We reported in January that UK-based company PrivateFly.com had begun accepting Bitcoin payments for its private jet charters. Before January was through, someone took them up on the offer.
On January 27, Bitcoin Foundation member Olivier Janssens flew from Brussels, Belgium, to Nice, France, on a PrivateFly jet.
Janssens was all too quick to underscore that his investment was worth the money. “The flight was the biggest bitcoin payment transaction I have made, but it was very easy and efficient, particularly as I wanted to fly at very short notice,” he said.
PrivateFly CEO Adam Twidell noted that same-day bookings are common in this industry, so the company finds it useful to have a form of payment that is fast, flexible and not restricted by banking hours.
PrivateFly uses BitPay to process payments, but prices on the website are only listed in fiat currencies.
Janssens himself made a fortune as a Bitcoin miner back in the currency’s early days. When the price of Bitcoin took off in 2013, he was three years ahead of the curve.
Incidentally, he was already a PrivateFly customer, but said when the company turned to Bitcoin, he was “the first in line.”
Such bookings indicate that Bitcoin barons are not hoarding their wealth, as some of feared, but are comfortable spending their money even on extravagances, so long as the payment infrastructure is in place.