The 5 Best CRM Systems for Travel Agencies

If your travel agency doesn’t have the right CRM software for lead, deal, and marketing management, chances are you’re falling behind. Let’s fix that.

From Tutterfly, which impressed us with its user-friendliness, to Capsule, which can help you provide a super personalized service to travelers, we’ve examined the breadth of the CRM market to hand pick the best CRM systems for travel agencies.

Informed by over a decade’s experience in recommending CRM systems, our reviews will help you compare these top-rated systems, and choose the software that’s the best fit for your travel agency.

You can also try our free quote-finding tool to get tailored quotes directly from the best travel agency CRM suppliers for your business.

The Best CRM Systems for US Travel Agencies

Tutterfly

Best for user-friendliness

Suitable for growing businesses

Ease of use is important. If you’re not able to operate a system, you’re not going to see ROI – that’s a fact. Tutterfly is simple to get the hang of, and even more so to use on a day-to-day basis. But that’s not the only trick it has up its sleeve…

Tutterfly pricing

Tutterfly’s pricing scale is an interesting one.

Almost all CRM providers price their product in ‘tiers’, or plans. The cheapest level gets you the most basic version of the product – functional, but without the best features (or the finest customer support). Typically, the more you spend, the more features you unlock – and the more advanced version of the product you’ll receive.

With Tutterfly, that’s not so.

Tutterfly offers just one iteration of its product. There are no restricted features, or functionality cut off for its lower-paying users. In Tutterfly’s own words, “100% features – 0% compromise”.

Rather, what you’ll pay depends on your billing period – that is, how much of a commitment you’re willing to make to Tutterfly’s travel agency CRM software when you sign up. The table below should explain.

Essentially, the more cash you’re willing to front up initially, the less you pay.

Tutterfly also offers a free, 14-day trial for new users.

Dolphin Dynamics

Best all-in-one CRM for travel agencies

Suitable for travel agencies of all sizes

Combining bookings, billing, and branding with a firm focus on the checkout experience – plus a deep-rooted understanding of what makes travel agencies tick – Dolphin should meet the needs of all growing travel businesses.

So what can it do?

Well, first and foremost, it’s a travel agency CRM. You can create integrated client and corporate profiles, helping you develop your agency’s professional relationships, and tailor your service to the public.

Secondly, it’s a powerful booking engine. You can adapt it to fit the look, feel, and design of your current website, and make yourself available to potential customers around the clock.

Thirdly, it’s a boon for both your lawyer and your accountant. As well as helping make sure that all travel has been booked and authorized within company policy, Dolphin automates transaction fee calculations and credit control functions, too.

There are a few more things it can do, but we’re running out of word count. How much does Dolphin Dynamics cost, anyway?

Dolphin Dynamics pricing

That, we can’t tell you.

Frustratingly, Dolphin Dynamics isn’t as forthcoming as its sea-going eponym – not when it comes to disclosing its pricing, anyway.

There isn’t any information online about how much Dolphin’s travel agency CRM software will cost you. You’ll have to get in touch with Dolphin directly to get an accurate quote – although the company does, at least, offer a free demo on request.

Kapture

Best for data visualization and analytics

Suitable for the visual learners and number crunchers

Do you prefer graphs and charts to documents and spreadsheets? You’re in the right place…

Kapture pricing

Unlike Dolphin Dynamics (which doesn’t advertise its rates) and Tutterfly (which offers a single product, unbound by feature limitations), Kapture does conform to typical CRM pricing.

With Kapture’s travel agency CRM software, the level of functionality you’ll receive is tied directly to your budget.

Here’s how the plans break down.

Kapture’s ‘Essential’ plan comes with features that are just that: web forms for generating leads, omnichannel ticketing for customer service teams, and basic reporting tools.

Upgrading to Kapture’s ‘Professional’ offering introduces a biggie – 24/7 customer support. You’ll also be able to integrate your travel agency CRM software with the various social media sites your business uses, as well as your pick of the best ecommerce platforms around. Oh, and let’s not forget the ability to generate quotations, and accept online payments, too.

For larger businesses – or perhaps those simply seeking a greater degree of versatility – Kapture’s ‘Enterprise’ plan should be at the top of your wishlist. As well as contact and workflow management, your service team will benefit from customized ticket disposition – and you from a dedicated account manager.

If terms like ‘IP whitelisting’, ‘Custom API’, and ‘Sandbox’ mean nothing to you, though (and you don’t want them to mean anything, either), you’re better off sticking with a more basic plan. That, or reading on…

You're almost finished with our list of the top 5 CRM systems for travel agencies in the US. Time to start comparing quotes?

Simply hit one of the buttons below to start our quick questionnaire. It takes just 30 seconds to do, and by telling us more about your business’ specific requirements, we can help ensure that you receive the best, most personalized rates on travel agency CRM software.

Less Annoying CRM

Best for simplicity

Suitable for small businesses and startups

Sometimes, less is more – and less annoying really can mean more productivity. While larger teams should probably stray away from this no frills, no nonsense travel agency CRM provider, small businesses should find plenty to love…

Less Annoying CRM also makes it easy to not only manage your relationships with your customers, but to identify their relationships with each other.

Take the pictured screenshot from Less Annoying CRM’s interface. As you can see, it’s easy to understand not only who Carol Hall is (and which trips she has coming up), but who she knows, too.

