Travel is expensive, but it’s also one of the easiest areas to earn money or rewards back on spending you were already planning to do. Cashback sites, reward eStores and card-linked offers often sit quietly in the background of bookings, yet used consistently they can return hundreds of pounds a year to frequent travellers.
Done properly, cashback doesn’t change how or where you travel — it simply reduces the cost after the fact.
What Are Cashback Sites?
Cashback sites and reward eStores act as referral platforms. You click through their link to an airline, hotel, car hire company or travel agent, make your booking as normal, and the retailer pays the portal a commission. Part of that commission is then returned to you as cash or points.
You pay the same price as everyone else, and your booking is made directly with the airline or hotel — not with the cashback site itself.
Why Travel Works So Well for Cashback
Even when the headline cashback percentage isn’t the highest, travel is one of the best categories for cashback simply because the amounts involved are large. Flights, hotels, car hire and package holidays are often four-figure purchases, so even modest earn rates quickly add up to something meaningful rather than token.
Cashback rates of 3–10% on hotels, car hire and package holidays are common, and promotional periods can push returns even higher. Unlike everyday spending, where a few percent might translate into pennies, travel cashback often results in tens or hundreds of pounds back from a single booking.
To put that into context, a £2,000 trip earning 3–10% cashback can generate £60–£200 back for a few extra clicks at the point of booking. Over the course of a year, especially for frequent travellers, these savings can quietly fund flights, upgrades or even an entire extra trip — without changing how or where you travel.
The Main Cashback and Reward Platforms
TopCashback
TopCashback is often the strongest all-round option, frequently offering the highest headline rates. Payouts are in real cash, either to your bank account, PayPal or gift cards and coverage across travel brands is extensive.
It’s particularly strong for hotels, car hire, package holidays and travel insurance. It also offers cashback on a range of gift cards some of which are travel related. The main drawback is that payouts can take time, and tracking isn’t perfect, but for pure cash savings it remains one of the best tools available.
Quidco
Quidco is TopCashback’s closest competitor and worth checking alongside it. Rates are sometimes lower, sometimes higher, depending on the retailer and promotion. Like TopCashback, it pays out in cash and covers a broad range of travel providers.
Many experienced users check both sites before booking and click through whichever is offering the better return at the time.
Avios eStore (for British Airways collectors)
The Avios eStore is ideal for those who collect Avios through British Airways or other Avios partners. Instead of cash, you earn Avios points per pound spent.
For frequent BA flyers, this can be more valuable than cash. The trade-off is flexibility: Avios are only valuable if you actively use them and understand how to redeem them well.
Nectar eStore
The Nectar eStore earns Nectar points rather than cash. These can be spent directly at retailers like Sainsbury’s, Argos and eBay, or converted into Avios.
This makes Nectar particularly attractive for travellers who want rewards that are easy to use even if they don’t fly often.
Card-Linked Cashback and Offers
In addition to cashback sites, many cards now offer targeted cashback deals when you spend with specific travel brands. Banks and card issuers such as Halifax, Lloyds, Barclays, Virgin Money and American Express regularly run time-limited offers.
These are usually activated in-app and can provide an additional percentage back or statement credit when you book with participating airlines, hotels or travel companies.
Used alongside a cashback site, this can significantly increase the effective saving.
Stacking and the “Triple Dip”
Where cashback becomes genuinely powerful is when stacking is possible. In exceptional cases, you may be able to combine:
- A cashback site or reward eStore
- A card-linked cashback offer
- A valid discount code
This “triple dip” doesn’t always work, but when it does it can reduce the cost of travel dramatically.
That said, discount codes are the most fragile part of the stack.
The Catch with Discount Codes
Using a discount or voucher code can invalidate cashback tracking, particularly if the code isn’t listed on the cashback site itself. In practice, this is less of an issue for travel than in other sectors, simply because there aren’t that many widely available discount codes for flights and hotels. Card-based cash back can be stacked with cash back without any issue.
Still, it’s important to understand the risk. If cashback is material, you may prefer to skip the code. If the discount is large, it may outweigh the lost cashback.
Discount codes can usually be found via a quick Google search or by asking an AI tool to surface current offers — but always assume cashback might fail unless the code is explicitly approved by the portal.
Best Practice for Making Cashback Work
Start every booking from the cashback or reward portal, not from a search engine or airline site. Use a fresh browser session, avoid ad blockers, and complete the booking in one go.
Check multiple portals, compare final prices, and activate any card-linked offers before paying.
When Cashback Isn’t Worth It
Some member-only rates, corporate fares or special airline deals won’t track, and occasionally booking direct without cashback will still be cheaper. The only rule that matters is the final cost, not the advertised cashback percentage.
The Bottom Line
Cashback sites and card-linked offers are among the simplest ways to reduce the cost of travel. They don’t require loyalty to a single airline, complex strategies or changes to how you travel — just the habit of checking before you book.
Whether you prefer cash via TopCashback or Quidco, points through the Avios or Nectar eStores, or stacking these with card offers and the occasional discount code, the principle is the same: if you’re booking travel without checking cashback first, you’re almost certainly leaving money on the table.
Used consistently, cashback doesn’t just soften the cost of travel. Over time, it can fund entire trips on its own.
Holiday Nerd 