When is Cashback not Cashback? – When you use hotels.com:)

When is Cashback not Cashback? – When you use hotels.com:)

Following on from a debate with some affiliates I thought I would show how hotels.com show different prices for users who come via cashback links. They simply push the price up when users visit their site via a cashback site….oh dear that is nasty.

I have used an example of Quidco and hotels.com to show people what is happening, but I suspect this happens a lot more. This is the first attempt to find an example…sure people can find more and better examples.

So I looked to book the Aria hotel in Las Vegas for Jan 4 to Jan 8 2018, firstly with no cookies dropped and this is what I got:

Then I went to Quidco and logged in and clicked the hotels.com link and made sure the cookie was dropped. Then I did the same search on hotels.com and this is what I got:

Notice that the price has changed, admittedly one says it includes tax and fees and one says it does not, but still one price is £464 and one is £470.

UPDATED SAT 7/10/2017 17.47PM

Now look at difference:

£465 without Quidco cookie

£517 with Quidco cookie

£52 more expensive

So what cashback did I get from Quidco:

So if I took reward nights then Hotels.com overall charge was more then if I did not do cashback.

The concept shows that hotels.com are using different pricing for cashback user than none cashback users.

Have fun looking:)