Free Money Thursday – up to $300 in free credits!

Since today it’s going to be a monster winter storm, and some will have off school or work, or be bored on their computer or phone, I figured I’d post five travel deals with some free money available. As a shameless disclosure, I receive referral credit on most of these deals, but you do too, so we both benefit!

Travelpony is a newish website that offers discounts on hotels, with some recent flash sales on chains such as Four Seasons, and Kimpton hotels recently. They don’t rely on a marketing budget as much as word of mouth and social media. I have not yet booked a hotel with them yet, but am looking to score a deal on my April Las Vegas trip. You can potentially get up to a $135 discount on two hotel nights. First, use my referral link to get $35 off any booking. Then, add the promo code Kate50 to get $50 off a $200 booking, and these two discounts are stackable. Finally, add the promo code PROWINNER to get another $50 off a separate $200 booking. Here is a good article on them – Loyalty Traveler’s Travelpony breakdown.

Silvercaris a new concept for a car rental company – they only rent out Silver Audi A4s, and all cars come with GPS, Sirius XM satellite radio, a free wifi hotspot, and other premium features for prices similar to rental car companies. And it’s nice because it’s all controlled from your smartphone app – you don’t need to talk to anyone, and the app unlocks your phone, and at the end emails you a receipt. Unfortunately they’re only currently in Austin, DFW, Dallas Love Field, LAX and SFO, but are expanding.  Use the promo code ASHEEP for $25 off your first rental. Also, use the promo code AFF-FTD to get an additional $50 off through June 30th (HT to VftW). So that’s a nice $75 off. Finally, if you’re a lady (this only works for females), use the code LADYDAY-4821 from 2/14 – March 5th to get a free day’s rental…pretty awesome! I used this during a recent trip to DFW. Unfortunately I had no promo codes, so ended up paying $89 for the day, but the operation was absolutely seamless – if they can improve their prices, I think they have a terrific model.

Lyft is a taxi service with a business model similar to Uber in that they rely solely on smartphone apps, including payment and tip, but instead of professional drivers, they use a more community focus. Basically, anyone in their participating cities can sign up to be a Lyft driver, although they go through rigorous background checks. (HT to P&PD) Here is a  free $25 from Lyft if you’ve in any of the 19 cities (below) where they currently operate. I’ve never used them, but I’m eager for them to penetrate the Philly market, as they’re cheaper than Uber. here is pricing for different cities.

Speaking of Uber, I’ve touted it a lot, since I really enjoy their service for special occasions, and it seems they’re still offering $20 in free credits to new users – and here is a site with various Uber promo codes, valid for new users, to potentially get up to $40 in new user credits. YMMV.

Finally, Hoteltonight is another app, that finds cheap last-minute hotel deals in big cities, primarily in the USA. Starting on the day you’re going to stay there, at 9am, it has often highly discounted rooms. This is another app I’ve never used, but my good friend used it in Vegas and stayed at Caesar’s Palace for $89, which is ridiculously cheap. If you use the code ASHEEP1, you’ll get $25 in credits for your first stay.

Hopefully you all can benefit from some of, or all of these credits!