MY family of five often travel abroad for winter sun in January or February – by stashing enough cash to pay for a second break later in the year.
It’s all about knowing when to book and which sites to use too.
One New Year, we spent a fortnight in Fuerteventura for less than £2,500 for accommodation, food, drink and flights for five of us,
My savings and cashback added up to around £450, which I used to pay for a summer staycay once it arrived in my account a few months later.
The biggest expense if you’re flying short haul to the Canaries or even going a bit further afield to somewhere like Cape Verde is probably going to be your accommodation, depending on how long you’re going for and whether you opt for all-inclusive, half board or self-catering.
On our Canary Island holiday, I spent £2120 on hotels and just £180 on flights, so I focused on the bigger expense as that’s where you can make the most cashback.
The more you spend, the more you’ll get back if it’s worked out as a percentage of the overall price.
The first thing to do is take a look at package deals and work out if you’ll be better off bundling your hotel, flights and transfers together with a holiday company like TUI or whether you’re happy to arrange each element separately.
You get less consumer protection if you don’t go with a package holiday, so you should factor that in too.
I usually book flights and accommodation separately as I can maximise cashback if I do it that way.
For example, if I book a package holiday with TUI, I might only get 1.5 per cent cashback, whereas if I book the same accommodation with hotels.com, I can get up to 12 per cent.
When we went to Fuerteventura, our 11 nights of all-inclusive cost £1,930 and I received £216 in cashback from Quidco four months later.
I had already saved £142 on the upfront price using a 7 per cent discount on hotels.com.
Cashback amounts can fluctuate and you sometimes get flash sales which either increase the percentage you’ll get back or add a lump sum on top of the standard cashback, so it’s worth keeping an eye out and booking when you think you’ve got the best deal going.
A recent example I spotted was a £65 bonus on top of the regular cashback when spending £600 or more on flights with companies like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic or Etihad.
These flash sales often only last for a day, so you need to act quickly if you see a good deal.
Another top tip is to check different booking sites, as the same hotel will often be available from multiple providers, but for different prices and with different perks.
On the same trip, I booked a couple of nights self-catering in Corralejo at the start of our holiday using booking.com and then a night near the airport before flying home using hotels.com.
I got £10 Quidco cashback on the £90 I spent on the final hotel and I got £8 back in travel credits on booking.com on the £100 I spent on the first apartment.
I also saved £30 on my Ryanair flights by keeping an eye on prices and booking when the fares dropped. My final saving came from a discount code when booking airport parking.
It’s not the first time I’ve used cashback on my winter break to fund a summer staycay – I did much the same when we visited Cape Verde for a week one January.
We paid £1,200 for our all-inclusive hotel and received £75 back four months later.
It does usually take a few months for the cashback to be verified and appear in your account.
At that point, there’s another nifty trick that can boost the amount you have to spend on your next break.
I currently have £10 in cashback in my Quidco wallet – if I withdraw it straight into my bank account, I’ll get £10, but if I take it as a gift card, I can get an extra payout bonus.
A hotels.com gift card currently has a five per cent bonus, which would mean my £10 becomes £10.50.
The bonus can be up to 20 per cent, so it’s worth checking out the different options before you cash out.
Lots of these savings don’t seem much by themselves, but they all add up, so it’s worth taking time to book smart and save as you go.