A travel management company needs four things from its IT: reliable access to its booking and back-office systems wherever staff work, strong security to protect the payments and data it handles, fast support for a time-critical desk, and a partner who understands travel software. Get those right and IT quietly supports the business around the clock. For most agencies that full service costs about £45 to £100 per user per month.
Travel is global, fast-moving and a magnet for payment fraud, so the support has to fit that reality rather than a generic break-fix contract. Here is what to expect, and what good looks like.
1. Reliable access to your booking systems
Amadeus, Navitas, FareXpert and a back office such as TRAMS are the heart of the business, and your day stops when they do. Delivering them over hosted desktops means every member of staff, in the office, at home or overseas, gets the same fast, reliable environment, and a provider who knows these systems keeps them available and handles their quirks rather than treating them as someone else’s problem.
2. Security that protects payments and data
Agencies move supplier, refund and crew money and hold client and crew personal data, which makes them a constant target. Layered security, including multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection, application allowlisting, managed email filtering and staff training, protects the money and the data, and supports the PCI DSS compliance that taking card payments requires. This is core, not optional.
3. Secure access from anywhere, in any time zone
Travel teams work across offices, from home and across the world. They need secure, reliable access to the same systems wherever they are, through multi-factor authentication and properly managed devices, without weakening security to get convenience. Getting this right is what lets a global desk operate as one team.
4. Fast support for a 24/7 desk
When something breaks during a booking or a crew movement, you need someone who responds quickly and understands travel systems, not a queue. Expect fast response, proactive monitoring that prevents problems, and a helpdesk that knows your business. Ask any provider for their typical response times and how much they catch before you notice.
What this should cost
For a travel management company, a complete managed service usually costs £45 to £100 per user per month, depending on headcount, number and location of offices, the software you run and the depth of security you need. The figure should be clear, per user, and include support, security and backups.
What to ask a provider
A specialist for travel agencies should be able to answer:
- Have you supported Amadeus, Navitas, FareXpert or TRAMS, and hosted desktops, before?
- How do you give office, remote and overseas staff secure, reliable access?
- How do you protect us from invoice, supplier and crew payment fraud?
- Can you help us achieve and maintain PCI DSS compliance?
- Is the price clear and per user, with security included rather than charged separately?
A real example
We support a travel agency with staff in the UK and several overseas offices, all working from the same hosted desktops with layered security and tested backups. When phishing and payment-fraud attempts arrive, which they do constantly in this sector, the combination of email security, MFA and trained staff stops them, and the desk keeps booking without interruption.
What good IT looks like for a travel desk
Done well, the technology simply gets out of the way. A consultant sits down anywhere in the world, signs in securely, and Amadeus, Navitas and the back office are there and fast; payments go to the right accounts because the process and the security make fraud hard; and when something does go wrong it is caught early and fixed quickly by people who understand travel systems. That quiet reliability, around the clock and across time zones, is what you are really paying for, and it is why the right partner at a slightly higher monthly cost works out cheaper than a cheap contract that leaves the desk exposed.
Where to start
If you are not sure where your agency stands, a short review is the quickest way to find out: confirm multi-factor authentication is on for every account including overseas machines, check that booking systems and backups are managed and test-restored, confirm a strict bank-detail verification process is followed every time, and make sure only approved software can run. Those few steps remove most of the risk and show where a travel-aware managed setup pays off.
Why travel agencies choose First Stop IT
First Stop IT has supported businesses since 2002, including travel agencies and travel management companies, and we understand the systems a travel desk runs on: Amadeus, Navitas, FareXpert and TRAMS, delivered securely over hosted desktops, alongside Microsoft 365. We support travel businesses based in Essex, Hertfordshire and London with teams working worldwide. Our credentials include:
- Cyber Essentials Certified
- IASME Cyber Assurance (Gold)
- NCSC Assured Service Provider (Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials)
- Microsoft Partner
- Crown Commercial Service Supplier (G-Cloud)
- Quality Principles Certified
We look after more than 2,000 endpoints across 50 companies, we have been named a Top 50 UK MSP for three years running, and we support organisations with 10 to 100 employees across Essex, Hertfordshire and London, including teams working internationally.
Book a free IT and cyber security review
Want IT built around how a travel desk actually works? Book a free IT and cyber security review with First Stop IT.