A lot has changed in the crypto world in recent years, especially when we consider all of the options we have for spending digital money. Many businesses are apprehensive about adopting cryptocurrencies fully, but the travel industry has already shown a major acceptance with several sites allowing crypto payments for booking hotels, flights and car rentals. Cryptocurrency is becoming a safe and reliable payment option for travellers everywhere.
Where Can I Organize my Travel with Crypto?
The first major travel agency to accept crypto payments was CheapAir in 2013 who gave users the option to pay for flights in bitcoin. Clients can now pay for hotels and travel using DASH, BTC, ETH, LTC and BCH.
Since then, there have been many other booking companies and travel agencies coming on board with the idea, let’s look at some of the most popular ones.
Bitcoin.Travel
- Allows you to search for flights, hotels, tours and car rentals offered by their partners.
- Accepts payment in seven cryptocurrencies including DOGE, BCH, DASH, BTC, LTC, ETC and ETH.
- Established platform which offers reviews and advice on your booking options.
Destinia
- Available in over 30 languages.
- Allows you to pay for flights, hotels, cars and train tickets through crypto payment processor: BitPay. Railway companies are yet to integrate the option for crypto payments.
- Destinia has made it possible for crypto railway travel in many major tourist destinations such as the U.K., America, Spain, Italy and France.
- App available to download on apple and android devices.
AirTreks
- Allows you to find multi-stop, affordable flights.
- Added bonus of a personal travel planner.
- Clients are required to have a crypto-wallet with either Edge, BitPay, Bitcoin.com, Copay or Mycelium.
Travala
- From a small start-up in 2017, Travala has grown to be a leading blockchain-based booking platform and currently offers over 2 million properties in 90,124 destinations in 230 countries.
- Travala accepts a range of crypto payments including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Tether, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, and Cardano, as well as its own coin, AVA.
- In November 2019, Travala partnered with the well-known travel giant – Booking.com. Customers are now able to reserve and pay for any hotel that is bookable through Booking.com using cryptocurrencies.
In December, Travala saw a 33% increase in revenue, with more than 60% of all bookings made using cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin was the most popular crypto payment, being used for 28% of bookings, followed by AVA – Travalas native token. AVA offers users discounts and a loyalty programme that gives you 10% savings on your bookings, all facilitated with Travala.coms wallet. Travalas plans for 2020 are to expand their partner network, adding more travel businesses to their platform.
Virgin Galactic
- Or if you feel like going further afield, the space travel company owned by Virgin accepts bitcoin payments to reserve your seat on future space missions!
This list mentions just a few of the travel companies that have adopted crypto as a payment method. As the number of agencies accepting digital payments rises, it’s increasingly more important for travellers to exercise caution when dealing with these sites. Be sure to check reviews and confirm legitimacy before confirming any payments.
