The 5 Best CRM Systems for Travel Agencies

Female travel agent pointing at location on globe with customer

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.

What are the best CRM systems for US travel agencies?

These are the providers we recommend based on our research. Use our comparison tool to find the best service for your business.

  1. Tutterfly – Best for user-friendliness
  2. Dolphin Dynamics – Best for all-in-one, feature-rich travel agency CRM
  3. Kapture – Best for data visualization and analytics
  4. Less Annoying CRM – Best for simplicity
  5. Capsule – Best for providing personalized service


The Best CRM Systems for US Travel Agencies

Travel agency CRM providerBest forLowest price (per user, per month)Highest price (per user, per month)Free trial?
TutterflyUser-friendliness$18$2214 days
Dolphin DynamicsAll-in-one, feature-rich travel agency CRMOn requestOn requestNone
KaptureData visualization and analytics$35$9030 days
Less Annoying CRMSimplicity$15$1530 days
CapsuleProviding personalized service$18 (free plan available)$5430 days
Table with a globe, plane model, and computer in travel agency

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…

Integrated sales management. Dynamic performance modeling. Direct report filing and generation. Tutterfly brings all these features and more to your travel agency – as well as doing the basics right, of course. All of Tutterfly’s more advanced features are underpinned by a sparkling, spotless user interface (UI), which is compatible across multiple devices – whether you’re selling packages from your office, at home, or on the go.

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.

Billing periodQuarterlyHalf-yearlyYearly
Billing amount$66$120$216
Price (per user, per month)$22$20$18

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.

Pros

  • Fully customizable sales, leads, and opportunities reporting
  • Free 14-day trial available
  • Completely cloud-based

Cons

  • Its marketing capabilities aren’t as strong as some of the other travel agency CRM providers on this list

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.

First of all, though, let’s address a different animal – namely, the elephant in the room. We’re talking about Dolphin Dynamics’ interface, which – quite frankly – looks as if it’s been pulled straight from the days of dial up internet. It’s not the most user-friendly travel agency CRM software, either. However, Dolphin Dynamics makes up for this with one (rather large) strength – pure, unadulterated functionality.

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.

Pros

  • Offers various products for both business and leisure travel agencies...
  • … tour operators, too!
  • Lets you send out branded, personalized invoices and statements
  • Excellent workflow management tools

Cons

  • No free trial available
  • The only travel agency CRM provider here without transparent pricing
  • Dated interface

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…

Struggling to analyze the source of your most profitable clients? To understand which vacation offers are generating the most leads online, or which of your agents is selling the most packages? Kapture can help. With lead qualification, scoring, and auto-assignment capabilities, Kapture does a lot of the manual work for you. This intelligent CRM also visualizes your travel business’ key info – including your sales funnel (pictured) and bookings pipeline – in a way that’s as easy on the eye as the system (which is available from just $35 per month) is on your wallet.

Kapture CRM package performance and lead stage visualization

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.

EssentialProfessionalEnterprise
$35 per user, per month$50 per user, per month$90 per user, per month

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…

Pros

  • Provides preset email templates for itineraries, bookings, and packages
  • Allows you to generate invoices with a click
  • Enables you to securely save customer documentation (such as passports) for future bookings

Cons

  • It’s not the cheapest travel agency CRM option around, either!
  • 24/7 support is reserved for the higher-paying customers only

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.

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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…

We adore Less Annoying CRM’s interface. It’s colorful, it’s clean, and – most of all – it’s simple. Whether you’re tracking your booking workflow to check flight or cruise details, or following up on a deposit that needs to be paid, you’ll be doing it all on a series of vibrant, customizable pipelines.

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

Pros

  • Free customer support included
  • You can be set up within an hour
  • 30-day trial, and you don’t need a credit card

Cons

  • May be a little too simplistic for the needs of some travel agencies

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 enables you to empower your staff to deliver the same levels of personal service you’d provide yourself. You can create step-by-step processes within the CRM for the whole team to follow – prompting them to send a booking confirmation, or follow up on any concerns a traveler may have. This – combined with Capsule storing detailed records of your interactions with your customers – keeps everyone on the same page. Better still, it means that every one of your travelers receives the highest, most bespoke levels of customer service possible.

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:

ProfessionalTeamsEnterprise
$18 per user, per month$36 per user, per month$54 per user, per month

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.

Pros

  • Integrates with an impressive range of third-party apps, including Xero, G Suite, QuickBooks, and MailChimp
  • Slick mobile app
  • Free plan available, along with a generous 30-day free trial
  • Solid G Suite integration

Cons

  • Some online reviews suggest it can be a little tricky to implement

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!

Compare Quotes from Leading Travel Agency CRM Software Suppliers and Save
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How We Test CRM Systems for Businesses

We tested 13 market-leading CRM systems to evaluate them in terms of functionality, usability, cost, scalability, and more so we can make the most useful recommendations to US businesses.

Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in six main categories of investigation and 13 subcategories – in fact, we covered 84 areas of investigation in total. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers – and that's our product testing algorithm in a nutshell!

Our main testing categories for CRM systems are:

Features: the functionalities and capabilities provided by the CRM software, such as contact management, lead and opportunity tracking, and task and activity management.

Help and Support: the resources and assistance available to users when they encounter issues or require guidance while using the CRM software.

Customization: the ability to tailor the CRM software to suit the specific needs and processes of the organization, e.g. customizing fields, layouts, and workflows.

Scalability: the ability of the CRM software to accommodate the growth and changing needs of the organization, such as the capacity to handle a growing customer database.

Price: the cost associated with using the CRM software. It includes factors such as licensing fees, subscription plans, and additional charges for add-on modules or features.

Team Structure – Sales CRM: determining if a platform makes it easier to manage large sales teams, including team dashboards, team hierarchies, and team inboxes.

Usability – Small Business CRM: assessing the simplicity of the interface, the ease of navigating through menus and options, and the overall user experience.

 


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.

Written by:
Rob Binns
Rob writes mainly about the payments industry, but also brings to the table industry-specific knowledge of CRM software, business loans, fulfilment, and invoice finance. When not exasperating his editor with bad puns, he can be found relaxing in a sunny (socially-distanced) corner, with a beer and a battered copy of Dostoevsky.
Reviewed by:
James thinks all businesses can improve if they use the right technology. At Expert Market, he utilises his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialised advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management.