This summer pushed Europe’s travel infrastructure to its limit. On the busiest days, around 37,000 flights crossed European airspace, which is right at the edge of what current systems can handle. And as delays mounted and tempers frayed, a seasonal surge turned into a logistical stress test for travel agencies.
By late August, EU officials had already declared the summer one of the most disrupted in recent memory. The long-delayed “Single European Sky” reform remains incomplete, leaving air traffic control fragmented across the continent. Strikes, especially in France and Germany, triggered widespread delays. Additionally, extreme weather, from heatwaves to wildfires, forced repeated airport closures in southern Europe.
Agencies weren’t just dealing with frustrated travellers. They were also managing last-minute rebookings, refund flows, supplier coordination, and back-office admin – always under pressure, and often with outdated financial tools.
Disruption Is Now the Baseline
So, what was once considered exceptional is now routine. Airline schedules change daily. Rebookings are becoming the norm. Clients expect instant solutions, and agencies have to deliver even as conditions keep shifting.
Each change creates a ripple effect: new bookings, new payments, new approvals. A single itinerary may generate a dozen separate financial transactions — each one needing to be tracked, reconciled, and closed. Multiply that by hundreds of customers, and you can see how quickly things can spiral out of control.
Clearly, in situations like these, shared company cards and manual approval chains are definitely not speeding anything up. Refunds are hard to trace, receipts go missing, and reconciliation turns into a multi-week process — long after the actual trips have ended.
In short, operations move fast, and finance can’t follow. Field agents make decisions on the spot, and finance teams piece the data together days later — more often than not, with incomplete records.
How Wallester Business Supports Agencies
Wallester Business is built for exactly this kind of high-speed, high-stakes environment.
With Wallester, travel agencies can issue up to 300 virtual Visa cards for free. Each one can have custom spend limits, merchant restrictions, and expiration dates. That means every booking, vendor, or agent can have a dedicated card — with zero risk of overlap or overspending.
The platform updates in real time so finance teams can see every transaction as it happens, along with merchant details and categorisation. Receipts can be uploaded via the app and matched instantly. Refunds show up without delay. And because Wallester integrates with major accounting tools, reconciliation doesn’t require end-of-month cleanup.
It’s a clean and controlled system, ready for the unpredictability of modern travel.
Travel May Be Unpredictable, But Your Finances Shouldn’t Be
This summer proved that disruption is no longer the exception. But that doesn’t mean financial chaos has to come with it.
Wallester Business gives travel agencies the speed, clarity, and control they need to stay operational, no matter what happens in the skies or on the ground.
