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BONUS HAUL

The money saving trick that gets my family two holidays for the price of one

The family have got second holidays out of trips to Austria and Cape Verde for free

WHEN my family are getting away for some winter sun, I always try to bag two holidays for the price of one, just by being clever with my booking.

I look at cashback sites and book providers’ loyalty schemes to make my holiday spend spread further.

Writer Catherine Lofthouse often uses her winter sun holiday to pay for a second break in the UK in the summer
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Writer Catherine Lofthouse often uses her winter sun holiday to pay for a second break in the UK in the summerCredit: Catherine Lofthouse
Catherine has used cashback sites to pay for family holidays to places like Austria and Cape Verde
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Catherine has used cashback sites to pay for family holidays to places like Austria and Cape VerdeCredit: Catherine Lofthouse

Sometimes I can even earn enough in cashback or points to pay for next summer's staycation, without spending an extra penny.

My family of five is hoping to head to the Canary Islands for ten days in January and an all-inclusive deal for all of us will cost about £2,000.

But by making good use of cashback sites like Quidco, I could make more than £200 back, just by changing which provider I book through.

If I book direct with the hotel through the cashback site, I would get just four per cent back, but the same room is the same price with Hotels.com and it offers 12 per cent cashback, so it's a no-brainer.

More On Budget Breaks

It's always worth looking at all the different booking options to make sure you're getting the best deal and not missing out on benefits that you might only get through booking direct or using a package deal.

It can take a bit of time to look through all the different sites and work out which is best for me, but it pays off if I can get enough cashback to cover another break later in the year.

It's a hack I used when we visited Innsbruck in Austria for a few nights at Easter.

Because we booked a two-bed city centre apartment using Booking.com, we spent £310 for two nights but then got £36 in credit to spend on the site and used it for a night at a budget hotel over the summer.

We also booked a hotel in Brussels through , spending about £230 and getting £44 in cashback through .

The beauty of cashback rather than booking provider loyalty schemes is that once it's tracked and been confirmed, you can have the money paid into your bank account, so it can be spent wherever you like.

It all adds up when you're spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on a break.

One thing to look out for is that cashback or loyalty points aren't usually paid on charges and taxes.

So for our Innsbruck trip, the €2 per adult per night city tax and the €85 cleaning fee would have been deducted from our total spend before the  credit was worked out.

Another thing to be aware of is that it can take some months for your cashback to be approved by the retailer, so it's best not to make plans to spend it until it's actually in your account.

The most I've ever made in cashback on a winter sun break was the year we visited Cape Verde for a week in a two-bed apartment at an all-inclusive hotel.

We paid about €1,390 (£1,200) for our accommodation and received £75 back four months later - that's enough to pay for an off-peak brea at a UK holiday park.

I can't wait for a bit of winter sun but now I know I'll have a way to pay for a summer staycation to look forward to as well.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

Here, Catherine Lofthouse also reveals how she takes her whole family away in October half term every year for just £100.

And read about what it's really like on those budget winter sun caravan holidays.

The family are planning a January break to the Canary Islands and Catherine is hoping that the cashback she'll receive for the trip will be enough for an off-peak summer staycation
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The family are planning a January break to the Canary Islands and Catherine is hoping that the cashback she'll receive for the trip will be enough for an off-peak summer staycationCredit: Catherine Lofthouse.
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