Agreement with Expedia, CheapAir, and Suiteness lets consumers split travel purchases into simple monthly payments.
SAN FRANCISCO – Affirm, Inc., the company started by serial entrepreneur Max Levchin to provide fair and honest financial products, introduced Travel with Affirm in time for the end-of-year holiday season. Travel with Affirm lets consumers book their travel plans, including airfare, hotel rooms, luxury suites, and more while splitting their purchases into manageable monthly payments. Charter partners in Travel with Affirm include Expedia, offering flight-and-hotel packages; CheapAir, offering low prices on airfare and more; and Suiteness, for those that want to treat themselves to an exclusive, luxury hotel suite.
"Travel is expensive – there are just no two ways about it," said Levchin. "Even more so during the holiday season. We created Travel with Affirm so consumers can have an affordable and simple alternative to credit cards for getting home or getting away for the holidays."
"We're thrilled to partner with Affirm to give consumers a simple and transparent way to pay over time for their holiday travel plans," said Gregory Samson, VP of Marketing for CheapAir.com. "Whether they're looking to book a trip home or a holiday vacation, we want our customers to have a positive, easy experience using monthly payments, including knowing the full cost at the time of purchase."
According to a recent study conducted by Affirm, Inc. of 1,000 U.S. adults about holiday shopping habits, 61% of respondents said that holiday spending is a source of family strife. Over a third (34%) said they are worried about how they are going to cover their holiday spending costs this year.
Therefore, it's not surprising that, according to another recent study conducted by Affirm of over 1,600 people, two of the top three reasons consumers use deferred interest products is for vacation and travel expenses along with holiday shopping. 67 percent of respondents also believe that some credit products are designed to purposefully cheat consumers.
"We know how tough traveling during the holiday season can be," said Kyle Killion, co-founder and chief of product at Suiteness. "So, partnering with Affirm to offer as low as 0% APR on hotel suites with the ability to easily pay over time allows our customers to enjoy the holidays while knowing exactly what the final cost for their suite will be."
In 2016 alone, U.S. consumers paid over $94 billion in fees. That doesn't even include the $70.4 billion in interest fees credit card issuers made.
More than a quarter of Americans carry balances on their credit cards from month to month, according to a new survey of 2,005 adults by Creditcards.com. And among those with card debt, 43 percent say they've had a revolving balance for at least two years.
In contrast, Affirm, now available at more than 1,000 online retailers, lets shoppers pay for purchases in simple, monthly installments. The total and monthly amounts they're given, including the total interest amount – even before they make the purchase will never change. There are no late fees or penalties.
The simplest way to book travel
Using Travel with Affirm is quick and easy. All it takes is five pieces of personal information for a real-time credit decision. And then it's up to the consumer to select the monthly payment plan – 3, 6, or 12 months – that fits their budget.
Any U.S. resident 18 years or older (19 years old in Alabama or a ward of the state in Nebraska) is eligible to use Affirm.
And, paying Affirm bills is equally straightforward. After making their purchase, the consumer receives timely e-mail and SMS reminders on when their next payment is due. Alternatively, they can set up Autopay for recurring automatic payments.
"Credit cards are broken," said Levchin. "If all Americans used Affirm instead of traditional revolving lines of credit, we could save people $90 billion a year in fees alone."
Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy.
He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.
