How Authentic Vacations saved $10k a month on FX
Discover how Authentic Vacations simplified and streamlined their funds management across multiple currencies, and made significant cost savings along the way.
$10k
Saved on FX fees monthly
Saved 3%
Per card transaction
1-2 hours
To make a USD to NZD bank transfer vs 2 - 5 days via SWIFT
Authentic Vacations is a consumer-facing customized travel provider for US-based customers, combining vacations to the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. Founded 22 years ago as an Ireland specialist, the company has grown steadily. It now serves a range of destinations operated by its parent company, Tour Partner Group, a leading Northern European Destination Management Company (DMC) based in London, Dublin and Copenhagen.
Industry
Travel
Company size
10 - 50 employees
Location
US
Authentic Vacations faced a challenge. Although the travel agency provides a smooth, premium customer experience, behind the scenes, the supplier payment processes were complex and eating into their profit margins.
The Challenge
With suppliers like hotels, car hire, tour and experience providers based in Europe, they had to pay suppliers by card in currencies other than their home currency, resulting in high cross-border fees. To add complexity, many suppliers require advance payment by card in Euros or GBP.
Authentic Vacation’s payment processes were manual and fragmented. To prevent disruptions for their customers and suppliers, they needed a solution that cut cross-border payment costs and reduced FX fees. They made the entire business transaction process seamless—as smooth as their front-end customer experience.
Simon Russell
CEO, Authentic Vacations
“Never underestimate the complexity and cost of paying suppliers by card in currencies other than your home country’s currency. You need a solution like Airwallex; the product is fantastic, the commercials are compelling, and the team is a joy to work with.”
The Solution
And that’s when Authentic Vacations found Airwallex. Speaking with Authentic Vacations CEO Simon Russell, he said that the Airwallex solution has “significantly simplified the process of using our USD client receipts to pay our suppliers outside of the US at a much lower rate than our previous providers."
By using Airwallex’s local payment rails to replace their global bank, they were able to remove the staggering 2 - 5 day transfer time and now can send USD to NZD in just a few hours.
The administrative headaches have gone, and they have been replaced with significant cost savings, more streamlined fund management between different currencies, and a direct link to Netsuite for accounting.
The Authentic Vacations payment processes are now well-oiled and frictionless for everyone — customers, suppliers, and internal finance teams.
The Result
Authentic Vacations has saved $USD10k monthly on FX, saves 3% per card transaction, and bank transfers now only take a few hours instead of 2-5 days with SWIFT.
The time and cost savings can now be redistributed elsewhere in the business, and they can enjoy a more streamlined management of funds between different currencies.
Simon Russell
CEO, Authentic Vacations
“Because of Airwallex, we’re enjoying significant cost savings and a more streamlined management of funds between different currencies, which is essential for our travel agency.”
