Upromise has an offer that’s too good to pass up if you’re into cruising, travel in the US, or international travel: Earn 6% cashback, double their regular 3% rate, on bookings made by the end of May!
Travel will be booked through a company called Cruise and Vacation Benefits, a large national travel agency that contracts with Upromise to provide the best possible rates (or so they say, I haven’t checked yet) plus special value-added amenities on cruise and land vacations. In other words, you’ll get the lowest available prices, added perks, AND 6% cash back!
You can either book your travel by phone, by calling Cruise and Vacation Benefits at 1-877-843-2321, or see the link on Upromise’s website. You’ll need to provide your 10-digit Upromise account number either way to make sure your account is properly credited the 6% (which will be deposited into your account 6 to 8 weeks after travel is completed). If you don’t see your Upromise account number on the home page, click on My Account at the top right of the page, and you will see it toward the left of the page under the blue nav bar.
Why this is a great deal:
- 6% is more than any of Upromise’s other travel partners pay that sell cruises and resort bookings, including the travel aggregators Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity (all at 1%), and Priceline or Southwest Airlines Vacations at 2%.
- No other cashback site pays as much as 6% for the aggregators, though you can find them in the 4 to 5% range (except for airfare, which is always a lower rate).
- 6% is also a better deal than booking a hotel or resort directly from any of Upromise’s hotel partners (for example, Holiday Inn at 4% and Courtyard by Marriott at 2%).
- The cruise lines themselves do not participate in ANY online cashback sites, although there are a couple of credit-card based programs (ShopDiscover and Citi ThankYou Points) that offer 3% in cash or points. So particularly in terms of cruise cashback, you’re not going to find a deal this good anywhere else.
Where you can do better elsewhere:
MrRebates has a travel sale going on right now with cashback increases on various hotel chains, luggage stores, car rental agencies, city-based discount cards, etc., which you may want to check out even if you do book a trip through Upromise’s travel agency. Depending on the hotel chain you had in mind, you may do substantially better booking through MrRebates. For example:
- Candlewood Suites: 15% cashback at MrRebates
- Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts: 15% cashback
- Holiday Inn and HI Express: 15% cashback
- HotelClub (a hotel aggregator): 7% cashback
- Radisson Hotels: 7% cashback
- Staybridge Suites: 15% cashback
The Upromise travel offer runs through May 31st (that’s the deadline to book, not to complete your trip). 6% cashback is a fantastic offer, particularly for cruise cashback. As a reminder, although Upromise bills itself as being a college savings plan, anyone can join and simply request cashback in the form of a check.
