I know that most of us use hotel points when we book our hotel reservations, but some redemptions aren’t worth the points. And sometimes the hotel options in the cities we visit aren’t very good. Whenever I use cash to book hotel rooms, I turn to the Dosh cash back app to explore my options. Continue reading to learn why…
This is a sponsored article in collaboration with Dosh. I use Dosh personally, and I feel comfortable sharing their services with my family, friends, and readers.
Please note: I have early access to the app as a beta tester. I confirmed with Dosh that the hotel booking feature will be released to the general public on Monday, July 8, 2019.
In This Post
What is the Dosh cash back app?
The Dosh cash back is a free app that is available on both iOS and Android. There are three primary ways to earn cash back from Dosh – dining, shopping, and hotel reservations. Plus, once you sign up for Dosh, you can also make money by referring your friends.
Earn cash back on dining
Receiving cash back on dining is simple and automatic. Simply register your credit cards with Dosh and you’ll automatically earn up to 10% cash back when dining at 1000’s of restaurants, including both national chains and local places.
In my experience, I’ve found fast food, pizza, small diners, and big restaurant chains on the app. I like to use it to find new places to eat while traveling.
Every so often Dosh will offer promos where you can earn even more cash back. So, turn on the app’s notifications so you can maximize your opportunity to earn extra money.
Receive cash back at retailers
Dosh is adding new retailers all of the time to their platform. You’ll find everything from Staples to Kroger to Academy. A quick search of the app and I found opportunities to save 2% to 10% cash back on in-person shopping.
Some stores will pop in for a limited time, so if you don’t see anything you like, don’t worry. More stores are added every week!
You can also shop online via the Dosh cash back app. Stores like Cost Plus World Market, Forever 21, and Lane Bryant are available to earn cash back when shopping online. Just make sure that you click through the app before you shop to ensure you earn cash back!
Read: How to earn up to 13x rewards at Staples
Get cash back on hotel reservations
When you book hotel rooms with the Dosh cash back app you can receive up to 40% cash back. The app provides over 600,000 hotels at competitive prices around the world.
Read: What is the best app for last minute hotel booking? Dosh vs. Hotel Tonight
How to sign up for Dosh cash back
To sign up for a free account with Dosh, download the Dosh cash back app and create an account. When you use my referral link and link your first credit card, you’ll start earning cash back right away.
Making a Dosh cash back hotel reservation
I’m headed out on a road trip this summer with my brother-in-law. Some of the cities that we’re visiting don’t have good rates for award bookings, so I turned to Dosh to book a hotel reservation in those cities.
The process was super simple and very quick. And, because my credit cards are already loaded into the Dosh cash back app, I just had to pick a card that was already loaded.
Search for hotels
Open up the Dosh cash back app, then click on hotels at the bottom of the screen. Enter the city you want to book a hotel room, select the dates, and pick how many people will be in the room with you.
Update your hotel search filters
The Dosh cash back app defaults to 2-star hotels and above. I tend to stay at hotels that are at least 3 stars, so it’s easy to change your search results to fit your needs.
You can also search by a specific keyword (such as “Hilton”) or hotels that have specific amenities. The options include pool, breakfast, internet, pets, airport shuttle, and fitness center.
Pick your hotel and room type
Once you pick a hotel from the options available, you can then select the type of room you want. Many hotels offer the ability to book upgraded rooms (i.e.: room size, view) at various price points.
I chose a bigger option than the standard to ensure that my brother-in-law and I both had enough space inside the hotel room.
Confirm room selection and cash back amount
You will receive a different cash back amount based upon the room you choose. Don’t necessarily pick the first option the shows up. Look through the options to see if one room type offers better cash back than others.
Confirm details before booking
Before you pay, you’ll have a chance to confirm your hotel booking details. The room rates are non-cancellable, so make sure that you are ready to book.
Hotel booking confirmed
Now that you’ve paid for your room, the reservation is confirmed. Note that your room is prepaid, so your credit card will be charged immediately.
