Our research found you can earn up to £318 in cashback just by booking a holiday. I’ve never really bothered with cashback websites before but I’m definitely tempted to book my holidays through them now. Are you?
We found that with a combination of cashback options a two-week holiday to Florida was £318 cheaper – 11% of the total holiday cost. And closer to home, a week’s break in the Lake District earnt £158 in cashback – 14% of the holiday cost.
I’d never seen the two major cashback sites – Quidco and TopCashback – before doing this research for Which?, but I was amazed at the number of cashback deals on holiday products. Several Which? Recommended Provider holiday companies and airlines have regular deals, as do holiday cottage companies, car hire providers, airport car parks and currency exchange providers.
So just by booking my holiday and all the extras online – as I normally would – but via cashback websites, using a cashback credit card, I could earn myself some much-needed extra spending money for my next holiday.
A bargain break
Some people might be wary of using cashback sites, but we heard mainly positive stories from the 1,292 Which? members we asked about cashback sites.
My Which? Travel colleague Kate uses her TopCashback account almost exclusively for booking holidays and holiday extras – and always uses it to book airport parking. She has earned over £80 in around nine months. She told me:
‘I don’t let cashback dictate my booking habits, but once I know what I want to buy I’ll always check to see if there’s a cashback deal on it. I’ve found that there are often cashback deals of around 10% with Expedia – on my favourite hotels – which makes it well worthwhile.’
What to watch out for
There are some things to watch out for with cashback websites. This is an unregulated industry, so it’s always best to withdraw your cash regularly, and it can sometimes take months to get your cashback paid. We’ve also heard stories of transactions failing to track properly and the money never being paid.
But surely if you only use cashback sites to buy a holiday item you were going to buy anyway, the cashback is just an added bonus when it does come through?
Personally I don’t think I will bother to go through cashback sites for smaller online purchases, but when it comes to a big ticket item like a holiday and the associated extras, the potential benefits seem to far outweigh the hassle of registering and tracking your cashback claims. What about you?
Do you use cashback websites to book your holidays?
No (81%, 708 Votes)
Yes (11%, 92 Votes)
I will now I've read Which? Travel's research (8%, 74 Votes)
Total Voters: 874
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