Card Authorizations

A card authorization is the client giving you permission to use their card to pay a supplier. The form encrypts the card details and stores them as a token, which you can reveal to run through your supplier (cruise line, hotel, tour operator, etc.) when you submit the booking. JourneyFuse does not run the actual card charge — the supplier does that on their end.

Finding Your Card Authorizations

All card authorizations across your trips live under Invoices & Cards → Card Authorizations in the sidebar. The list is grouped by status:

• Active — collected and ready to use
• Pending — sent but the traveler hasn't submitted yet
• Expired & Revoked — collapsed by default; click to expand

Use the search bar to find an authorization by client, trip, or the card's last four digits.

Creating a Card Authorization

There are three ways to start a new authorization:

• From the Card Authorizations page — click Request Card Authorization and pick the client.
• From a client — open the client, then More → Request card authorization.
• From a trip — open the trip, go to Payments, and either choose Request a card from the ⋯ menu at the top, or open the Cards view and click Request a card under Cards on file.

For an event or a room block where you do not know yet who is coming, use a shared link instead (below). If you are sending several authorizations on the same trip, set the trip up once first (below) so each one opens already filled in.

You do not need a booking, an invoice, or even a trip. A card authorization is tied to a client, so you can send one the moment a client wants to pay, before anything else is loaded into JourneyFuse. If the client already has trips, you can optionally attach one under Link to Trip so the authorization files itself alongside that trip's money.

The request window has two sides: what you are asking for on the left, and the exact email your client will get on the right, updating as you type. Less common settings sit under More options. It asks for:

• Description — what the card is for, such as "Deposit for Caribbean Cruise". Your client reads this on the page and in the email.
• Fixed amount or Per ticket / per person — a fixed amount goes in Authorize up to, the most you can charge against this card. Per ticket takes a Price each, what to call it (Calling them, such as "ticket") and an optional Max.
• Currency — USD, CAD, EUR or GBP.
• Handling fee (optional) — a Flat amount or Percentage added on top, and What the client sees it called.
• Terms for this authorization (optional) — shown above your standard authorization statement, never instead of it.
• Pay by (optional) — the date you need the card by. Your client reads it in the email.
• Note to your client (optional) — a line of your own above our wording, on a request sent right away.
• Link to Trip (optional) — shown when you start from a client who has trips.
• Link expires in (days) — used only when the request is scheduled to send later: the client then gets at least this many days from the send date. It starts at your agency's window (Settings → Payments → Card authorization link window, 14 days unless you change it, anywhere from 1 to 30). A link you send now works until 3 days after your Deadline, or for 90 days when there is no deadline, and never expires when you keep the card on file.
• Keep card on file until I remove it — see Final Payment on a Card Kept on File.
• Include Terms & Conditions — on whenever you have terms on file.

Nothing goes live until you press Send request or Copy link, so closing the window leaves nothing behind.

Sending the Invoice First

When the trip has an invoice with a payment to request, you can choose what your client sees first:

• Invoice first — the invoice email asks for one payment you pick. Your client checks the dates and room, then authorizes their card from the invoice, where they can also print it or save a PDF. Sending publishes a draft invoice, so the link always opens.
• Card form only — straight to the secure card form, as above. Use it for a card on file or a quick add-on.

Invoice first is chosen for you when the amount matches one payment on the invoice. To change the amount or date, use Change the amount or date on the invoice. An amount no single payment carries, such as four rooms' deposits together, opens on Card form only.

Asking for a Card Right After a Form

Some requests need answers and a card together, like Disney dining reservations, where Disney needs a card to hold the table. Forms save answers as plain text, so a card never goes on the form itself. Instead, the form can send your client to the secure card page the moment they press Submit.

1. Open the form in the form builder and, in Form settings, open Payments.
2. Turn on Ask for a card after Submit.
3. Fill in What the card is for (for example, "Disney dining reservation guarantee").
4. Choose Fixed amount and enter the amount to authorize, or Per person and enter a price per guest. With per person, your client picks how many guests and sees the total.