Check out what dining options are nearby
After you’ve finished booking your hotel room, the Dosh cash back app will show all of the cash back dining options nearby. This way you can double up on the savings to earn cash back on both your hotel and meals.
Email confirmation of your hotel booking
Your hotel reservation confirmation is available in the Dosh cash back app, but you’ll also receive an email confirmation that you can print out or store digitally for easy access.
How do Dosh hotel prices compare to Expedia?
Cashback is nice, but not so much if the prices are higher than what you can find elsewhere. I’m happy to report that Dosh cash back hotel prices are very competitive. In many cases, the Dosh hotel prices were lower than Expedia BEFORE factoring in the cash you’ll receive for booking with Dosh.
How do Dosh hotel prices compare to booking direct?
With loyalty membership or elite status, there’s always an opportunity to save money when booking direct. However, the prices aren’t always lower at the hotel.
I searched for the Staybridge Suites to see what the IHG website offered, and those prices were higher than Dosh as well.
Any downsides in using the Dosh cash back app to book hotels?
As much as I love using Dosh, there is a tradeoff. Over the last several years, hotels have changed up the relationship between where you book and the rewards you receive.
In order to receive your elite benefits and hotel credits, hotels require that you book directly with them. So, you’ll need to do the personal math and make a decision about whether elite benefits are worth more than the cash back you can receive from Dosh.
For example, when we stay in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the Staybridge Suites, there really isn’t an option to upgrade due to status, so the cashback was more important to me.
The Bald Thoughts
When it comes to trip planning, my first instinct is to use hotel points and save my cash. With hotel brands like Marriott, Wyndham, and IHG increasing the cost of an award night, using points isn’t always the best option. If I’m going to use cash to pay for a room, I’ll compare prices at the hotel websites, OTAs, and Dosh cash back app to find the best deals. When you can receive up to 40% cash back from Dosh for booking a hotel room, their app becomes a valuable tool in my travel strategy.
The Dosh cash back hotel booking feature will be available in early July 2019. I was able to get access to review the features so that readers can understand for themselves whether it is a good deal or not.
How do you save money when you book hotel rooms with cash? Have you tried Dosh before? Let us know in the comments below.
Did not know Dosh has hotel booking option too. Thanks a lot for this. Looking forward to trying this out for my next trip.
How do Dosh hotel rates compare to thewaylo.com? Found it on FT last year. They have pretty good rates for some hotels. IMO, the best part is, their customer service does a live price match before booking, to almost any price anywhere, sometimes even rates with coupon. The downside is: they don’t have all hotels available, especially in smaller cities.
Hey Nancy, I haven’t heard of that site before, so I’m not sure. When I did some searches, Dosh’s prices were pretty competitive even before factoring in the cash back.
Dosh app is a user interface nightmare. Mine doesn’t even have a hotels button at the bottom.
Rick, the feature will be released soon. I wrote a note in the article saying that I had a beta release to review the functionality. I will update the article to make that message more prominent.
FYI, I just googled around, DOSH just the other day removed this feature LOL. There’s a reply on their facebook page. Must have been way too lucrative.
Rick, the original hotel booking feature was removed awhile back. It is being relaunched in early July.
I see! Now I see a very small notice on their website saying it’s coming back in July. It still has to be one of the worst UI on an app I’ve ever seen. Nothing is communicated clearly, especially the convoluted account adding process.
They make a big deal about hotel booking in all their marketing but fail to mention in an obvious way that it’s not out there yet. Hopefully they have decent hotel selection once it comes out.
On their mobile site (not the app), there’s a little red banner mentioning that hotel booking is coming in July.
Did you go to https://travel.dosh.cash/ ?
There are 600,000 hotels globally to choose from, so I’m sure you’ll find most hotels that you want to book.
Do you only get the cash back if you book through Dosh?
Yes, you need to book through their app. Just like online shopping portals that we all use for cashback, miles, and points, they’re essentially sharing a portion of their referral commission from the hotel with you.