The Offer
Must use a referral link, feel free to share & find codes in this linked post.
- Upside Travel is offering a $200 gift card (Amazon, Target, Whole Foods, eBay & more) when you’re a new Upside user, use a referral link and complete a $400 Upside booking. Unlike the previous promotion this does not need to be a package, so you can just book a $400 return flight for example.
- You’ll also get whatever gift cards you’d normally earn from Upside (if it’s a cheap booking most likely $15).
The Fine Print
- Only one promo code per transaction.
- Your promotion will be applied at checkout.
- Your gift card total cannot exceed the cost of your trip.
- Your code requires a minimum purchase of $400.
- Your code expires on 09/01/2017.
Our Verdict
Previous promotion was for $250 in gift cards but you needed to book a package (e.g flights + hotel/uber) this promotion just requires a $400+ booking so just a return flight should work. For those not familiar with Upside I’d recommend reading our review. What’s different to a normal online travel agency is they are targeted towards corporate customers and aim to save big businesses/corporations money by offering their travelers gift card rewards for taking cheaper options. That way employees are reward with a gift card for taking a ‘worse’ option and businesses/corporations save money.
I’ve found upside to be initially the same price/more expensive but when you get to checkout the price decreases making it the same price/cheaper than the competition. Obviously getting $200 in gift cards makes it a great deal. Personally I find it very easy to save a lot of money on hotels (more information here), but not that easy to save money on flights. I think using Upside to get this $200 bonus makes a lot of sense, but I probably wouldn’t regularly use it for my bookings. Please do not share your referrals in this post, you can share them in this linked post instead.
Hat tip to Frequent Miler
Not the right spot or proper way to post your referral.
Anybody used Upside to book a Starwood hotel? Do you get Starpoints and what rate does the hotel invoice show?
Get a minimum of $125 in gift cards for 1st Upside trip
Get $125 in gift cards!!! Successs!!
https://web.upside.com/?promocode=m23bow
Just wanted to give a heads-up on this: Upside has emailed me several times now congratulating me on $25 referral bonuses after people (listed by first name) used my referral link during the $100/$200 promotional period. I contacted them and explained that I believed those bonuses should be for $100 and asked them to also make sure those referred (I had a link here and also on my blog) received their $200. The first batch were corrected after I proved I had received an email offering the promotional bonus ending 8/31, but this last one the rep asked for last name or trip ID to investigate when the trip had been booked and determine eligibility.
In short: Upside would seem to have a tracking problem for it’s limited-time referral bonus ending 8/31…make sure you (and your friends) get the bonus entitled.
Hi,
I just saved money on booking business travel with Upside and so can you. Use my code weh8c3 and get at least $125 in gift cards with your next trip on Upside.com!
WEH8C3
https://upside.com/promocode/?promocode=weh8c3
I’ve used Upside.com to book a hotel for our trip to San Diego over the Labor Day weekend. ‘ve used hotel/Uber option. For promo code I’ve used GETNEST and 2 days later a brand new Nest thermostat learning system was waiting for me on the on steps of my house. This promo set to expire on 10/31/17..
Has anyone tried using the Venture or Arrival+ to pay for this promotion? I’m curious if you can redeem those miles against the charge from Upside.
Booking an AS ticket via Upside 60+ days out, grabbing the $200 GC, redeeming Venture/A+ miles against the charge, then cancelling the AS ticket would yield a “free” $200 GC by trading in Venture/A+ miles for AS credit. Seems like a good deal to me but it hinges on if Capital One tags the charge as eligible.
Hi. You receive the gift card after completion of the trip, so your strategy would not be possible. I have used my Arrival+ card during the $250 opportunity and it shows up as able to be credited against with Arrival+ points, so that part is doable.
Thanks for the info! Good catch, you saved me a huge headache.
will this work for CSR travel credit?
When booking a hotel room, even one that comes with two queen beds, Upside says, “Upside’s packages are for one traveler only.” There’s no chance the hotel will cry foul when I show up with two people…is there?
Thanks for the heads up on that… I will be sure to not offer details on my second guest LOL.
I hate those pesky terms, feels like staying at a motel that is counting gallons of water.
If someone signs up with your referral link, how long before you get a notification?
No idea
Just an update: I had to contact them regarding my bonus. It didn’t post automatically. I was told by their “navigator” via chat that it would take 72 hours for the bonus to post after the person referred completes her travel. I waited for the 72 hours, bonus didn’t post, so I contacted them again and they manually posted the bonus amount. A bit of work, but their navigators have been helpful.