When you send that form to a client (from their trip or profile, or from an automation), they see One more step after submitting and go straight to the card page. The card request appears on the client and the trip like any other, under the advisor who sent the form, and your agency terms show as usual.

• Sending the same form again reuses the open card request instead of making a second one.
• Open website links skip the card step. A form link on your website does not know who is filling it in, so it shows the normal thank-you screen. Send the form to the client when you need a card.

Several Bookings on One Card

When the request is opened from a trip, What is this for? lists the trip's bookings with their prices. Tick the ones this card covers and JourneyFuse adds them up for you:

• Nothing ticked — the card is for the whole trip, and you type the amount.
• One booking ticked — the amount fills in with that booking's price, and the charge is recorded against that booking.
• Two or more ticked — the amount fills in with their total and the description starts as, for example, "3 excursions". Your client sees each booking listed with its price above the total on the page where they enter their card.

The total is a starting point, not a lock. Type a different amount (to leave room for a later charge, say) and ticking more bookings will not overwrite it; a Use ticked total link appears under the amount if you want the sum back. If a ticked booking's supplier has cancellation terms on file, that supplier is ticked under Supplier policies too, so your client reads them before signing.

After your client approves an add-on offer, open the trip's Proposals, and on the accepted offer click Request a card for these. The request opens with the excursions they approved already ticked and totalled. Nothing is sent until you create and send it.

When you later click Mark as Charged on a card that covers several bookings, the charge opens already split, one row per booking at its price, so each excursion shows as paid on its own line of the client's invoice. Adjust or remove rows if the supplier charged them differently.

One card for several group rooms

On a group's Payments tab, Request card on a payer's card opens this dialog with each covered room's open deposit already ticked. Each line carries the deposit for that room, not the booking's full price, and is labelled with the room ("9248 · Family Suite · deposit"). The client's page lists the rooms and the total. A line can never ask for more than its booking costs.

Splitting a Request Between Travelers

When two or more people on a trip are each paying their part — a couple going halves on a deposit, friends sharing a villa — you can send each of them their own request for their share instead of one request for the whole amount.

1. Open the trip's Payments tab and click Request a card.
2. Enter the description and the total in Authorize up to, and tick the bookings it covers as usual.
3. Tick Split between travelers. Everyone on the trip is ticked to start; untick anyone who is not paying.
4. Each person's share appears beside their name. The amount is split evenly, and if it does not divide to the cent, the first person takes the extra penny so the shares always add up to the total.
5. To split unevenly, type over any share. The line underneath tells you if the shares no longer add up to the total, and by how much. Split evenly puts them back.
6. Click Create 2 requests (the button counts the travelers you ticked).

You get one request per traveler, each with its own secure link, its own share as the ceiling, and the same description, bookings, terms, deadline and settings. On the next screen each traveler is listed with their share and link. Their own email address is filled in where we have one, and you can change it before sending. Pick Send now or Send on a date (below), then Send or Schedule each one.

Each traveler is a separate request. One person submitting their card does nothing to the other's link, and each card is charged on its own from the Cards tab. Split is available for a fixed amount. It is not offered for per-ticket pricing, where each payer already chooses their own quantity.

Example: a $1,000.01 deposit split between Michael and Sarah gives Michael a request for $500.01 and Sarah one for $500.00.

Set Up a Trip Once, Instead of Every Time

If you run hosted events or hold a room block, you are charging the same price and the same handling fee to everyone on that trip. Set it once on the trip rather than retyping it for each traveler.

Open the trip, go to Payments, and find How this trip collects cards. Click Set up and fill in your price, your handling fee and your terms. From then on:

• Every card you request on that trip opens already filled in. The dialog says Using this trip's setup so you can tell the trip's numbers from anything you typed. Change a figure for one client and it says so, with Reset to the trip to put it back.
• Publish a link turns the same setup into a sign-up link for people who are not in your client list yet.

