The internet is a wonderful invention isn’t it? You can stay in touch with friends, plan your dream wedding on Pinterest watch endless cat videos. The internet has completely revolutionized booking holidays, meaning you put packages together for yourself if you wish.
It’s a bit mad to imagine a time before sites like Air BnB and OnTheBeach*. I vaguely remember the days of Teletext, where you’d sit watching an ugly screen on the TV to get the best holiday package deals.
It’s a good job it’s been made so easy, as it makes for super easy cruise holiday bookings. And what makes the booking process even sweeter, is knowing you can get some amazing cashback by booking online, effectively saving you money off your holiday!
My favourite UK sites are Quidco* and TopCashback* – both really easy to use websites that basically gives you free money.
How do cashback sites work?
To those familiar with affiliate links, it work pretty much the same. The cashback site is effecively advertising for the end company, whether that’s a cruise line, a women’s fashion brand or an insurance company. If you visit for example ASOS via a cashback site and purchase something, ASOS will pay a commission to the cashback site, which in turns gives some money back to you.
Do cashback sites cost me extra to use?
It shouldn’t cost you anything extra to shop via a cashback site if you don’t want to. The two I use, Quidco and TopCashback are free to join and use.
TopCashback is completely free to join and free to use a Classic account. You can choose to opt for a Plus account, where they will deduct a £5 annual admin fee from your Earnings in return for a range of added features and benefits.
Quidco also offers a Premium account with features like higher cashback rates. They’ll retain £1 of your cashback monthly when you’re actively using Quidco, however if you don’t make a transaction for 30 days you will continue to be a Premium member but won’t pay the monthly retention fees.
How to use a cashback site
You simply find a website through Quidco or Topcashback, visit and make your purchase and the site tracks what you’ve spent and gives you a percentage back.
Not all retailers and travel agents are on there, but it’s always worth having a look – make sure you check both sites to see which is giving the best cashback rate at the time! When I booked a holiday for me and my friends, I got £150 cashback by going to the booking site via Quidco!
Top tip – Clear your history before making big purchases. Having previously browsed the website could stop your cashback from being valid. This is because cookies will detect that you came from a different source originally.
Say for example I’m buying a dress from ASOS.
- Visit the site and do your browsing and write down the product code of the item you want.
- Come off the site and clear your internet history as far back as necessary – I use CCleaner to make sure all the cookies are gone.
- Log into the cashback site and find the ASOS page and click the “Get Cashback” button
- This will open up the ASOS site – you can then search for the product codes or just browse and purchase the items as normal.
- When you check out your cashback should track in your account – it takes a different amount of time depending on the retailer but you’ll then start accumulating cashback in your account.
- Some purchases might only give you £0.50 back but it soon starts adding up if you do a lot of online shopping!
Once you’ve accumulated an amount you’re happy with, you can withdraw the cashback as a bank transfer, PayPal transfer or get it as a gift voucher (you often get a little bonus if you go with this option). I know TopCashback gives the option to convert your cashback into Avios points if you collect those for your travels!
Can I still use vouchers and get cashback?
This depends on the retailer, a lot of the time the answer is no, but there are some retailers that will pay out a smaller amount and also let you use a voucher.
You can see an example of this below, where TUI are offering cashback on bookings made with vouchers.
Cashback is for life, not just for holidays!
It’s not just travel companies that are on there. You can also use Quidco for your online shopping hauls. – as of May 2020 you can get cashback on ASOS, Very, New Look and Boohoo to name but a few! Perfect if you’re planning on getting some cute holiday outfits!
You can also use Quidco when you’re changing things like travel insurance – just be sure to read the T&Cs carefully!
Cashback rates vary depending on the retailer and time of year. Sometimes you might get a set percentage back on your first purchase and then a lower percentage after that – some retailers offer a fixed amount of money back.
If you do a lot of online transactions it adds up very quickly – I don’t do that much but I’ve accumulated over £200. My mum’s into the thousands by getting cashback on insurance, gas and electric and more.
