Travel payment processing is complex for one reason: time. A sale is made in the present, but the delivery of the experience occurs in the future. It’s that future time that can create disputes with this type of processing, though, particularly when there are changes, cancellations, or unmet expectations.
Card brands and processors also consider travel a risky category because chargebacks can spike due to environmental factors, such as seasonality and weather events, as well as operational issues, including backlogs in responding to merchant customer service requests. Even when a merchant is acting reasonably, the rules can be unforgiving.
Client Snapshot: Robert Madhosingh, PVI LLC
Robert Madhosingh owns PVI LLC, a travel-based operation that is incorporated in Florida and located in Miami Beach. It is a travel club with a member site where clients access travel and lifestyle perks. This exposes it to a variety of potential clients, which means its payment processing must handle a variety of booking situations, client expectations, and support requests.
As with most travel operations, however, payment processing is not just a matter of being accepted. It’s a matter of remaining accepted. When your offering is delivered at a later date, fulfilled by another provider, and in cases where refunds can be crucial, chargebacks can become an obstacle to growth.
The Obstacle: Chargebacks and Processor Requirements
The challenge PVI LLC faced was processing chargebacks while dealing with the complex requirements of payment processors in the travel business category. The disputes were not just an operational difficulty but a drain on Robert’s time and attention that could have been spent on sales and growth.
In addition, merchants in this category face additional scrutiny during underwriting and ongoing account monitoring. This can lead to additional documentation requests, unexpected policy changes, concerns about delayed funding, discussions about reserves, and an emphasis on proving that the business is addressing risk rather than actively managing it.
The Payment Nerds Solution
Payment Nerds approached the situation as a systems issue, not a one-off dispute. The aim was to stabilize the travel merchant account, establish consistency in how disputes would be handled, and ensure that the processing setup met the expectations of travel account underwriters.
Shawn Silver took point with his industry experience, emphasizing areas of risk and requirements that many travel business owners have no idea exist until a processor points them out. Trae implemented the changes, working intensively with Robert to establish stricter workflows so that processes were not reliant on one person remembering which steps needed to be taken when a dispute arose.
What Changed After We Onboarded PVI LLC
Underwriting Requirements For A Travel Merchant Account
We began with the need to simplify the story that underwriters need to comprehend: what PVI sells, how it is fulfilled and how customers are supported if needed. Even in travel payment processing, “good merchants” can get denied if the story is not straightforward and if information is missing from the documentation presented to the underwriters. By aligning documentation with what happens in the merchant operations, we avoided issues with the processors and minimized the chance of facing an action against the account that could impact business operations.
Case Management Workflow With Faster Responses To Disputes
Next was actually handling chargebacks and disputes once they have happened. Chargebacks become costly if the first hint of a problem only comes from the customer’s bank. We worked with PVI LLC to improve intake for disputes so that they could potentially mitigate issues before they occur—and so they could respond quickly to the bank with relevant information if it was needed.
Representations That Match Card Brand Specifications
Winning chargebacks is not a process that entails “some evidence.” Winning chargebacks is about specific evidence in a specific format. We focused on tightening what is captured and kept in the merchant’s customer lifecycle so that representations are not rushed. The goal is here to ensure that there is a clearer path between what the customer purchased, what was provided, any support that was provided to the customer and what refund was made available to them (if necessary).
Handling Future Delivery Timelines And Cancellations
Travel payment processing lives or dies based on how unambiguous the merchant is about cancelling trips and issuing refunds. We encouraged PVI to become less ambiguous in their operations—and to be cleaner—in handling the future delivery timeframe. When refunds are obvious, handling chargebacks becomes easier and the likelihood of the customer raising a chargeback is reduced.
Fraud Mitigation Steps To Reduce Friendly Fraud Chargebacks
Not every dispute is friendly fraud—and not every fraud dispute indicates that there is an issue with the service provided to a customer. Travel causes a lot of “friendly fraud,” where customers acknowledge the charges but choose to raise a chargeback. We worked with PVI to strengthen rudimentary measures and add friction into the sales process. This resulted in fewer avoidable disputes later on.
A Monitoring Process With A KPI – Not A Surprise
Finally, we approached monitoring thresholds as a process with KPI – not as a surprise visit from the relevant authorities. Visa and Mastercard are rewarding merchants more and more if they catch issues early and respond quickly. We set up a simple reporting procedure to check thresholds so Robert could avoid finding himself in a situation where he questioned whether he was unnecessarily flagged.
Results: Less Firefighting – More Room To Breathe
The results? Chargebacks are now smoother, and the processing experience is better overall. PVI is now presented with clearer paths, rather than feeling like they are constantly scrambling in response to dispute outcomes.
Even better, our client felt supported—and he had time to focus on growing his business. Instead of worrying that payment processing would put a damper on the momentum of his travel-based services, he could focus on improving his services for his members—and even expanding them.
“This team truly works hard for the needs of business owners! Always available, always working for their clients, and truly a blessing! They get everything done.”
“Between Trae and Shawn, I can’t thank them enough! Shawn knows this industry like the back of his hand and will get you what you need, and especially what you don’t even know you need!”
Why Payment Nerds Made a Difference
- Expert Guidance: Shawn’s industry knowledge helped PVI LLC navigate challenges that weren’t even on their radar
- Hands-On Support: Trae and the team were always available, ensuring nothing fell through the cracks
- Results-Driven: PVI LLC experienced smoother chargeback management and an overall better payment processing experience
Key Takeaways For Every Travel Merchant Account
If you are in travel, chargebacks cannot be an afterthought relegated to your back office. They can make or break your merchant account, ensure your funds flow smoothly—and even determine whether your business can scale upwards.
The answer? A combination of tightening customer expectations, establishing frequent yet limited documentation procedures, swift responses to disputes, and creating monitoring habits for yourself, rather than having someone make them for you. Once these are established as part of your day-to-day operations, you are not only preventing chargebacks but also protecting the integrity of your revenue stream.
PVI LLC came to Payment Nerds with the same obstacle that many travel-based operations face: chargebacks, complex requirements, and a sense that payment processing was interrupting potential growth in other areas of their operation. By leveraging Shawn’s depth of knowledge in the travel industry and Trae’s attention to detail, we helped PVI achieve stability with their merchant account—and restore some trust in their day-to-day operations.
What was the result? Precisely what any good payments partner should provide: fewer surprises, cleaner processes, and more bandwidth available to focus on building their business.
Sources
- Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz). “Prime Vacations International LLC, Entity Detail.” Accessed January 2026.
- Prime Vacations International. “Member Portal Landing Page.” Accessed January 2026.
- Vacation Owners. “Login.” Accessed January 2026.
- Better Business Bureau. “Prime Vacations International LLC, Business Profile.” Accessed January 2026.
- Visa. “Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) Fact Sheet.” Accessed January 2026.
- Visa. “Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants.” Accessed January 2026.
- Mastercard. “Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition.” Accessed January 2026.
- Worldpay. “10 Best Practices for Card-Not-Present Transactions.” Accessed January 2026.