Edit changes the setup for everything you send from then on. It never rewrites an authorization somebody has already signed, and it will not let you drop your total available below the number of seats already taken.

A trip holds one setup. If you want two different prices on one trip, they are two trips.

The trip's handling fee also reaches the cards your clients enter on their own: when they accept a proposal, pay from an invoice link, book a group seat, or answer a payment reminder. The fee is added on top of what they owe. It never reduces their deposit or their remaining balance.

Your Agency's Default Handling Fee

If you charge the same fee on every trip, owners and admins can save it once under Settings → Payments → Default handling fee. Pick a percentage or a flat amount, choose what clients see it called, and click Save.

On its own, the default fills in the fee when you set up card collection on a trip, and you confirm it there. To have it apply without setting up each trip, tick Apply to trips that have no card setup of their own. From then on:

• Cards your clients enter from an accepted proposal, an invoice link, group checkout or a payment reminder carry your default fee on any trip you have not set up.
• A trip's own setup always wins, including a trip where you chose No fee.
• Payment plans are not affected, and anything already sent keeps the amount it went out with.

Your Agency's Default Terms

If you put the same paragraph on every authorization ("deposits are non-refundable once confirmed with the supplier"), save it once as your agency default instead of typing it into each trip.

Go to Settings → Payments → Default card authorization terms, type your terms and click Save. From then on:

• Every new card request opens with your terms already filled in. You can still edit them for one client before you send.
• Authorizations a proposal or an invoice creates carry them too, so a client who books online and enters a card sees the same terms as one you emailed directly.
• A trip's own terms win. Anything you type under Terms for this trip replaces the agency default on that trip. Leave it blank to use the agency default.
• The signed record matches. The chargeback evidence captured when the client signs includes the terms that were actually on their page.

Changing the default only affects authorizations created afterwards. Anything already sent keeps the terms it went out with.

When a trip has no terms of its own, the terms box on its setup says Blank uses your agency default and shows that text, so you can see exactly what will appear.

Travel Insurance Before the Card

You can make every client accept or decline travel insurance before they can enter a card, so each trip ends up with an insurance answer on file.

Go to Settings → Agency & Branding, open the Defaults tab, find Travel protection defaults, and turn on Ask for the insurance waiver before the card. Then pick which trips it covers:

• Every trip. When the client opens the card link and has not answered the insurance question on that trip yet, they see First, travel insurance instead of the card form. Answer the insurance question opens the waiver, where they decline, ask for a quote or say they have their own policy. Back on the card page, I've answered, continue opens the card form. You don't send anything: the waiver is created for them. If you have saved agency decline wording, it appears as what I decline travel insurance signs; the other two answers keep their own short statements, so a client who has their own policy never signs a decline.
• Only when I sent a waiver. The card waits only on trips where you already sent an Insurance Acknowledgment that is still unanswered. Trips with no waiver sent go straight to the card.

A client who already answered on that trip (on a proposal, an invoice, or a waiver you sent) goes straight to the card, and so does a trip with an insurance booking on it. On a group trip, each payer answers for themselves. The answer shows in the trip's insurance section like any other waiver.

For proposals, turn on Require a signed decline under the proposal's travel protection so the client answers before paying the deposit there, and save it as your default for new proposals.

Using Your Own Authorization Wording

Default terms sit above the standard statement. If your lawyer has written wording that should replace it, go to Settings → Payments → Authorization wording. There are two boxes:

• Checkbox statement replaces the sentence next to the box your client ticks ("I authorize ... to use my card ...").
• Electronic signature note replaces the line under the name field ("By typing your name above ...").

Fill in one or both and click Save. Leave a box empty to keep the standard text, or clear both to go back to it entirely.

