Effortlessly Save Money on Travel Costs

save money on travel costs

Most of us purchase flight tickets and make a few hotel reservations online for our travels. You can save a few dollars each time by using Ebates. I don’t usually write posts specifically recommending a service, but I thought readers would find it useful. Hope this doesn’t seem spammy, but it’s something I’ve been using for years. At the moment, Ebates is only available for U.S. and Canadians.

When I bought a digital camera, luggage, travel guides through Half.com, even printer ink to print my plane tickets/travel insurance papers, I clicked through Ebates first and received cash back. Plus, I used my travel rewards credit card to accumulate miles.

Just a few of the thousands of vendors on Ebates.

Recently, I found a good deal on a flight on Skyscanner. Since the airline was Hawaiian Airlines, I was delighted to find that it was an Ebates affiliate, giving me 1% cashback. It might not seem like a lot, but you’re spending hundreds on a flight and it is just effortless to save that pocket change. Why not?

Not only can you use it for travel purchases, you can use it for tons of other shops that you may be using anyway. Clothes, electronics, Amazon, Ebay, Groupon, sporting goods… really anything.

How does it work? Go to the website, sign up for an account, and search for store you want to buy from. The amount of cash back you get varies. I’ve gotten between 1% and 18%. Click the link of the store and you’ll be redirected to the website. Make your purchase as you normally would and Ebates will give you credit in your account.

Where does the money come from? It’s basically affiliate marketing. A company will give Ebates a percentage of money for bringing customers to them. Then Ebates gives a cut of that money to you. Affiliate marketing is so common on the internet nowadays. Most blogs you read use affiliate marketing (including me! Even though I never made money from it yet :-p)

I’ve been using the program for several years, especially when I did some online shopping before. I also used it to buy my family gifts while I was abroad. A few dollars here and there adds up. It is a legitimate program or else I wouldn’t be recommending it!

If you are interested, you can sign up with my referral link.

Only use it if you are already going to purchase something anyway. Don’t scroll around looking to buy things for the sake of getting a discount. That’s where they get you.

So, before you purchase anything online, check if Ebates has it first. Every dollar counts, right? It can buy a tuk tuk ride to a temple, a spicy plate of Phad Thai, a dinner of chana masala and naan, a liter of gasoline so scooter yourself around rice fields, two drafts of Angkor beer, or a fresh coconut on a beach in the Philippines.