Below you can see a preview of some of my latest bits of cashback – nothing particularly huge but it all adds up!
Do these cashback sites only work in the UK?
Quidco is a UK based website, but you should still be able to track purchases from other countries as long as you’re using the UK versions of the retailer’s websites.
If you’re shopping from outside the UK, make sure that your browser isn’t set up to automatically convert the website URL into the current location (e.g www.ebay.fr or www.ebay.de) and always make sure that you’re using the .co.uk version of the retailer’s website.
If you do earn any cashback using it outside the UK, you will need to withdraw this via Paypal, a gift card or a UK bank account.
TopCashback is originally a UK cashback site but has now launched in the USA and India!
Get money off UK summer cruises
Looking to book a summer cruise around the UK? Here’s a roundup of how to get cashback on your cruise bookings!
| Cruise Lines | Quidco Cashback | TopCashback |
| Princess Cruises | Earn up to £90 cashback on Princess Cruises via Quidco | Earn up to £94.50 cashback on Princess Cruises via TopCashback |
| Fred Olsen | Earn 3.2% cashback on Fred Olsen Cruises via Quidco | Earn 4.2% cashback on Fred Olsen Cruises via TopCashback |
| Saga Cruises | Earn 2% cashback on Saga Cruises via Quidco | Earn 2.1% cashback on Saga Cruises via TopCashback |
| Disney | Disney themselves don’t offer incentives on TopCashback, but you can get £55 cashback booking through MagicBreaks | |
| Royal Caribbean | Royal Caribbean themselves don’t offer incentives on TopCashback, however you can get 3.5% cashback on giftcards for Royal Caribbean by Inspire – you can’t book direct with Royal Caribbean with these however, you’ll need to book through Inspire Travel | |
| Marella Cruises | Get up to 2% cashback on cruise booking on Quidco, with 1% cashback for cruise bookings when a voucher code is used. | Get up to 3% cashback on TUI bookings via TopCashback |
Getting cashback on your Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is more important than ever, and the days of getting away with cruising without it are behind us. You will need travel insurance to cruise this summer, and many cruise lines may ask you to show proof of cover.
P&O Cruises has given a good summary of what you’ll need to get, advising that you look for travel insurance that hits the below points:
- Make sure your insurance provides full cover for a cruise holiday, the full length of the trip and all destinations you’ll be visiting (if in doubt, get worldwide cover
- Your insurance must include medical cover of £2 million minimum and cover for emergency evacuations and medical expenses related to COVID-19
- Ensure your policy includes cover for repatriation, cancellation and curtailment
- Declare any pre-existing medical conditions and read each policy thoroughly to make sure you have the cover you need
- Going on more than one holiday this year? Look into annual or multi-trip policies.
P&O are recommending HolidayExtras, who offer 26% cashback via TopCashback.
Want to check out some price comparisons? Quidco can run a super quick travel insurance quote comparison which will aim to get you the best deal and get up to £27 cashback. TopCashback offers a travel insurance comparison tool which lets you earn up to £40 cashback.
Thank you for sharing these useful tips with us.
I LOVE cashback sites and use several of them. These are great tips!
I’ve used Ebates, but not the sites you’ve mentioned. Cash back is great. I’m excited to learn of new sites to explores more ways to get “free” money!
Ooh never come across ebates – I’ll have to check it out!
I so need to start taking advantage of cash back programs. It’s something I’ve never really looked into, but these are really great tips!
These tips are useful. I can now even save more while spending
Great tips! I think you hit the nail on the head – every little bit helps!
Who wouldn’t want a cashback? I’d certainly be checking this out. Travelling as a family surely requires a lot of money and being able to save in whatever method possible is totally welcomed.
This is great. I mean who wouldn’t want cashback. We travel as a family and it requires money and if we could save in whatever method possible that would be awesome.
Wow!! Never heard of this! Thanks for sharing.
xoxo,
Angelle
http://www.dashingdarlin.com