• Shown word for word. Your text is not reworded or translated, including for clients who view the page in Spanish.
• Your terms link stays. If your terms and conditions live at a web address, a link to them still appears after your statement.
• The signed record matches. The chargeback evidence captured at signing records your statement, since that is what the client agreed to.
• Takes effect right away on every authorization not yet signed, including ones already sent. Signed authorizations keep the wording that was on the page when the client signed.

Only owners and admins can change this.

Shared Links: One Link, Many Payers

A normal authorization is for one client you have already added. That does not fit an event or a room block, where you publish the details first and find out afterwards who is coming. A shared link is one link you post anywhere, and everyone who opens it authorizes their own card for their own seats.

Publish one from the trip (above), or for an event with no trip behind it, go to the Card Authorizations page, click New shared link and set:

• What are they authorizing — the heading on the page and on every authorization it creates
• How is it priced? — Per ticket with a Price each and your own word for it under Called a (ticket, seat, guest, room), a Price list of several items with their own prices, or a Fixed amount everyone authorizes
• Total available (optional) — your whole block. The link closes itself when the last one goes
• Most one payer can take — so one family cannot claim the whole block (on a price list, this counts every item they pick)
• Handling fee — No fee, a Flat amount or a Percentage; under How the fee is charged, a flat one can be charged per ticket or once per payer
• Terms for this trip (optional) — wording for this one event, shown above the standard authorization statement. Leave it blank to use your agency default
• Closes on (optional) — the last day it takes sign-ups

Your payer sees the event and the price, enters their name and email, then lands on the normal card page to choose how many and enter their card. Each one becomes an ordinary card authorization in the list below, so you charge, reveal and receipt them exactly as you always have. Anyone who is not already a client is added as one, assigned to you.

Price lists: several items on one link

Some extras come in more than one kind at more than one price, such as checked bags and seat assignments on a group flight. Choose Price list and add one row per item:

• Item — what the traveler is choosing, such as "Checked bag (roundtrip)" or "Aisle seat"
• Price each — what one of that item costs
• Most each — optional, for items that are limited, such as exit row seats

Your traveler sees every item with a plus and minus button, starting at zero. The total adds up as they choose, and they must pick at least one item before they can authorize. The total is recalculated when they submit, so what they approve is always exactly what they chose.

When you open the authorization, What they chose lists each item, how many, and the approved total, so you can enter it with the supplier in one go.

A shared link always asks for a card. For a client who already has a card on file with you, open the trip's Payments tab, switch to Cards, and choose Request more on this card from that card's ⋯ menu instead, so they approve the new amount without typing their card again. If the card's security code has already been deleted (see How long the CVC is kept), the approval page also asks them for the code, so the card is ready to charge as soon as they approve.

The approval page works like the original authorization. Your own authorization wording (or ours, if you have not set any) sits next to a checkbox they must tick, any terms you added to that card show above it, and they type their name to sign. The wording they agreed to is saved with the approval, alongside their name, the time and their IP address.

Every approval gets its own receipt. If your client signed for $250 and later approved $50 more, you have two receipts: the original showing the $250 they signed for (with today's total underneath), and a separate one for the $50 with that approval's wording, name, time and IP. Find them under Authorization Receipts on the card's page, under the card in the trip's and client's Authorization receipts lists, or from the Receipt for this approval link on each approval in the audit trail.

Keeping track of the block

The link shows how much of your block is gone. A payer who starts but does not finish still holds their seats, which is what stops the block being oversold while several people are checking out at once. Revoking their authorization gives those seats straight back.

Close stops the link taking anything new without touching what it has already collected. Reopen it any time.

Previewing the Email Before You Send

The amount you enter is not just for your own records. Your client sees it in the request email and again on the authorization page, so it is worth a second look before it goes out.

The right side of the request window shows the exact subject line, greeting, description and amount your client will read, updating as you type. If the amount looks wrong (for example a booking total that did not import cleanly), fix it on the left before you send.

