According to PYMNTS.com, Affirm has become the exclusive “buy now, pay later” provider for Expedia Group in the United States as part of an expanded, multi-year partnership. The companies announced the deal in a press release on Friday, January 30. Canadian travelers will also gain access to Affirm on select Expedia properties within the coming weeks. Expedia Group’s VP of global payments, Jing Yang, stated the offering provides customers with “clarity and confidence,” while Affirm’s SVP of revenue, Pat Suh, noted travelers increasingly factor payment options into trip planning. This adds Expedia to Affirm’s network of nearly 420,000 global merchant partners.
Exclusivity Is the New Battleground
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just another merchant adding a payment option. An exclusive deal is a big deal. It means if you’re booking travel on Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo in the US and you want to split your payment, Affirm is your only game in town. That’s a huge vote of confidence from a travel giant and a defensive move against other BNPL players like Klarna or Afterpay. It locks in volume for Affirm and simplifies the checkout experience for Expedia. After a decade of working together, they’re basically going all-in.
Why This Makes Sense Right Now
Look, travel is expensive. A week-long vacation can easily run into the thousands. Affirm’s model, especially its touted 0% APR options, makes that big-ticket purchase feel more manageable by breaking it into, say, four bi-weekly payments. It turns a luxury into a budgeted line item. For Expedia, it’s a tool to combat cart abandonment and potentially increase the average booking value. If paying $250 every two weeks seems easier than $1,000 today, maybe you’ll book that nicer hotel or a longer trip. It’s a classic BNPL play, just applied to a massive, experience-driven industry.
Affirm’s Aggressive Expansion Playbook
This Expedia news is part of a clear pattern. Just in the last month, Affirm became the default BNPL provider for Bolt‘s merchant network, partnered with Esusu for rent payments, and teamed up with payments platform Gr4vy. They’re embedding their service everywhere—e-commerce, rent, and now travel. CEO Max Levchin is pushing this “profitable growth” hard, as seen in their recent earnings. They’re not just chasing growth for growth’s sake; they’re chasing strategic, exclusive integrations that make them a utility. The goal seems to be becoming so ubiquitous you don’t even think about it.
The Bigger Picture for Travel and Tech
So what does this mean for you? More flexibility, sure. But it also signals how integrated financing has become with the travel planning journey. Expedia’s CEO, Ariane Gorin, talks about their tech as a “connected layer.” Well, payment options are now a core thread in that layer. The risk, as always with BNPL, is consumers overextending themselves on discretionary spending like vacations. But for the companies involved, it’s a win. Expedia smooths the booking path, and Affirm gets a firehose of new, qualified customers. It’s a partnership that makes almost too much sense, which is probably why they made it exclusive.
