Air Canada Customers Can Now Book Flights With PayPal

While this is a first for any Canadian airline, PayPal has existing partnerships with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Need to Know

  • Air Canada now accepts payments via PayPal for customers in Canada.
  • PayPal is one of the leading digital payment systems and is growing its presence in Canada.
  • In the US, PayPal is already a payment option for a number of airlines and travel sites.
  • This new partnership represents PayPal’s ongoing efforts to expand its services for users and compete with credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.

Analysis

In an effort to provide customers with additional payment flexibility, Air Canada has announced a new partnership with PayPal. Canadian customers can now use PayPal’s digital service as a payment option when purchasing Air Canada flights. 

PayPal is one of the world’s most popular online payment systems with over 300 million users worldwide. With PayPal, the checkout process is “secure, fast and convenient to use.” Customers can pay for flights using whatever payment method is linked to their PayPal account, whether that is a banking account, credit card, or Visa debit card. 

“Air Canada’s strategy is to continually provide customers the opportunity to make their purchase using their preferred method of payment,” said Keith Wallis, senior director of Payments and Distribution at Air Canada. 

The partnership with PayPal could be a response to the growing presence of mobile payment options worldwide, and supports PayPal’s goal of “owning the e-commerce experience from start to finish.” PayPal also recently expanded its partnership with Citibank in the US, allowing international Citi customers to deposit funds to their digital PayPal wallets from anywhere in the world. 

PayPal appears eager to grow its presence in Canada too, recently launching a partnership with Visa in Canada, bringing more digital payment options to Canadian consumers. And in 2018, PayPal Canada enabled a feature that allows Canadians to pay federal taxes using PayPal. Canadian Uber riders can also pay for their lifts using PayPal. 

This partnership with Air Canada is likely the first of many more travel-related partnerships in Canada. 

“We’re excited to add Air Canada–our first airline partner in Canada–to a growing fleet of airlines across the globe that leverage our global e-commerce platform to expand their reach,” said Paul Parisi, PayPal Canada President. “Our two companies share the same goal to provide a great checkout experience for travelers, so they spend less time buying tickets online and more time enjoying their trip.”

In the US, PayPal has been a payment option for a number of airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. PayPal is also accepted on popular travel sites such as Expedia, Hotels.com, and Orbitz.