Traveling is one essential part of living a balanced life. It helps us relax from all the stress from work or school, and it also gives us a fresh and new perspective in life. That’s why every year, my husband and I made sure to have at least one vacation with the kids regardless of what the season is.
Now, thinking of having a vacation is easy, but planning on where and when to go is the challenging part. Sometimes we would even disagree on the dates and the venue like, for example, my husband wants to have a staycation in a hotel while I wanted to go to the beach, or this hotel is cheaper, but the other one has more perks, so it is a topic that needs a lot of discussion between us.
Thankfully, there are websites on the internet that help us decide on travel issues like this as well as which place is cheaper or within our budget. We would often visit Agoda and Expedia for some ideas. I personally like Agoda because they have plenty of pictures of the place you’re interested in, plus, it has lots of actual traveler feedback so you would have a better overview if the place you’re interested in has good service or they indeed deliver what they’re advertising.
For those who are curious, let me share my experience with Agoda. We previously booked a room in Canyon Cove in Nasugbu, Batangas through Agoda about 3 years ago.I simply entered our preferred date of stay, the number of people staying, and chose a room to our liking that’s within our budget. We paid through Paypal and everything went well. We printed out the documents that needed to be printed and we presented it to the front desk of the hotel when we checked in. Everything went smoothly.
It’s generally the same thing with Expedia, but unlike Agoda, they have Rent-A-Car services and "Last Minute Deals" that offers rates that are quite attractive for frugal moms like me. They also offer packages that include “Flight Only” and “Flight + Hotel stay” service that made them quite popular online for travelers. I personally haven't tried their service yet, but something tells me I will soon especially my sister's birthday is coming up.
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Though I have to admit, there are times that I feel we’re overspending on our vacations and that we’re wasting money on them. But like I said before, having a vacation is also an essential part of balanced living so I just dismiss the thought.
Thankfully, I am happy to discover that there is indeed a way to really enjoy your online purchases including travel bookings with Agoda and Expedia, and that is through ShopBack!
Listen here, frugal peeps.
ShopBack is more like a discount site and more importantly, they help you get your cash back! Well, not all our cash back, but it gives us a portion of our purchases back as cashback. This means extra, unlimited savings whenever you shop online. If you ask me, it’s waaay much better than having no cash getting back to me at all. So what I did was I bookmarked Shopback and placed it on top of my browser so I won’t forget to log in Shopback first before making a purchase online. I do suggest you do it, too.
Since I’ll be having my birthday on the 21st of May, I plan to have a staycation in a hotel with my family, but I’m still not sure what hotel.So what I plan to do is book a hotel through Agoda but using Shopback to get P400 cashback and hopefully some voucher codes. Let’s take a peak on how Shopback works:
- Let’s go to Shopback (https://www.shopback.ph)
- Let’s select Agoda and let's try to book a room.
As soon as I clicked Agoda, a pop-up message appeared :
In Agoda, it seems they have a fixed amount of Cashback when your purchase is worth P2,400 and above. On the other hand, that's 5% cashback for less than P2,400. After reading this, in my mind I was saying, "Yes! Let's do this!"
After clicking "Shop Now," this message came up:
It informed me that cashback will be added to my account within 2 days.
3. After a few seconds, it automatically led me to Agoda's website where I can book my preferred hotel the usual way.
After my booking has confirmed, within 48 hours, I should simply log in back to the Shopback website > Go to Cashback Summary and there I will see all the cashback transactions I've had. The amount will turn redeemable after 30 to 60 days to ensure that there is no cancellation/return/exchange. Request for payout can be done once you've reached a cashback of P300. Cashback can be deposited in your bank accounts or in Paypal.
It's pretty simple really. Just visit Shopback first, select which merchant you're going to purchase on, and then let your shopping begin! The site has many categories to make it easier for you to navigate. If you don't know where you start, the popular page showcases their top online stores offering cashback.
For more information about Shopback, simply visit their site and try it out yourself. Registration is absolutely free.
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