Slowly but surely, cryptocurrency is creeping into our daily lives, gaining a firm foothold in daily activities and corporate business.
Its popularity is driven by its undoubted, revolutionary functionality and the willingness of enterprises to adopt its technologies to boost growth and productivity. Thus, it is common for folk to buy BNB, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other altcoins.
Crypto isn’t just a means to store value. The diversification of blockchain technologies into decentralized finance, NFTs, and other related innovations boosts the general public’s trust in cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency is a feature of the blockchain, which is basically a distributed ledger of immutable transactions. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, yet it has not deterred investors from flocking.
Today, many businesses and enterprises have adopted cryptocurrency payments as the standard. Compared to the traditional payment platforms, cryptocurrency payments are faster, cheaper, and much more efficient.
In this piece, you will learn about the airlines that accept crypto payments and how you can go about it.
History of crypto as adopted by airlines
Bitcoin has been a form of payment for air travel since 2013. Back then, the valuation was about $900 to one BTC.
As the value of Bitcoin has risen considerably since more travel agencies and airlines are accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. Here are some of the most prominent ones:
Surf Air
Surf Air is a California-based airline that provides chartered flight services within the state. They do not own any planes, but act as agents, providing flights in five airports in California: Hawthorne, Oakland, Truckee, Santa Barbara, and San Carlos.
In December 2017, Surf Air announced its adoption of Ethereum and Bitcoin as a form of payment.
CheapAir.com
CheapAir is another California-based travel agency that allows you to make payments using cryptocurrency. In fact, it was one of the first travel agencies to allow Bitcoin payments (in 2013).
Today, CheapAir allows you to pay for flights with altcoins like BCH, Litecoin, and Dash. In addition, the payment option extends to hotel bookings and paying for flights.
Destinia.com
Destinia is a Spanish agency specializing in travel and hospitality. Recently, it began to accept Bitcoin for reimbursement.
On Destinia, payments in Bitcoin are facilitated through BitPay, one of the most popular crypto-transaction facilitators.
With a wide-ranging catalog of nearly 200,000 hotels for clients to choose from, Destinia remains one of the best airline options that allow crypto payments.
Virgin Galactic
As far as airlines go, Virgin Galactic and its British founder Richard Branson are breaking ground with planned suborbital exploits.
Virgin Galactic differs from regular airlines that provide commercial flight services between cities and continents. Instead, they provide passenger flights into sub-orbit, i.e., anywhere at least 50 miles above the earth.
Although not fully commercially operational, the founder of the airline, Richard Branson, has declared that his enterprise will accept crypto as a form of payment.
Operations are expected to commence sometime in 2022.
XcelTrip
XcelTrip is a US-based travel agency. It is an online-based airline and hotel booking company that allows users and customers to make payments in crypto.
XcelTrip is unique in that its objectives are geared towards boosting consumer options and power.
To this effect, it has a mobile app and seamless transaction e-systems. It has recently expanded into Nepal, citing its ambitious motive as the desire to make Nepal a top-10 global destination.
XcelTrip touts itself as a ‘decentralized travel ecosystem.’
LOT Polish Airlines
Founded in 1928, LOT Polish Airlines is one of the oldest airlines in the world. It is owned by the Polish Aviation Group, a state-owned organization.
LOT Polish Airlines runs a fleet of top-class aircraft, providing flight services to much of Central, Eastern, and Baltic Europe. In addition, regularly scheduled flights fly more popular routes to the USA, Western Europe, and South-East Asia.
As a popular travel airline, LOT allows payments with various cryptocurrencies.
Expedia
Expedia is a conglomerate that administers a number of online consumer services. Among its subsidiaries are Hotels.com, CarRentals.com, Travelocity, and Orbitz.
Listed among its assets is the travel agency Expedia Inc. Based in Seattle, Washington. Customers can easily book flights, vacation packages, and car rentals with its easy-to-use web and mobile app.
On Expedia, hotel bookings are exclusively made in Bitcoin. You can also make crypto payments alternatively for flight bookings. Coinbase is the crypto exchange facilitator.
Conclusion
Some airlines that formerly offered Bitcoin as a form of payment recently removed crypto from the options list.
With a tech giant like Microsoft stopping Bitcoin payments on issues of risk and economic dynamics, it is evident that the entry of crypto into the aviation industry is slower than anticipated.
Nevertheless, as more companies buy into the idea over time, general adoption may not be too far from reality.
