Travel Rebates Save You Money

Author: Randy

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:

Merchant	Cash Back
Delta	2.0%
Holiday Inn	5%
Expedia	1%
Southwest Vacations	3%
Riu Hotels & Resorts	2.5%
Choice Hotels	5%
Hotwire	2%

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:

Merchant	Cash Back
JetBlue	2%
Virgin Atlantic	2%
Thrifty/Dollar Car Rental	4%
Orbitz	1.2%-4.2%
Priceline	3%
Hotels.com	4%
Avis	3%

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…