Sending the Request in Your Own Wording

The Email wording dropdown above the preview lists your saved emails. To add one, go to Automations, open the Emails tab, click New email, then Write a new email, and choose Automation Template. You do not need to put it in an automation.

Decide where the secure link goes with {{card_auth_link}}:

• On its own line, it becomes the Authorize your card button.
• Inside a sentence or a link you made, it becomes the plain web address.
• Left out, the button is added at the end for you.

The preview shows exactly what your client will receive. A note is sent only with our default wording. Resending a pending link from the list still uses our default wording.

Sending the Link to Your Client

Share the card authorization link with your traveler. They'll see a secure form asking for:

• Cardholder name
• Billing address
• Card details (number, expiration, CVC)
• An authorization agreement checkbox

All card data is encrypted by Evervault before it leaves the browser — your agency never sees or stores raw card numbers.

Once the traveler submits:

1. The card details are encrypted and stored as a token tied to the authorization
2. The authorization is linked to a pending payment record where the flow includes an invoice or trip payment
3. The authorization alone does not count as collected money or mark the invoice paid
4. You receive an email confirming the authorization with the amount, cardholder name, and last 4 digits

At this point the card is ready to use. To actually run the card, open the authorization and click Reveal Card to see the full number, expiry, and CVV — then enter those into your supplier's booking system. A gift card shows its PIN there too, or No PIN given when the client didn't enter one, since a PIN is optional. The client's card will only be charged when the supplier processes it.

Check the expiry shown on the authorization before using it. After the supplier processes the charge, record that result in JourneyFuse.

Sending a Request on a Date

You do not have to send a card request the moment you create it. Set it up now and have it go out on the day the money is due.

1. After creating the request, choose Send on a date above the email address.
2. Pick the day. If the bookings you ticked have a deposit due or final payment date, those appear as one-click choices under the date box.
3. Click Schedule.

The email goes out around 9am on that day, on your agency's time zone (set in Settings → Agency Info). It is the same email Send would have sent, in the wording you chose, to the address you entered. If your agency holds client emails for review, it lands in your Outbox that morning for you to approve, just like any other send.

A scheduled request shows a Sends [date] tag in the Cards tab. Click the × on the tag to cancel the scheduled email; the link itself keeps working and you can still copy it or send it by hand. You can also send it right away with Email Link at any time.

Nothing goes out for a request that is already settled. If your client submits their card early, or you revoke the request, the scheduled email is skipped. If an email could not be sent on the day (for example, there is no address on file), the request says so under its title so you can send it again yourself.

Typical setup for a split deposit and final payment: create the deposit request split between both travelers and schedule it for the deposit due date, then create the final payment request the same way and schedule it for the final payment date. Each traveler receives two emails, each on the right day, for their own share.

One Card for a Whole Payment Plan

When an invoice already has its installments scheduled, click One card for every date under the payment schedule. It links every scheduled installment to one card request, so your client authorizes their card once and you are prompted to run each installment on its due date.

Nothing is emailed unless you tick Email the client the authorization link now in that window. Leave it unticked to set the plan up quietly, then open the trip's Payments tab when you are ready and, use Email Link or Copy Link on the pending request.

Card Authorization Statuses

Processing the Card

When the client submits the form, the authorization moves to Authorized. A linked payment remains pending until the supplier charge is confirmed; authorization is not a collected payment. The card itself has not been charged at this point.

To make that hard to miss, the same reminder appears in three places: above the button when you request a card, on the card's page until you mark it charged or declined, and at the top of the email you get when a card comes in:

Card information entered on the authorization form does not process the charge. You still need to run the payment directly with the supplier.

The status changes to Charged only when you click Mark as Charged.

When you run the card through your supplier's booking system and the charge goes through, click Mark as Charged to update the status. If the supplier declines the card, click Mark as declined (or Ask for a different card on the trip's card), add a Reason your client will read ("The resort does not accept Discover for this booking"), and send them a request for a new card. Undo decline puts it back.

