It’s that time of year again. The fun summer vibes are fading away as school starts back up and the winter jackets come out of storage. Although the holidays seem far away, they’ll be here before you know it. Now is the perfect time to start planning your winter vacations. Even if your budget is tight because of holiday shopping, your family wants to get away. That’s why I’m going to show you how to save up to 40% when booking holiday travel.
I’m partnering with the Dosh cash back app to help you save on your next vacation. As a father of two kids, I know how difficult it can be to afford everything you want to buy during the holidays. I love apps that save money and make life a bit easier.
In This Post
When is peak holiday travel?
As you’re planning your holiday travel, it is best to stay clear of the biggest travel days. Not only will prices be higher for airfare, rental cars, and everything else, but you’ll also be contending with beginner travelers who don’t know the difference between 3-1-1 and 911.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving always falls on the 4th Thursday of November. This year, Thanksgiving is on November 28th and falls pretty late in the month.
The Wednesday evening before and the morning of Thanksgiving are heavy travel times, so avoid them if you can. Black Friday is always crazy, but you’re pretty safe if you avoid the malls. Just shop online instead and use tools like the online offers within Dosh to earn cash back or use your favorite airline’s shopping portal
(eg: Southwest, American).
The best way to avoid traveling on those heavy traffic days or sleeping on Cousin Eddie’s sofa is to book your hotel rooms now. By earning up to 40% cash back on your hotel stay, you can afford to stay an extra night.
I have family in Savannah and here are some examples of how much you can save by using the Dosh cash back app to book your hotel. Doing a simple search on the mobile app, I found a ton of options for a Tuesday through Saturday stay.
One option, the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Savannah Downtown gave so much cash back, it was like the 4th night was free!
Christmas
The days surrounding Christmas are also popular to travel to see family and friends. Or some families choose to avoid all of the holiday craziness and go someplace fun and exotic on vacation.
Because we have young children, we choose to stay home on Christmas so that Santa knows where to deliver all of the presents. As much as we love our friends, sometimes it is better if they stay in a hotel rather than in our spare room. This way, they get to see the sights of the city and protect them from the craziness of an 8-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a dog.
While searching local hotels on the Dosh cash back app, I found that most of the popular resorts had space available… while also giving you cash back to help pay for the trip. The Gaylord Opryland Resort would be my choice because that hotel is completely decked out for Christmastime. Plus, the kids love going to the ICE! attraction to see the sculptures, go down the slides, and enjoy hot cocoa to warm up afterward. The cash back you earn will help pay for your stay or go towards buying tickets for ICE! or Soundwaves, their indoor water park.
New Years
New Year’s Eve is a good time to get away and thaw out before the kids go back to school in January. You’ve made it through turkey at Thanksgiving and presents for Christmas, now it is time to escape someplace warm to enjoy the sand between your toes and an iced cold drink in your hand.
Living in Nashville, Cancun is a short flight away. With a strong dollar, you can have a wonderful vacation for not a lot of money. And with the Dosh cash back app, you’ll have even more money to enjoy your vacation.
When traveling to a foreign country, you might be concerned about staying at hotels that you aren’t familiar with. That’s why Dosh has incorporated TripAdvisor reviews right in the app so you can read feedback from travelers like you that have stayed at those hotels.
The Dosh cash back app also has many hotels with names you recognize. In this screenshot, I picked luxury hotels from Ritz Carlton, Westin, and Marriott, but there are plenty of other budget-friendly locations to choose from.
How to save up to 40% on holiday travel
You, too, can start earning cash back on your hotel bookings with the Dosh cash back app. It is very simple to get started.
- Sign up for Dosh using my referral link
- Register your credit cards to start earning automatic cash back at participating retailers and restaurants
- Use the hotels feature to search and compare prices with other online booking sites
- Book your stay
- Enjoy cash back deposited into your account once you complete your stay
I love the latest feature on Dosh. You think the hotel price is a good deal, but aren’t sure. Instead of toggling back and forth between multiple apps, the work is already done for you. Select a hotel and the Dosh cash back app automatically shows you prices from competing online travel websites.
For example, here are the competing prices for the Fairfield Inn in Savannah that I talked about above. None of the others offer cash back on your stay. The closest competitor would be Hotels.com, which offers a free night after every 10 stays. But that 10% rebate from Hotels.com is less than half the 25% rebate from Dosh for this sample stay.
Can I travel to someplace warm?
Before living in Nashville, I was spoiled with mild winters in Southern California. Now that I’ve experienced my first winter in Nashville, I totally get why people book weekend getaways to the Caribbean, Mexico, and other exotic locations.
The Dosh cash back app offers more than 600,000 hotels and resorts around the world. If you can find it on other popular travel websites, most likely it will be available on this app.
What about using it for a staycation?
With work and family responsibilities, it isn’t always possible to get in the car or on a plane and travel someplace far away. Sometimes a staycation to explore your local city is just what your family needs.
Booking a hotel with the Dosh cash back app works great for staycations as well. I’ve been in Nashville over a year and there is still so much to see and do within a short drive from my home. Yet, if I stay at home, I’ll definitely get sucked into chores and my wife’s “honey-do” list.
But when we stay at a hotel, we can be 100% focused on spending time with family while exploring our new hometown. Usually, I love traveling to far off places, but staycations with the family are just as great. It’s about the time together, not the destination.
The Bald Thoughts
The holidays will be here before you know it. Booking in advance gives you the best opportunity to secure awesome deals and have peace of mind that your vacation plans are taken care of. Use the Dosh cash back app to save up to 40% on your next holiday vacation. Then use the savings to pay down some debt, save for your future, or set it aside to use on your next vacation.
Have you used the Dosh cash back app to book a hotel? How much money did you save? Share your story in the comments below.
