Clients change dates, add a traveller, or ask for a better hotel after you have sent the proposal. Here is how to keep a clean record of exactly what they agreed to.
Short answer: Treat every proposal you send as a numbered version. When something changes, create a new version rather than editing the old one. If the change affects price, dates, travellers, payment schedule or terms, ask the client to accept the new version. Keep a record of which version, which terms and which time they accepted.
Updated October 2026.
A client says yes to a trip. Two days later, they ask to add a third traveller and move the dates by a week. You change the document and resend it. A month later there is a dispute about the price, and neither of you can say with confidence which version was agreed to. Was it the PDF in the first email, the revised one, or the number you quoted on the phone?
Without version discipline, three things go wrong: you lose track of what is current, the client may act on an old version, and you cannot show what they accepted. All three are avoidable with a few habits.
The key distinction is whether the change alters the deal.
| Change | Type | Ask for new acceptance? |
|---|---|---|
| Total price or a line item changes | Material | Yes |
| Travel dates change | Material | Yes |
| Number of travellers changes | Material | Yes |
| Deposit or payment schedule changes | Material | Yes |
| Cancellation or other terms change | Material | Yes |
| Different hotel at a different price | Material | Yes |
| Corrected typo or spelling | Minor | No |
| Better photo or rewritten description | Minor | No, but tell the client |
| Reordered sections | Minor | No |
If you are unsure, treat it as material. Asking for one more click of acceptance is cheap. A disagreement about the price is not.
An acceptance is worth keeping only if you can later show what it was. Record:
The terms text is the one most agents forget. If your cancellation wording changes next year, you need to know what this client saw when they said yes.
"Thanks for the update. I have added your third traveller and moved the dates, so the total has changed from X to Y and your deposit is now Z. I have sent a new version of your proposal. Please review the changes at the top and accept the updated version so I can hold everything for you."
"I have made a few small updates: better photos and a clearer description of day four. Nothing affects your price, dates or terms, so there is nothing you need to do."
Discipline is easier when your software enforces it. In Story of a Trip, the client always sees the version you last sent, not your draft. If you change a price, date, traveller count, payment schedule or the terms, the client is asked to accept again, and small edits are your call. Every acceptance stores the version and the exact terms text, and you can open any earlier version to see what the client saw. There is more on the sales side in how to follow up on travel proposals.
This is material. Check availability and prices for the new dates first. Then send a new version showing the new dates and any change in price, and ask for acceptance of that version. Do not confirm by chat alone.
Material. The traveller count and probably the price change. Collect the new traveller's details only after acceptance, update the proposal, and send it as a new version.
Material if the price changes, which it usually will. Offer two options with prices, update the proposal with the one chosen, and have the client accept the new version.
Minor. Edit it, and tell the client it has been updated. There is no need to ask for acceptance because nothing that affects the deal has changed.
Refer to the terms the client accepted, because that is the document that decides what happens next. Having the exact terms stored with the acceptance makes this conversation factual rather than emotional.
| Version | Date | Change | Type | Accepted? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 May | First proposal sent | Initial | No |
| 2 | 6 May | Dates moved by a week; price updated | Material | Yes, 7 May |
| 3 | 9 May | Better photos on day four | Minor | Not required |
| 4 | 12 May | Third traveller added; price updated | Material | Yes, 13 May |
The log is for you and, if there is ever a dispute, for showing a clear sequence of what was offered and what was accepted.
Clients often ask for changes in a message or a call. The habit that protects you: never treat a chat message as a confirmed change. Reply with "Thank you, I will update your proposal with that and send the new version for your approval," then do exactly that. This keeps the proposal as the single source of truth, and the proposal is where the acceptance lives.
Sometimes changes come from the other side: a hotel changes its rates, a flight schedule moves, a tour is cancelled. The same logic applies. Decide whether the change affects price, dates or terms. If it does, send a new version that explains what happened and why, and ask for acceptance. Be upfront about whether any supplier change fees are passed on, and state that policy in your terms before the booking.
Treat the changed offer as a new numbered version, not an edit to the old one. Update the proposal, record what changed, and send it again. If the change affects price, dates, number of travellers, payment schedule or terms, ask the client to accept the new version. For small wording or photo changes, tell them and carry on.
If the change alters what they would pay, when they travel, who travels, how they pay or the terms they agreed to, yes. Those are the points of a contract. Minor edits such as a corrected typo or a better photo do not usually need a fresh acceptance, but keep a note of them.
Record, at the moment of acceptance, who accepted, when, from which version of the proposal, and the exact terms they were shown. A stored copy of the terms text matters more than a version number, because terms change over time.
No. Clients should see only the version you chose to send. If your edits appear live while the client is reading, they may react to half-finished changes or prices you have not confirmed.
Set a limit in your planning terms, such as two rounds of revisions included, with additional rounds at an hourly fee. A limit protects your time and signals that each revision costs effort.
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