Hotel Cashback and Payment Charged on Arrival

nomnomnom on 31/08/2024 - 12:16

Looking at booking hotels on third party booking sites (e.g. Expedia/Booking/Agoda/Wotif etc) via cashback sites (e.g. Shopback utilising upsized + Westpac/St George bank bonuses when they come up in future)

The third party booking sites usually have an option to make payment immediately (at the time you book) or for payment to be charged until the stay (so presumably on arrival at check in). I usually make refundable bookings and prefer for payment to be charged until I arrive/stay.

It is not clear from T & Cs on Shopback or any other cashback sites whether you would be eligible for cashback where payment is charged until the stay. I would think so but keen on confirmation.

Has anyone selected the latter option and received cashback (in particular, from Shopback).

Thank you.

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Comments

  • star-ggg on 31/08/2024 - 12:33
    +7

    Yes from Booking.com with Shopback. However, as always, with cashbacks I make purchases with prices I am happy with as is- the cashback is just an added bonus.

    • nomnomnom on 31/08/2024 - 12:50

      Great thank you!

    • samfisher5986 on 02/09/2024 - 11:02

      Isn't this impossible?

      Cashback is always more expensive so you have to pay more in the hopes of getting cashback.

      • star-ggg on 02/09/2024 - 11:27

        You mean for hotels? I've yet to find consistent patterns of price jacking on cashback sites. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it dosent, sometimes it's better to book direct on hotel website. I always double check each booking with a new browser on incognito mode to compare prices. To me the cost saving is worth the extra hassle.

        • samfisher5986 on 02/09/2024 - 11:29

          Yes for hotels. In the past year I've never really found it worth it. Either the price is jacked or its cheaper on direct or another hotel website that doesn't have cashback.

          Since the price is always jacked, I have to run the risk of not getting cashback and paying a premium.

          In addition there is a huge list of hotels that simply show as fully booked if you click through a cashback website so its very messy overall.

          • star-ggg on 02/09/2024 - 11:41
            +1

            @samfisher5986: Yeah there's no straightforward answer. Just got to put the work in if you really want the best deal.

  • Stewardo on 31/08/2024 - 12:48
    +3

    The hotel still has to pay the website its commission for the booking even if you pay at hotel.
    Your cashback comes out of the commission once it’s paid plus standard waiting period. I’ve never had an issue with this. Agoda booking Cashrewards etc.
    Keep your printscreens, emails and paper invoices incase they try to weasel out of it.

    • nomnomnom on 31/08/2024 - 12:51

      Thanks heaps!

  • JimmyF on 31/08/2024 - 13:06
    +1

    It is not clear from T & Cs on Shopback or any other cashback sites whether you would be eligible for cashback where payment is charged until the stay. I would think so but keen on confirmation.

    Doesn't matter when you pay, the cashback won't happen until x number of days after the booking is completed.

  • CyberMurning on 31/08/2024 - 14:58
    -2

    Aomeone say, if we choose to pay in advance ie via website the cashback will get approved a bit faster compare with paying at the hotel on arrival.

  • Russ on 31/08/2024 - 21:32

    I usually make refundable bookings and prefer for payment to be charged until I arrive/stay.

    If you do this, you run the risk of bad currency conversion rate on the day you actually pay. The conversion rate has changed almost 5% in the last month alone:
    https://www.google.com/search&q=1+aud+in+jpy

    If you pay now, you know what the conversion rate will be. And if it's particularly bad today, you can monitor the rate, and choose to book and pay on a day when it's not so bad.

    Also if using a credit card: if you pay now and also pay off your entire credit card balance just before you travel, you'll have your entire credit limit available while you're on holiday. Pay as you check in, and you'll have a lot of your credit limit used up by those hotel payments. For a country like Japan, with earthquakes and typhoons every now and then, there's a possibility of not being able to leave Japan at the expected time, and having to pay for extra accommodation, and for different flights. When you're in another country, it's always safer to have lots of extra payment ability available.

    • nomnomnom on 31/08/2024 - 22:01
      +1

      Thanks for highlighting these, good points. I prefer to pay upon arrival as it seems there can be issues with the third party booking site promptly refunding the amount if I do not travel due to unforeseen circumstances. Ok with a poorer exchange rate as a downside.

  • BigBirdy on 01/09/2024 - 10:04
    +1

    You should also consider Hotels.com, usually their cashback is lower than booking.com, Expedia and Agoda, but you get a ‘free night’ after ten nights booked and stayed. The ‘free night’ is a contribution based on the value of the ten nights stayed, but I’ve found it works well, and you get to see it on your account (ie “you will earn …”) prior to committing to pay, unlike cashback which works on hope

    • nomnomnom on 01/09/2024 - 22:26

      Good to know!

      • Russ on 03/09/2024 - 01:54
        +1

        Start at a hotel comparison website like vio.com or tripadvisor.com. You can sometimes get a better rate with whoever you were going to book with originally, for example it's common to see a price on booking.com, but starting at tripadvisor and choosing their link to booking.com will get you the same room for 10% less money. So you get an instant discount instead of a cashback months later.

        And tripadvisor/vio will also show you the prices at many other booking websites. You can pick any of the ones you trust, but be aware there are sometimes scam listings on those websites. There have recently been forum posts about people booking AirBNB-type accommodation through Booking.com, and when they arrive they find there are already guests in the accommodation, and the owners say they're not listed on Booking.com.

  • petestrash on 01/09/2024 - 13:15

    Using an incognito tab compare the booking site without linking from the cashback site. I have often found the price shown when sent from the cashback site has been inflated to cover the cashback and is worse overall. Book whichever why provides the best deal. Same also applies to logging into the site or clearing cookies and checking the price without logging in. I'm level 3 with booking.com, but don't always get the best price when logged in. Also found the country you are booking from (use a VPN) can affect the price shown.

    • nomnomnom on 01/09/2024 - 22:25

      Thanks for the tips!

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