Places online to book a hoilday ??

[mia]

hi I am looking to book a family holiday for the summer. I have been looking on what seems to be a fantastic web site; icelolly.com (the holiday price comparison site) has anyone used them before?

[the-e-dealer]

I doubt you are the first so yes.

[Alan Medic]

You know what they say about sarcasm Ted?

[Loz]

I'd be wary. Tripadvisor seems to have more than a few unsatisfied customers.

[the-e-dealer]

Alan Medic Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You know what they say about sarcasm Ted?

And nit picking about grammar, punctuation and grammar but hey we enjoy it! :-)

[giggirl]

Hi Mia - I would beware of ALL comparison sites. They make their money on commission when you click through and book from their site. It is therefore in their best interests to only offer you products that give them commission. By all means use them as a research site if you must, but then I recommend you do your own online footwork to get the best price. Also, think about going through Quidco to ensure that any click-through commission goes into your pocket.

[PeckhamRose]

I agree with giggirl, but I do check with Trip Advisor. I like to think I could tell the mean vindictive reports from the genuine ones, and of course if loads of people don't like it then they can't all be wrong.

It's a bit like here. I remember someone setting up their nickname and their first post was to praise a local beauty parlour rather too profusely. We all smelled that rat! But then when I think I know where I want to go, I'll book through their own website if they have one, or phone them up and do it in person.

[giggirl]

Yes I love TripAdvisor too and always check out what they have to say. But I only book once I've accessed the website through the Quidco website. Quidco is basically free money and it makes sense to use them as often as possible.

[mia]

Thank you for all your kind advice. plus i will look at the Quidco website many thanks mia

[Huguenot]

hey giggirl - quite interested in your 'free money' recommendation for Quidco.

They seem, predictably, to have mixed reviews about paying up on their promises.

Do you use it yourself? Have you been paid on time? How much free money are you making?

[giggirl]

?1,995.13 worth of free money actually paid to date + another ?170.38 in the pipeline

Not one single penny spent which would not otherwise have been spent

Typical payments include

?142.50 for switching internet providers last month

?13 to ?20 per month, every month, on Eurostar alone

40% of my sellers' fees on ebay come to me because if I am shopping on ebay I do it though Quidco - 40% mounts up

Huge amounts on hotel bills. If the hotel doesn't offer discount directly via Quidco then I will put the hotel booking through Expedia and that gives me a typical 8% cashback on hotels.

Some partners are very bad at paying - I have a lot outsanding from BA from several on-line transactions going back nearly a year. BA does not like to pay up. Conversely, Eurostar transactions track immediately and pay quickly.

I am not interesed in Nectar points or other reward schemes; I like cash. This is a considerable amount of cash for flights that I would have taken anyway and hotels that I would have stayed in anyway. Effort is minimal; it's an extra couple of clicks per transaction and it becomes second nature. It doesn't preclude me shopping around for the best deal, this is just extra discount on top.

[Huguenot]

So is it a discount, or is a fee for signing on?

[Loz]

Thanks Giggirl - I use quidco and didn't realise eBay was on there!

Hugo - your first ?5 of cashback every year gets deducted in fees. Quite reasonable, really.

[giggirl]

They keep ?5 worth of your earnings in any 12 month period but there is no sign up fee. They keep the site free of advertising, which is nice, so there is no revenue there for them. I think they may keep some percentage of cash back, but I don't know.

Most of the criticism will come from money not being paid. Some businesses are really bad at paying and Quidco won't pass on monies that they haven't received, so people get cross and complain.

Me, I'm selective about which battles I will fight, and arguing with etailers via Quidco is not the battle for me. I learn fast about who pays up and who doesn't, and I move on.

Last week I booked 2 nights in a Paris hotel direct with the hotel's website. Total was just shy of Eur 500. The booking didn't track on Quidco so I cancelled it, booked the same room with Expedia, and I'll get my 8% back soon because Expedia is a fast payer.

BA is wretched. Even when they do pay (and they don't always) it takes a year. Virgin is excellent.

[giggirl]

I've also heard good things about Top Cashback, but I haven't signed up with them yet.

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/quidco

[Huguenot]

I think this is marvellous.

What they're effectively doing is passing back the CPA (cost per acquisition) that a marketing department expects to spend to find a new customer, and passes it directly back to the customer.

This is the cash that would normally go to a website or TV etc. in advertising expenditure.

The discount deals are budgeted separately so you can still attract that too.

The question is what their 'deal' is.

If they really have 1.9 million customers, then they're bringing in 10m GBP a year in subs fees which ain't bad, but I'll be betting they're generating more elsewhere.

I think I'll be building me one of these for SE Asia. ;-)

[Loz]

I think they get a few other kickbacks as well. They are now of such a size that they have quite a bit of leverage over the internet shops.

[giggirl]

Quidco is brilliant. There is always going to be a gripe (sorry, did I mention BA?), but effectively, it is free money and you'd be a fool not to.

It has been promoted by the Martin Lewis website for many years and that's a big recommendation to have. Other than the annual ?5 I don't know how they make their money but I wouldn't be surprised if they take a percentage from etailers.