How to lay-by your holiday and take eight weeks to pay it off interest-free.
Travel sales have a tendency to pop up sporadically, and when a hot one appears, there are still ways to take advantage of the deal even if you're a little short on cash in the lead up to payday.
This is where Afterpay comes in. It's like lay-by for online (and in-store) purchases, only you get to take your item home before you finish paying it off. You'll have eight weeks from the time of purchase to pay it off before you'll start being charged late fees and have your account paused.
Initially available for fashion, beauty and homewares purchases, it entered the travel space in September 2017 by partnering with budget airline Jetstar. Just like you would opt to pay with a credit card or paypal when making a purchase online, you can opt to pay via Afterpay and the item will be instantly yours.
Repayments will be automatically taken from your account in interest-free installments every fortnight for eight weeks. You'll be sent a text message reminder before the deduction is taken, which is an easy reminder to make sure the funds are in your account.
Which sites offer Afterpay flights?
Afterpay is currently available with Jetstar for flights and related products including checked luggage, seat selection and in-flight meals. Purchases can be up to $1,200 excluding any booking or payment fees and made at least four weeks before departure.
All Afterpay bookings with Jetstar incur a 1.5% service charge fee of the total booking price. This is something new for Afterpay, as its retail merchants don't charge its customers fees for opting to use this payment method.
Afterpay is also available on RedBalloon experiences, stays and activities.
Stay tuned for more as details, and Afterpay merchants, as they're secured.
Are there other companies like Afterpay to book flights?
Although Afterpay flights are limited to only Jetstar at the moment, there are other sites out there with their own lay-by programs, price-holding and book now pay later options you can use on flights. Here's a few of them:
