Topic: Almost any airline ticket can now be bought using bitcoin! (Read 2461 times)

No..but they do accept Xapo mastercards..as do most of the others....We await the day that they all accept bitcoin directy but Xapo allows bitcoin to be used to buy a ticket from Qantas...Qantas does immediately receive fiat but for the purchaser ..he is effectively using bitcoin.

haha I wish, doesn't say anything on their website though..

Is Qantas Airways accepting bitcoin too?

Never heard of anyone in my relative who flew from one place to another using only BTC.

It looks like that is already in BETA

https://btctrip.com/

http://www.coinspeaker.com/tag/expedia-bitcoin/

in addition Expedia who already accept bitcoin for hotels is likely to expand acceptance to flights when they are ready.

BTCTalk should do this. Look for an airline agent that will help us all here.

This one is believable compared to "almost" any airline thing.

Hmmm better yet there should be an agent that accept btc and buy tickets from whatever countries that result the cheapest flight?

+ 1 most ppl here dont even know the fact is that its extremely difficult to have foreign currency bank account to apply for a CC in that currency. Bitcoin services like XAPO will solve this with ease. You now can buy airline tickets from another foreign domain!

I think we need to accept that currently the world revolves around fiat..there is no escaping that fact..99.9% of commercial transaction in bitcoin get converted to fiat eventually. whether it be remittance, purchasing goods ,paying bills, speculation or buying airline tickets.

Many are hoping for the day when bitcoin received for payment will be held just like any other form of currency eg  dollars received for payment in Japan held in a dollar account for the long/medium term.

In order to get to that point being able to pay with bitcoin whether directly  to an airline or merchant who then converts to fiat or using a Xapo type card which converts at time of purchase is part of the journey ( and is really the same process but in a different order and timing of conversion)  until it achieves its status as a currency to be held on to.

The advantage of using Xapo instead of dollars or dollar denominated cards is a) it can be competitive or even cheaper to use if purchasing outside a dollar denominated country b) you are still holding on to bitcoins in your "account" and will reap any reward from increase in fiat value of the bitcoin. Conversely you are exposed to adverse moves in the fiat price so this is for bitcoin bullls not bears.c) you are actively promoting bitcoin in order to eventually get to the stage where more merchants accept bitcoin directly and do not convert to fiat and hold those bitcoins as they would any other foreign currency of strength.. eg in Argentina dollars will not be converted to local currency with a 40% inflation rate but kept in dollars or dollar accounts. the big advantage for bitcoin in this case is that if currency controls are introduced where you cant move dollars out unless you smuggle them bitcooin can circumvent that problem with ease.

flying to Boston from Paris on Friday, can anyone suggest any good options for that in terms of buying the ticket with Bitcoin???

That's not exactly the same as buying something with Bitcoin. XAPO is basically like exchanging Bitcoin for fiat and paying with fiat. There are some airlines literally accepting Bitcoin though. Hopefully others will follow suit in the near future.

I wish i had enough btc to get holiday tickets in btc 

This is a very great news. So is it for btc only?

It is good signal. Paying with BTC will save customers' money, like exchange fee to local currency, which will attract customers to pay by BTC. I think others industry will offer BTC payment to attract customers.  

Air Baltic and Air Lituanica accept bitcoins directly from ur wallet and I assume they handle conversion to fiat at their preferred exchange.

All other airlines ( 99% accept a visa or masterard)  accept payment using your Xapo bitcoin loaded card and therefore you are buying the ticket using your bitcoin but they are accepting its fiat value as do almost ALL other merchants as they immediately convert to fiat in the majority of cases. The list of those airlines that accept Xapo bitcoin loaded card is here ( 99% if not all)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines

The point being that you are now able to easily buy/pay from your bitcoins at the swipe of the card or online. The difference between the 2 groups is that the first group has the option of not immediately converting to fiat but the other collects in fiat and would need to buy bitcoin in the unlikely event that they really want to keep some .

For the purchaser there is probably a small difference in the cost of using xapo to buy the ticket or paying directly from the bitcoin wallet , but this may not be much as the bitcoin price of the first 2 Airlines may not be the same as the $ or local currency fiat price and the Xapo bitcoin price may be equal or better depending on exchange rates of local currency on the day of purchase.

That means bitcoin is marching towards an option for payment to be accepted by the majority, great.

The best thing to do is list those airlines that accepts bitcoin as their payment

Seeing almost any airline now accepting bitcoin is a huge step, many people use airlines and once they realise that you can use bitcoin to on almost all airlines it may help boost the amount of people who wish to use it even if it's just for this purpose.

It's a big step. I guess it will rise the demand for bitcoin, consequently its price.