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Rookie Sunday: Save Money on Hotels By Using Cash Back Portals

Chris Carley by Chris Carley
September 8, 2019
in Hotels
7
Save money with Amex Offers and cashback portals!

(Photo: ©iStock.com/ceazars)

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Eye of the Flyer and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.


 

Save money with Amex Offers and cashback portals!
(Photo: ©iStock.com/ceazars)

Many of us enjoy free (or significantly discounted) hotel nights — thanks to points/stays earned through loyalty programs and/or hotel credit cards. But if you must pay money (the horror!) for a hotel, remember many major chains participate in cashback portals.

This is especially nice if you work for a company which allows you to book your own travel — and doesn’t restrict you to certain travel agencies. You can earn money on the reservation they’re paying for! (I won’t tell! Your secret is safe with me 😉 )

Which Hotels and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) Offer Cashback?

Most major hotel chains work with cashback portals. (The only one absent — at least from my research — was Hyatt.) Not all participate across the board, though. For example, you’ll find Hilton at Rakuten/Ebates but not TopCashback.

And while Rakuten/Ebates current awards just 1% at Marriott, BeFrugal and TopCashback both offer up to 7% cashback.

So it can pay to shop around for the best rebate before you initiate your booking.

Given that many hotel sites offer a “best rate guarantee,” this is a nice way to save even more money on top of that!

  • AccorHotels
  • Best Western
  • Caesars
  • Choice Hotels
  • Hilton
  • Hotel Indigo
  • InterContinental Hotels Group
  • Marriott
  • Wyndham Hotels

Many OTAs also participate. Remember you won’t earn hotel program loyalty program points or stay credit when you book through an OTA. And you probably won’t receive elite benefits (late checkout, room upgrade, etc). But if that doesn’t matter and you’re an OTA fan, have at it!

  • Expedia
  • Hotwire
  • LasVegas.com
  • Hotel Tonight
  • Hotels.com
  • HotelStorm
  • Orbitz
  • Priceline
  • Travelocity
  • Vegas.com
A picture of the Las Vegas strip at night taken from a high vantage point. The view is north along the mid-strip area on December 23, 2015.
Thanks to Caesars, LasVegas.com, and Hotels.com cashback, you can save some additional money in Las Vegas! (©iStock.com/d25higgins)

BeFrugal’s “BeFrugal Hotels” portal offers an interesting rebate: up to 35% back.

A guest bedroom at The Westin Tokyo, then a Starwood / SPG hotel. © Chris Carley / PointsLounge
Bedroom at The Westin Tokyo.

Do Meeting Codes or Room Block Reservations Qualify for Cashback?

Your mileage may vary. I was successful once getting cashback with IHG, despite using a meeting code. That being said, it might not work every time. If you have data points, please contribute them in the Comments section!

What About Other Discounts?

Some already discounted rates (i.e. AAA) may not be eligible. The safest bet is to use coupons code found on the cashback portals.

View from the Radisson Aquatica Resort in Barbados
View from the Radisson Aquatica Resort in Barbados

How Much Cashback Will I Earn?

Again, your mileage may vary. At the very least, you’ll earn back a percentage of your room rate. Taxes and resort fees generally aren’t eligible for cashback. You might receive cashback from room charges, as well, after your total bill has been settled. I don’t remember it ever happening to me — but, again, if anyone has any data points, please add them.

Just because cashback portals say “Purchases of X products aren’t eligible to receive cashback,” doesn’t always mean you won’t receive it. Many of us have purchased items such as gift cards — which generally are excluded from cashback in the portals’ terms and conditions — yet still earned those rebates.

Stack with Credit Cards!

Remember cashback portal rebates are independent of whatever you earn from your credit cards. So if you use TopCashback to book a room through IHG and pay with the Chase Sapphire Reserve‘s annual $300 travel credit, you’re practically earning free money. Or earn back an extra 3% (up to $20,000 in spending during your first years) on a Chase Freedom Unlimited.

Cashback Portals

Is everyone clear in general on what cashback portals are and how they work? Does it require a rookie post? Let us know in the Comments section! In the meantime, here are some of our favorite cashback portals offering hotel rebates (and cashback on hundreds of other merchants, too!):

BeFrugal

DO$H

Rakuten (formerly “Ebates”)

TopCashback

–Chris

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Eye of the Flyer and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.


Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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Chris Carley

Chris Carley

Chris Carley is the owner, editor, and lead writer of Eye of the Flyer (formerly known as Rene's Points).

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Comments 7

  1. Greg says:
    4 years ago

    Marriott Bonvoy is definitely on Rakuten. Only 1% cashback currently, but there are occasional promotional periods when the rate is higher.

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      4 years ago

      @Greg: I swear it wasn’t there when I researching 🙂 Thanks for the comment; I’ve amended the post.

      Reply
  2. Matt says:
    4 years ago

    I’d love to see a post digging into how these cashback portals work and why they exist as business models!

    Reply
  3. FLN says:
    4 years ago

    @Chris – Is the hotel chain aware of the cashback/does it affect elite program earnings, i.e., Bonvoy or HHonors?

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      4 years ago

      @FLN: Program earnings aren’t affected.

      Reply
  4. Matt says:
    4 years ago

    @Chris do you know if corporate rates can be used with the cashback programs?

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      4 years ago

      @Matt: I had success once. It’s sort of a YMMV thing.

      Reply

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