One of the top sites for making money on the Interwebs is Swagbucks. I've been a member of the site since around 2012, and I've redeemed nearly $4,000 in gift cards and PayPal cash on the site. When most people think about Swagbucks, they think about a survey site, but there are other options for redeeming points you've earn on the site, and some of those can help you save money on travel. If you'd like to get started on the site here is my referral link. (I'll get 10% of your earnings, but it won't affect the amount you'll earn.) If you're curious how the site can make save you money on travel, just keep reading.
Cash Back
Swagbucks has a shopping portal, and when you use the site to search for various businesses, you'll freqeuently earn some cash back as long as you shop from the window with the tracking cookie the site gives you (and the vendor is offering any referral money to Swagbucks). There are several hotel chains that basically give Swagbucks a referral bonus for any customers the site sends their way. Then, Swagbucks will effectively give its users some of the referral bonus. The amount of SB (the site's digital currency that's worth about a penny per point) you'll get from these purchases will vary by both the chain and the date you book the hotel, but I've gotten anywhere from one SB to 12 SB per dollar spent.
I just spent three nights in the vicinity of Boston in a Holiday Inn Express, and I got six (6) SB per dollar spent, which was almost enough to get me $25 in PayPal cash. I'm spending a couple of nights in a Sleep Inn, which is a part of the Choice chain, next month, and that one is giving me 12 SB per dollar I spend. Currently, IHG, which is the parent company for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, among other chains, is offering 10 SB per dollar spent. That's effectively 10% off the room rate.
Note that I put Holiday Inn Express in the search bar. You'd click on the tile that says "Shop Now" to open the hotel chain's site and earn the cash back. I've earned cash back from Marriott, Choice, and IHG in this manner. Keep in mind, travel is not the only shopping that can earn cash back. I've also used Walmart.com, Lowe's, and Staples to earn cash back, among others.
Spending money through the Swagbucks shopping portal is not the only way you can earn SB to get free or discounted travel. You can also download some games (not all are free) to earn some SB in your free time, and you can use the site as a search engine. You'll randomly earn a few SB through searching on the site. Those options will frequently pay off quite a bit slower than the shopping portal, but the SB will add up over time.
Redeeming Points for Travel
I have generally redeemed my points for PayPal cash or electronic gift cards for Walmart or Amazon. However, it's possible to redeem points for travel. You can currently (as of July 21, 2025) redeem 10,000 SB/points for $100 off cruises on Carnival or Celebrity X ships. It's also possible to get $25 to $100 electronic gift cards to offset charges on airlines such as Delta or Southwest. If you like to visit Disney Parks in the US, it's possible to get gift cards to pay for part of the expense for admission, as well.
As the image above, which lists the various "denominations" of Disney gift cards you could get with Swagbucks, shows, it's sometimes possible to get a discount on the number of points you'll need to use to get a given denomination. For example, the $25 e-gift card from Disney currently "costs" only 2,200 SB, rather than the normal 2,500. Effectively, that's a 12% discount.
Stacking Benefits
You can also extend the amount of cash back you could earn from purchases you make through Swagbucks by using a credit card that earns points like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Freedom Unlimited (referral links). The Sapphire Preferred currently comes with a 75,000-point bonus for spending $5,000 within the first three months from opening an account, while the Freedom Unlimited comes with a $200 cash back bonus for spending $500 over the same time frame. You'd effectively earn a point with Chase for spending on the former and 1.5 points for spending on the latter card, which could add to the cash back you've earned or, in the case of the Sapphire card, allow you to earn points you could transfer to some major travel loyalty programs.
So there you have it, Swagbucks is a site that you can definitely use to offset some major travel costs. Additionally, if you want to save them up for long enough (and the site remains in business long enough), you could theoretically get a free cruise or a free flight by using the e-gift cards you've earned to offset the cost. If you'd like to try it out, you can sign up at this link. (referral link)
