BNPL Firm Uplift Teams With Southwest Airlines on Hawaiian Travel

Uplift, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution, is expanding a partnership with Southwest Airlines to offer payment options for travel to Hawaii, according to a Tuesday (Jan. 18) press release.

Customers can access bookings to the islands through Uplift until Jan. 24 for travel through the end of August, the release stated. The use of Uplift will allow for booking trips in installments, dividing the costs over several monthly payments.

Uplift Chief Commercial Officer Tom Botts said in the release that the partnership with Southwest has yielded “strong growth and customer adoption.” He said the new deal would make it easier to access a Hawaiian vacation.

Through the Uplift portal either online or through mobile, customers can see their total costs along with the monthly payment amounts. This allows them to control their spending better, according to the release.

“Southwest is about connecting our customers to the places that matter most in their lives,” said Southwest Airlines Vice President of Loyalty, Partnerships and Products Jonathan Clarkson in the release. “We know there is a strong travel demand to Hawaii and are excited to fly our customers to the Aloha State. We are grateful to enhance our partnership with Uplift, making travel more accessible, affordable and rewarding by giving Southwest customers the freedom to travel now and pay over time.”

Users can visit destinations including Honolulu (Oahu), Hilo (Hawaii Island), Kahului (Maui), Kona (Hawaii Island) and Lihue (Kauai) nonstop by way of interisland service, the release stated. They can also access those locations from U.S. continental cities like Las Vegas, Long Beach, Sacramento, Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego and more.

In August, Uplift teamed with Tripster, a travel booking site to allow Tripster customers to access BNPL options.

Read more: BNPL Startup Uplift Joins Forces With Tripster

“With the addition of flexible payment options through Uplift, we’ve taken one more potential stress point out of travel planning by allowing our customers to spread the cost of their vacation over low monthly payments,” Tripster Founder and CEO John Johnson said at the time.