United Airlines Will Let You Buy a Flight Now But Pay For It Later| Travel + Leisure
United Airlines will now let you pay later for the flights you want now.
The airline has become the latest to add payment plan service Uplift as an option for tickets, allowing users to make monthly payments to cover their airfare over the course of anywhere from three to 11 months.
Uplift, which has been previously used for other United services, will appear as customers proceed to checkout with their flight. They will be given the option to either pay entirely upfront or to plan the payment with Uplift.
“We began offering Uplift Pay Monthly in 2017 with United Vacations and received great feedback from our customers about the option to pay over time,” United’s vice president of digital products and analytics Praveen Sharma said in a statement. “Expanding Uplift’s flexible purchase option to flight tickets now allows even more customers to travel the world and create memories that will last a lifetime.”
However, the offer won’t be automatically available to everyone. Customers will have to open a credit inquiry and, depending on the state of their credit, they’ll be offered interest rates ranging from nine to 35 percent.
Spirit and Allegiant also allow customers to pay using Uplift. And if you’re booking a vacation package through Southwest Vacations, American Airlines Vacations or Norwegian Cruise Lines, you can choose this option, too. Several other travel websites, like Expedia, also have similar “buy now, pay later” plan.
Bear in mind that paying with Uplift is opening another line of credit, which could impact your credit score. And paying with Uplift doesn’t have the same travel benefits as some credit cards, which may help you earn frequent flier miles.
