margins: FX exposure.
When a customer books a trip, the exchange rate sets the price. But by the time the transaction settles, that rate may have moved—leaving agencies to absorb the difference.
Across thousands of bookings, those small gaps can add up significantly.
During our Changemakers Session, we asked a simple but commercially powerful question: What if agencies could optimize FX at the moment of booking, turning a passive cost into a diversified revenue lever?
Read the full write-up and catch the live recording of our session here, published by Phocuswire.
Key Takeaways
For many travel businesses, FX is still treated as a back-office necessity. But even small inefficiencies in how currency is handled can have a meaningful impact. Long settlement cycles and market volatility can either quietly erode margins or create a competitive advantage. The difference is whether FX is managed reactively or strategically.
Cross-border payments are no longer just about moving money, but also about reducing exposure and enabling more predictable global growth.
Our decade-long investment in cross-border payment infrastructure benefits the travel sector, and consolidating onto a single API stack may offer more strategic benefits than many travel finance teams realize.
We’re continuing to explore this opportunity with partners across the ecosystem, including Sabre, to improve transparency and control in FX for travel payments.