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Kudos Flash Boost September 2026: Travel Offers Hold Steady, Giftcards.com Climbs to 4%
July 1, 2025
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Travel and resale are holding firm at August's highs, and Giftcards.com is the one rate still climbing, up to 4% back after debuting at the very end of August.
If August was the month travel rates surged, September is the month they prove they're sticking around.
Hotels.com, VRBO, and Expedia are all still at 8%. StubHub is holding at 7%, and Woot! is right there with the travel merchants at 8%.
The merchant worth watching this month is Giftcards.com, which climbed from 3% to 4% back after debuting late last month. More on that below.
September's Full Rate List
- StubHub: 2% → 7%
- Woot!: 3% → 8%
- Expedia: 3.5% → 8%
- Hotels.com: 4% → 8%
- VRBO: 2% → 8%
- HSN: 2% → 5%
- Giftcards.com: 3% → 4%
- Etsy: 2% → 4%
- Best Buy: 0% → 1%
Travel and Resale Hold at Their Peak
StubHub is staying put at 7%, still more than triple its baseline rate, right as concert and sports resale demand keeps climbing into fall. If you've got tickets on your radar, that rate is still very much live.
Expedia, Hotels.com, and VRBO are all holding at 8%, the same peak they hit in August. If a trip is still on the calendar, there's no rush, but there's also no reason to wait.
Giftcards.com Climbs Again
Giftcards.com debuted at the very end of August, and it's already climbing, up to 4% back for September. It's a useful one heading into fall and the holiday season — gift cards are the kind of purchase people make repeatedly and often forget to route through a cashback layer. Buying gift cards for the merchants on your list through Kudos means stacking Boost on top of whatever those gift cards are already worth.
Woot! is holding at its August rate of 8%, right alongside the travel merchants, and remains one of the highest rates on the board this month.
Steady Movers
A few other stores are holding at smaller, but still worthwhile, rates:
None of these are the headline this time, but Etsy shoppers are still getting double their usual rate, and Best Buy's rate is one to keep an eye on — it's still early days for that one.
The Part Most People Skip
Every rate above is the Boost layer. It stacks on top of whatever your card already earns, but there's a second layer sitting underneath that most people never activate: card-linked offers straight from Amex, Chase, Citi, and Bank of America. These refresh every few days and are scattered across four separate issuer logins, which is exactly why almost nobody claims them.
Kudos auto-activates these in the background once your issuer login is saved. Combined with this month's Boost rates, especially StubHub, Woot!, and Giftcards.com, that's three layers of savings stacking on a single purchase.
Kudos Free vs. Kudos Premium
Every rate above is the Premium rate. Kudos Premium members earn the full rate on every eligible purchase, including Flash Boost merchants. Free members earn 80% of that rate. Here's what that looks like on this month's rates:
- Expedia: 8% Premium → 6.4% Free
- Hotels.com: 8% Premium → 6.4% Free
- VRBO: 8% Premium → 6.4% Free
- Woot!: 8% Premium → 6.4% Free
- StubHub: 7% Premium → 5.6% Free
- HSN: 5% Premium → 4% Free
- Giftcards.com: 4% Premium → 3.2% Free
- Etsy: 4% Premium → 3.2% Free
- Best Buy: 1% Premium → 0.8% Free
On a $500 hotel booking through Hotels.com, that's the difference between $32 back on Free and $40 back on Premium - on one purchase, from one month's rate.
Kudos Free already covers the essentials: card recommendations at checkout, Boost cashback at a reduced rate, approval odds, and your full wallet in one place.
Kudos Premium builds on top of that:
- Full Kudos Boost: Premium members earn the full Boost rate on every eligible purchase at 15,000+ partner stores, while Free members earn 80% of it. A 10% Premium rate is 8% for Free members, and it applies to Flash Boost sales and Deal of the Day too.
- Benefits Tracker. Every credit and perk across every card, tracked with real-time progress bars and an annual fee vs. value breakdown, so you know which cards are still worth keeping.
- Auto-activated card offers. Kudos activates your Amex, Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo card-linked offers automatically, the layer that stacks directly on top of every rate above.
- AI bill negotiation. An AI agent calls your phone, internet, cable, or home security provider and negotiates your bill down. You keep 100% of the savings.
- Location Cheatsheet. Open the app anywhere and see your best card for that exact spot, with a home screen widget on iOS and Android.
- Kudos AI. Ask it anything about your spending, subscriptions, or which Flash Boost rates you haven't used yet.
- Subscription tracking and automatic cancellation.
- 2 years of transaction history, unlocked instantly on upgrade.
- Welcome bonus tracker, with smart alerts as you approach spending targets.
Want Premium for life instead of a subscription? Kudos Premium Lifetime is a one-time payment for permanent access to everything above, plus everything built after.
The Bottom Line
Nothing dropped this month — travel and resale are holding at August's highs, and Giftcards.com keeps climbing heading into gift-buying season. If you're on Kudos Free, remember every rate listed above is the Premium rate — you'll earn 80% of it unless you upgrade.
All rates expire at the end of the day on September 30th, 2026!
Unlock your extra benefits when you become a Kudos member
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are those of Kudos alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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