I believe that cryptocurrencies will go mainstream when the common man wants to use it because it makes life easier, cheaper and/or better. LockTrip is a project that does so when it comes to finding cheap accommodation online. And for that reason, I just gave it a try!
I have written and mentioned LockTrip earlier as one of those cryptocurrencies that I believe will make even grandmother Mary use cryptocurrencies. It is not because she is a tech-maniac, but because she wants to save money. LockTrip is a platform on which you can book your hotel room online, just like Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com and similar sites. But, there is one big difference – they do it with 0% commission. And if you did not know, that is a major difference. Big booking sites take very big fees for what they do, so when LockTrip comes up with their 0% commission structure, you can easily save between 15%-25% on every single booking you do. How is that possible? It is very much thanks to the blockchain technology which will make the booking process cheaper. It is also because they will be able to earn money in other ways. It will be possible for hotels to pay fees to LockTrip for different services, and thus the platform will earn money, even if they run with 0% commission.
My first experience with LockTrip
As I mentioned, I have written about LockTrip earlier, but it was just recently that I actually got to try it myself. I have got to say first, that LockTrip is still running in an alpha version, meaning that things do not work perfectly, and things are not at all as easy as they will soon be.
First of all, LockTrip will soon implement online payment methods to their platform. As a result, anyone can pay with their VISA-card for the booking they are interested in. Behind the stage, the platform will then buy LOC tokens at market price which will be used to pay for the room, but the user will not notice what’s going on.
At the moment, this is not working, but it is to be implemented by the end of August 2018. But, when I did my booking I had to buy LOC tokens on an exchange (I used Bancor), and then I transferred those to my LockTrip account. I could then use those to perform the booking myself.
Unfortunately, I got into some trouble with my booking (somehow my dates got mixed up), but luckily I got quick help from the LockTrip crew on Telegram, and quite quickly the reservation was fixed and I was ready to travel!
Was there any price difference using LockTrip?
If I had booked the same room using Booking.com, the price would have been 302 USD. Using LockTrip, the price of my room in Vienna was approximately 270 USD. That is a bit more than 10% difference. It might not be a lot, but it is more than enough for me to use LockTrip in the future instead of Booking.com or some other booking site.
As the booking was confirmed I received a voucher in my email. I show this upon arrival at the hotel, and everything was in order.
I have just returned from Vienna, and I had a great time. I have used LockTrip for the first time in my life, but for sure not for the last time. This is a cryptocurrency project that has a future and has a grand potential. It might be that most cryptocurrencies will die (and it would probably be good if they did), but LockTrip certainly deserves to have a place among the most interesting cryptocurrencies on the market.