Wednesday 23 May 2018

How to Book Your Next Holiday & Save on Food Shopping [Sponsored]



Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by SuperValu Ireland



Every year after Christmas I start planning my foodie trips for the year ahead, because let’s face it, it’s the best way to beat the doom and gloom. This year was no exception, when I just came back from Copenhagen in January I booked my next holiday to Lisbon.

If you follow me on Instagram (@Frenchfoodieindublin) you may remember that I posted a story with the steps on how I booked my trip to Lisbon while making sure I collected SuperValu Real Rewards points to be able to save money on food shopping later.


The first thing you need is a SuperValu Real Rewards card, which is free and can be collected from your local SuperValu supermarket. Then you just need to register your account online and start collecting points! I also recommend downloading the app for an easy way to keep an eye on your account and use the Real Rewards eShops portal from your phone.

You earn points each time you shop in SuperValu but there are also many other Real Rewards partners, which you can access from the Real Rewards eShops portal. These range from beauty and fashion brands to, of course, travel.  Because travel expenditure can be high, using the eShops while booking your trip is actually an easy way to earn lots of additional points by doing something you’re doing anyway. I discovered that many brands I tend to use for my holidays were part of the programme such as Booking.com, City Jet, Marriott and Accorhotels.com just to name a few.



How did I earn additional points while booking my trip to Lisbon?

I linked my Bank of Ireland personal credit card to my Real Rewards card and earned 250 bonus points. Easy peasy!

I booked my Aer Lingus flights using my Bank of Ireland credit card, allowing me to collect 1 Real Rewards point for every €10 spent. I got a good deal on flights to Lisbon and got 27 points but if you’re flying further away, with flights being more expensive you’d get more points.

For my accommodation I used the eShops portal to book a studio appartment on Booking.com, collecting 2 Real Rewards point per euro spent, and also paying with my BOI credit card to get additional points. This booking topped my account up by 1260 points.

While the total booking alone brought me 1600 points, I also used my BOI credit card during my holiday when purchasing things or paying for activities and kept collecting points easily, without doing anything extra.

What can I do with my Real Rewards points?

SuperValu converts Real Rewards points into Money Back Vouchers three times a year, which you receive in the post or electronically. I received the first ones back in March and I’ll receive more later this year. I can use them to save money on food shopping in SuperValu or to save on transactions with some of the Real Rewards partners.

So there you have it, I found the experience pretty straightforward and discovered that there are lots of brands I buy from so I’ll keep using it, not only for travel.

Hope you enjoyed the tips, happy travel planning!

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