Book flights without paying upfront
Pay your way at Alternative Airlines whether that's in full upfront or in instalments with a Buy Now Pay Later or Slice Pay!
Book Flights Without Paying Upfront
Where from?
Where to?
Dates
Passengers & Class
Can I book a flight without paying upfront?
Yes! When you book your flights at Alternative Airlines, there are multiple ways that you can secure your tickets without paying the full sum upfront.
To do this, you'll have to select one of the following at checkout:
- A Buy Now Pay Later
- A layaway
Please note that all methods will require a small down payment at checkout. This will be a fraction of the total ticket cost.
What's a Buy Now Pay Later?
A Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) lets you pay for your flights in instalments. While you may have to pay the first instalment upfront, the rest will be paid over a few weeks, months, or even years.
Alternative Airlines is partnered with 20+ Buy Now Pay Later lenders, allowing you to choose your ideal payment plan.
Is Buy Now Pay Later right for me?
- If you're looking to pay later with no extra costs, then choose a short-term BNPL plan. Many lenders offer schemes that span just a couple of weeks/ months. These are often interest-free, as long as payments are made on time.
- If you'd prefer to pay for your flights over an extended period, then choose a longer-term option. Certain BNPLs let you pay over a year or more. However, these tend to require a small sum of interest.
With a Buy Now Pay Later, not only can you avoid paying for your tickets upfront, but you can also fly now and pay later. Depending on the instalment plan you choose, you can continue paying off your tickets even after your flights!
What's a layaway?
A layaway lets you put a deposit on your flights, securing your tickets as your own and allowing you to pay for them over the weeks leading up to departure.
Alternative Airlines' deposit partner is Slice Pay, a travel-specific layaway. When you select Slice Pay at checkout, you'll put a 10% deposit on your tickets, which will have to be paid upfront. The rest of your payments will continue in the weeks leading up to departure.
You can pay back your flights in up to 26 weekly instalments. The end date for your Slice Pay contract will always be around a week before departure. While Slice Pay doesn't charge any interest, including for late payments, if you fail to finish making payments by the end date of your contract, your flights will be cancelled.
Slice Pay has nothing to do with your credit. It conducts zero credit checks, allowing you to pay later, regardless of whether you have good or bad credit. This also means late payments won't negatively affect your credit score.
Which option is best for me?
No credit checks
Winner: Slice Pay 💫
If you want to pay later without involving your credit, then select Slice Pay. Slice Pay has nothing to do with your credit. It won't check your credit score, and failed payments won't lead to negative credit.
However, certain Buy Now Pay Later lenders will conduct soft credit checks. If they find your credit score too low, they may deny you a loan. Late BNPL payments can lower your credit score.
Last-minute travel
Winner: Buy Now Pay Later 💫
If you're booking at the last minute, a Buy Now Pay Later option would be in your best interest. Depending on your selected BNPL, you can fly now and pay later, meaning you can still be paying for your flights even after they've happened. This is perfect for last-minute bookings as it means you won't have to hastily pay a large sum before you can fly.
However, with Slice Pay, payments must be completed before flight departure, which may result in large sums being deducted from your account with each instalment.
Interest-free
Winner: Slice Pay 💫
For a guaranteed interest-free option, go with Slice Pay. While Slice Pay charges a small holding fee, you won't incur any interest when you pay later. This includes late payments.
Certain BNPLs, on the other hand, will require interest, especially longer-term options. Many will also charge additional interest rates for late fees.
Worldwide availability
Winner: Buy Now Pay Later 💫
The pay later options you see at checkout will depend on your country of residency. There are a lot more countries where you can use a BNPL than Slice Pay. If you're looking to pay later and you're not living in the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, then you'll have to use a BNPL (all those countries also have BNPL options available).
We offer BNPLs to residents in specific countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Oceania, Asia and Africa.
Discover more differences between Buy Now Pay Later and Slice Pay, to help you decide which option is best for you.
How to book flights without paying upfront at Alternative Airlines
- Scroll to the search bar at the top of this page. Then, enter your travel details, including your destination, dates, and number of passengers.
- Browse flights from over 600 global airlines. Including popular, ultra-low-cost and luxury airlines.
- Once you've found your ideal flight, head to checkout and enter your passenger details.
- Select your way to pay. You can either pick one of our Buy Now Pay Later lenders or Slice Pay. The options available to you will depend on your country of residency.
- That's it! Once you've chosen your payment method, you'll receive your ticket to your email inbox. Continue making payments according to your selected instalment plan and enjoy your flights!
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Book flights without paying upfront FAQs
Can I book flights without paying upfront at Alternative Airlines?
Yes. While you'll have to pay a small down payment, this will be a fraction of the total cost of your tickets. You can then pay for the rest of your flights in instalments through either a Buy Now Pay Later or a layaway.
What's the difference between a buy now, pay later and a layaway?
When you select a Buy Now Pay Later, you're borrowing money from a lender that you then have to pay back over a select number of instalments. This means that you may still be paying back your flights even after departure.
A layaway involves putting a deposit on an item. You'll then finish paying for that item before a given end date - this end date will be before flight departure. If you fail to finish paying on time, your flights will be cancelled.
Which airlines can I pay later with?
At Alternative Airlines, you can pay later with any of the 600+ airlines we ticket. Whether you're eligible for a BNPL or a layaway doesn't depend on the airline but your country of residency.
Can I pay later from my country?
If you visit our ways to pay page and scroll down to our Buy Now Pay Later and Deposit sections, you'll find they each have a drop-down menu that lets you filter by a specific country. Select your country of residency and you'll be shown all the options available to you.