The Lollipop Road

Posts Tagged ‘travel discounts’

Making travel more affordable is a multi-step process.  There isn’t just one magic trick that will save you thousands – there are many.  We post travel deals every Wednesday in hopes of pointing you in the right direction, but we’re also going to train you to do some of that research yourself.

One of the strategies for obtaining travel discounts is through cash back websites.  Some folks go absolutely crazy and belong to almost all of them and others have never even heard of them.  We are weeding through them to determine what you should look for in a cash back website and some examples of the winners.

Let’s start with a list of qualities we want in a good cash back website:

• Ease of use and speed – getting there and getting around is easy and takes less than 30 seconds.
• The site has a simple search feature and category feature that allows you to identify whether or not there is a rebate for the merchant you want
• The website offers a wide variety of merchants (especially in our target area of travel)
• Credit or cash back and payments to you are regular and reliable
• There is no spam or unwanted solicitations
• There are few or no restrictions on getting your rebates
• The website offers other coupon and discount information
• Longevity and viability

Although there are lots of sites out there, when you look at all of the criteria we’ve outlined, we can only recommend two websites at this time.  These are the best websites for cash back on travel.

The first is Ebates, which has been around since 1999.  Since that time, they have paid over $50 million to their members.  In our opinion, this is the best cash back site on the internet.  We’ve been members since 2000 and have never had a single problem getting paid.  Even when we moved and a check never arrived, a simple e-mail to them had us a replacement check within two weeks.  Those were the old days, now the money is deposited directly into our Paypal account.  The upside is that Ebates has tons of merchants and cash back gets credited quickly (usually 48 hours), but payments only happen every 3 months and only if you have $5.01 or more in your account.  If you don’t meet the minimum, the money is carried over to the next quarter.  Ebates also lists coupons and additional discounts available at select merchants.  Take a look at some of the rebates available:

Another drawback of Ebates is that it doesn’t always have the best cash back offer, so you should always check all websites before making your purchase.  Ebates does offer special promotional cash back rates and a Double Cash Back Deal for one or more stores each day, so you must check each time you shop and not just assume that one or the other has the best offer solely based upon historical offers.  Sign-up using this link or the link above and you will eligible to receive $5 free cash in your Ebates account when you make a minimum $20 purchase at one of their merchants within 90 days of joining.  By using this referral link or the Ebates link above, we will receive a $5 referral bonus upon your completion of the above requirements.

Our second recommendation is Fat Wallet, which has also been around since 1999, although cash back was not launched until 2001.  The site is easy to use and unlike Ebates, there is no minimum amount required to request a cash payment to your Paypal account ($10 minimum if you want a check).  There is a 60 waiting period from time of purchase, which protects Fat Wallet from loss of commission if you return the item.  Although Fat Wallet has fewer travel merchants, sometimes the cash back is higher, which is what this is all about.  You’ll also find some great forums with coupons and discounts to help you save even more.  Below is a sample of current cash back offers that are better than Ebates:

Sign-up for Fat Wallet and you also get access to participate in their forums, which can’t be beat for finding super deals!

At the end of the day, some of these amounts are small, but others can really add up.  A 5% rebate on a $1,000 one-week hotel stay will get you $50.  As I said in the beginning, this is just one of the tricks to saving $$$.  You may use one, two or more savings opportunities while planning the same trip.  The goal is to be consistent and always check these two cash back sites before reserving your travel.  The detour will add about 30 seconds and you’ll save some real money.  Of course, you should be using these tools for all merchants, not just travel.  Go forth and prosper…

Disclosure

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve probably figured out that I hate paying more for anything than is absolutely necessary.  Some people have even gone as far as to call me cheap!  Okay, I see their point, but I rather like to think of myself as frugal.  Understand that the fine line between the two may be blurry at times, but the bottom line is that every penny saved means more family vacation time.  Nobody can argue against that, right?

I talk about cruising quite a bit because it’s something that I’ve done a lot of over the years (27 cruises and counting), so price is always an important factor.  One easy way to save up to 10% off of your cruise fare is to choose a travel agent/agency that rebates heavily.  Now, I know that I’m risking being attacked by every travel agent out there, but look, 10% isn’t chump change and in this economy, every penny counts.

Of course, the agents that rebate the most will typically do the least amount of research and handholding.  You can easily tailor the level of rebate/incentive that you get by choosing an agent and corresponding level of service that is right for you.  In my case, having been an outside sales agent for several different travel agencies in the past, I can pretty much do everything myself.  Not surprisingly, I expect and look for the biggest rebate.

Rebates and incentives can come in several forms, including money directly off of the cruise fare, onboard credits and free onboard services and gifts.  That is my order of preference, but cruise lines have certain restrictions in place that may limit a travel agent’s ability to rebate.  Both Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line allow the most direct form of incentive – money off of the cruise fare right up front.  Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line, however, require incentives to be in the form of onboard credits or gifts.  Due to the competitive pricing restrictions, travel agencies generally cannot advertise prices net of incentives, so you’ll either need to contact them directly or in the case of a web-based agency, join their “club” and read the fine print.

The amount of rebate or incentive offered will usually correspond to the total price of the cruise.  For example, you’ll be more likely to obtain 10% off of a $5,000 cruise than a $500 cruise.  Remember, these dollars off or onboard incentives are based upon the base cruise fare before port charges, taxes and fees.  Some agencies will also exclude the 3rd/4th passenger fares from the rebate calculation.

Most cruisers, especially first timers and those who are less experienced, will stick with a travel agent that can provide a greater degree of service and assistance.  You can find “full service” travel agents that provide incentives - all you have to do is ask.  Travel agencies are just as motivated as any other company to gain your business in this tough economy, so don’t be leaving money on the table. 

I’m always looking for agencies that provide significant incentives or discounts, so if you know of one or you are one, please leave a comment. We are working on compiling a list of reputable agencies that we can recommend to our readers in the future.

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

Disclosure

Every dollar that we can save when traveling with our family is one more dollar toward our next trip.  One of the many ways that we save on travel is by using the AAA card.  We’ve had it for a couple of years now and we’ve saved far more than the annual cost of membership (although we got it as a gift so it actually cost us nothing). Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever I make travel reservations via the internet, I always try to find a coupon or discount in addition to whatever rebates that may be available.  After years of searching for a one-stop website for coupon codes and discounts, I stumbled upon RetailMeNot.  Having used this website almost exclusively for the last year, I can tell you that it has the most extensive listing of coupon codes on the internet…that doesn’t mean that they always work. Read the rest of this entry »