There's a cheaper alternative to Booking.com and Airbnb

LockTrip, a European company, is looking to connect blockchain with the accommodation industry with the help of, what is considered to be "the first functional blockchain-based travel service." LockTrip's team of developers says that the company already offers 100,000 hotels and over 1,500 vacation rentals across the world. LockTrip has an average discount of almost 20 percent when compared to its competitors. Along with this, LockTrip is looking to triple its hotels and add 900 airlines to its marketplace bu the end of January, 2019.

Smart contract travel booking

Accommodations with zero commission can be booked directly through the existing LockTrip’s beta marketplace. To make the booking process easier for users who are unfamiliar with blockchain, the startup has created a service model that allows an instant connection between credit cards and the company’s ERC-20 LOC token. Travelers who are not crypto-oriented can make reservations by using a credit card in the exact same way as on any regular travel site, and the exchange for crypto will be executed automatically via an API connectivity with exchanges where LOC is traded.

Each booking is locked into a smart contract until the checkout is done. The company says booking through their marketplace is much more affordable and secure for the guests when compared to traditional ways of making reservations, in which the customer risks not getting the service that has already been paid for.

In addition to the web-based travel marketplace, LockTrip has already launched its mobile app for Android and iOS. The startup is also working on creating its own hybrid proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain for which they have already deployed an operational testnet. The LockTrip PoS blockchain would embody the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company hopes to build a platform that can support Ethereum apps while reaching even more transactions per second.

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