Mark as Charged opens the Record Payment window with that card already chosen and the amount filled in. Check the amount matches what the supplier charged, then press Record Payment. The amount stays blank when you are recording another charge on the same card, or when several payments are still scheduled on the trip, because the right figure is yours to say. If the money is already on the invoice, tick it under Already recorded this on the invoice? instead, which links the payment without adding it again.

The system will not double-create payment records on the invoice when you mark as charged, so it's safe to click after the supplier has processed the card.

Sending the Supplier's Receipt With the Charge

When the supplier gives you a receipt for the charge (a PDF from the cruise line, the airline confirmation with the amount paid), you can send it to your client in the same step.

1. In the Record Payment window, click Attach supplier receipt and pick the file. Add more than one if the charge has several receipts.
2. Leave Email a receipt to the client ticked and click Record Payment.

Adding a message to the receipt

With Email a receipt to the client ticked, a Message in the email box appears, so the receipt can carry a line of your own, such as "Your flight is booked! Your confirmation number is …". It takes Bold and Highlight.

Sending the same kind of note often? Write it once, click Save this message, and give it a name like "Flight booked". Next time, open Saved messages and pick it. Saved messages are yours to reuse on any charge.

Your client gets one email: the payment receipt, with the supplier's receipt attached. The file is also saved to the trip's Documents as Client can see, so it stays in their portal and in your records.

A few things worth knowing:

• The file goes on this trip only. On a group, each family's charge sits on their own trip, so their supplier receipt is never sent to another family.
• No second "New Document" email. A file added here does not also send the usual new-document notice, because the receipt already carries it.
• When no payment receipt goes out, for example the charge is not on an invoice, the client gets the usual "New Document" email instead, so they still hear about the file once. The message after you confirm tells you which happened.
• Unticking "Email a receipt to the client" saves the file to Documents without emailing anyone.
• Several charges at once: the files go with the first charge's receipt, so your client receives them once rather than once per charge.
• Files up to 10MB each.

Final Payment on a Card Kept on File

Ticking Keep card on file until I remove it on a request keeps the encrypted card available for the whole trip instead of destroying it a week after the trip ends. It does not authorize any future charge on its own: every payment you plan to run still gets its own signed authorization, so each one carries its own receipt, timestamp and IP address for chargeback defense.

You do not have to chase the client for that second authorization yourself. Set the trip's invoice up with a payment schedule (a deposit row and a final payment row), open the schedule and turn on Auto-send card authorization requests, choosing how many days before the due date the request should go out (3 to 14). JourneyFuse creates the final payment authorization for you, emails the client a link on that day, and the client signs from the email or from the pending authorization card in their portal.

The request always states what is owed on the day it is sent. Deposits and installments you record before then shrink the final payment row, and the emailed amount and the authorization form follow it.

Clients cannot start a new authorization from the portal on their own. If a link has expired they can ask for a fresh one from the expired page, which notifies you rather than minting a link.

Pair this with automated payment reminders at, say, 10 and 3 days for a final payment flow that runs itself: reminder, authorization request, client signs, you run the card at the supplier and click Mark as Charged.

The setting sends one authorization per payment, that many days before that payment's own due date, so pick a single number here and let your reminder emails cover the other dates. Final Payment Workflow walks the whole deposit-to-balance setup in order, including the automation step that looks like it does this and does not.

Partial payments rarely need a second authorization. The amount a client signs is a ceiling rather than a single charge, so you can charge against it more than once until it is used up. Send a new request only when the total would go above what they already authorized.

Revoking an Authorization

You can revoke any pending or authorized card auth at any time. This immediately destroys the encrypted card data and prevents future charges.

If your client authorized the card themselves from an invoice, for an amount they typed in, revoking before you charge it also removes the pending payment that authorization created, so the client stops seeing it as something to pay. A payment you scheduled yourself stays on the trip, because that money is still owed. Money already recorded as paid is never touched by a revoke.

