Updated June 2017.
People book the majority of their travel online these days. Booking and paying for travel online can literally take hours of your time. Search through various websites to check flight prices, scouring the best deals for hotels, pouring over Airbnb listings. When it comes time to pay for your travels online, what do you do? Whip out the credit card or debit card and furiously key in a bunch of numbers?
I prefer to pay for my travel with Paypal. It’s quick and easy to Paypal travel bookings. Over the years I’ve found more and more travel sites that accept Paypal as a means of payments. These Paypal travel sites are not dodgy booking engines, they are legitimate hotel booking sites, travel agencies, train ticket providers and airlines that accept Paypal.
What You'll Find in This Post
Why You Should Consider Paying for Travel with Paypal
- You don’t have a credit card. Maybe you’re too young, have poor credit or just choose not to have a credit card. You can still book your travel online!
- You don’t want to risk getting into debt. Clever, clever. Getting into debt to travel is NOT a good idea.
- You’re concerned about credit card security. Especially if you’re using public Wifi on the road, you should think twice about where and when you use your credit card online.
- It’s quicker and easier. Typing in your Paypal address is quicker and easier than getting your credit card out of your wallet and keying in all those numbers.
- You don’t want to pay additional booking fees to use your card. Many airlines tack on extra fees for using your credit card to book your fares. Avoid it by using Paypal!
- You earn money online and it goes straight to Paypal. Many of us digital nomad types earn money online around the globe and it goes straight to Paypal. To avoid Paypal’s heavy fees for moving your money out of Paypal, just spend it online with Paypal.
What travel sites accept Paypal?
Read through my is an ever-growing list of ways you can pay for your travel With PayPal below. I keep this list completely up to date and review it at least once a month.
Hotels That Accept Paypal
This is not so much about specific hotels that take Paypal. You can easily Paypal hotels via hotel booking sites. Most people book hotels via booking sites like Priceline or Hotels.com anyway!
Even though you book hotel with PayPal, the hotel themselves will likely ask you for a credit card on check-in for any additional room charges unless it’s a cheaper hotel, hostel or guesthouse that doesn’t have in-room services.
- Hotels.com – Don’t forget to sign up for the Welcome Rewards program. Buy 10 nights and get one free!
- Priceline – For some tips on using Priceline read this post.
- Agoda
- HotelTravel.com
Vacation Rental Booking Sites That Accept Paypal
With the exception of Airbnb, payment methods on vacation rental booking sites vary depending upon what payment methods the owner wishes to accept. You can Paypal travel on Airbnb but when making your booking you have to select that you’re from a country other than the United States, for example, New Zealand. Don’t worry, this won’t have any affect on your account or booking, it’s just a technical workaround.
- Airbnb –Want to try out Airbnb? Click here to get a $20 off coupon.
- Wimdu
- Roomorama
- HomeAway
- VRBO
- FlipKey
- GowithOh
Sites Where You Can Pay for Flights with Paypal
In addition to the airlines that accept Paypal listed below, there are a few other ways to pay for flights with Paypal. You can Paypal flights using these websites:
- Cheapoair – Flight bookings. You need to use the .com version of the site for Paypal to come up as a payment option. Click here and use the coupon code SPRING20 for up to $20 off flight bookings!
- BYOJet.co.nz – For bookings in New Zealand, Australia and worldwide
- Bravoavia – Russian-based site specialising in European flights
- Rumbo.com – Spanish-based site specialising in European flights
- Bookit.com – Flights, packages, hotels and car rentals though Paypal option doesn’t appear for all options
- Hotwire.com – Flights, packages, hotels and car rentals
- JetAbroad.com.au
- Bravofly.com
- Cheaptickets.com
Airlines That Accept Paypal
The following is a list of airline that take Paypal. Booking direct with the airline is a good way to Paypal flights as you won’t incur any additional fees added on by booking sites. If you pay for flights with Paypal, you often end up getting your flight cheaper as many airlines add on additional charges for paying with credit cards.
Oceania
- Jetstar Australia
- Virgin Australia – You can book some codeshare Air New Zealand flights using Virgin Australia
North America
- American Airlines (for flights in the US, Canada and UK only and using a US Paypal account only)
- Air Tran
- Delta (for flights in the US only)
- Jet Blue (excluding flights to the Dominican Republic)
- Southwest
- United (for flights in the US only)
- US Airways
Central America
- Interjet
- Volaris
- Aeromexico
South America
- Azul
- GOL
- LAN
Europe
- Alitalia
- British Airways
- Brussels Airlines
- German Wings
- Jet 2
- KLM – When paying with mobile app
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Monarch (GBP and EUR only)
- Ryanair
- SATA
- TAP Portugal
- Transavia
- Vueling
Middle East
- El Al
- Emirates – AUD/EUR/GBP/USD only
- Etihad Airways – Only in USD, GBP and AED (for flights originating in countries where that currency is used.) Etihad is one of our favourite airlines. To see why, read this post.
