Travel hacks?

[l504]

How do you strategize, if that's even a thing, your travel finances? DH and I both have Southwest credit cards and were able to pay for our family's tickets in points to go to Disney later this year. Looking forward, we still have enough points to fly for another family vacation, but I'm finding that the destinations we'd like to go to either don't have a direct flight or require a ton of points. So what do you do? Hotel associated credit card for rewards? Just use Expedia, etc, to search for the best deals?

[k3am]

We just search for the best deals.

I hate the notion of being trapped into one airline or hotel brand. I have multiple cards that all get anywhere between 2-5% cash back on purchases, so we get rewards regardless and they're not limited to travel.

[2chatter]

We reviewed programs and selected the ones that meet our goals - i.e. A free Caribbean vacation every 2-3 years. DH stays only at the selected hotel chain. We watch for credit card offers to fund additional travel unrelated to that - aligned to our choice airline rewards program. We flew to VA this Spring, DS will fly to TN and DH will fly to FL free this Fall.

[l504]

Jun 23, 2017 9:14:30 GMT -5 k3am said:

We just search for the best deals.

I hate the notion of being trapped into one airline or hotel brand. I have multiple cards that all get anywhere between 2-5% cash back on purchases, so we get rewards regardless and they're not limited to travel.

Yes, this is how I feel right now. Trapped into using one airline!

[mommyatty]

I fly a ton. So I have a lot of miles anyway. We primarily use our Amex Platinum card. I've started looking at The Points Guy to see the best way to use the Amex points. For example, you can swap Amex points for British Airways miles, then convert the BA miles to American Airlines miles. (I'm Platinum on AA, so I usually use them.)

I have never successfully used hotel nights, but I know a lot of people who have. And with Amex I think you can also trade for free nights at hotels.

[supertrooper1]

I bid for hotels on Priceline. I research beforehand, so I know the going rate for the star level I want, say 4 star. But I also make sure that there aren't any crappy hotels in that star level. We travelled to Buffalo several years ago and there were three 4 star hotels, but one looked like a dump, so I couldn't risk bidding and getting the crappy hotel. It will only let you bid once a day unless you change your criteria. But there is a way around it. Say I'm bidding for Seattle and don't get the price I want. I'll add Renton (an outside city) because it doesn't have any 4 star hotels. My best deal so far was The Loop area of Chicago for $89/per night for a 4 star. It ended up being the Palmer House Hilton, which was going for $350+/night at the time.

I also bid for rental cars on Priceline because they guarantee one of the major rental companies.

[itsme]

Jun 23, 2017 9:14:30 GMT -5 k3am said:

We just search for the best deals.

I hate the notion of being trapped into one airline or hotel brand. I have multiple cards that all get anywhere between 2-5% cash back on purchases, so we get rewards regardless and they're not limited to travel.

This.  We use the cash back from the cards as fun money while on vacation.  We have a separate savings account for travel that money automatically goes into every paycheck.  

[sdlaura]

We mostly fly southwest since I travel for work mostly on southwest and have a ton of points. In my opinion it is also one of the best rewards programs. I also have the credit card and earn enough points every year to have the companion pass, so one person I designate goes free on every flight I take. Plus the status means auto early check in and a shorter line for checked bags etc.

However, if the southwest flights are less convenient I'll pay for non stops or better times on another airline. I'm willing to pay for convenience with little kids.

Many of my work trips are day trips so I don't stay in hotels and accumulate a ton of points there. For family travel I pick hotels based on room configuration since I refuse to stay in one room with the kids . We also do a lot of vacation rentals with the kids.

You could fly southwest one way with points and pay for a different one way back if you have enough points for that. There's no penalty for one ways.

[sandandsea]

We have been doing cash back cards but are now getting a better return with a southwest card so we have switched. We have an expensive flight to buy every Christmas to visit my family and the southwest points will cover it while the cash back has not. Also we find that southwest generally offers the flights we need and we don't mind one connection since we fly into a mid size airport.

We also have a hotels.cm account and get every 10th room free.

We save for vacation every year and both value travel a lot. Our goal is one family vacation and one couple vacation and year and one of those being an international trip. We also use our bonuses for travel since they are extra money.

Also if you ever travel for work, extend your stay and vacation there. This year I'm going to Israel as dh has a work trip scheduled so his flight is paid for and we get company discounts on nice hotel rooms which ended up way cheaper than we could find elsewhere.

[sandandsea]

Also there is a travel board here that's awesome. They helped a ton in the past when I was on TN and have great reviews, suggestions, etc. I'd love to see more traffic on it and hear about more trips!

[l504]

Jun 23, 2017 10:14:46 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Also there is a travel board here that's awesome. They helped a ton in the past when I was on TN and have great reviews, suggestions, etc. I'd love to see more traffic on it and hear about more trips!

Thanks, I'll check it out!

[erinshelley21]

My strategy is rat holing money away for a while and throwing spare change into a cup.

I am going to be applying for a Disney VISA to start racking up rewards points for our trip that is still 3 years away. Rewards are good for 5 years so I'm hoping I can pay for majority of the trip by using it.

[indyrowergirl]

Jun 23, 2017 12:52:03 GMT -5 erinshelley21 said:

My strategy is rat holing money away for a while and throwing spare change into a cup.

I am going to be applying for a Disney VISA to start racking up rewards points for our trip that is still 3 years away. Rewards are good for 5 years so I'm hoping I can pay for majority of the trip by using it.

We have the Disney Visa and do the same thing. Otherwise we use the Marriott visa for everything. DH also uses it as his work expense cars so we rack up a lot of points.

Otherwise, ditto PPs - Priceline, SWA, and budgeting are how we typically travel.

[librarychica]

H travels a lot but doesn't always have much discretion over the airline or hotel chain. He does spend a lot of time in Vegas so he has a bunch of points through some program there. We haven't had the chance to use them yet. Maybe soon! I don't travel much but my Amex has a good points program and sometimes they have hotel specials.

Otherwise we just shop for the best deals and go places off-season if it makes sense. I also prefer to stay in vacation rentals with kitchens and have found good deals on VRBO.