The new player in the OTA market is coming from an unexpected place

Revolut, known so far for its platform offering only digital banking and financial services, has paddled new waters. In July, the company’s service called Stays was launched, with which users can now book accommodation within the application.

Stays is the company’s first product to offer services outside the financial sector. It is another step toward building a super-application that offers dozens of application solutions within one interface.

In a nutshell about Revolut

The London-based company was started in 2015 by two Russian entrepreneurs, Vlad Yatsenko and Nikolay Storonsky. The company’s estimated value has now reached $ 33 billion.

Boasting a 16 million user camp, Revolut’s customers are primarily young adults between the ages of 22 and 36.

One of the keys to Revolut’s success is that it provides a useful way to save money when traveling abroad, as money topped up on a Revolut card can be exchanged at a mid-rate when paying or withdrawing money.

What makes Revolut Stays unique

The Revolut Stay application offers a wide range of accommodation, from cheaper guest houses to more expensive hotels, as well as favorable exchange rate conversions, free currency exchanges, travel insurance and a bill splitting application.

The launch of the new product from the service provider starts with a strong impact here as well, as those who book through the application are promised a refund of up to 10% cash.

As value for money still plays the biggest role when booking accommodation, this incentive can make booking through Revolut particularly attractive.

The service was first launched in the UK and will be available across Europe and the Americas in the coming months.

For the time being, only accommodation can be booked through the app, but it is planned that in the future the offer will be expanded with flight bookings, car rentals and other travel services.

GlobalData, the world’s leading data analytics company, says the new super application could create serious competition for giant online OTAs like Booking, TripAdvisor or Expedia.

However, the latter is quite doubtful, because if we look at the legal terms of Revolut Stays, we are surprised to see that travelers can choose from select Expedia accommodations on the Stays interface.

For the time being, Revolut does not even allow accommodation providers to list their rooms directly on the interface. A form is available through which the details of the accommodation in question can be submitted for contact.

How do you book in Revolut Stays?

Stays are available within the Revolut app under the “Marketplace” menu (or in version 8.0 or above, under “My Hub”).

You can search by the usual parameters: location, date, number of guests. There are also sorting and additional filtering options to help you choose. Click on the accommodation in the list of results to get to the datasheet, where you can read the detailed description, map, reviews and booking conditions.

By clicking the room selection button, you find the available room types with a detailed description and the cancellation policy.

After selecting a room, you will see the exact price, the amount to be refunded, and the payment schedule (how much to pay now and how much later).

Once you have entered your personal details, the booking can be finalized, for which Revolut will also send you a confirmation email. The details of the booking can also be viewed within the Stays app under the “My Bookings” tab.

How is the cash refund paid?

The amount of the refundable cash will be shown on the property’s / room’s data sheet at the time of booking.

The amount is maximum 10%, depending on the accommodation selected and the type of Revolut subscription package. Refunds will only be made for the value of the accommodation booked, not for extra expenses incurred during the stay.

If the booking is made with immediate payment from a Revolut account, the refund will appear on the invoice within a few minutes.

For bookings with a later payment option, the booking will be recorded in the Expedia system, but payment will only be made on arrival at the property. It is important to note here that in case of on-site payment, the cashback is only paid if the traveler uses the physical or virtual Revolut card. Revolut will not refund when paying with another credit card.

In case of accommodations that can be booked with a later payment, the Revolut card will be used as guarantee, ie the amount payable in case of no-show or late cancellation will be deducted from the card by Revolut.

In the event of a cancellation, Revolut will, of course, refund any previous payments. However, in case of non-cancellable bookings, we can keep the cash already paid, as in this case the accommodation fee is paid anyway in part or in full.

If we modify our booking and this affects the accommodation fee to be paid – whether it decreases or increases – the service provider will also reduce or increase the amount of cash paid proportionately.

How Revolut Stays will affect direct bookings

There is not much information available just yet. However, based on the current business model, we can assume that the new application will benefit Expedia even more, causing an even bigger headache for hotels looking to raise their direct booking rate to a more sustainable level.

Together with a 10% cash refund and the amount saved thanks to favourable exchange rate for foreign travellers, it will be no easier for hotels to compete.

The question, however, is whether this cash refund is just a marketing campaign to help launch the product, which over time will no longer be sustainable for Revolut either.

On the other hand, we do not yet see how much of the OTA market the new entrant can carve out.

We hope to be able to provide a reassuring answer to this question within a year or two. 

Still have questions? Book a free consultation:

You may also be interested in: