Afterpay and LayAway Travel launch book now pay later service PLAY
It's time to pick, pay and play.
Travellers and Afterpay lovers rejoice because two of your favourite things have come together at last. Yup, buy now pay later service Afterpay has teamed up with holiday specialist LayAway Travel and created PLAY.
It's a new travel site operated by LayAway Travel that lets you book your holiday now and pay via weekly or fortnightly instalments leading up to your big trip, which makes it a much more manageable purchase.
And similar to Afterpay, these repayments are interest-free, as long as repayments are made on time. If they're not, you may be stung with an administration fee. If several repayments are missed, the trip may be cancelled, payments already made forfeited and a cancellation fee of $55 added to your bill.
Unlike Afterpay, where full payment must be made within 8 weeks, PLAY gives you a massive 3–12 months to pay off your trip. You also have to complete your purchase 30 days before you go on your break.
Your travel documents should arrive two weeks before you jet set off.
How do I sign up?
To get started, you need to create a PLAY account, link it to an Australian-issued credit or debit card and have it approved.
During this process your details may be cross-checked with your existing Afterpay account (if you have one) to confirm you have a good track record for repayments. If you have an outstanding Afterpay balance, your PLAY account may be denied (so we hope you've been good).
Once approved, it's simply a matter of booking your holiday, setting up those recurring repayments, keeping to schedule and jet setting away.
What type of holidays can I book?
The PLAY site works in a similar manner to daily deals sites like Luxury Escapes where holiday packages (flights and nights) and experience packages (tours and accommodation) are on sale for a limited time only.
All packages are heavily curated by LayAway Travel with the Afterpay audience in mind with a heavy focus on relaxation, culture, wellness, party and adventure trips.
To give you an idea of what to expect, some of the offerings now available are:
- Relax, Cleanse, Reset, Repeat: A 5- or 7-night stay at the Sun Island Boutique Villas and Spa in Bali, including meals and spa treatments, from $613 per person, based on twin person share. Or, just $68.13 per week, per person paid over 10 weeks.
- The Ultimate Thai Venture: An 11-day multi-sport group tour around Thailand that includes flights, accommodation, meals and transfers from $3,370 per person, based on twin share. Or, just $120.37 per week paid over 28 weeks.
- It's #Farshan Bab: A 2-night stay at the Primus Hotel, meals, drinks and tickets to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week from $682 per person, based on twin share. Or, $97.46 per week paid over 7 weeks.
As an added bonus, all packages include complimentary pre-trip cancellation insurance, because we all know that things can happen.
PLAY is currently in its trial phase and will work with customer feedback to evolve the platform further. You can browse and book the current PLAY holidays here.