As Global Air Travel Picks Up, Travala.com Makes Booking Flights With Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Even Easier

LONDON, March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Travala.com, the world's leading cryptocurrency-friendly online travel agency (OTA), announced a direct integration of flights on its platform, streamlining booking of air travel on the site as global vaccination rollouts are leading to a steady rise in air travel. From today, users will experience fast results when searching for flights on Travala.com, as well as the ability to use more payment methods — including major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and AVA, the company's native token — and access Travala.com's loyalty and rewards program.

As countries around the world continue vaccinating citizens, consumers are showing signs they are increasingly comfortable with the safety of travel, which is reflected in a steady rise in global air traffic over the past few weeks. In the U.S., the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) saw a pandemic-record 1.57 million people screened through its checkpoints last Sunday, and the agency has seen more than one million travelers pass through its security checkpoints daily since March 11th. Additionally, U.S. domestic and international flight bookings for summer travel are steadily rising, U.S. air carriers are upping capacities, and airfares in China are recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, following a record year for digital currencies in which BTC hit multiple all-time highs generating strong returns, more people than ever before — an estimated 106 million globally today, up from 73 million last June — are holding cryptocurrency, and more merchants are accepting it for everyday transactions, including for travel. This February, Travala.com saw over $1 million in revenue, a 187% increase from February 2020. Additionally, 68% of all travel on its platform last month was booked via cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing appetite among consumers to spend crypto on real-world goods and services.

Juan Otero, CEO of Travala.com, said: "Two trends are merging right now: on the one hand, vaccine rollouts have led to strong signs of optimism for travel, especially air travel. On the other hand, a massive year for cryptocurrencies has driven major retail investor and merchant adoption, as consumers are seeking ways to spend their crypto on everyday items. Airlines have responded by increasing capacity and restoring pre-pandemic programs, and Travala.com is making booking flights more seamless via direct integration with our platform. The result is a more efficient, complete and robust online travel platform that allows anyone to pay for travel with crypto."

Today's announcement of a direct flights integration streamlines the flight booking process for users as air travel is picking up, enabling users to pay for flights with over 40 leading cryptocurrencies supported by Travala.com. Travala.com is one of the world's largest OTAs with over 3 million bookings across accommodations, activities and flights. The platform, which sees approximately 70% of all travel booked via cryptocurrencies, integrated flights following its 2020 merger with Binance-backed TravelbyBit, allowing users to instantly search and book over 600 airlines worldwide including American Airlines, Delta, Lufthansa, China Southern Airlines, Emirates, British Airways and Qantas.

The company's direct flights integration follows significant growth and expansion for Travala.com, which has seen three consecutive months of revenues exceeding $1 million and recently partnered with Viator to add 400,000 experiences to the platform and enhanced its partnership with Expedia Partner solutions as it continues its push for mainstream crypto adoption through travel.

About Travala.com
Founded in 2017, Travala.com is the leading cryptocurrency-friendly travel booking service with 3,000,000 travel products worldwide, including stays, flights and activities. Backed by industry-giant Binance, Travala.com is a champion of cryptocurrency adoption, accepting over 40 leading cryptocurrencies in addition to traditional payment methods. AVA bolsters the Travala.com value proposition. As the native cryptocurrency of the platform, AVA can be used for payments, receiving loyalty rewards, discounts and bonuses, among several other use cases. In addition to unbeatable prices via its Best Price Guarantee, Smart users on Travala.com can also enjoy additional discounts and loyalty rewards for eligible bookings made on the platform.

For more information about Travala.com, visit: www.travala.com

For more information about AVA, visit: www.travala.com/ava

Contact: SHIFT Communications, [email protected]

SOURCE Travala.com