- Qatar Airways – They have a code for 10% off when booking with Paypal “PAYPALUK02″
- Royal Jordanian
Africa
- South African Airways
Asia
- Air Asia – When paying in Australian dollars and only for flights originating from Australia
- Air China
- Cebu Pacific
- China Airlines
- China Southern
- Hainan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines – Only when using their mobile app
- Scoot
- Singapore Airlines
Cruise Lines That Accept Paypal
- Carnival Cruise Line – If you want to pay for cruise with Paypal then your best option is booking a cruise with Carnival. They are the only cruise line that accepts Paypal.
Buying Train Travel Online with Paypal
- Eurail
- Interrail
- TrenItalia
- Travel China Guide – For booking train tickets in China
- Real Russia – Russian train tickets and visas, very useful for travel on the Trans Siberian
Buying Theme Park Tickets with Paypal
- Knotts.com – For tickets to Knotts Berry Farm and Knotts Soak City in California
- Tours4Fun.com – For theme park tickets world wide, also lets you buy Disneyland tickets with Paypal
Buying Tours & Airport Transfers with Paypal on Your Travels
- CityPASS – Sightseeing passes for cities across North America.
- Big Bus Tours – Offers city sightseeing tours in the top cities around the world like London, New York, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and many more. Check their site for the complete list of destinations.
- Holiday Taxis – Airport transfers in tonnes of locations
Buying Luggage & Other Travel Gear Online with Paypal
- Eagle Creek
- Ebags – Plus you can get 10% Off + Free Shipping over $49 with email sign-up using this link,
- Fishpond – Fishpond.com, Fishpond.co.nz and Fishpond.com.au accept Paypal for books and travel accessories with free shipping.
- Kathmandu – Kathmandu.co.uk and Kathmandu.com.au accept Paypal but not the New Zealand site unfortunately
- Lonely Planet – Plus get 3 for 2 on all Books, eBooks and Digital Chapters using this link.
- Samsonite
- Tumi
- MTX Connect – SIM cards that all data roaming across all of Europe. Excellent buy if you’re planning travelling in Europe! Read more here.
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Bethaney I had no clue you could do Paypal for many of these charges. People and businesses know more digital nomads – and part time travelers – are using creative/alternative ways to pay for stuff. Why not listen to the people, right? I myself use PP so a few of these methods would work nicely for me.
Thanks for the share Bethaney. Keep on inspiring!
Ryan
Thanks Ryan! I hope these tips help you out when you’re next booking some travel.
There are a lot of things and places I buy at online that I won’t use anything but Paypal but I’ve never really thought of using it for travel. I don’t think it’s an option with a most of my preferred airlines and booking sites from Australia but I’ll definitely watch out for it going forward
I would have also never thought about using Paypal. That is interesting. I think, my biggest concern though, would be the fees. What has been your experience with that?
These are actually some really good tips. Thanks for sharing!
I love the ease of paypal but I had no idea how useful it was! Thanks for putting this together
I’m a big fan of Paypal. I never thought to use it when I am travelling though, but it’s very sound advice
I had no idea you could use paypal to pay for so many travel related things – very eye opening!
I’m not really an avid paypal user, to be honest, but maybe I should give it a decent try if it makes my travellings easier!
This list is great! I just recently booked my flight home using my paypal account with Qatar Airways and didn’t know about that discount code. Really useful tips!
Nice roundup! This will be so helpful for those who do not want to use credit or debit cards, although PayPal does offer one of those, too, in the U.S.
Paypal is really picking up! I am in China right now, which is a difficult place to book with US credit cards, especially for domestic flights. Being able to use Paypal solved all my problems.
I’ve started to use Paypal more recently because it is so secure and easy. I’ve booked flights with no extra fees which is great if you regularly spend on travel. It just makes sense for businesses to offer this as a payment option. Great advice, I’ll be doing this more and for accommodation next time. Thanks for sharing!
Hi
Just wondering if anyone knows of a way to withdraw and spend one’s Paypal earnings in the country of the currency? ie I’m Australian, but have earned some USD which are in Paypal, and would like to use those whilst in the USA rather than pay for conversion fees etc both ways. Hope that makes sense.
Hi Dani,
I don’t know that you could withdraw cash in US unless you had one of those fancy Paypal debit/credit cards that you can get with US accounts. You CAN spend in USD on all these kinds of booking sites like Priceline, Hotels.com etc. So you’re earning and spending USD without converting it to AUD. Does that make sense?
