The online flight search platform Alternative Airlines has decided to offer customers the opportunity to book flights using cryptocurrencies.
The company, included by the Sunday Times among the 100 Fast Airlines Tech in 2019, has in fact entered into a partnership with Utrust. Thanks to this, it will be possible to pay for flights of over 600 airlines to destinations around the world using Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), DASH, DigiByte (DGB) and UTK of Utrust.
Alternative Airlines specialises in unconventional destinations. Some of the airlines for which flights can be paid for in cryptocurrencies are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Ryanair and China Southern Airlines.
However, the platform also works with national and regional carriers, such as Emetebe Airlines of the Galapagos Islands.
In the market for low priced online travel agencies (OTAs), payment fees must be low, and traditional card payment methods involve significant fees, which can range from 3% to 7%.
In addition, the use of multiple currencies can often result in a loss of margin for OTAs due to forex costs.
Utrust is attempting to revolutionise the OTA market by introducing instant cross-border cryptocurrency transactions, with buyer protection, at a commission of 1%.
With the new partnership Alternative Airlines is able to receive money on the same day as it is made by customers, directly in fiat currency in its bank account, so as to also protect itself from potential market volatility.
Alternative Airlines CEO Sam Argyle said:
“At Alternative Airlines, we are dedicated to providing a seamless transaction process, while empowering our customers to choose how they want to pay. Alternativeairlines.com is a single platform for travellers to easily search and book flights on over 600 airlines. Our customers can currently choose from over 25 payment methods—including all major debit cards and payment plans from all the best-known global providers—as well as over 160 localised currencies. We are incredibly excited, as our partnership with Utrust is the next major step in continuing to tailor the online booking experience to the customer, who will now have the opportunity to pay with cryptocurrency on all of the airlines that we ticket”.
Utrust CEO, Nuno Correia, commented:
“For business or leisure, flight travel can be expensive with consumers saving for months to afford a trip. Considered a high ticket item, it is imperative that consumers are protected when booking flights. Utrust is providing Alternative Airlines’ customers with the increased security and convenience of cryptocurrency payments, and reducing processing fees, to bring greater transparency and trust to the world of online payments”.