Security & Compliance

• The card number, expiry and CVC are encrypted in the client's browser by Evervault (PCI DSS Level 1) before they are sent. JourneyFuse stores only that encrypted form and cannot decrypt it.
• When you view a card, Evervault decrypts it inside a secure frame on your screen. Each view is logged.
• The encrypted card is deleted automatically 7 days after the trip ends, or 90 days after the client submitted it when there is no trip. A card kept on file stays until you revoke it.
• After the card is deleted, the authorization record stays in your account: the card brand and last four digits, the cardholder's name, the amount, the signed agreement with its name, time and IP address, and the audit trail. Download Authorization Receipt on the authorization still gives you the signed PDF for your records or a chargeback.
• The security code (CVC) stays on file until the amount your client authorized has been fully charged, or 60 days after it was submitted, whichever comes first. See How long the CVC is kept.
• All actions (authorization, viewing, charging, deletion) are logged for audit

How long the CVC is kept

Card security rules (PCI DSS) allow a card's security code to be kept only for the charges it was given for. When your client authorizes an amount, the code covers every charge that makes up that amount. So you can split it across suppliers and days (two room reservations, a transfer, insurance, excursions, or a client's daily card limit), and the client enters the code only once.

JourneyFuse deletes the encrypted CVC at whichever of these comes first:

• The authorized amount is fully charged. When you record the charge that uses up the amount, the code is removed. The charge window tells you when that will happen.
• 60 days after the client submitted the card.
• You click Remove code under the CVV when you open the card. Use it when you are done charging early, for example when the final bill came in under the authorized amount.

A card kept on file for future trips loses its code at the first charge, because nothing beyond that charge was authorized. The card number, expiry, name and billing address stay on file in every case.

When you open the card, the line under the CVV shows how long the code stays, for example Kept until $20,168.14 is charged ($19,468.14 left), or 60 days.

When the CVC is gone

If you open the card after the code was removed, the CVV box says so. When a supplier needs it for another charge:

1. Open the card and click Ask client for CVC.
2. Your client gets an email with a link that asks only for the security code. It is encrypted in their browser the same way as the original card.
3. Open the card again once they have entered it. The code stays for up to 60 days, or until the authorized amount is fully charged.

If you are also asking for more on the card, you do not need this: Request more on this card asks for the code in the same step whenever it is gone, and the code then stays for up to 60 days, or until the new total is charged.

The link works for 7 days and only once. Gift card PINs are not deleted, because a gift card is often used over several charges.

---

The Client's Authorization Experience

When a client opens their authorization link, here is the exact flow they go through:

1. They land on a secure authorization page hosted by JourneyFuse
2. They enter their card details (cardholder name, email address, billing address, card number, expiration, CVC) — all data is encrypted in the browser by Evervault before it ever leaves their device
3. They read the authorization agreement (displayed just above the submit button) and check the agreement checkbox
4. They type their full name as an electronic signature
5. They click Authorize to submit

The card is never transmitted in plaintext, and JourneyFuse never stores a readable card number. Your agency sees the card only when someone with permission opens it to charge it at the supplier.

Who Gets the Receipt

The authorization receipt goes to the person who typed the card, at the email address they enter on that page. It does not go to the client on the trip record unless they are the same person.

This matters on any trip where more than one person pays. If Tonya pays her own share of a trip booked under Lateisha's name, Tonya gets her receipt and Lateisha does not get one for a card she did not use.

The email field is required for that reason. It is the payer's only proof that they authorized a charge, so there is nowhere else for it to go.

Two cases still fall back to the client on the record:

• Cards authorized before this change, which carry no payer email
• Cards you key in yourself, over the phone or in person

Traveler share links need no email field at all. A share link is issued to one named traveler, so their receipt goes to the address already on their record.

You still get your own notification for every authorization, whoever the receipt went to.

