Etihad Airways recently introduced a new online payment service that allows guests to book a flight through its website and arrange to pay for it in cash.

The airline’s guests in the UAE can now book flights or ancillary services conveniently using Pay@home’s online payment option and have the cash collected from their nominated location within 24 hours.

Etihad Airways is the first airline in the Middle East to offer Pay@home, in cooperation with its payment partner, Payfort, which manages cash collections on behalf of the airline.

Pay@home is an easy, safe and stress-free cash payment method enabling collection from homes, still a preferred payment option for many customers in the region.

Justin Warby, Etihad Airways’ Vice President - Direct Sales, said, "In selecting additional payment methods for our guests, we took a very local approach. We wanted to give options which catered for the needs of our guests. The addition of Pay@home will make a significant difference to online bookings.

"With Pay@home, we now offer our guests in the UAE greater choice and flexibility when it comes to paying for the tickets they have booked online. This is part of our commitment to our guests to continuously improve our service offerings."

Booking online can be done on the Etihad official website. When filling in the payment details, guests can select 'Home Cash Collection' as the payment method. Once they complete booking, guests will be contacted to confirm the address they have specified and a suitable time for the collection of payment. Courier teams will collect the payments and provide a receipt.

Pay@home purchases are available only if the reservation is made at least 48 hours before the flight’s departure and the payment is made within 24 hours at the location and time agreed for the collection. Fare price and availability may change or guests can request for the reservation to be cancelled.

The new payment options are only available for UAE Dirham (AED) transactions and for flights departing from Abu Dhabi. Future plans include expanding the Pay@home offering to other strategic markets of Etihad Airways.