This post is exactly what it says it is. We’re not going to cover the intricate processes involved to get the best hotel or flight deals, but we’ll show you a very simple way to stop throwing money away with every booking you make. When people go to book travel, they get so excited that they forget an extremely lucrative opportunity to immediately put money back in their pocket…
Yes, that’s right. Cash back-for all the flights, hotels, rental cars and other services you book. How? You get money just for clicking over to the travel company- through their site. The amount of cash back varies on the merchant, so depending who you’re booking with, you may get more or less cash back. Sometimes cash back can be as high as 12%, which is obviously some serious cash. And yes, it’s real cash-not gift cards. Sign up HERE.
The internet is all about steering traffic. In exchange for bringing sales their way, airlines, hotels and other travel brands pay companies like TopCashBack a certain amount or percentage of a sale. The more eager for customers, the more they pay, the more TopCashBack can share with you. This goes for all industries, so don’t forget to use TopCashBack, or one of their competitors like eBates for other purchases too.
Basically, you create a free account on TopCashBack (here), and then before making any travel purchase, you go to TopCashBack.com, see if the merchant you’re purchasing from is on there, and click through to the sale from TopCashBack. It’s that easy. You can do this for almost all internet purchases. So, if I’m purchasing an American Airlines ticket, I’ll find the deal, then visit TopCashBack, find American Airlines, click over, and get some money back.
Moral of the story: you should always be getting something in return for your online purchases. TopCashBack isn’t the only player in the game. Each airline has their own similar program, but instead of money, you get a set number of miles in return, on your non travel purchases. For travel purchases, TopCashBack is a great look- but so are their competitors, like eBates, QuidClick, etc. It’s worth browsing to see if one has a better cash back rate than the other…
The only real downside is that sometimes the portal doesn’t choose to pay out, even when they should. For instance, Top Cashback chose not to honor the payout on $3,000 worth of Hotels.com bookings I made that were supposed to pay out 5%. They’ve generally paid in the past, but the first time that I did a really big item, they decided that their terms didn’t mean what they said. Just a caution.
What happened to my prior comment?
Thanks for sharing this tip.
Alastair Majury
Quidco tend to be good, too. I collect frequently on IHG, BA, Hotels.com. You end up getting cash back as well as your normal points and status in each respective loyalty scheme, e.g. go via cashback site to IHG you get cashback but still classed as direct booking so get status nights and points.
Top tip. Clear your browser cache of cookies first. If you don’t and have visited the travel company’s website before going to cashback website, it probably won’t track and they definitely won’t pay out.
Some companies aren’t very reputable when it comes to honouring points using portals. I’ve learnt to avoid a few bad apples especially anyone offering ‘upto x amount’ and of course booking.com
This doesn’t even come close to being the most expensive mistake travelers make. Find out what it really is here: http://www.breakthetravelbarrier.com/_literature_167911/Vancouver_983fm_-_What_Airlines_Do_with_Lost_Luggage.mp3
My wife was looking for a hotel in Dubai the other day through booking.com. She decided to use quidco to save a bit. When she clicked through from quidco then the hotel was more expensive for same dates etc that if going direct to booking.com.
Beware the offer that isn’t all it seems!