Travel Discounts Using Credit Cards Make Your Vacation Cheaper
Going on vacation can be one of life’s greatest joys—no matter whether it involves relaxing and playing on the beach with family, a mountain camping trip with friends or a romantic European trip with that special someone. Unfortunately, vacations can also be incredibly expensive. You could easily end up putting you deep into debt if you’re not careful. Here are ways to get travel discounts with your credit card that will make your vacation cheaper.
The average family spends approximately $2,300 per person over the course of their vacation. Even if you attempt to save up for your vacation ahead of time, if you’re like most people, at least half of your total vacation costs will end up on your credit card. However, this isn’t a bad thing as long as you’re smart about things. Make sure to start paying off your credit card as soon as you get home and back to work.
Credit cards are undoubtedly safer and more convenient than using cash. Still, the benefits go far beyond the added security and convenience. In fact, using your credit card on vacation could actually end up saving you money in travel discounts. Are you looking to lower the overall cost of your trip? Here are some ways that using a credit card can help make your vacation cheaper.
Travel Rewards Makes Your Vacation Cheaper
Virtually all credit cards have some type of rewards program. The rewards offered are always an important thing to consider when choosing a credit card. In this sense, choosing one that offers travel rewards could potentially help make your vacation cheaper. This also ensures that the money you spend on your trip results in rewards that you can use to start planning your next vacation. For instance, a credit card that offers airline miles can enable you to get free travel or discounted flights. Alternatively, you can earn travel discounts, free hotel or resort accommodation with a hotel rewards card.
The IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card offers many valuable perks to help cardholders earn free hotel stays fast. One of the best hotel perks IHG offers is that you receive a free hotel stay on your yearly anniversary. There is also a 60,000 point credit card signup bonus that can be redeemed for free hotel stays. These hotel rewards alone can greatly help reduce the cost of a vacation getaway.
Another way to save on travel and make traveling cheaper is to use an airline credit card. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a popular way to earn free travel earning frequent flyer miles. Credit Fast Tip: Use Rewards Network a free easy dining program to earn even more frequent flyer miles. Rewards Networks works with most U.S. based airlines including Southwest Airlines.
Travel Discounts on Purchases
Certain branded credit cards offer exclusive travel discounts that could allow you to save money on purchases. Use them at the resort or at restaurants or other attractions around your chosen vacation spot. Also, some credit cards offer special quarterly rewards promotions that can earn you bonus cash back on specific qualifying purchases. For instance, some cards offer special 5% cash back bonuses at restaurants. This makes dining out on vacation using a credit card cheaper than paying cash. The Citi Prestige® Card and Chase Freedom® are two cards that frequently offer these types of bonuses. These credit card bonuses go a long way to making your next vacation cheaper.
Complimentary Travel Insurance
Depending on which credit card you have, your agreement may entitle you to complimentary travel insurance. In this case, paying for your flight tickets, rental car or hotel room with your credit card may entitle you to a refund should a disaster or health emergency force you to cancel your trip.
Also, some credit card companies also provide complimentary insurance on rental cars. This means that you can decline the insurance offered by the rental agency for additional travel discounts. As well, there are even credit cards that offer hotel-room theft insurance. In this case, if you pay for your hotel stay with your credit card and your hotel room is broken in, the credit card company should reimburse you for the costs of everything that was stolen. However, you’ll need to make sure to contact the local police. You will need to provide a police report when filing your claim.
Improved Theft Protection
Although someone could potentially steal your credit card or wallet while you’re on vacation, the good news is that you’ll be fully protected and won’t have to pay for any unauthorized charges. Similarly, if someone steals your identity, the most you’ll end up having to pay is $50. This is typically the maximum liability amount for losses due to fraud. This can help people protect credit card data.
Fair Exchange Rates With Credit Cards Offers Travel Discounts
If you’re traveling abroad—whether to Mexico, Canada or somewhere much further afield—you’ll need to pay close attention to the exchange rates to ensure you know exactly how much you’re spending. Not properly calculating the exchange rates is a good way for your trip to go over budget quickly. This is another area where using a credit card is preferred as you’ll almost always get a better, more fair exchange rate when paying by credit card than you would exchange money in a bank. Even a 1% difference in exchange rates could add up to a significant amount over the course of your vacation. This makes using your credit card whenever possible the best option. However, it is important to choose a card that offers no foreign transaction fees, as otherwise, these fees will negate the benefits.
Of course, there’s a good chance that, depending on where you go, you won’t be able to pay for everything with your credit card. This means that you’ll at least need to carry around some cash just in case. In this sense, you’re better off using your bank card to take money out of a local ATM instead of taking a cash advance on your credit card. If you do take a cash advance, you’ll have to pay an upfront fee of up to 10%. As well, credit card companies tend to charge a much higher interest rate on cash advances.
Follow These Travel Tips to Find Travel Discounts to Make your next Vacation Cheaper
Vacations are supposed to be fun. Which means the last thing you’ll want to be doing is always thinking about your finances. By using your credit card for most of your purchases, you’ll not only have a much clearer picture of exactly how much you’re spending, but you can also end up saving yourself a decent amount of money. You will make your vacation cheaper with travel discounts.
CreditSoup Travel Rewards Cards
CreditSoup Airline Rewards Cards
CreditSoup Hotel Rewards Cards
Advertiser Disclosure for the CreditFast website – CreditFast.com, provides information about the best credit card applications, as well as other financial products and services. Our goal is to provide you with fair, balanced reviews. Some credit offers that appear on our website are from companies from which CreditFast receives compensation, and some are not.
- Milestone Credit Card Review – Milestone Mastercard® - February 21, 2023
- Capital One QuicksilverOne Rewards For Fair Credit - September 24, 2020
- Wayfair Credit Card Now Issued by Citibank Review - September 21, 2020
