Traveling is on everyone’s minds as summer approaches and crypto enthusiasts are no exception. But for anyone thinking of a holiday trip, travel arrangements can be arduous. Crypto payments can make your life easier in that regard, particularly with bitcoin cash, which is a fast and cheap way to pay for anything. The following guide shows you how to travel the world on BCH.
Also read: Renewed Market Growth Has Sparked Demand for Crypto-Backed Loans
Book Flights, Hotels, Cars and Train Tickets With BCH
A lot of things have changed since the early days of Bitcoin and there are now much more places and ways to spend your electronic cash. Cryptocurrencies are yet to gain mainstream adoption in many sectors, but the travel industry has already proven to be quite hospitable towards crypto holders.
A number of travel sites now take major coins including BCH for booking flights, hotels and car rentals. Cheapair is the first major online travel agency to process crypto payments after it started accepting bitcoin back in 2013, initially for flights and soon after that for accommodation as well.
The U.S.-based platform acts as an intermediary between the providers of these services which are paid in fiat and clients who would like to pay with cryptocurrency. In response to customer demand, Cheapair.com added bitcoin cash (BCH) to its payment options about a year ago, noting its improved transaction potential in comparison with bitcoin core (BTC).
Bitcoin.Travel is another well-known platform which accepts payments in seven cryptocurrencies, including BCH. On its website, you can search for flights, hotels and car rentals offered by its partners. Crypto payments are made on confirmation but the funds are transferred to the service provider at least a day after you check in.
Payouts are made in cryptocurrency which means the participating businesses accept coins. According to the Polish agency, you can currently book rentals, tours or other activities using your favorite cryptocurrency. Note, however, that trying to book a flight usually redirects you to a partner that may not support crypto payments.
600,000 Property Listings Available to BCH Holders
To make sure that bitcoin cash supporters will have the opportunity to arrange their trip using BCH, Bitcoin.com recently teamed up with Travala, a leading blockchain booking platform. Travala.com will be integrated into the Bitcoin.com Wallet whose 4 million users will be able to take advantage of its services thanks to the partnership agreement.
The agency offers savings up to 40% on hotel bookings and accepts cryptocurrencies including bitcoin cash. With over 82,000 destinations in 210 countries, Travala is a global platform and bitcoin cash holders will now be able to choose from almost 600,000 property listings for their next holiday, directly from their Bitcoin.com Wallet.
Destinia is another option if you are looking to spend your bitcoin cash on traveling. The platform is available in over 30 languages and maintains a search engine similar to any other travel agency, only the services it facilitates can be paid with cryptocurrency. Note, however, that prices are displayed in mBCH.
Beside hotels, flights and cars, you can also pay for train tickets, which is a welcome addition. Railway companies in most countries are yet to integrate crypto payments but Destinia has already made this transport option available to cryptocurrency users. It currently sells tickets for the railway systems of a dozen nations including major tourist destinations such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S.
Business Travelers Are Covered as Well
Startups, professionals and entrepreneurs in the crypto space can also check out Corporate Traveller, a U.K.-based business travel management platform. Like Destinia, this agency provides rail transportation options along with flights, car hire and accommodation. Not long ago, Corporate Traveller began accepting bitcoin cash payments from companies making travel arrangements for their employees. If you contact them, their consultants will be able to offer you help and fares you can pay with BCH thanks to a partnership with Bitpay.
Airtreks is another booking platform that works with the same crypto payments provider. It lets you explore global routes with multi-stop international flights and helps you prepare your long itinerary with its Tripplanner feature. Its website currently advertises around the world specials such as “The Grand Escape,” “Circle the Globe,” and “Beach Hopping.” And if you like visiting exotic places, Bookmauritiushotels.com is a website that offers “the best prices you can ever find” for hotels in the island nation which you can pay for with BCH.
Other companies in the industry accepting cryptocurrency payments through Bitpay include the Latvian national carrier Airbaltic and the German travel sites Fluege and Nurflug. According to a thread on the Bitcointalk forum, there’s also a bunch of gift card platforms, such as Gyft, Egifter and Giftoffs, which work with the popular payment processor. The integration allows you to purchase gift cards for products and services offered by airline companies like American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, and Virgin. You can also pay for flights, hotels or travel packages using the gift cards of Lastminute, Jet2Holidays and Flightgiftcard which can be purchased with BCH.
The Bitcoin Cash Map is Expanding
Once you reach your destination, you may want to find places where you can easily spend more of your bitcoin cash. One useful application that will help you to locate brick and mortar stores which allow you to pay with BCH is Marco Coino. It’s been developed by Bitcoin.com for both iOS and Android devices and it has an online version as well.
The merchant directory now lists over 1,000 physical locations accepting bitcoin cash. The stores are spread all over the world with the interactive map showing the highest concentration in Europe. If you run a business taking BCH or you happen to find one that’s not listed yet, you can easily add a new store to the Marco Coino map.
An alternative platform showing locations where you can pay directly with BCH is Bitcoinmap.cash. It has both a web-based version and a mobile app available in the Google Play store. All the venues displayed on its map accept either bitcoin cash or dash, while some of the shops also take bitcoin core. You’ll enjoy discounts of up to 20% on your first BCH payment in many of the participating stores.
But even if you are in a place where only fiat currency is accepted, there are still ways to spend your bitcoin cash. Here are two debit card issuers that support it: Bitpay’s Visa card in the U.S. can be loaded with BCH and used to purchase goods and services through a conversion to U.S. dollars. And Fuzex is another crypto card project with global reach that last year chose bitcoin cash (BCH) as its base cryptocurrency. Its card is issued to residents of Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Traveling is rarely cheap, whether you are on a vacation or a business trip. In case you run out of bitcoin cash, there’s already a wide network of ATMs around the world where you can top up your BCH wallet. A quick look at Coinatmradar’s BCH Map shows there are now more than 1,800 machines and tellers on the planet that can sell you BCH coins. Many of these will also buy your electronic cash in case you need some paper money.
Have you used the services of these platforms to arrange your trips with bitcoin cash? Share your experience in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to third party companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any third party content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoin.com Travala.
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