Cash back shopping sites are an easy way to save a couple bucks next time you purchase an airline ticket online. These sites typically offer a fixed percentage of your purchase (excluding tax and shipping) back as a rebate at a variety of online stores. These online stores include sites where you can purchase travel. The two largest are Ebates and FatWallet, and these sites typically offer the best rebate percentages. These sites are different, depending on the store, one site may offer a better rebate percentage, and some stores listed on one site aren’t found on the other.

For example, if I were to purchase a $300 airline ticket from Hotwire, both Ebates and FatWallet offer 2% back, or about $6. This won’t make you a millionaire, but it will suddenly make airport concessions a little more affordable. Other cash-back shopping sites exist, such as bigcrumbs.com or upromise.com, but these sites typically offer less cash back.

Some sites offer signup bonuses to jumpstart your account. If you can, take advantage of these. Some of these sites also offer generous bonuses if you refer your friends to the program. If you’re new to these programs and think a friend might benefit, go ahead and follow the procedures outlined by the program and hopefully you can get a bonus. But, the most important difference between programs is getting your money, Ebates and Bigcrumbs send out checks every three months, and if you have at least $5 in your account, you should receive one. FatWallet sends checks when you get at least $10 in your account. Upromise will transfer your savings to a college 529 plan to help save for a child's college tuition.

Here’s a comparison chart for reference. The chart doesn't include all travel-related stores these sites offer, just the major ones. All rates and promotions are subject to change at any time. Table updated 8/11/06.

Ebates: Ebates.com offers the best variety of travel stores, but doesn’t always offer the best cash-back percentages for travel. Ebates pays ontime and credits accounts quickly. Overall, Ebates may be best for most users, particularly if you plan to use your Ebates account for cash-back shopping at non-travel online retailers. However, if you sites such as Priceline or Site59 often, then consider getting a second account.

Back to Top

FatWallet: FatWallet offers the best cash-back rate at Priceline, and is competitive with Ebates at Hotwire, Site59, and others. Unfortunately, FatWallet doesn’t offer cash back at airline sites directly, unlike Ebates, which currently offers cash-back at Alaska, Aloha, and United Airlines. But, FatWallet also offers better rates than Ebates at many non-travel stores such as Buy.com, Dell, and Staples.

Bigcrumbs: Bigcrumbs.com is a site very much like Ebates and FatWallet in that it offers cash-back at purchases from online stores. Unfortunately, Bigcrumbs.com offers mediocre cash-back rates for most purchases, but does offer better rates for most purchases at stores such as Orbitz.com. Recently, Bigcrumbs removed many of its travel stores, decreasing it's attractiveness for airline ticket buyers.

If you book your last minute packages at Travelocity through Bigcrumbs you could save more than if you bought the same package at Travelocity through Ebates or FatWallet.
Bigcrumbs is different from most cash-back shopping sites in that it offers two levels of membership, both free. CrumbSavers earn the maximum rebate percentage, and can earn a referral commission if they refer a friend who makes purchases. CrumbEarners earn a smaller rebate percentage and can earn a referral commission for friends as well as referrals your friends make, and their friends make, and so on for five generations. Unless you have a whole bunch of friends to refer, just be a CrumbSaver.

Upromise.com: Upromise is a site that enables relatives or friends of college-bound children to save money for college on their everyday purchases. You don't have to be the parent of a child to save, in fact, you don't even have to have a child in mind to sign up. Most of the site revolves around purchases made at the grocery store, where Upromise allows users to save for college on thousands of grocery items. But, Upromise also helps you save online, and that includes travel sites. While Upromise doesn’t offer the best rate at any major travel site, it does offer good rates at many useful sites such as Travelocity and United Airlines. If you have a Upromise account or are considering one, using their cash-back shopping feature can boost your account. Upromise sign-up bonuses are created by Upromise sponsors. Certain sponsors offer different codes that can be used upon sign-up to jumpstart your account. As of June 2006, Albertsons offers a code "6AL" that gives you $6 upon signup. You can enter the code under the "Promotional code, if any" section of the Upromise signup form. Other sponsors offer different codes, but offer less bonus cash.

Back to Top