Your future could include a travel NFT as the ‘world’s first non-fungible token flight ticket series’ launches.

Non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs, have been growing in popularity in recent years. NFTs are common in the art, gaming, sports, fashion, and entertainment spaces — but there may also be a travel NFT in your future.

To help you better understand this new development, here’s an explainer on NFTs and the launch of what’s being called “the world’s first non-fungible token flight ticket.”

NFTs Explained

As noted above, NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” In general, NFTs are assets that live on a blockchain and are 100% unique due to cryptographic identification codes and specific metadata. NFTs are not interchangeable or replicable but they are transferable.

Many times, NFTs are created to represent real-world assets like homes, artwork, trading cards, etc. When NFTs first became trendy, their value skyrocketed. The market for NFTs has since mellowed a bit, but people are still using NFTs as tokens that can be traded, purchased, or sold.

TravelX Launches Travel NFTs

TravelX is a blockchain company that has announced the non-fungible token flight ticket series that could alter the way individuals and corporations travel in the future.

To start, TravelX is launching a set of NFT airlines tickets for an upcoming Air Europa flight destined for Miami. These tickets, naturally, are called NFTickets. These NFTickets will eventually be the same as modern-day e-tickets that update as flight schedules change and are beholden to specific rules.

The Benefits of Travel NFTs

Corporations might prefer NFT-based airline tickets because they are interchangeable (up to 48 hours before a flight in TravelX’s case). A company that’s sending a group to an event, for example, could purchase 20 tickets for a single flight and then wait until 48 hours before the event to decide who’s going.

Eventually, the protocols developed by TravelX could be used for the distribution of NFT airline tickets outside of the company’s platform.

There’s no limitation on using NFTs for domestic flights versus international flights. This initial set of NFTs are for a flight going from Europe to the United States. NFTs for international flights may even help reduce the administrative burden of transferring tickets given the extra documentation need for international travel.

Other Travel Use Cases for NFTs

This initial foray into travel NFTs is in the airline space, but NFTs could soon be used for other portions of business travel. For example, NFTs could be created and launched for certain hotel experiences or rental cars — or even for entertainment and leisure experiences in various cities. NFTs could also be launched related to loyalty programs by travel vendors that want to capture more business Travelers.

Stay on Top of New Travel-Related Developments

The travel industry moves forward with new innovations and developments at a pace that’s difficult for Travelers and Travel Managers to keep up with. 

At JTB Business Travel, we keep up with these new innovations and developments so that our clients don’t have to. We incorporate into our services the latest and greatest across the travel industry if it helps companies maximize their investment in travel while also helping Travelers enjoy comfortable, productive itineraries.

You can stay up to date on the latest in the travel industry by following our Waypoint Blog. You can also get in touch with us to learn more about what we can offer as your travel management company.