If my customer needs to change the date of their flight after they have already paid, can I do that on the portal myself?

Yes, in many cases you can make a date change directly from the booking screen on your portal, but how far you get depends on the airline and the supplier that fare came from, so some changes will still have to be raised as a request rather than done by your staff in a few clicks.

When it works the normal way, your agent opens the existing booking, asks for a change, and the portal goes back to the airline or supplier to see what alternative dates are offered and what extra money is payable. That extra is usually the difference in fare plus whatever change fee the airline applies. Your agent collects it from the customer, confirms the change, and a new ticket is issued with an updated confirmation going out to the traveller. Where an airline does not allow changes to be made through the connection, the request is passed to the support team to handle with the airline, which means it is not instant and you should tell your customer to expect a wait.

There are real limits worth knowing. The cheapest fares are often not changeable at all, and the only option is cancellation on whatever terms that fare carries. Tickets where part of the journey has already been flown, bookings that combine more than one airline, and group bookings are usually dealt with manually rather than on screen. Name changes are almost never permitted on an air ticket. Very close to departure the airline may close changes entirely, and at that point only the airline itself can help.

Before you promise anything to a customer, check the change and cancellation rules shown at the time of booking, and ask us which of the airlines you are connected to support changes through your portal so your staff know which cases they can finish themselves.