In Tern, a package represents a set of line items that are processed as a single purchase from a single supplier. Think of a cruise that includes a shore excursion and supplier trip protection, or a resort that bundles a room, transfers, and daily excursions under one price. Everything goes on the card in a single transaction.

The traveler sees one price. You track the individual components behind it — for your own records, for refund management, and for accurate authorization. That's what packages are built for.

Some advisors try to use packages to bundle purchases across multiple different suppliers into a single price, with the goal of presenting everything as one "trip price." For example, combining a hotel booked through Supplier A, a tour booked through Supplier B, and airfare booked through Supplier C.

For most advisors, this creates a serious problem.

When a client disputes a charge with their credit card company, the burden of proof is on you. You need to show that the client specifically authorized that charge — for that supplier, for that amount.

If a client authorized a single "trip price" but you charged their card with three different suppliers, you don't have clean authorization for any one of those individual charges. The supplier can't defend the chargeback without it. And if the supplier can't defend it, you're likely on the hook for the disputed amount.

For a deeper look at how chargebacks work and why proper authorization is the most important protection you have, review the full guide on taking credit cards, fighting chargebacks, and PCI compliance.

The calculus changes significantly if you're operating as a merchant — collecting payment directly from clients yourself, then paying suppliers out of your own business account.

In this model, you're the merchant. The client pays you, not the supplier. You then handle each supplier payment on the back end. Because the client's authorization is with you for the total trip cost, you can legitimately bundle components from multiple suppliers under a single price, since there's only one payment relationship to defend.

This is essentially how tour operators work. If your business is structured and licensed this way, using a package to group cross-supplier components and present a single price is a valid approach.

Note: If you're not sure whether your business is set up this way, consult a travel attorney. The distinction matters, and the wrong assumption is expensive. Itemized package pricing is not currently optimized for this use case, though Tern plans to better support tour operator workflows in the future.

One reason advisors want to bundle across suppliers is that they don't want clients to see itemized costs. That's a reasonable instinct. Showing a client that their hotel costs $4,200 and their tour costs $1,800 can invite the kind of comparison shopping that undercuts the value of what you do.

You can reduce that risk without changing how your bookings are structured. In your trip settings, the Pricing visibility option lets you hide individual activity and package costs on the itinerary, so clients browse the trip without fixating on line items.

When they're ready to book, they'll see the breakdown on the authorization page before confirming. That's actually a good thing — it means no surprises when the charges hit their credit card statement, and you have clean, itemized authorization for every supplier.

Packages in Tern are the right choice when:

If you're using a client's credit card to pay suppliers individually, each supplier booking needs its own authorization — regardless of how you present the pricing to the client.