3 of the 6 times I booked a hotel for my 10 holiday challenge, Booking.com offered the best rates – NICE ONE LADS.
And so when they sent me an email to say ‘would you like to give how many holidays fan folk money off their next booking’ I was like ‘erm, yeah? What’s the catch?’.
But it turns out that apart from a minimum spend, there wasn’t one. Hurrah!
After checking in, your cashback will be credited back onto the card registered on your Booking.com account within 30 days. So, make sure you also set up an account with your card details saved, and the ‘use this card for my reward payments’ box ticked in your payment settings. Full terms can be found here.
There’s currently no expiry date on this offer and it even works if you’ve booked with the site in the past so why not save this page and keep it in mind for any upcoming jaunts.
You can only claim a referral once per account but if you’re booking for a second time and staying with someone else, why not set them up an account too?
PLEASE NOTE: If you’ve had an email saying you’re due to receive £0 instead of £25, do not fret! It’s just a comms glitch. Scroll to the bottom for further info.
It’s also worth saying that Booking.com isn’t just about hotels, I actually booked our amazing Gdańsk apartment through it as well (though pssst, that link won’t get you the money off!)
You’re back from your trip and you want your money – I HEAR YOU!
First things first, if you’ve had an email saying you’re due to receive £0 back instead of the promised £25, don’t worry.
As long as you’ve followed the terms you will get your money back. It’s just a communications glitch (based on the fact that I get £0 back each time one of you books!) that the team are working to sort out.
Your money will be back in your account 30 days after you return home from your stay and you can track this by logging onto your Booking.com account and clicking on ‘My Dashboard’.
Then, click on ‘Refer friends and earn’ (or click that from the dropdown menu straightaway!) and scroll to the bottom where it says ‘All Bookings’ which should look a little something like this:
So, I think you all know how much I like booking cheap holidays by now and after completing 10 trips away in 2017, what would I say were my top tips for getting away for a good price?
Use search engines to find the cheapest dates to fly
Forget hitting search and hoping for the best prices on the dates you’ve searched for, websites like Skyscanner, Kayak, Momondo and Google Flights allow you to see when it’s cheapest to fly to your desired destination.
I particularly like Skyscanner’s ‘cheapest month’ option.
Be flexible with your location
If you’re not too sure where to go, Skyscanner and Kayak also allow you to see what locations are the cheapest for your timeframe.
You can do this by typing in ‘Everywhere’ for the destination on Skyscanner, or by clicking the ‘explore’ function on Kayak.
Always check comparison sites before booking your hotel
Trivago is a great option for checking you’ve got the best price for your hotel. My extra tip here is to always click on ‘More Deals’ and don’t just settle for the collection of prices they offer you. Whilst you’ll find prices from a variety of lesser known hotels, I recently saved an extra £20 by booking through them!
Ask for an upgrade!
You know what they say – if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I ALWAYS email the hotel once when booking and again a few days before arriving to tell them how excited I am to stay and to let them know it’s a special occasion. Don’t feel comfortable with lying? You’re not. A holiday IS a special occasion and don’t you ever forget that! In the last year this trick has worked 3 times, the best being upgraded on a work trip from the smallest room in the hotel to a suite!
Don’t stay in a hotel
Airbnb has been around long enough that most of us know the huge savings that can be made from staying in someone’s home when abroad, however there are plenty of other option to check out as well. My favourites are windmu, ownersdirect, holidaylettings and homestay.
Sign up for cashback
I always say to not book just because of a good cashback deal (sometimes they don’t come through and you’re left feeling cheated) but you should definitely buy through cashback sites to earn a little bonus on all of your holiday booking. And don’t just stop at hotels and flights – you can save on travel insurance, car hire and a whole host of different areas as well. I use TopCashback and in the last year, I’ve earned more than £100 by doing absolutely nothing extra. Winner.
Check for codes before booking
Always check to see if there are any voucher codes floating around the internet. For example, if you were booking through hotels.com I’d search ‘hotels.com voucher codes’ and ‘hotels.com promo code’ on both Google and Twitter. It doesn’t always pay off but when it does, it sure feels sweet! Also, if you’ve never used Airbnb before you can usually get around £30 off your first stay if a friend refers you.
Get yourself free accommodation
What better way than to keep costs down than by getting your accommodation for free! Yes, free. Home and pet sitting means that owners have someone looking after their house and animals whilst they’re away and you get totally free accommodation (albeit with a sprinkle of responsibility thrown in there). I used a site called nomador to stay in a beautiful house in Paris for 14 days this summer, looking after a sweet cat called Biscotte. I loved it!
Hit the road
What happens when holidaymakers do a road trip from one place to another? A lonely campervan is left miles away from its home with no way of getting back. And that’s where you come in! Wickedcampers and Spaceship Rentals are amongst the companies that offer relocation deals where you could bag a vehicle from just £1 a day as long as you return it back to where it belongs. Heading to the US or Australia? Try imoova or jucy.
Sign up for error flight updates
An error flight is when some wally who works for head office/computer cocks up and posts a flight for a whole lot cheaper than it’s supposed to be. Airlines can refuse the flight and refund you your money but now and again they will honour them. Now, just happening on one of these bad boys is a bit like finding a needble in a haystack so instead websites such as Secret Flying, Jack’s Flight Club and Holiday Pirates are all on it – I’d recommend signing up to their facebook pages for updates and other holiday bargains in your social feeds.
Plan to be spontaneous
I know it sounds a tad hypocritical but if you see a great deal, you often don’t have much time to leap on it. Therefore, it definitely won’t hurt you to know who you’d like to go away with, know when they’re able to get time off, have their passport details to hand and know how you’re going to pay so that you can jump on a deal when it comes your way.
So there’s my top tips – I hope they bring you as much holiday booking luck as they have for me!
I don’t know about you but holidays aren’t for slumming it – oh no – they’re for creating a brand new identity for yourself and pretending you’re a BALLER!
My alias in Miami was ‘Margaux’ who was heiress to her mother’s vineyard fortune who was passing through Florida to try out a particularly sweet bouquet in Schnebly Redland’s Winery…
SOUNDS LEGIT RIGHT?!
Also legit is the fact we paid just £29 to swan about the Four Seasons all day.
Felt more than a bit lucky with this one – but it’s a pretty simple trick for getting free accommodation in not just Paris, but many cities across the globe!!
