If you’ve listened to my recent feature on the Carnival Kicks Podcast, some of these tips will sound familiar! If you haven’t tuned in check it out here, you won’t only get tips about travel but learn a little more about me 🙂
“How do you travel so much?” – pretty much the #1 question I get asked by friends and even strangers almost daily! My secret? Credit card points & loyalty programs. Before we get into it all let’s start with a disclaimer- please be responsible with your finances, do not spend what you do not have and pay your entire balance off at the end of every month to avoid late fees and additional interest charges. If you don’t pay off your balance each month, this will completely defeat all your hard work to get those travel reward points! Credit cards DO NOT mean you have FREE money to go wild.
Now that we’ve got that out the way, here’s how you can get started in this points world. Note- it can also be addicting!
Loyalty comes first
First rule, never book a hotel or flight without being a part of their rewards program! Joining them is very easy, simply visit their website and sign up. What are my favorites? For airlines Delta (SkyTeam Alliance) and Mariott hotels. Try to choose 1 brand of hotels and 1 brand of airline and stick with them to create loyalty and rack up the most points.
If you are not able to stick with one hotel/airline brand (even though you really should) online booking agents like Hotels.com and Expedia let you earn points towards getting a free hotel night or discounts on travel. Moral of the story, don’t do anything without collecting rewards, you never know when your points will earn you a free night/flight even if it’s years from now!
Get on the list
Once you figure out which airline and hotel brand you like, sign up for their email alerts. This is key to knowing when they have a mileage sale or special offering. Check your email often, even that annoying promotions folder we all forget about in Gmail, it may have a treasure chest of deals waiting for you! We recently booked a flight to Japan based on a promo email from Delta.
Choose the card that fits your wallet
With so many cards available, it can be hard to figure out which one works best for you. Here’s a few of my favorite cards that you can look into (do your own research also!), be sure check their website for the most current offers as they always change.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is what I like to call a “The Starter Card” in the travel points world. Right now they are offering a 60,000-point sign on bonus once you meet the minimum spend during the first 3 months of having the card, that works out to be about US$750 in travel credit! You’ll also get 2X points on food/dining purchases, 1X point for any other $ spent and no foreign transaction fees (key for international travel!). You can also receive 25% off your flight when booking through the Chase travel platform, a great savings! This card is also a Visa, widely accepted around the world. The card is free for the first year and US$95 each year afterwards, subject to change.
Capital One Venture
The latest card in my wallet and another great “starter card” is the Capital One Venture offering at 50,000 point sign up bonus, 2X points on ALL purchases, no foreign transaction fees and is also a Visa card. Until January 2020 you can also get 10X points for all hotels booked through their hotels.com platform. Note- you MUST book the hotel through the Capital One Venture Hotels.com platform or you will not get the points. I lost out on quite a few points making this error! Right now this card is also free for the first year and US$95 every year afterwards.
American Express Platinum
Once you’ve gotten your feet wet in the travel card world with the Chase Sapphire or Capital One Venture card come on over to the mecca of travel cards, the American Express Platinum! With a hefty fee of US$550 a year this card can easily scare you away but if you are serious about travel, focused and willing to monitor your account closely you can get this card for next to nothing a year.
There are soo many benefits of this card it’s hard to tell you all of them right here BUT let’s focus on a few that can reduce the US$550 yearly fee (checkout the podcast for these tips & more!). First off you get US$200 Uber Credit, broken down into US$15 a month and $US30 in December. This is a “use it or lose it” feature so make sure you use it each month, if you don’t take a ride you can also use the credit for Uber Eats = FREE FOOD!
My second favorite benefit is the Priority Pass, giving you access to over 1200 airport lounges in 30 countries valued at over US$200 annually. Once you get the card, download the Priority Pass app to check the lounges available. We use this all the time when doing long haul travels to stop in, take a shower, have a bit to eat or drink (the food selection isn’t always great but it saves you at least a cup of Starbucks!) and relax before the next flight.
Next up is TSA Precheck and Global entry fee waiver valued at over US$100. If you’re traveling in 2019 and still taking off your shoes, coats and unpacking your laptop from your bag you need to get with TSA Precheck! Here you can zip through security in no time, I typically make it through security in Miami can in less than 5 minutes. However, wait times in other airports like JFK may be longer.
