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Travala Review: Book Your Flights with Bitcoin
If you have been looking for the cryptocurrency equivalent of Booking.com then you have come to the right place.
Founded in 2017, Travala.com is the world’s leading blockchain-based travel booking platform and is trusted by thousands of customers worldwide as their preferred online travel agency. The platform currently offers 2,200,000+ properties covering 90,124 destinations in 230 countries and territories, and with prices up to 40% cheaper than mainstream travel booking platforms. If you are looking to use Bitcoin or other digital assets to book your next trip, our Travala review will help you decide if it is something you can take advantage of.
Travala Overview
- Booking.com-like travel site that utilizes cryptocurrency
- Propriety AVA token that gives users perks on the site
- Use a variety of different cryptocurrencies to pay for your travel
- Wide selection of hotels to book
Pros
Best prices guaranteed
Multiple payment options
Incentives for token holders
Mobile application for iOS and Android
Cons
Not really appealing to non-crypto users
Not everyone will want to buy the Travala token
What is Travala?
Travala is a frictionless travel booking experience that incorporates next generation blockchain technology and tokenised incentives. They have multiple cryptocurrency and traditional payment options alongside benefits tied to their proprietary cryptocurrency AVA.
Much like Booking.com, Travala compiles travel site options for users looking to book flights, hotels, and other accommodations. They are able to offer special prices and will even refund you the difference if you find a cheaper rate on another site after booking.
What Are the Best Features of Travala?
The best features of Travala are the ability to pay with a variety of traditional and cryptocurrency payment methods, the wide selection of accommodation options bolstered by their partnership with Expedia that allows access to all of Expedia’s booking options, easy access via their website or mobile app, and the incentives provided to those who hold their AVA crypto token.
Is Travala Easy to Use?
Travala is very easy to use, the platform is just like any other booking site where you simply put in your dates and destinations to generate results that fit your parameters. They offer a mobile application for Android and iOS for even easier access to their services.
What are the payment options on Travala?
Travala accepts traditional payment methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and American Express, and through Crypto.com Pay, Binance Pay, and Swipe as well. For crypto payment options they accept over 40 coins and tokens including:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Tron (TRX)
- EOS (EOS)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Polkadot (DOT)
For a complete list of accepted payment methods click here.
Is Travala Free?
Yes, Travala is free to use platform to book hotels, flights and accommodations.
Of course you can buy Travala’s AVA token to get discounts on your trips. The AVA token is Travala’s own cryptocurrency which is used to incentivise holders by providing discounts through their Smart Program.
The Smart Program offers up to a 5% discount off the listed prices together with up to a 5% loyalty reward after you have finished your trip. The discount amount is based on the amount of AVA in your wallet and works in a tiered system starting with a minimum of 250 AVA (currently AVA is over $5 USD a piece, meaning you would need a $1250 investment at a minimum to receive your discount at this time. This somewhat high buy-in is somewhat offset by a minimum APY of 8.04% on your held AVA.
Realistically the Smart Program is only for frequent flyers who also are crypto enthusiasts
Potential Dealbreakers
The only real downside for Travala is that not everyone needs to use a travel booking platform that accepts cryptocurrencies because not everyone has cryptocurrencies to spend.
The overall savings difference for using the platform only truly become worthwhile if you are holding the AVA token (more on this in a moment). Otherwise, there is no real downside to the platform.
Travala Frequently Asked Questions
Travala and Expedia are actually partners. Expedia gives Travala customers the ability to pay for all their accommodations through the Travala platform using any of over 40 forms of crypto coins and tokens accepted by Travala.
In order to get Travala.com Coin (AVA) you will need to purchase it from a cryptocurrency exchange. It is not widely available but is available through Binance and KuCoin, two of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world.
Purchasing Travala.com Coin is the equivalent of buying stock in AVA. You receive both travel discounts and an APY of at least 8% when you hold at least 250 AVA, much the way dividends work for stocks.
The major benefit of using Travala is the ability to pay in cryptocurrency for your travel accommodations, and that they will refund you the difference if you find a cheaper rate after booking. If you are able to afford to hold the minimum amount of AVA you benefit by receiving travel discounts, rebates, and an APY on the amount you hold.
Travala can certainly be cheaper than Booking.com but it can vary. Even if you book your trip through Travala and find a cheaper rate on Booking.com later you are able to get refunded the difference so it is essentially negligible, though the process is something extra you would have to do that you would likely prefer not to, meaning it would be better if it was always cheaper.
If you hold enough AVA tokens it is almost certainly cheaper to book through Travala.
Yes, you can spend Bitcoin along with over 40 other cryptocurrency coins and tokens on Travala. For a full list of accepted payment methods please check out this link.
