If you’re not already a member, I’ve written about Swagbucks before here: Swagbucks. I like getting paid to search.. :)

Contrary to the title, I’m not going to write about how and where to find the best airplane ticket prices.  I can give you a few hints, perhaps, but nothing that will rock your world, I’m afraid.

• Be flexible with your dates and enter different variations on several different websites (preferably a couple that actually compare sites for you.)
• Travel during the week instead of a weekend, or during off-season if you can swing it.  That one has never actually worked for me–I’ve only flown during the summer.
• Call a travel agent and see if they can find you a better deal–that doesn’t always work, but on at least one occasion, she saved me a couple hundred dollars.
• Book the trip rather than waiting around–we lost quite a lot of money on that this time.  I didn’t have a confirmation from one of our travelers (we’re taking our niece with us) so I couldn’t actually book anything until we did.  Just a few days later, prices had gone up. They even went up seven dollars per ticket from five o’clock to ten o’clock (when I was able to purchase the tickets.)
• Popular destinations will probably cost less. Unfortunately, I’ve never had a need to randomly fly somewhere just because the ticket is cheap, so this is perhaps not that useful as a tip.
• Orbitz has a lowest price guarantee. Theoretically, if someone else books that ticket for less, we’ll get an automatic refund.  I wonder if this is actually something that happens much, but it’s a nice idea.

As far as which site has the cheapest rates… your guess is as good as mine. That’s why it’s so frustrating to buy these tickets. That, and the fact that airfare makes no sense to any human being.

HOWEVER.

Last night, as I gulped aloud and prepared to authorize a charge for $4,055 (for four passengers, $1,013 each), I thought of something that I do automatically these days that everyone probably doesn’t do–click-through and cashback.

I found the right fare via Orbitz.  At that point, I went back to look at my favorite shopping sites (see my post about Ebates) to see if any of them had partnerships with Orbitz.  Ebates did, at 1-3% cashback.  So did Mr. Rebates at 1%.  However, I hit pay dirt when I checked my Discover card.  They had their cashback bonus for travel. It ended March 31 and I hadn’t bothered to sign up for it because I didn’t expect to be traveling. 5%!  I had certainly found which of my cards I wanted to pay with, but I was still looking for which one I should click through.  And then I found it! Discover also has a shopping portal with cashback percentages, and Orbitz was listed there for 5%.  Bingo!

I’m not positive I’ll get both 5%, and I will only get cashback from those clicks on the tickets (not the fees, which amount for about a third of that or more)  but STILL. When you buy something expensive like airplane tickets, that measly 1-5% adds up fast.  I was about an hour and a half under the deadline for the March 5% travel cashback, so I just have to hope they billed immediately. :)  It’s not showing up yet but my credit limit is now (drastically!) reduced so I think they did.

In any case, I am hoping to get back up to $250 just by taking four minutes to research where to click through and which credit card to pay with.  More than a fair return on investments, in my opinion!  Never forget to click through, that’s my point.  :)

Offer expires November 30.

Enjoy!

The Huggies  program allows you to save your points and use them to “purchase” items, and you can also spend points on sweepstakes, games and instant win contests that you can play and win prizes like gift cards.  I actually won a game a while back, though I haven’t yet received my $10 prize.

You might as well enter the codes.. free stuff is free stuff, right?

EnjoyTheRide.com

New codes circulate around the internet pretty often.  There is a list of some current ones at Sweetie’s Sweeps–looks like about 90 points just for entering the codes listed there!

Enjoy and good luck, if you enter any of the contests!

You also get swagbucks from shopping certain places and from the people you refer. There are toolbars that you can download, too, so you can search right from your browser. It probably won’t be a huge source of income for you but if you only get one point per day, then you’re still earning $40 at Amazon every year! That’s a pretty good return on your investment (which is nothing.)

If you’re interested in earning money for doing internet searches that you’re going to be doing anyway, then please use this link to sign up:

I have redeemed several Amazon codes already–it really does work!

Hence, I stumbled upon material for this post. You win, I win.

Going to O’Charley’s for dinner? First, sign up for their e-club for a “free gift” upon signing up, and one on your birthday. The best part is that you don’t have to wait–the welcome email contained the gift, which was a free appetizer. I suppose that your free gift might be different but I am assuming that it’s always a free appetizer. Since I usually order from the appetizer menu anyway, that meant a free meal for me. Awesome! (Technically, the welcome email does not say that you can only use it once, either, so you could theoretically print one for every night of the week for a month… but I haven’t tried it so I don’t know that for sure.)

So now we are home from a nice meal out and it didn’t break the bank. At least, not too badly. My daughter is now at an age where we have to actually have to order her food sometimes. On the bright side, she actually ate it tonight, which makes it worth it. I just hate the times she doesn’t touch it!

Once you’re a member, they will send you some stuff randomly, and some promotions you need to opt in to separately on the website.  You’ll want to occasionally check in and see what they’re offering, if anything.  Right now, members can sign up for a free sample of Secret Clinical Strength deodorant.  So, if that’s something you’re interested in, make sure you opt in for that promotion, too, once you’ve signed up.

The link again: Vocalpoint. 

Why wouldn’t you want random free things with no more work than filling out a registration form? 

Updated to add: You do have to qualify for membership. My dad tried to sign up after reading this post, but apparently they just aren’t looking for middle-aged men. ;)