Image Source: Shutterstock
A Chicago startup named Airfordable might just be the go-to for booking your next trip abroad. Priding itself as a “layaway for airline tickets,” Airfordable allows travelers to pay just one-third of their flight price upfront when using their website and then pay off the remaining balance in bi-weekly or monthly installments. And the maximum airfare, which can be purchased 11 months in advance, is a generous $2,000 per person.
Co-founder of Airfordable, Ama Marfo, developed the Airfordable business model after wanting to visit her family in Ghana but not being able to because flights were too expensive and she didn’t have a credit card. In an interview with Condé Nast Traveler, Marfo said “although many people pay for flights on credit cards and then pay off the cards, Airfordable could stand out by not charging interest.”
There is, however, a 20 percent service fee (that can be paid off along with your payments) for using the site, but if you’re a part of Airfordable’s target demo which is people who have poor credit, expats, visitors and residents who cannot obtain a U.S. credit card, that fee may not matter.
Although there are many who criticize Marfo’s Airfordable business technique because they believe you shouldn’t travel if you can’t afford it, she notes that it will teach people to budget their fiances and give them access to travel. Also, if travelers cannot make their payments or must change their travel plans, the money they already paid will be credited to their Airfordable account and can be used within a year towards a different flight.
Will you be booking with Airfordable?
