There have been some big developments in the ‘cashback’ world.
Firstly, Intercontinental Hotels Group, which contains the Holiday Inn brands, has been removed from the main UK cashback sites. But there is possibly still a way to get some cashback – more on that further down the post..
The other big news is involves Quidco, one of the two leading UK cashback sites. They have changed their operating model. Previously the first £5 of your cashback each year was retained by them. Now they have a basic free option, and a premium option (with phone support and live chat to help resolve issues and quicker payment) which still keeps the first £5 as previously.
All existing members have been placed on the premium service by default, if you want to downgrade to the free version of Quidco you need to wait until your personal account anniversary.
After your anniversary date you can down grade to the free service – so long as you have not put a transaction through yet in your new year. (i.e. the first transaction after your year end will prevent you from downgrading for another year – so jump in just after your year end date when you get the chance if you want to downgrade) You can find out your account anniversary from ‘settings’ when logged in.
The other big Qudico news is that they have exclusively signed up Amazon – at 5%.
If you have not yet joined Quidco, you can join using my link here:
http://www.quidco.com/user/29473/3836
This doesn’t affect what you earn, but does earn me something.
How to possibly still get Intercontinental Hotels Group cashback:
EDIT: They have now been removed form TCB USA – so the following is for historic reference only, although TCB USA it is a good route for cashback at Booking.com
EDIT: I’m now trying some other USA (and UK!) companies, details here:
http://www.ukpoints.com/2013/04/16/intercontinental-hotels-group-cashback-update/.
Now it seems that IHG have been removed from all the UK cashback sites, but they have NOT gone from cashback sites in other markets.
By way of example lets look at topcashback.com, the sister site to topcashback.co.uk. You will still find Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, etc listed there at 6%.
If you want to join TCB USA, you can use my referral link here:
http://www.topcashback.com/ref/ukpointsusa?source=tellafriend
Again, this doesn’t affect what you earn, but I do earn something.
Payment:
Historically, the problem with using USA or other foreign cashback sites has been payment. However this is what the TCB USA terms and conditions are saying currently:
www.topcashback.com is aimed towards American consumers, with cash rewards available in USD only. However the majority of merchants allow transactions originating from Canada, and some from Mexico, to earn cash rewards too. Members who are residents of countries outside of North America are welcome to use www.topcashback.com however all non-US members must be mindful that some merchants will not ship to outside the United States or North America, or will not pay the cash reward for transactions that originate, or members who are based, outside of the United States.
<snip>
Payments to members based outside of the United States can only be made via PayPal. Non-US members are responsible for any costs involved, which PayPal determines when converting USD funds into another currency.
Therefore, it is certainly NOT guaranteed that every merchant on TCB USA will consider your transactions valid.They might decline transactions for cashback based upon billing address, based up geographic IP address of the customer, or based upon property location. All of which I would consider to be unfair to their USA customers, but the message is, like everything in cashback, never rely upon receiving it.
Additionally, you will take a small percentage hit on the amount due to PayPal fees for receipt and/or conversion. And remember exchange rates vary over time.
A mistake?
You might think this was just an error with the USA site not having been updated yet. While that could be the case, there are long standing differences between the merchants available on their UK and USA sites.
On the USA site you will also find Booking.com available at 5%, a hotel site that has been absent from all the UK cashback sites and is great for some smaller properties you won’t find elsewhere.
I’ve gave Booking.com via TCB USA a go two weeks to see if it works, and the transaction has tracked.
But sadly the stay I booked isn’t for some time yet. I was planning to post after I knew if it had worked. I’m going to be giving IHG a go via TCB USA shortly, but my next stay with them won’t be for a fortnight. Let me know how you get on with TCB USA if you try it before then.
Again, as always with cashback, its never guaranteed, so don’t rely on the money coming back. But it’s worth a go.