The last mile of conversion: how seamless payments drive revenue for travel brands

Travelers don’t forgive payment friction. When a booking fails, almost 1 in 5 would leave, and often for good.

Our latest study with Edgar, Dunn & Company shows the cost of that friction is staggering: 13% of travelers immediately rebook with a competitor after a card decline, and 5% abandon the purchase entirely.

With passenger revenues reaching $693 billion this year, that equates to more than $30 billion in preventable losses for airlines and OTAs.

In other words, every failed transaction becomes a missed opportunity and a competitor's gain.  

How did we conduct this study?

Together with Edgar, Dunn, and Company, we surveyed over 1,000 travelers across five key markets (UK, US, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Spain) to understand how payments shape travel bookings. Two themes emerged as decisive for conversion:  

1. Convenience: When it comes to payments, speed and ease matter. While 92% said the payment process was "easy" or "extremely easy," experience varied by region. For example, 52% in the UK found paying for travel extremely easy, compared to just 33% in Spain.
   

2. Flexibility: 59% of travelers would abandon a booking if their preferred payment method wasn't available. Meanwhile, 75% prefer the option to split payments —e.g., using both a credit card and loyalty miles.

These findings point to a disconnect between traveler expectations and current payment infrastructures.  

“Travel brands often compete on pricing or loyalty perks, but our research shows the bigger battleground is now in payments. Every decline, missing method or point of unnecessary friction is an open invitation for a competitor to win that booking. Airlines and OTAs that see payments as a commercial strategy as opposed to a technical process are the ones that keep high-intent travelers loyal to their platform.”  

– Damien Cramer, SVP of Global Travel at Nuvei

What did we learn? Card declines are more damaging than they seem  

Declines may look like a technical issue, but their impact is deeply commercial. In leisure travel, friction often triggers instant churn: the customer moves to the next airline or OTA in their browser. 17% of travelers report a failed payment attempt, and while 82% of them try again, 18% exit the purchase funnel completely.  

That loss is amplified by:

• Impulse-driven leisure travel, where friction results in instant churn
• High-ticket transactions, where each failed booking carries greater financial impact

“Businesses might lose two to three times more revenue to false declines than to actual fraud,” which underlines how critical this issue is. “When it comes to soft declines — caused by factors like network issues or issuer outages — this is where payment orchestration plays a crucial role in recovery.”

– Louis Wapler, manager at Edgar, Dunn, and Company

Optimizing acceptance through smart routing, retry logic, and fraud controls can increase authorization rates by 5–10 percentage points, a gain that could fulfill or even exceed annual growth targets for many travel businesses.

APMs and localized payment experiences boost conversions

Card declines aren’t the only threat to travel brands’ revenue growth. Global consumers are increasingly demanding local and alternative payment methods, and when those aren’t offered, almost 6 in 10 would abandon their booking.

For example:

• Brazil: 71% of respondents prefer Pix, the instant payment system ‍
• Hong Kong: 29% choose AliPayHK ‍
• Spain: 23% rely on Bizum ‍
• UK & US: PayPal remains a top alternative

“Introducing PIX in Brazil can cause about 35% of traffic shift, driving a proportional drop in processing costs and lifting margin. You can retain that value or reinvest it as customer incentives. We’ve also seen near double-digit conversion gains. When customers don’t see PIX on the checkout page, they leave; offering it both optimizes cost and unlocks demand.”  

- Peny Rizou, Chief Fintech Officer at eTraveli Group

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These trends show that localization is not a feature. Without market-specific APM support, travel brands risk conversion losses and alienating entire traveler segments.

Modern travelers expect not just to pay, but to pay their way.  

Peny Rizou, eTraveli Group, added:

“Localization goes beyond listing global payment methods. Preferences vary by region and gaps can hurt conversion. In each local setup we must assess the right mix of payment methods, cost efficiency, and user experience, because all three drive conversion and margin.”

Localization also extends to currency. Our research shows 92% of travelers expect to see prices in their preferred currency. But, as Peny highlighted:

“It’s critical to distinguish display, charging, and settlement currencies. A seamless experience depends on aligning what travelers see with what they’re charged. When that breaks down, businesses face more service calls and complaints about unexpected bank fees.”

Misalignment in currency erodes trust before the booking journey even begins. These preferences are central to building trust and improving conversion. A failure to localize, whether in currency display or payment structure, adds friction that deters high-intent bookings.

Why payment orchestration matters more than ever

Meeting these complex expectations across global markets isn’t an easy task. That’s where, as Louis Wapler pointed out, payment orchestration comes in.  

“[Payment orchestration] offers a plug-and-play system that allows travel businesses—whether airlines or hotels—to expand quickly without the burden of manual integrations or waiting on a payment service provider to add new methods. The rapid rise of alternative payment methods has added significant complexity to cross-border payments, and orchestration is increasingly essential to manage that complexity efficiently.”

Payment orchestration platforms enable travel businesses to:

• Route payments efficiently based on location, currency, and issuer
• Dynamically offer local methods and currencies at checkout
• Integrate new APMs without long development cycles
• Apply fraud controls without increasing decline rates

In a high-growth, high-cost sector like travel, orchestration is not just about efficiency, it's a revenue driver.  

What should travel brands do in 2026?

First and foremost, brands need to make it easy for customers to pay the way they prefer. That means offering the right local payment methods, showing prices in the customer’s currency, and making sure the payment process is smooth.  

“Currency is often overlooked, yet it’s the very first hurdle in a traveler's payment journey. If the display currency doesn’t feel familiar, you’ve already introduced doubt before checkout. Add to that the absence of local payment methods or the frustration of a decline, and the risk of losing the booking rises sharply. Getting currency right — at both display and payment — is fundamental to building trust and securing conversion.”  

- Jacqueline Ulrich, Senior Vice President Commercial – Global Travel Strategy & Partners at Nuvei

Using payment orchestration tools can help travel companies expand into new markets faster without needing complex technical work. While APMs are rising in demand, it's important to focus on payment methods that actually improve conversion, rather than trying to offer everything.

Preventing false declines — when real customers are mistakenly blocked  — is just as important as stopping fraud. A strong payment setup, tailored to each market and connected to business goals, helps travel brands grow faster and reduce lost revenue.  

Overall, our study reveals that the payment experience is no longer just a backend function: it's a front-line revenue engine. As global travelers expect more personalization, more flexibility, and less friction, travel brands must treat payment optimization as a commercial strategy.

You can read the full study here

Ready to turn payment optimization into revenue growth?

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