Online travel agency Travelstart has teamed up with retailer Pick n Pay, to enable customers to pay for flights at Pick n Pay stores nationwide.

The new pay-in-store option allows users to book their flights on the Travelstart Web site and pay for them at their nearest participating Pick n Pay store across SA.

Travelstart was founded in 1999 in Sweden and launched in SA in 2006, with offices in Cape Town, Dubai, Istanbul, Lagos, Cairo and Dar es Salaam.

The online agency provides over two million monthly travellers with real-time access to information on flights from carriers across 18 countries.

While online purchases provide a seamless payment option, Travelstart says there are still many travellers who prefer to make walk-in purchases due to payment security reasons or for convenience.

"The pay-in-store feature brings a new level of convenience for customers who enjoy the ease of booking online but prefer to pay in person," says Odette Faling, Travelstart's head of global partnerships.

"Pick n Pay's footprint spans 1 076 stores nationwide and offers our customers a comprehensive and convenient pay point network.

"Our intention is to continue building a comprehensive and convenient pay point network by partnering with retail giants and other suitable partners with an extensive presence in communities across South Africa."

Travelstart's payment options include pay-in-store, credit card and electronic funds transfer.

The new partnership makes Pick n Pay the second retailer to partner with Travelstart, after the booking platform collaborated with Pep stores in June. Travelstart says it now has a retail presence at over 1 500 outlets across SA, making it the first online travel agency to reach this milestone.

The online travel agency says it is looking to add more retail partnerships in future.

"To use the pay-in-store service, customers should follow the normal steps when booking flights on Travelstart.co.za and select 'Pay@' in the payment step. Following that, customers will receive a reference number which they can take to their nearest Pick n Pay to pay for flights up to the value of R20 000," notes Faling.

In December 2017, Travelstart bought a majority stake in accommodation booking Web site SafariNow as part of its strategy to reshape the online travel industry in Africa, and to combat challenges around payments and content aggregation

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