Guide
How to start an online travel agency: a six-step checklist
Register the business, sign supplier contracts, choose B2C or B2B, set up payments, then pick your software. The order matters more than most new agencies expect.
- Six-step checklist
- Supplier contracts first
- B2C, B2B or both
- Build vs SaaS vs self-hosted
Short answer
Software is the last step, not the first
To start an online travel agency, settle the business before the technology. A booking engine with no supplier contracts has nothing to sell, and a licence you did not check can change what you are allowed to sell at all. Work through these steps in order, then choose software that fits the business you have set up.
- Register the business and check the travel licence your market requires
- Sign supplier contracts with bed banks, consolidators or a GDS
- Decide whether you sell B2C, through B2B agents, or both
- Open a merchant account and plan the refund path
- Choose a custom build, a SaaS platform or self-hosted software
- Travel licence
- Checked with the regulator
- Supplier contracts
- 1 bed bank, 1 consolidator
- Payment gateway
- Merchant account approved
- Software model
- Self-hosted licence
- First product line
- Hotels, one supplier
The six steps
What to do, in the order it actually matters
Five of the six steps have nothing to do with software, and they decide how fast you can take a first booking.
- Custom buildMonths to first booking · Highest upfront cost
- Managed SaaSDays to first booking · Monthly fee
- Self-hosted licenceDays to weeks · Source code included$2,499one-time
1. Licensing
Selling packages usually carries more obligation than single flights: a licence, bonding or financial protection, and accreditation to issue tickets.
2. Supplier contracts
Software connects to inventory, it does not grant it. You sign with each supplier and they issue your credentials.
3. B2C or B2B
B2C means marketing cost and full margin. B2B means agent tiers, markups, credit limits and settlement.
4. Payments
A merchant account, a clear view of who holds funds between booking and supplier payment, and a refund path.
5. Software model
Custom, SaaS or self-hosted sets your cost shape for years and is the decision that is expensive to reverse.
6. Launch small
One or two suppliers and one product line first. Make that booking flow reliable, then add the next.
Launch plan
From installed platform to first real booking
Once contracts and payments are in place, the technical launch follows a short, repeatable sequence.
Install
Set up the platform on your server or managed hosting, with your brand and domain.
Connect
Add the credentials your suppliers issued for one product line.
Price
Set markups, currencies and, for B2B, agent tiers and credit limits.
Test
Run test bookings end to end, including cancellation and refund.
Launch
Open one product line to customers or agents and watch every booking.
Widen
Add the next supplier or product only when the first flow is reliable.
Supplier reality
The contracts you need before the software
Every supplier API adds mapping, testing and support work. Start these conversations early, because they are usually the longest step.
Bed banks
Hotel wholesalers issue API credentials once you sign; some ask for volume minimums or an existing business.
Flight consolidators
Sell air tickets under a consolidator's agreement when you are not accredited to issue tickets yourself.
GDS access
Direct GDS contracts give the widest flight content, with stricter onboarding and commercial terms.
Money flow
Plan payments and refunds before launch
Chargebacks on travel are unforgiving. Decide how money moves before the first dispute, not after it.
Merchant account
A payment gateway that accepts travel, in the currencies your customers pay in.
Who holds funds
Know where money sits between the booking and the supplier payment.
Card, bank and wallet
Card payments, bank transfers and agent wallet balances refund differently.
Refund path
Map cancellation fees and refunds for each supplier before you sell.
Agent credit limits
For B2B, set credit limits and settlement terms per agent or tier.
Reconciliation
Match bookings, supplier payables and payments in reports you can export.
Choose your software
Managed SaaS vs a self-hosted licence
Both ship a working OTA. They differ in what you own afterwards and what a change costs.
| Question | Managed SaaS | PHPTRAVELS |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first booking | Managed SaaSDays | PHPTRAVELSDays to weeks, on your own server |
| Upfront cost | Managed SaaSLowest | PHPTRAVELSOne-time licence from $2,499 |
| Cost at year three | Managed SaaSStill paying monthly | PHPTRAVELSPaid already, plus hosting |
| Who runs the servers | Managed SaaSThe vendor | PHPTRAVELSYou, or managed hosting |
| Changing how it works | Managed SaaSTypically the vendor roadmap | PHPTRAVELSYour developers, with the source code |
| If you stop paying | Managed SaaSTypically it stops | PHPTRAVELSYou keep it |
Which route fits
When each option is the right answer
Custom build
Your commercial model is genuinely unlike anything on the market and you can fund months of development.
Managed SaaS
Nobody on your team can look after a PHP and MySQL server and you want to launch without touching one.
Self-hosted licence
You want to own the platform, change it freely and have someone technical, or a managed host, to run it.
Where PHPTRAVELS fits
Licensed once, self-hosted, yours to change
Source code included
A commercial licence, not a public open-source project: you may use and modify the code.
One-time plans
Startup $2,499, Agency $4,999 and Enterprise $9,999, with no monthly platform fee.
Every product line
Flights, hotels, tours, cars, ferries, rail and visa modules to start with one and add the rest.
B2C and B2B
Your public site and your agent portal from one installation.
FAQ
Starting an online travel agency: questions
What new agency founders ask before they commit to a model.
Talk to salesRegister the business and check licensing, sign supplier contracts, decide between B2C and B2B, set up payments, then choose software and launch with one product line. Supplier contracts usually take the longest, so start them first.
It depends on your country and what you sell. Packages typically carry more obligation than single components, and many markets require a licence, bonding or financial protection for package holidays. Issuing airline tickets yourself usually requires accreditation. Check with your own regulator first.
Not in any meaningful way. Booking software connects to suppliers; it does not grant access to their inventory. You sign with each bed bank, consolidator or GDS and they issue your credentials, which the platform then uses.
Software is one line. Budget for registration and licensing, supplier onboarding, hosting, payment gateway fees, the platform and marketing. PHPTRAVELS is a one-time licence: Startup $2,499, Agency $4,999 or Enterprise $9,999.
B2C means you carry the marketing cost and keep the margin. B2B replaces advertising with agent management: tiers, markups, credit limits and settlement. Pick one to start; doing both from day one usually means doing neither well.
Software is rarely the constraint. Supplier contracts and credentials are typically the longest step, and licensing can gate what you sell. Teams that start supplier conversations first tend to launch much sooner.
Keep exploring
More from the platform
- What it costsPricing explained line by line
- Travel XML API suppliers listBedbanks, wholesalers, GDS, cruises and more
- Travel agent software stackThe tools agencies run and how they connect
- Self-hosted vs SaaSOwnership against convenience
- Online travel agenciesLaunch and scale an OTA
- White-label B2B portalBranded sub-agent portals