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Kudos Flash Boost November 2026: Ancestry Debuts at 13%, Hotels.com and VRBO Hold at 9%
September 27, 2026
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Every month, Kudos Flash Boost raises the cash back rate at a handful of partner stores for a limited time. You earn it by shopping through Kudos, on top of your card's own rewards.
Ancestry is the new name at the top of the board, debuting at 13% back for November. Behind it, Hotels.com and VRBO are holding at 9% for a second month, and Woot! stays at 8%.
November is the biggest shopping month of the year, and this month's rates run all the way through Cyber Monday. Black Friday lands on November 27, and Cyber Monday on November 30 is the last day these rates are live.
StubHub holds at 7%, Expedia is at 6%, and two more newcomers join the list: HP All in Plan at 4% and eBay at 2.5%. More on each below.
November's Full Rate List
- Ancestry: 2% → 13%
- Hotels.com: 4% → 9%
- VRBO: 2% → 9%
- Woot!: 3% → 8%
- StubHub: 2% → 7%
- Expedia: 3.5% → 6%
- HP All in Plan: 2% → 4%
- eBay: 1% → 2.5%
Ancestry Takes the Top Spot
Ancestry is November's highest rate at 13% back, more than six times its usual 2%. It covers family history memberships and DNA kits.
The timing works. With family together for Thanksgiving, it's a natural month to start a family tree, and a DNA kit is an easy holiday gift to cross off the list early. On a $100 Ancestry purchase, that's $13 back on Premium or $10.40 on Free.
Calculation formulated by Kudos, based on this month's Premium Boost rate and the 80% Free rate applied to a sample purchase amount.
Boost only tracks when your purchase starts from Kudos. Open the store from the Kudos app or website, or activate Boost with the Kudos extension, right before you check out. Skip coupon sites and other cashback portals on the same order, since they can replace the Kudos tracking link and keep your Boost from tracking.
Travel Holds Steady for the Holidays
Hotels.com and VRBO are holding at 9% for a second straight month, more than double Hotels.com's usual 4% and more than four times VRBO's usual 2%. If you still need a place to stay for Thanksgiving or December travel, the rates haven't budged.
Expedia moved from 8% to 6% this month. That's still well above its usual 3.5%, so flights and packages for holiday trips still earn a strong rate.
New Arrivals and Steady Movers
The rest of the board is a mix of returning favorites and two new names:
- Woot!: 3% → 8%
- StubHub: 2% → 7%
- HP All in Plan: 2% → 4%
- eBay: 1% → 2.5%
Woot! stays at 8%, one of the highest rates outside of travel and a good place to hunt for Black Friday deals. StubHub holds at 7%, and tickets to a winter concert or game make an easy gift for the person who has everything.
HP All in Plan is new this month at 4%, double its usual rate. It's HP's printer subscription, which bundles a printer with ink and support. eBay also joins at 2.5%, up from 1%. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals running across the site, it covers almost anything left on your list.
How to Stack Black Friday and Cyber Monday Savings With Kudos
November is when most holiday shopping happens, and the biggest savings come from stacking every layer on the same purchase, not just picking a high Boost rate. Here's how to do it:
- Start with Boost. Book holiday stays through Hotels.com or VRBO at 9%, shop deals on Woot! at 8%, and pick up gifts through Ancestry at 13%. On a $1,000 holiday rental through VRBO, that's $90 back on Premium or $72 on Free.
- Let your card-linked offers stack on top. American Express, Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo regularly add card-linked offers for travel, dining, and shopping, but they're scattered across separate issuer logins, so most people never claim them. Kudos auto-activates these in the background once your issuer login is saved, so any matching offer applies without you hunting for it.
- Pay with the card that earns the most. Your card's own rewards are the third layer. At checkout, the Kudos extension shows which card in your wallet earns the most on that purchase, so a Black Friday order goes on your best card for that store and not whatever card happens to be saved.
- Use your credits before they reset. Many annual hotel, airline, travel, and shopping credits reset at the end of the calendar year, so November and December are your last chance to use them. The Benefits Tracker shows which credits you still have left, so a holiday purchase can use up a credit you'd otherwise lose.
- Bring the right card on the trip. Once you're traveling for the holidays, the Location Cheatsheet in the app shows your best card for wherever you are, from the airport to the restaurant.
Boost, a card-linked offer, and your card's rewards can all land on a single purchase. Most people only collect one of the three.
Calculation formulated by Kudos, based on this month's Premium Boost rate and the 80% Free rate applied to a sample purchase amount.
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:
- Ancestry: 13% Premium → 10.4% Free
- Hotels.com: 9% Premium → 7.2% Free
- VRBO: 9% Premium → 7.2% Free
- Woot!: 8% Premium → 6.4% Free
- StubHub: 7% Premium → 5.6% Free
- Expedia: 6% Premium → 4.8% Free
- HP All in Plan: 4% Premium → 3.2% Free
- eBay: 2.5% Premium → 2% Free
On a $500 hotel booking through Hotels.com, that's the difference between $36 back on Free and $45 back on Premium, on one purchase, from one month's rate.
Calculation formulated by Kudos, based on this month's Premium Boost rate and the 80% Free rate applied to a sample purchase amount.
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 American Express, 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
Ancestry leads November at 13%, Hotels.com and VRBO are holding at 9%, and HP All in Plan and eBay join the board just in time for Black Friday. 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 November 30, 2026, which is Cyber Monday!
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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