Kudos has partnered with CardRatings and Red Ventures for our coverage of credit card products. Kudos, CardRatings, and Red Ventures may receive a commission from card issuers. Kudos may receive commission from card issuers. Some of the card offers that appear on Kudos are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. Kudos tries to include as many card companies and offers as we are aware of, including offers from issuers that don't pay us, but we may not cover all card companies or all available card offers. You don't have to use our links, but we're grateful when you do!
May 2026 Flash Boost: 25% Back at Temu, 12% on T3 Micro, and the Best Travel Rates We've Seen All Year
July 1, 2025
.webp)
Here's the honest version of what May's Flash Boost lineup looks like: it's built for someone who's getting their life together before summer.
Book the trip. Grab the hair tools you've been putting off. Get the kids set up with learning content. Maybe finally replace those glasses.
That's not a coincidence. It's just a genuinely strong lineup that happens to make sense in May. Here's what's elevated this month and why it's worth paying attention to.
May's Biggest Rates (All Expire May 31)
25% back at Temu
Was 5%. Now 25%. This is one of the highest rates Kudos runs on any merchant, period. If you've had a cart sitting there, this is the month.
15% back at Education.com
Was 8%. Summer learning content, worksheets, activities. This is quiet value for parents who don't want the next three months to be a complete write-off. Probably the most underrated rate in May's lineup.
12% back at T3 Micro
Was 6%. T3 doubled its rate since last month. If you've been watching the price on a hair dryer, a straightener, anything: this is the strongest cashback T3 has ever offered through Kudos.
10% back at Zenni Optical
New to Flash Boost. Prescription glasses, sunglasses, readers. 10% cashback stacked on top of what's already an affordable product. Easy win.
8% back on travel: Expedia and Hotels.com
Both held their rates from April. If you haven't booked your summer trip yet, this is the nudge. Stacked with a good travel card, you're looking at real returns on a big-ticket purchase.
8% back at StubHub
Summer concerts. Summer sports. Live anything. Book through Kudos and stack it.
7% back at Woot!
Amazon's off-price outlet. More than double the usual rate. Worth a browse if you buy electronics, kitchen gear, or random useful things on the internet.
6% back at VRBO
Planning a rental? Lock it in this month.
4% back at eBay and Lucky Brand
Not the flashiest rates in the lineup, but 4x on eBay is 4x on anything. Lucky Brand is new to Boost, worth knowing if you shop there anyway.
The Part Most People Skip
Every rate above stacks on top of whatever your credit card already earns. That's the whole point.
But there's a third layer most cardholders completely ignore: card-linked offers (CLOs). Your Amex, Chase, Citi, and Bank of America cards are loaded with them right now. 10% off here, $20 back there. They refresh every few days. Most people never activate them because they're buried across four different issuer portals.
Kudos auto-activates them. Visit your issuer portal with the extension installed, and it handles the rest. At checkout, it tells you which card to use to maximize your total return across Boost + CLO + base rewards.
The full stack on a single purchase. That's the actual product.
Want More? That's What Kudos Premium Is For.
Kudos Free gets you further than most rewards tools. Kudos Premium takes it further still. In addition to card-linked offer activation, Kudos Premium offers:
- AI bill negotiation. Kudos sends an AI agent to negotiate your phone, internet, cable, and home security bills directly with your provider. No hold music, no phone trees, no calls on your end. You keep 100% of whatever is saved. Tikue, our CEO, saved $840 on his T-Mobile bill in a single year, more than 20x the cost of a Premium subscription.
- Subscription tracking and cancellation. Kudos detects recurring charges across all your connected accounts and cancels the ones you don't want, with one tap. No more paying for things you forgot you signed up for.
- Full benefits tracking. See every perk across every card you own, with expiration alerts before anything goes to waste.
- 2 years of transaction history. Instant access when you upgrade.
- Welcome bonus tracker. Set your target, track your progress, and get alert before deadlines hit.
Coming soon: flight and hotel price monitoring with automatic rebooking when rates drop, location-aware card recommendations, and bill statement integration.
The Bottom Line
May's best rates: Temu at 25%, Education.com at 15%, T3 Micro at 12%, Zenni Optical at 10%, Expedia and Hotels.com at 8%, StubHub at 8%, Woot! at 7%, VRBO at 6%. Stack any of these with your card's base rewards and active CLOs, and you're looking at some of the strongest returns available on purchases you were already planning.
All rates expire May 31st.
Unlock your extra benefits when you become a Kudos member
Turn your online shopping into even more rewards
Join over 400,000 members simplifying their finances
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.
.webp)
