Web Buzz: CooBoutique.com offers cash back on hotel bookings

Can a value-hunting traveler truly be loyal to loyalty programs?

Name: CooBoutique.com

What it does: Rewards you with cash back for booking luxury hotels through its website and rewards points for sharing with your social network.

What’s hot: Cash is hot. I liked seeing how much cash other users were getting for their bookings as I was searching for hotels in the U.S. And when I looked up the member page (free), I saw that I could earn as much as 4% on my bookings. I also could earn points by reviewing hotels, sharing recommendations with people and planning a trip on Coo. The more points I earn, the quicker I can move up the membership levels to earn increased cash back — up to 7%.

What’s not: My airline frequent-flier program gives me points for booking with its partner hotels, some hotel chains give me free nights for booking a certain number of nights with them, still other travel sites offer me frequent-flier miles if I book a hotel through them — and those are just a few of the many travel reward options. Why would I want to complicate my already busy online-travel-booking life by adding a new site to the mix?