Now, flight tickets can be bought on Amazon app

Buyers in India can already send money, pay bills, recharge for prepaid mobiles and order food, other than buying and selling products on Amazon's app and website. Now, the e-commerce giant has gently added an additional feature to the long list of things people can do on Amazon: Domestic flight bookings.

Launched in partnership with Cleartrip, the new flight booking service can be accessed via Amazon Pay section in the Amazon app or on the Amazon.in website. The addition of the new service highlights Amazon's interest in expanding its payment service in India and take on Google Pay and Paytm. Google Pay offers train ticket booking and Paytm offers train, flight and hotel bookings.

Amazon is advertising low cancellation fees, seemless cashback rewards, transparent prices and ease of booking as some of the major highlights. The online retailer has said that the cashback offers will remain active till May 31. The company is offering cashbacks ranging from Rs 800 to Rs 2,000 to the Prime subscribers and Rs 400 to Rs 1,600 to non-Prime members. Meanwhile, the amount of cashback that a customer is entitled to depends on the transaction value of the booking undertaken by the customer. The transaction value of the booking is also inclusive of the ticket fare.

"Over the past year, customers have rapidly adopted our payments services such as mobile recharges, utility payments and money transfers," said Shariq Plasticwala, Director, Amazon Pay, in a statement. "We're delighted to add domestic flight bookings enabling customers to do more with their Amazon app and for Prime members to get more value from their membership. We are excited to partner with Cleartrip and share their passion of creating best in class travel experiences."

Meanwhile, the flight booking made on the Amazon will be handled by Cleartrip and the retailer will just provide the space for flight bookings. Amazon will generate a Cleartrip ID which is the reference number for bookings.

Last month, Amazon launched peer-to-peer payments via Amazon Pay for Android users in India. The feature allows customers to make instant bank-to-bank transactions through the UPI platform on the localised version of the Amazon app. The service is built on the Indian government-backed UPI platform, which is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

Amazon's entry into flight booking in India could also benefit Cleartrip in the country. Cleartrip competes with MakeMyTrip, Booking.com and Paytm.

Edited By: Udit Verma

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