Fomo Travel: the lay-by startup looking to make travel easier

Travelling the world can be a costly endeavour, however, SA startup FOMO Travel aims to make it much less of a burden on your wallet.

The company was started last year by Andrew Katzwinkel and is described as a lay-by service for budding travellers. The team also consists of Vuyisa Qabaka, who’s a mentor to Andrew and a board member of Fomo; Dean Cannell, a tech partner; Bradley Elliot from Platinum Seed, who’s involved with their digital marketing as well as Brian and Lee-Ann Singer of The Singer Group, who are infrastructural partners.

“I decided to start Fomo Travel because too many South Africans are being prohibited from seeing the world due to the current payment methods on offer. We are forced into a corner to use credit or immediate payment which in turn deters the keen traveller from ever going on their dream holiday,” said Katzwinkel in an interview with Ventureburn.

Since the launch, the startup has received over 4000 signups and 7000 active followers/subscribers to FOMO, according to Katzwinkel.

Fomo Travel is a B2B, B2C payment solution which helps to facilitate the buying and selling of travel packages using what they like to call a “Social Savings Lay-By Model”.

“We have taken a traditional lay-by business model onto the online space and enhanced its offering by making the model dynamic through fluctuating recurring payments on contributions and kickback incentives,” continued Katzwinkel.

Fomo Travel aims to give South Africans a more affordable way to travel the world

Using this type of payment mechanism helps consumers break down their travel cost into smaller manageable monthly payments, making saving for the trip that much easier.

Fomo Travel has also incorporated an incentive scheme which allows you to reduce the cost of your trip. This can be done by sharing your trip on social media with friends and family, allowing them to contribute to your journey.

But don’t be mistaken, this SME is not a travel agency. “The affiliate agreement with tour operators is simple. We believe that travel agents are the experts and they should do what they’re good at and create amazing holiday deals for keen travellers, well, we do what we’re good at and that is to help and guide keen travellers to a debt-free, conscience free holiday,” said Katzwinkel.

Another benefit for affiliates, as mentioned by Katzwinkel, is that Fomo’s approach to paying for a holiday leaves customers free of debt, creating a returning customer.

Some of their travel partners include the Singer Group, which has a wide selection of travel agencies such as XL Embassy Travel; they’ve also established relations with Beachcomber, Holiday Factory, Pure Sports and Pure Ski.

What happens then when an unexpected issue arises before your trip and you can no longer go?

“The terms and conditions are based on the affiliates’ cancellations terms. This will differ between package size etc. however I can say a rule of thumb is that you will receive 75% of your money back if you cancel anytime before 12 weeks prior to your departure and 50% before 8 weeks after which 100% cancellation will apply,” said Katzwinkel.

The founder added that they understood there was a “long way to go” but that they were keen to turn travellers’ “dreams into reality”.