This way, you’ll know exactly who to thank when a new booking comes in, and can make your communication with those customers even more personal.

Less Annoying CRM pricing

True to its name, Less Annoying CRM’s pricing tier is… well, you get the idea.

$15 per user, per month. That’s all you’ll pay – no tiers, billing period variations, or feature discrepancies. Just one of the cheapest CRM systems on the market, with just about all the functionality you’ll require to boss your travel business.

You can add or remove users at any time, and cancel whenever you like. Less Annoying CRM also offers a 30-day trial, so you can see if you like it before shelling out.

Not annoying in the slightest.

Capsule

Best for providing personalized service

Suitable for businesses on a budget

Personalized. Service. Two words that add up to a pretty powerful customer experience. But, as your business grows and you take on more employees, it gets harder and harder to provide travelers with that extra touch of the personal. Unless, of course, you’re using Capsule…

Capsule pricing

After a brief interlude with Less Annoying CRM’s simple, flat-rate pricing, we’re back to the tiered system. With Capsule, you’ll pay one of three rates, depending on the features you require:

The price tag may be alluring, but we’d only recommend Capsule’s ‘Professional’ plan for the smallest travel agencies. You’ll be capped at a maximum of 50,000 contacts (not actually a whole lot for growing businesses), while each user will face a minimum of 10GB worth of storage each.

Capsule’s ‘Teams’ plan offers scaling travel agencies more contacts and storage, while adding advanced sales reporting and custom activity types into the mix. It also ups the ante with intelligent tools for assigning users, roles, and records to specific teams or individuals, helping you stay organized.

For those with the loftiest ambitions (and the budgets to match), the ‘Enterprise’ plan should fit the bill. Even if a dedicated customer success manager and priority support isn’t your thing, there’s plenty to love about implementation and import assistance – not to mention that generous 200,000 contact limit.

But wait – did we mention the free plan?

You heard that right. Capsule offers a completely free version. And yes, there is a catch.

Namely, that’s the stringent limitations Capsule’s free plan imposes on your user and contact limits (two and 250MB, respectively). Perfect if you’re a one-person setup coordinating flights and hotel bookings from your den, sure. It’s not such a great idea for travel agencies looking to grow, though – trust us.

Both Capsule’s ‘Professional’ and ‘Teams’ plans can be tried free for 30 days.

To get to grips with what CRM costs look like across multiple suppliers, head to our guide to comparing CRM pricing.

Next steps

Remember, the usefulness of a CRM system for your travel agency isn’t limited to the features – or the providers – we’ve discussed here.

The impact that the right CRM’s features can have on your sales, service, and marketing efforts is profound – so it makes sense to invest some time in making sure you pick the right provider.

Fortunately, that time doesn’t have to be long – and, when you use our free quote-finding service, it’s all of about 30 seconds. Here’s what happens when you start our questionnaire.

1) You provide us with some details about your travel agency’s setup and requirements

2) Our algorithm has a think, and matches you with one (or more, if you’re lucky!) travel agency CRM software suppliers. Which companies you’re matched with is based on the responses you’ve provided, which tell us about your number of employees, industry, and the CRM software features you’re interested in.

3) These suppliers get in touch with you directly. The purpose? Offering you no-obligation quotes and advice about how CRM software can help take your travel agency to the next level.

You just have to be based in the US to be eligible. Good luck!

FAQs

What is a travel agency CRM, exactly?

It’s a specialized kind of CRM software, built to empower businesses in the travel industry to manage their customer relationships.

That’s its central function, anyway. Because of the vast range of pain points and requirements of travel agencies, most CRM software catering to the industry has evolved. Now, travel agency CRM can also work as a booking engine, payment processor, and itinerary management tool – all rolled into a handy, affordable software package. Neat, huh?

Can I use travel agency CRM in the field?

You can indeed! Travel agency CRM is overwhelmingly cloud-based. That means it’s accessible from a web browser, rather than software that’s stored on a computer. Providing you have an internet connection, you can log in from anywhere in the world, and collaborate with your team in real time.

What’s a good CRM strategy for my travel agency?

CRM, as an acronym, refers to both the software (which we’ve discussed at length here), as well as the strategy. If you want to maximize the value of your customer relationships, you’ll need both.

Your CRM strategy should always revolve around using data to provide better, tailored, and more personalized service to your customers. By understanding each of your travelers’ destination history, preferred type of vacation, and maximum budget, you can offer them more relevant experiences, and provide deals and discounts too good to be ignored.

The ideal CRM strategy for a travel agency should also involve the use of various platforms for communicating with your travelers, such as social media. By aggregating these channels, and collecting your conversations with your customers into a centralized database, your CRM system will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of your client base’s needs.

For even more granular insights, you can consider integrating your travel agency CRM with a social listening tool. It’s one of the cheapest, most hands-off ways of finding out what your customers are saying about your brand and industry.

Which other industries use CRM?

Take your pick! CRM systems are used widely across almost all industries and disciplines. It isn’t just for office-based teams, either – there a loads of benefits to CRMs for construction, real estate CRMs, and CRMs used in healthcare. All there industries rely upon CRM as both strategy and software, as do creative and digital marketing agencies.

And don’t think big businesses are immune from the pull of CRM systems, either. Corporate behemoths such as Uber and Airbnb both famously rely on CRM, as do many of the country’s most lucrative and high-profile enterprises.