Should You Be Taking Advantage Of Buy Now, Pay Later Flights?

There's no getting around it: flights keep getting more and more expensive. The ability to pay for the price of your plane tickets a little bit at a time instead of in one big chunk can make it possible to sneak a future trip into your budget. Rather than trying to trick the algorithm by using incognito mode (which is a myth, anyway) you might want to take advantage of financing through your chosen airline or a travel agency to essentially take out a loan for the full cost of the flight and pay it off in chunks on a predetermined schedule. But is it a good idea?

To find out whether buy now, pay later (BNPL) is a good way to afford pricey flights, Islands consulted Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Analyst at LendingTree, author of "Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How To Take Control Of Your Financial Life," and writer of a monthly newsletter packed with personal finance tips and tricks. Schulz told us: "Buy now pay later can be an amazing tool if used wisely. ... but you need to be careful. BNPL loans generally need to be paid off in full in four payments over about six weeks. ...That makes them pretty risky for really large purchases. How large is too large will depend on each individual, but it is important for folks to take the time to think about their own risk tolerance before they apply."

If you aren't able to find a cheap, last minute flight, there are definitely advantages to using buy now pay later financing to pay for your trip. As financial expert Matt Schulz explained, these loans are easy to get and often don't charge you interest. If you struggle with using credit cards, they're also a good fit, since they don't open up a new line of credit. When they're paid off, they're gone. However, if there's a chance you won't be able to make the payments, it's probably not worth the risk. As Schulz stated: "It is absolutely essential that you feel comfortable paying the purchase off during the required time. If you don't, you could end up having your credit dinged, getting hit with late fees and potentially even being banned from using the lender's service again in the future."

If you are going to take advantage of how easy it is to get buy now pay later financing for flights, it's important not to overdo it or forget about how much they're going to add to your monthly bills. If you have a lot of big expenses coming up, it can be tempting to break them all up into more manageable payments — but ultimately all those charges are going to hit your bank account sooner or later. Schulz warned: "Because they're so easy to get, people sometimes end up getting several of them in a very short period of time, which can make things really complicated to manage."

Obviously, paying for the entire flight upfront is the simplest way to handle paying for your vacation — but taking that entire hit to your bank account at once can be a challenge. If a buy now, pay later payment plan isn't right for you, though, you're not alone. Matt Schulz stated that buy now, pay later wouldn't be his first choice for paying off a large flight. His alternative? The right credit card. He explained: "You can earn rewards and perks, get more consumer protections and have more flexible payments than you would with BNPL."

In addition to the points you can earn for putting a large purchase like a flight on a credit card, Schulz reminded us that unlike when you take out a buy now, pay later loan, with a credit card you are able to make smaller payments on it whenever you want, paying the total off in even smaller bites than what BNPL offers. It's also worth noting that credit cards make returns significantly simpler than BNPL — and you know all of the details. As tiring as going through all the fine print on a credit card offer can be, at least you know exactly what you're agreeing to. According to Schulz, "BNPL lenders aren't subject to the same requirements that credit card issuers face when it comes to disclosing information about the loan."