[Expired?] Upside: Make a $400+ Travel Booking & Get $250 In Gift Cards

Update: Looks like all codes are now only $125 instead of $250 :(.

The Offer

Must use a referral link, feel free to share & find codes in this linked post.

  • Upside Travel is offering a $250 gift card (Amazon, Target, Whole Foods, eBay & more) when you’re a new Upside user, use a referral link and complete a $400 Upside package. 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 12/25/2017.

Our Verdict

For those not familiar with Upside I’d recommend reading our review. Basically it allows you to search for flights, hotels and Uber rides and create a ‘package’. 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.

When I did my initial searching I found Upside more expensive than the competition (before the package savings & gift card rebates). I was actually surprised that Upside priced out so well even when comparing it to other online travel agencies including discounts. I still haven’t booked with them because I prefer other options out there, but if I can find something priced around $400 then I’ll probably jump on this deal. You need to pick two of the following:

  • Flight.
  • Hotel
  • Uber. Let’s you pick one of the following (these are promo codes that must be used during your trip. 12:01 am the day of your flight there until 11:59 pm the day of your flight back):
    • Two rides up to $25 each for $50
    • Four rides up to $25 each for $100
    • 8 rides up to $25 each for $200
    • 12 rides up to $25 each for $300

Personally I find it very easy to save a lot of money on hotels (more information here) and much more difficult to save on flights & Uber. If I can find something that is around that $400 price point for those two then this looks like a winner. I haven’t done a lot of research on this deal just yet and I’m assuming prices are still somewhat competitive but could be easily wrong (update after doing a few more searches I was definitely able to find cheaper flight prices else where but there wasn’t a huge difference. Remember that when you get to the final booking price they will also show you the total price which includes the discount they provide you. After taking that into account prices were basically the same and sometimes cheaper). As always it’s super important that you do your own price comparisons for your own routing/deal to make sure it’s competitive.

If anybody has any experience with Upside then please share your experiences in the comments below.

Hat tip to Extreme Hotel Deals

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Swapnil
Swapnil (@guest_530710)
December 5, 2017 12:33

https://web.upside.com/?promocode=m23bow

The price of your first trip will be reduced by $100 if the price exceeds $400

Swapnil
Swapnil (@guest_530707)
December 5, 2017 12:32

The price of your first trip will be reduced by $100 if the price exceeds $400.

Dale R
Dale R (@guest_479588)
September 19, 2017 15:15

Can anyone confirm if the Uber credit worked with UberEats as well?

Ken
Ken (@guest_468434)
August 29, 2017 20:56

Can the Uber credit be used in a different country from the flight destination?

George
George (@guest_462163)
August 20, 2017 19:15

Looks like I missed this. Does anyone know if it was extended?

Brian C
Brian C (@guest_463972)
August 23, 2017 14:43

They just started a new campaign today of $200 (not quite as good as $250 but still pretty good). Only targeted user’s have this referral. Several users posted on the referral page (see top of post). I would post a link here for you but not allowed, but just check the referral page.

My link is there as well 🙂

Slinks
Slinks (@guest_461253)
August 18, 2017 14:51

The only promo code that seems to work is Matthew Stainbrook’s! All the others I tried first said invalid. Odd and also Matthew’s promo code is his surname whereas everyone else’s is a set of random letters… Matthew, how did you get your particular promo code please?

Also, now that I have signed up, no-one can sign up through my promo link (a set of random letters)!!!!

Nick Reyes
Nick Reyes (@guest_461260)
August 18, 2017 15:13

There is at least one more than works in the referral thread. Look for promo codes that are a name rather than number.

Matt might answer you also, but I saw your comment and figured I’d respond. I emailed with Matt about this yesterday. He got targeted (as did some other existing users) for the $250 referral. The normal referral is $125, which is the referral link you get after you make your first booking. It looks like a lot of people posted that referral (which is just a random combo of numbers and letters). The name-based referrals had the higher offer.

I emailed support to ask if there was a way to get a $250 referral (intending to tell people if that worked). They told me that I should like them on Facebook, listen for their adds on the radio, and check my email inbox as the marketing team often offers different kinds of referral bonuses. So, to my knowledge, there is no way to get one of your own — but you can always ask Upside – maybe you’ll get a different response than I did.

Slinks
Slinks (@guest_461261)
August 18, 2017 15:16

Thanks so much for the detailed reply, Nick! That makes sense. I have contacted Upside anyway as my referral code just says invalid when used (doesn’t even offer $125) so will mention this too and if I get a reply, I’ll update with their answer 🙂

y
y (@guest_461140)
August 18, 2017 12:25

How and when do you choose the gift card?

Darin
Darin (@guest_461108)
August 18, 2017 11:34

Anyone know whether AA travel will credit as fare or distance? Chase, Citi and other booking sites often show up as “bulk” tickets and get credited by distance. While this can be an advantage in some cases, for my upcoming travel it would be a big disadvantage if it’s not a transparent fare to AA.

mommafrica
mommafrica (@guest_461161)
August 18, 2017 13:07

+1. And as a person with a disability (Disabled Vet), can I still choose my own seats as well? Will the site send me to AA directly for seating is what I’m actually truly asking?

Nick Reyes
Nick Reyes (@guest_461245)
August 18, 2017 14:40

I was able to go to AA and plug in my confirmation number and then add my Alaska Airlines MVP Gold number. That status allowed me to choose Main Cabin Extra seating for free (a benefit of MVP Gold until January 1). So my point is that you should be able to select seats I believe.

mommafrica
mommafrica (@guest_461527)
August 19, 2017 01:24

OK, thanks.

Rachel
Rachel (@guest_461079)
August 18, 2017 10:38

Great find! Was able to get the $250 gift card with just a flight booking alone (no uber or hotel). The next day, the agent for the site sent me an email confirming my flight booking, including weather conditions in the city I’m flying to, and even gave me a complimentary upgrade to economy plus for my flight!

goodguys21
goodguys21 (@guest_460859)
August 18, 2017 00:14

Do I have to book at the same time I sign up using referral link ?

Matthew Stainbrook
Matthew Stainbrook (@guest_460872)
August 18, 2017 00:41

Nope! just know that the first trip you do, you will need to input the promo code of your choice. if youo don’t, first time only promo codes will no longer work.