Travel firm BeRightBack is using Netflix-style subscriptions for holidays with a twist
How does spending £50 a month for a weekend break in a European destination every four months sound?
That’s what a new UK travel business is offering.
Startup travel business BeRightBack (BRB) has adopted a subscription-based model similar to that of Netflix and Spotify to offer regular holidays where all the flights and the accommodation are booked for you.
The twist is that BRB subscribers never know where they will be flying or what accommodation they will be staying in until just a month before they travel.
Travel enthusiasts Greg Geny and Alex Tomlinson were strangers until they came together in the offices of startup incubator Founders Factory and came up with the idea that led to the founding of BRB.
Geny had worked in the travel industry for seven years, including some time marketing small UK independent hotels. He approached Founders Factory with an idea that became the BRB blueprint. Tomlinson was working at Founders Factory as a product designer helping others come up with new concepts.
The two hit it off and were given £150,000 from Founders Factory to help the business get off the ground. Now the duo has close ties with easyJet and the people behind LastMinute.com, the travel booking website, and BRB is essentially able to offer three trips every 12 months for £600.
Pay only £49.99 a month and travel across Europe
Currently, BRB is offering trips that last up to three days, including two nights’ accommodation, to more than 50 European destinations that include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Croatia and Paris.
Customers can filter out any destinations they don’t want to visit. The BRB guarantee is to put customers up in a hotel with a minimum of three stars and a rating of at least 3.5 out of five on TripAdvisor. Friends can be invited to join the trip with a code. They either pay a one-off fee or subscribe themselves.
Not everything is included. Airport transfers, luggage for the hold, and travel and health insurance have to be arranged by the traveller. The trips fly out and return only to London airports like Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted, though BRB says it has plans to add additional regional airports.
BRB’s holiday packages are all ATOL protected, so customers won’t lose any money or be stranded abroad if the firm collapses.
The way it works is that once you sign up to the service, and inform BRB if you plan to travel with another like a loved one, a friend or just by yourself, you can select the getaways you’d like to experience. It could be a beach holiday, a romantic getaway or a trip, known as a “#4theGram” break, where there will be opportunities to take “instagramable” photos.
Having filtered out any locations where you don’t want to go, you then choose one of two subscription plans. The first is for when you go alone, and the second is where you will be partnering with a loved one or a friend. The incentive to choose the second option is that it costs just £89.99 a month for two people, while the first option is £49.99 a month per person.
Either plan guarantees a surprise trip with travel accommodation every four months. BRB says that trips typically involve flights, but can use other modes of transport, like Eurostar.
Customers receive a postcard revealing the forthcoming destination a month before the weekend that has been chosen.
Geny says the aim is to dispense with “the stress and hassle” of booking holidays, with people arguing over locations and payments.
Ultimately, according to Geny, the aim is for BRB to evolve into a travel concierge for customers. Over time, BRB will learn more about an individual’s travel habits and hopes to be able to offer personalised add-ons to the packages, like interesting excursions and vouchers for restaurants.
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