Bethaney
Hi Bethaney
Thanks for the reply. Yes it does make sense, and that’s what I thought, I was just wondering if anyone knew of some way to spend Paypal $$ in retail stores.
Hi Bethany,
Thanks for the article. I’m actually looking for any websites similar to Viator.com that sells tickets/pass for attractions? Viator is good but they don’t receive payment through PayPal.
May be you can add it to your list 🙂
Have a great day!
Cheers,
Sunu
Hi Sunu. I don’t know of any sites like that off the top of my head unfortunately. What were you specifically trying to book? What location? I’ll take a look around and see if there is anything I can add to my post. Thanks for commenting! Bethaney
Thanks for your reply Bethaney,
Greetings from Indonesia.
I’m planning to take my family to go on a vacation to New Zealand. While I can use agoda to book my accomodations, I still have difficulty to book/purchase main attractions tickets in this beautiful country, such as Hobbiton Movie set, Waitomo Caves, Shotover Jet, Milford Sound cruise, etc. We also plan to travel on a campervan in South Island, so it also nice to know if there’s any Holiday Park/Campervan Site that accept PayPal as payment method.
Many thanks in advance Bethaney 🙂 You have a great day.
Cheers,
Sunu
Awesome post! I didn’t know we could use paypal this much! So useful!
Thanks a lot, Bethaney!
Neither Cheaptickets, bravofly, nor Hotwire gave me the option to use PayPal. Your info might be out of date. The only travel service site I found that offers payment by PayPal is cheapoair.com, but their prices suck.
It sometimes depends on which airline you’re booking and even which country you’re flying from and to. Keep trying! Have a look at Webjet too.
I am interested in using PayPal Credit to finance a vacation (12 month financing, for example). Is that possible? If so, through what Travel Agencies, etc.?
Financing a vacation is a bad idea in my opinion.
Philippine-based airline Cebu Pacific accepts PayPal too. 🙂
Thanks Cyril! That’s good to know. I booked a Cebu flight a while back but they didn’t have Paypal. Looks like they do now! Will add it to the list.
I wasn’t able to use Paypal for flights on Hotwire, Dec. 2016, despite their FAQs still mentioning Paypal payments. The option is not there at checkout. I called them and got transferred around, was on hold forever, so eventually gave up.
I think with Hotwire it actually depends on what airline you’re trying to book flights with unfortunately.
Question: if you have no balance on paypal, can you still book/pay for a plane ticket?
No. Your account needs to have enough money in it.
G – I think Bethany must be thinking of paypal credit. You didn’t specify. You don’t have to have a balance on paypal to make any purchase on it so long as it is linked to your bank account, because that is where the money will come out of. However, if you wish to use paypal credit, and stretch payments out, then you need to have a paypal credit account and be below your limit.
Lulululu, I want to book a hotel on expedia and stay there for two nights. I don’t have any money in my PayPal but I have PayPal credit. If i book the hotel and chose the PayPal option will it count as credit or do i need money in my account to book it? And if it counts as credit, I’m able to pay it off monthly right?
No idea sorry!
We just paid for the US portion of an upcoming trip on paypal and found this website very helpful. However, I would like to caution everyone about using booking websites like hotwire. We’ve twice recently used them for hotels, the second time paying in advance, only to discover the hotel had no room. The staff at the second hotel was very helpful and told us this happens ALL THE TIME. The first time, we were in Washington DC and checking in fairly late at night. The hotel staff was hostile and seemed to blame us for the over booking. They didn’t; even want us to use their electricity to plug in our laptop and search for another hotel. Neither we, nor hotwire were able to find us a hotel at all. We ended up heading home a day early, after napping in a walmart parking lot for a few hours. The second time we used expedia. We were in Charleston and were able to find another hotel, but it was a huge hassle, and we ended up in an efficiency place instead of the boutique hotel we had taken the time and care to book.. There is no way on earth I will ever use a booking site again. I certainly would not use one for over seas travel, where we likely would not know of a place that would be open all night and had bathroom facilities. Since it is my daughter who will be flying, and she’s relatively inexperienced, you better believe I would not use one. Be aware too that there are far fewer booking websites than you may think. Several of them are owned by the same company.
So what do you do instead? For this upcoming trip, we used a booking site of find what we wanted, and then booked it directly through the airline.
BUT, there is something else. We began to realise we were only seeing a handful of international airlines, when in fact, many fly out of major hubs like Atlanta and JFK.. You end up paying quite a bit for the convenience of using an airline that can afford to be contracted with one of the booking sites. In the case of the international leg of the journey, the best price we could find after days of searching was $1250.00 round trip. By looking at what airlines that are not associated with a booking site had to offer, we ended up paying 749.00 round trip. Thy didn’t accept paypal, but for that amount of money, who cares?