Want to check a bag and have a drink on the flight? With this card, once you select an Airline American Express will also give you back US$200 for any incidental fees like checking bags or purchasing in flight refreshments.
The last benefit of this card that I’ll mention (there are way too many to go over) which I only recently found out about is the Fine Hotels & Resort Programs. The program is only for a few high end hotels but will give you free breakfast for 2, room upgrade when available, complementary Wi-Fi and a resort credit up to US$100 per day to enjoy some eats or drinks by the pool. Check their website to see what hotels are available. One of our favorites is the Faena Hotel on Miami beach where we stayed for my husband’s birthday!
A few other noteworthy benefits of the Amex Platinum are purchase protection, travel insurance and 5X points on airline and hotel bookings when you book on the Amex website or directly with the hotels or airlines. Note-booking with a travel sites like Expedia or Hotels.com will not allow you to get the 5X points. In most cases you should book directly with brands to not only get the rewards but endure less headache if you need to make a change to your booking. Expedia is NOT friendly with changes- trust me I’ve made this mistake way too many times and had to incur extra $$$.
BONUS Card
The Amazon Store card is worth mentioning since pretty much all of us shop on Amazon. Ok so this isn’t a travel rewards card BUT can help you purchase all the accessories & clothing you may need for your next trip! This card has NO annual fee and gives you 5% back in Amazon bucks on every purchase. Even as a person who doesn’t really spend much on Amazon (you can only use this card for Amazon), I manage to rack up a few Amazon bucks each month to apply to my purchase, trust me these discounts add up! You do need to also be a Prime member to take advantage of these benefits.
Make every dollar count
Once you’ve decided on a card you need to make every dollar count! That means pay for EVERYTHING with your card to rack up those rewards. If it can go on your card, put it on the card avoid using your debit card OR cash. Not only are you putting yourself at risk for fraud with a debit card or carrying around cash, you’re not racking up any points! Here’s a few ways you can grab some extra points to add to your rewards bank.
Let your job work for you
If you have a job that allows you to travel, request to pay for these expenses on your personal card. Now not all companies will allow you to do this but if you can – DO IT! This is a quick way to rack up some extra points without having to pay out of your own pocket. Also, request to be placed on your airline or hotel of choice, another way to get some extra miles to help you get your next FREE or discounted vacay.
Pick up the tab
Now I don’t really mean paying outright for your friend’s meals, but you can ask them for cash and pay the bill on your card, remember, the Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire Preferred give you 2X points on dining/food purchases!
Set up automatic billing
Insurance payments, gym memberships, cable bills and cell phone payments can usually be put on automatic billing with a credit card. Check with your local provider to find out what options are available. Paying with a credit card may incur a small fee but the extra 2% may be worth it for those bonus points, just do the math!
Use PayPal
Consider adding your credit card to your PayPal account and using this to pay monthly bills where PayPal is accepted. Owe your friends or family money? Pay them back using your credit card on PayPal. There may be a small fee for this also, be sure to weigh your options and decide if it’s worth it.
Choose plastic over paper
If you don’t remember anything else from this blog, remember this, use your credit card for every single thing you can! Whether it’s to pay your tuition fees, gas, party tickets or daily lunch- USE YOUR CARD FOR EVERYTHING.
Follow the best
Excited about this new rewards world? Start following the best in the industry! I’m no expert at points or free travel but I’ve learned a lot from some influential people in the travel community who offer free advice and tips daily. My favorite morning read is a newsletter from The Points Guy, you’re guaranteed to learn a few tricks and keep up with all things travel. Sign up for the newsletter and Facebook group and listen to my recent episode on the Carnival Kicks Podcast to hear more. The learning never ends; I’m still catching onto this rewards game myself.
I hope this blog post has inspired to get started with your rewards accounts and working towards your travel goals. It may not happen overnight, but once you start you will never look back! Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram for any further questions that you may have. Also, if you do apply do me a solid and use my referral links, we’ll both get to enjoy bonus points! Here’s my Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire, and Capital One Venture referral links, also included throughout this blog post- Happy Traveling!