When a Client Says They Cannot Pay

Sometimes a client tells you the payment page is not working and you cannot reproduce it on your own screen. JourneyFuse now tells you what happened rather than leaving you to take their word for it.

Two different things can go wrong, and they need different responses.

Their card was refused. They filled the form in, pressed Authorize, and were turned away. You get a red "A card payment did not go through" strip at the top of the trip's Payments tab, quoting the exact sentence your client was shown, plus a notification. Nothing was charged and nothing is owed differently. The quoted sentence is usually enough to fix it in one message, for example an amount below the minimum you set.

They could not get a card in at all. They opened the page and never reached the point of submitting. You get an amber "A client could not finish paying by card" strip and notification saying why:

Both strips are advisory. They move no money, change no total, and count toward nothing. Dismiss one with the × once you have dealt with it; the record is kept, not deleted.

If a client pays after you were told they were stuck, the amber strip clears itself. You will not be left chasing a payment that has already landed.

A note on repeat reports: one client wrestling with one dead form is one strip per day, not one per reload.

Authorization Language and What Clients Agree To

The authorization agreement your client signs covers two things:

1. Payment authority — the client authorizes your agency to use their card to make payments with travel suppliers on their behalf
2. Terms and conditions — the client acknowledges they have read and agree to your agency's terms and conditions of booking, as well as the principal suppliers' terms, cancellation policies, and refund policies

When you have a Terms & Conditions URL configured (see below), a direct link to your agency's terms appears inside the agreement text, right where the client reads it before signing. This is critical for chargeback defense: card networks specifically look for evidence that the cardholder agreed to the cancellation and refund policy at the time of booking.

Setting Your Terms & Conditions URL

Go to Settings → Agency & Branding → Defaults → Terms & Conditions (Settings → My Business → Terms & Conditions if you are a solo advisor) and paste the URL to your agency's terms and conditions page.

Once set, your T&C link appears directly in the authorization agreement text. Clients see it, click through to read it, and agree to it as part of authorizing their card. This single step materially strengthens your position if a chargeback is ever filed — the signed authorization becomes evidence that the cardholder agreed to your cancellation and refund policy before any payment was processed.

If you don't have a Terms & Conditions page yet, consider creating a simple one on your agency website covering your booking terms, deposit conditions, and cancellation/refund policy. Even a one-page PDF hosted publicly works.

Attaching Your Terms to an Individual Request

Your terms appear on the authorization page as an expandable Terms & Conditions section, directly above the agreement checkbox, so the client reads and accepts them on the same page where they enter the card. The acceptance is timestamped and stored with the authorization.

When you create a request, Include Terms & Conditions is checked by default whenever you have terms on file. Uncheck it for a one-off request that shouldn't carry them. If you don't have any terms set, the checkbox doesn't appear and the request goes out without a terms section.

Which terms get attached follows the same rule as your proposals and invoices: your personal advisor terms if you've set any, otherwise your agency's default. See Advisor & Agency Terms & Conditions for how to set either one.

Lite advisors: set your terms under My Profile → My Terms & Conditions in the advisor portal. They apply to the card authorizations you send, whether or not the request is attached to a trip.

Chargeback Evidence: What Is Captured and Where to Find It

Every card authorization captures a permanent audit trail at the moment the client submits:

This audit trail is immutable — it cannot be altered after the fact.

To access the evidence for a specific authorization:

1. Go to Invoices & Cards → Card Authorizations
2. Find the authorization and open it
3. The authorization detail shows the signer name, date/time, IP, and the agreed statement
4. You can download or print a receipt showing the full audit trail — this is what you submit to your card processor when responding to a chargeback
5. If the client approved more on the card later, each approval has its own receipt. Send the original receipt and the receipt for each approval that covers the charge

When a chargeback is filed, you present this receipt as evidence that the cardholder explicitly authorized the charge, agreed to your cancellation and refund policy, and signed electronically with their name, date, and IP address recorded.