It’s been a year that I’ve been testing a Discovery Bank account. You may recall my original post about it here where I outlined my three months with it.

Upfront disclaimer: Discovery waived my fees, and I still have my FNB account. I use both bank accounts plus maintain my rewards on both. I do different things on each to maximise benefits.

Earlier this year, Discovery Bank updated the app to allow customers to book flights directly on the banking app. I’ve had a busy first quarter with international travels, then it was Ramadan, had local business trips, so after many many months, I finally got to test it for myself for the first time.

When I booked my flights in June to go to Durban this July, it was a “last minute” decision to book, so flights were not cheap to begin with, and there was no sale. With my rewards tier combined from Vitality Health and Vitality Money, I received a 44% discount. I paid for my own flights.

HOW TO BOOK FLIGHTS ON DISCOVERY BANK

STEP 1: Log into the Discovery Bank app and tap the “Transact” button at the bottom of your screen.

STEP 2: Tap on the “Travel” button and select the Flights option on the next screen.

STEP 3: Make a booking (trip type; cabin class; to/from; dates; and passengers). Family members will appear on the passenger list, according to your linked Discovery medical aid. Choose who will be traveling.

STEP 4: You will see a list of flights options. Go into the right dropdown menu to see fare type and rules. You can see upfront if for info like refund, bags, and if there will be a penalty for changes.

Example of flight info on the Discovery Bank app

STEP 5: Select the flight/s, and on the next page you will see the itinerary: a breakdown of base price, discount, booking fee and taxes. I like how it’s displayed without info being “hidden”. I booked with FlySafair and opened the website open to confirm I was indeed getting the same price as advertised, with my discount. (I have way too many scars from when I used Kulula, LOL). You can pay with your bank card attached to your account, without typing your details again.

And that’s really it.

It’s a seamless integration without putting your personal details, date of birth, email, banking info etc. If you like the convenience of this, then it’s worth doing your booking. Of course, it helps having a decent Vitality Health and Vitality Money status to maximise your discount. My flight details were automatically emailed to me. You get a reference number for the booking itself from the app, and then your booking code with the airline you chose. I loaded my booking immediately onto the FlySafair app.

One thing to note: If you book directly on FlySafair, you get a free “refund to voucher” option. This is a personal preference and choice you make between a discount or possibility of not making the flight. If there’s one thing I miss about Mango Airlines, you could sell your ticket to anyone if you could no longer make your flight because they allowed name changes for a small fee.