11 Ways to Save Money on Vacation Using Credit Cards
A vacation brings much-needed excitement, and the best way to ensure relaxation is to not worry about payments on a trip. With strategic planning and the right payment solutions, you can save significantly on your holiday travel expenses. From earning valuable rewards and travel perks to making the most of discounts and avoiding unnecessary fees, credit cards help you have a hassle-free vacation. Additionally, with the right moves, you can avoid overspending.
Get discounted or free food at airports
You may know how costly airport food can be. However, most credit cards today come with Priority Pass access at the airport, which means you can enjoy the comfortable airport lounge without paying extra money. In addition to lounge access, Priority Pass also gets you credits for food at restaurants. This means you can a lot of money on each visit to the airport restaurant while waiting to board your flight.
Avoid paying checked baggage fees
Avoiding checked luggage fees is one of the benefits of booking a flight using your credit card. You should check if you can avail of this benefit while booking a trip. This benefit allows you to check a single bag per person for free. So, you can save hundreds of dollars when traveling with family, making the most of the waived fees. This also means you can come back with souvenirs and gifts that would otherwise result in extra luggage and additional fees.
Skip foreign transaction fees
If you are planning on traveling internationally, check your credit card’s foreign transaction policies. Depending on the card you are using, you might end up spending as much as 3% of the total amount withdrawn in transaction fees. Go through the terms and take with you the card that comes with zero foreign transaction fees. This could help you save hundreds of dollars on your vacation.
Get free travel insurance
Getting travel insurance before you leave for a vacation is a wise choice. It ensures you have monetary coverage to protect you in case of emergencies or detours on the trip. The insurance policy, however, can be expensive, with the cost being 8% or more of your total trip expenses. However, if you play it smart, your credit card can help you get free travel insurance, including trip cancellation insurance, which will help you retrieve part of your expenses on your bookings. Baggage loss or delay insurance plans can come with a daily budget to get essentials and clothing till the luggage is received. Travel accident insurance will cover accidents during the trip that results in dismemberment or death.
Get primary rental car coverage
If you are renting a vehicle on vacation, the salesperson might persuade you to get rental car insurance, which can be expensive when considering the daily rent. However, you do not have to worry about it if you have a credit card that covers the charges in case of collision or damage. You can find a few card companies offering primary rental car insurance.
Book free or discounted hotel stays
Credit cards have a range of valuable benefits and rewards to offer travelers, including, but not limited to, free nights of hotel stays annually. Your card might even cover some of the most luxurious hotel and resort stays with the credit card rewards you earn over time. Depending on where you choose to stay and the card you use, you could get a free night stay or a discounted stay on your next trip.
Redeem rewards
If you have a travel credit card, you can earn points on most of your purchases. Those that manage to reach a certain spending amount in the first few months of opening the credit account might get a great number of rewards and freebies. You can redeem the rewards for airfare, hotel stays, or sightseeing events.
Get companion benefits
If you want to add plus one to your trip, you can get them a discounted air ticket and hotel stay with your credit card companion benefits. A discount on flights, hotels, and other fees for a plus one can be offered if you have spent enough amount of money in a year. If you maintain the minimum spending each year, you will keep earning rewards to get a discount on a companion’s travel expenses.
Use travel credits
Some credit cards also allow you to cash in your annual reward points on your travels. However, this perk is a part of only a specific type of credit card. Some general travel cards can even earn you about a hundred dollars of statement credit each year. This means you can plan your vacation each year to cash in these credits and save money on booking the travel package.
Get hotel upgrades
Another one of the many perks of using your credit cards is that it can qualify you for a free hotel upgrade. Some cards hold the secret ability to get you a free breakfast, a late check-out, complimentary room upgrades, and even access to a fast Wi-Fi connection. It might not seem like much, but you can save a lot of money on each of these services that are not part of your original package. Imagine the amount you will save on breakfast alone for the entire duration of your stay. Further, if you don’t like your room, an upgrade can cost an extra $10 to $20 dollars per day. The savings on all freebies and perks for even a 5-day vacation will let you save a few hundred dollars at the end of your stay.
Get access to events
Some credit card companies can grant special access to exclusive promotional events to the cardholder. This could come in the form of free passes to theatres and museums, concert tickets at discounted rates, and celebrity meet-and-greet.
