Sabre and Uplift Partner to Enable Hotels to Offer BNPL

Sabre Hospitality and Uplift have partnered to enable hotels to offer their guests a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option.

With this collaboration, Uplift’s pay-monthly option will be integrated into Sabre’s SynXis platform, the companies said in a Monday (May 20) press release.

“Our collaboration with Uplift underscores our unwavering commitment to innovation and responsiveness to market demands,” Scott Wilson, president at Sabre Hospitality, said in the release. “By embracing Uplift’s cutting-edge technology, we surpass expectations, providing our clients and their guests with unparalleled convenience and flexibility.”

Sabre Hospitality is a division of Sabre Corp. and a provider of software and technology for the global travel industry, according to the release.

Uplift provides its BNPL solution to travel brands, partnering with more than 350 airlines, cruise lines, resorts and other major travel providers, the release said.

The collaboration of the two companies will allow hotels to adopt flexible payment choices that resonate with guests at every price point, per the release.

“The travel landscape is constantly evolving, and consumers increasingly seek flexibility in payment options,” Tom Botts, chief commercial officer at Uplift, said in the release. “Our partnership with Sabre Hospitality is a testament to our shared vision of addressing these evolving needs.”

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that younger consumers lean toward BNPL options when financing their leisure travel expenses.

During the summer of 2023, 30% of millennials and 29% of Gen Z consumers used or planned to use BNPL for their summer travel expenses, compared to just 5% of baby boomers and seniors, according to “The Credit Economy: How Consumers Financed Their Summer Travel,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and i2c collaboration.

Another payment option that Sabre enables for the travel sector is virtual cards. In February, Sabre and Revolut reported that their collaboration onboarded more than 40 customers in less than a year, with Revolut’s virtual cards being generated within the Sabre Virtual Payments platform.

In October 2023, Sabre said it partnered with CellPoint Digital to give Sabre customers access to CellPoint Digital’s suite of payment services. This integration allows airlines, agencies and hotels using Sabre solutions to gain easier access to payment orchestration solutions.