Subscription services are already popular in the US, but the UK market is starting to catch on
After selling out in only 48 hours in August, budget airline Wizz Air’s “All You Can Fly” membership is back on sale.
For the price of €599 (£495), passengers snapping up the pass can book an unlimited number of flights across a 12-month period, to nearly 200 destinations in more than 50 countries.
Of course, there are plenty of terms and conditions to consider before diving in to such a membership – and there are only a limited number of passes available, so they are likely to sell out quickly.
Each flight with Wizz Air will cost an additional €9.99 (£8.27) to book and members will have to be flexible, as they’ll only be able to choose a flight 72 hours before the date and time of departure.
Add-ons like baggage and seat selection are also not included in the membership fee, and have to be added separately to each booking. Seats are also not guaranteed to be available on each flight, either. But, Wizz Air says, this subscription service means that travellers can discover destinations they might not previously have considered, all while filling seats to ensure a plane flies more efficiently.
If you’re more into travelling by ship than plane, you might be interested to hear that Virgin Voyages has launched a pass that will allow unlimited sailings for an entire year.
It’s available on a first come, first served basis, ending on 31 March, 2025, and passengers can embark from anywhere, at any time, and explore more than 100 destinations offered by Virgin.
The company says the pass offers “better value than living in most major cities”, and it certainly has plenty of perks, including priority boarding, complimentary laundry services, dedicated concierge support, unlimited premium Wi-Fi, a $100 (£78) bar tab credit per voyage, and access to exclusive events and experiences on-board.
Priced at just under £95,000, it’s certainly a lot costlier than Wizz Air’s offering. In fact, that works out to £260 a night, which is fairly steep, especially considering that, as part of their Black Friday deals, the company was offering trips on selected routes starting at £78.50 per person, per night.
Aside from financial implications, Justin Francis, the founder and executive chair of Responsible Travel, is concerned that people aren’t considering the environmental impact of such schemes.
“One of the most impactful things we can do to travel more responsibly is to fly less and stay longer in our chosen destination. This helps to curb our holiday carbon emissions, while trying to ensure money generated by our trip reaches local hands,” he says.
“Subscriptions that encourage multiple short trips are encouraging the opposite.”
Weigh up your options
Wizz Air says that since the initial launch of the All You Can Fly scheme in August, members have been able to successfully find availability on their preferred flights in over 90 per cent of cases.
On average, it says, each existing pass holder has already made an average of two or three trips per month. One frequent traveller has even managed to fly 38 times using the membership – but they’re in the minority.
The annual fee of £495 works out at £41.25 a month – before you factor in extra charges.
Considering that a one-way flight with Wizz Air starts from just £12.99, depending on when you book, you’d have to take just over three flights a month to make the subscription worthwhile.
If you are the kind of traveller who enjoys playing quasi-Russian roulette with your trips, can happily book at the last minute, and have the time to take as many flights as you want every month, then such a subscription could well be your new best friend.
Schemes like those offered up by Wizz Air and Virgin Voyages are still fairly novel in the UK and Europe.
In the United States, though, it’s a different story.
Research published by data gathering company Statista in November found that around 17 per cent of all adults in the US say they have signed up for a paid travel subscription programme.
These range from high-end schemes, like Inspirato which costs $2,550 (£1,998) per month, plus a $2,550 enrollment fee, and includes luxury trips like hotels, cruises and holiday rentals, to Selina CoLive.
That enterprise costs from $330 (£258) a month, and gives remote workers discounts on accommodation, coworking spaces and wellness classes.
The UK is slowly following in America’s footsteps. For instance, membership club MycitizenM+ now offers 15 per cent discounts on the chain’s hotel rooms and on-site food, as well as free late check outs, for a monthly fee of £90 (or $120 in the US).
It seems to be a fine line between a successful subscription service and one that can’t quite crack the market.
Earlier this year, Tripadvisor put its Tripadvisor Plus scheme to bed just two years after it launched, following disagreements with the hotels it offered discounts to and issues surrounding its paywall.
Even if the UK is not yet sold – or able to access – subscription schemes, travellers are increasingly opting to pay for their trips in instalments to make their holidays more affordable.
Consider the long-term cost of installment options
Statista findings published earlier this year show that in 2022 the use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) or pay in installment platforms like PayPal and Klarna now far outweigh credit cards in paying for trips.
It found that, on average, 46 per cent of global consumers preferred BNPL in comparison to a quarter of consumers who said they would opt for credit cards. In the UK and Europe, that figure was even higher, with the use of credit cards to pay for trips relatively uncommon.
There could be a fairly simple reason behind that – the lack of interest to be paid in most BNPL programmes, and the fact that these companies often only do a “soft” credit check, which doesn’t usually affect credit scores.
This kind of spending, especially compared to credit card fees, which can soon rack up, can be appealing to many travellers – but experts are urging caution over taking too blasé an attitude.
“When even budget holidays can cost hundreds of pounds, finding ways to make a getaway more affordable and spread the cost are understandably attractive. However, you should think carefully about whether BNPL is right for you,” Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, told The i Paper.
“Always make sure you understand the terms and conditions, particularly as missing payments can incur late payment fees, and ultimately damage your credit score.”
Boland also wants to make those sucked in by the surface level appeal of BNPL aware that it’s not always as safe an option as it might seem.
“Holidaymakers should also be aware that this form of credit doesn’t currently carry the same level of protections as booking with a credit card,” he explains.
“If something goes wrong with your trip, you won’t be able to recoup your costs via Section 75 [of the Consumer Credit Act 1974], and because BNPL providers are currently unregulated, you can’t make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received.”