Do you have bitcoin, do you travel? 4 Crypto Vacation Strategies

Now that you can link debit cards to cryptocurrency wallets, it has never been easier to use digital cash on the go. But for travelers who want to avoid the extra fees associated with using a crypto card, the alternative is to look for merchants willing to accept cryptocurrency like Bitcoin directly. Fortunately, there is a growing list of companies, hotels, and destinations eager to do business with consumers of cryptocurrency. Here, some of the movements that happen per minute:

1. Book a flight through an online travel agency

Travala.com has emerged as the leader among the few online booking sites that accept cryptocurrency. Mr. Jovic, who recently used it to book a flight to Budapest, said it may offer fewer routes and destinations than traditional air travel sites offer, and sometimes list slightly higher prices, but he found that the ability to pay in crypto outweighs those factors. While Travala co-founder and CEO Juan Otero, who worked at Booking.com in the late 2000s, agrees that his company needs to be more competitive on airfare, he argues that offers The luxury hotels they offer compare well with competitors’ offers. Otero said that among Travala’s monthly active users, an above-average number choose “four- and five-star hotels”. Omar Al-Hamawi, a 37-year-old crypto professional from Washington, D.C., who describes himself as a loyal Travala customer, recently booked a stay at the five-star Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii. “I have idle cryptocurrencies, so I generally like to use them when I can,” he said.

2. Buy an airline ticket directly with the airline

You can book direct flights with at least one crypto-friendly airline – AirBaltic, Latvia’s number one airline serving more than 70 destinations, primarily in the Baltic states and Europe – but if you’re not flying from Riga, it can be difficult to travel Features. However, according to the airline, since it began accepting crypto in 2014, more than 1,000 customers have purchased tickets this way.

3. Book a luxury hotel

The Chedi, a luxury and elegant resort in the Swiss Alps, allows guests to pay with Bitcoin or Ethereum, as long as they spend more than $200 when paying for rooms or services like ski rentals and spa days – which can easily be done since room rates generally start at $650 a night. Pavilions Hotels & Resorts, a boutique hotel group with locations in Europe and Asia including Rome, Amsterdam, Bali and Phuket, is accepting reservations in cryptocurrency. For travelers who prefer spending their cryptocurrency earnings in the US, there is the Kessler Group, whose portfolio includes several hotels in the southern US, as well as a ski lodge in Beaver Creek, Colo.

4. Visit “cryptopia”

If there’s anything close to a crypto utopia, it’s the surf town in El Zonte, El Salvador, better known as “Bitcoin Beach.” There, travelers can savor pupusas after a day of surfing lessons at El Zonte stopover, paying for it all with Bitcoin. “Most merchants accept bitcoin,” said Carol Souza, a Brazilian influencer who focuses on educating people about cryptocurrency. Other cities are expected to follow suit. Earlier this month, the picturesque small town of Lugano, Switzerland announced that it was adopting cryptocurrency as legal tender.