Earn up to 15% back on hotels and rental cars with TopCashBack
Editor's Note
Whether you are booking last-minute travel or simply want to try to save money on your next trip — and who doesn't? — make sure you browse the TopCashBack shopping portal first. (If you use our Tell-a-Friend referral link, you can get a $25 bonus.)
Currently, the cash-back shopping portal is offering increased earning rates for many travel brands. In some cases, you can earn up to 15% back on your purchases. You can then redeem cash back you've earned through PayPal or an Automated Clearing House transfer to your bank account. Alternatively, you can choose to redeem your earnings as a gift card and receive up to a 5% bonus on your cash back.
Let's take a closer look at what travel merchants offer increased earnings at TopCashBack.
Earn up to 15% on hotel stays
You can save on major hotel chains with a lower earnings rate, including 15% on IHG Hotels & Resorts bookings. However, keep in mind that TopCashBack specifically states that only select brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Even, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Avid, are eligible for earning. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants (in North and South America), Mr & Mrs Smith hotels, Six Senses properties, Army Hotels and all hotels in Israel are excluded from earning.
Individual properties under the IHG umbrella are also offering specific cash-back offerings, including 9% cash back at Voco, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Even and InterContentinal properties.
ALL — Accor Live Limitless is offering up to 6% cash back on some stays, too. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Raffles Hotels & Resorts and Swissotel Hotels & Resorts bookings earn 3% cash back, while those for other Accor brands in the U.S. earn 6% cash back.
Additionally, you can earn 6% cash back at Marriott, 9% cash back at Hilton, 5.05% cash back on Best Western bookings and 10.1% cash back on international hotel stays at Radisson Hotel Group properties.
If you already have a hotel booked with one of these groups, see if it makes sense to cancel and rebook your reservation — it's not a bad idea if you can cancel your current stay without penalty and if the rates are similar (or lower, if you're lucky) to your original reservation.
Save on rental cars with TopCashBack
There are also a handful of increased rental car earnings on TopCashBack. Most notably, you can earn 10.1% cash back with Hertz and Sixt, 5.05% cash back on Dollar rentals and 2.02% cash back at most other major U.S. rental car companies, including Enterprise, Avis, Budget and National.
The site is also showing 8.08% cash back on Europcar rentals in the U.K., the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
Regardless of where you rent, charge your rental car to a credit card that offers a rental car damage waiver. This will effectively cover any damage incurred to a rental car, so you don't have to claim it on your car insurance. Plus, you can save money by not purchasing a damage waiver from the rental car company. Be sure to carefully review your credit card's insurance policy to know what is and isn't covered.
Bottom line
TopCashBack is offering increased earnings at many hotel and rental car companies that may help you stretch your travel budget further.
If you already have a hotel or rental car booked, consider canceling and rebooking through TopCashBack to take advantage of increased cash-back earnings. And if you think you might need a hotel or rental car in the near future, it might be worth reserving it now to get in on increased TopCashBack rates. You can always cancel if you book a flexible rate.
Related reading:
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.