In late January, JetBlue became the first airline to accept Venmo as payment for their flights.
“We’re continually looking for ways to make it easier to book a JetBlue flight on our website and mobile app,” said Carol Clements, chief digital and technology officer, JetBlue. “Adding Venmo offers a seamless payment option for customers who enjoy the ease and convenience of the Venmo platform.”
Of course, there’s been a little hesitancy within the travel world for using Venmo to pay for your flight. The Washington Post reported that customers who used a credit card linked to their Venmo accounts might earn points affiliated with that card, but potentially not all the bonus points and perks one would get if they paid for the flight the old-fashioned way; that is, directly with their credit card.
Plus, of course, scammers immediately took advantage of the new payment system by making fake accounts so JetBlue customers could pay for their in-flight food/beverage with Venmo as well. However, JetBlue only accepts Venmo for flight purchases and not for anything else.
But hey, JetBlue is taking Venmo! Yahoo!
Along the same vein, SeaDream Yacht Club has announced it is the first cruise operator to accept cryptocurrency as a payment option for all voyages.
You probably haven’t heard of SeaDream Yacht Club. Although it’s a cruise line, it’s not really on the same level as Virgin Voyages, Celebrity, MSC, Disney, or even Carnival. It’s a very small cruise line, with just 2 small ships, currently: SeaDream I and SeaDream II.
Established in 2002, with ships built in 1984, SeaDream is privately-owned and headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Although their ships are obviously simply very small cruise ships (54 double occupancy staterooms, 2 suites, 95 crew members), they fancy themselves to be more of a “yacht company” than a cruise company.
Anyway, a few days after JetBlue announced their partnership with Venmo, SeaDream announced its foray into the crypto world. From a January 28 announcement:
“Effective immediately, SeaDream accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and 200+ widely used cryptocurrencies as payment, making it the first cruise shipping company to embrace this digital payment method.
“To facilitate these transactions, SeaDream has partnered with Coinbase Commerce, a leading cryptocurrency payment platform, ensuring secure and efficient payment processing. The move marks a significant innovation in the luxury travel sector, reflecting an increasing demand for cryptocurrency payment options among discerning travelers.”
The move was unveiled during the 2025 WAGMI Blockchain Conference in Miami.
The cruise line now accepts over 200 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, for voyages and charters. They use Coinbase Commerce as their payment gateway.
Cryptocurrency is, of course, an extremely volatile asset and paying with crypto varies greatly from paying with more traditional funds (i.e. it’s not backed by the government, the value changes greatly, payments come with no legal protection, payments are not reversible, etc.). However for those who have embraced cryptocurrency, the fact that SeaDream is now accepting it as payment might be interesting.
No offense, and you do you, but I think I’ll stick to credit cards.
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