Is Topcashback pushing up room rates when you use it with Marriott?

by MilesFromBlighty 5 Comments

I think so, based on a very small amount of research I did today.

I was looking at Marriott properties in Norfolk, VA, USA near the airport. I checked the rate at the Marriott site and then routed through TopCashBack to earn my credit. The rate was somehow $17 more expensive. A nearby property went up by $18 when TopCashBack was used.

These are the rates and properties: (Before TopCashBack)

a screenshot of a survey a screenshot of a website

The rates when using TopCashBack: (currently 5% earned or about $5 for these properties)

a screenshot of a website

I need to do some more research over the weekend, but for now it looks like prices go up when using TCB.

Comments

  1. This has nothing to do with TopCashBack. It has everything to do with Marriott’s default display settings for taxes and fees. Look at the first screenshot vs. the second. The second says taxes and all fees included, the first doesn’t (ie the $98 is just the base rate before taxes). There’s a setting on the results page where you can toggle this on/off.

  2. Take a quick view of the line under the rate. The second screenshot shows the same rate just with taxes and fees, the first without 🙂

  5. Just tested it myself, prices went up by the amount of the cashback %. This screenshot is something different, they pressed the taxes and fees button.

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