A lot of folks ask how we travel so much, particularly because it Costs. So. Much. That’s true, travelling is expensive, or at least it can be. That said, we’ve found a few tricks that make this easier, and we’re happy to share what we’ve learned with you.
First, most of what we’ve learned has come from the amazing team at 10X Travel. Seriously, if you’re interested, check out their website. They also have a Facebook group, within which regular folks – just like you and us – post the awesome trips they book (using points) and how they did it so everyone else can learn and, hopefully, do the same. We also follow ThePointsGuy and ThePointsGuyUK on Instagram and loads of different travel inspiration accounts to give us ideas on where to go and what to do with those points.
One of the big things they talk about in the 10X world is travel credit cards and the benefits that come along with them. To be sure, it’s super important to be careful with your spending, know your limits, and make sure you stay within them. This is the golden rule to make this work. With that said, if you’re open to the responsible use of credit cards and want to travel more – where we’re at – this might be helpful information for you. When it comes to travel credit cards there are two things to keep in mind: the specific credit cards you use and how you use them. Let’s talk about both.
You don’t need us to tell you there are tons of credit card options out there. Even if you’re used to looking around at the different deals, it’s still a daunting task to pick the *right* one. Fortunately, the folks at 10X Travel are happy to help with this, though keep in mind they assume you’re interested in travelling, so that’s what most of their recommendations are geared toward.
As you might suspect, each card is different. What’s different? There are four main things to keep in mind. First, some cards have annual fees (AF…different from other, more common uses of af), while others don’t. One thing to keep in mind: if you’re paying an AF, you’re probably getting something in return. It’s also logical to expect the higher the AF, the better the benefits. For example, we carry two different cards: the Platinum Card from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, each of which have an AF attached to them (pleeeeeease use our links if you’re ready to sign up for a card – this helps us continue to provide information and content). AMEX Platinum is steep, at $695 per year (hold on, don’t die yet), while our Chase card has a more reasonable $95 AF (note that Chase also has a Sapphire Reserve, which competes more directly with the Platinum card, and has a higher $550 AF). What do we get for all that money? Well, our AMEX card pays for our Sirius XM monthly fees (up to a certain amount), and we get annual credits for airline (things like seat upgrades, baggage fees, and so on) and hotel (things like the actual booking) expenses. We also get access to AMEX’s Centurion Lounge collection, which comes in handy for longer layovers (free drinks, food, Wi-Fi, and even showers sometimes). There’s also travel insurance and a whole host of other benefits. The AMEX Platinum card will also cover part of the fees for Pre-Check and/or Global Entry, both of which we’ve discussed in other posts. As you might expect, our Chase card also has benefits (access to different lounges, travel insurance, and so on), but they aren’t as premium as AMEX, which makes sense given the lower AF. Also note that some cards don’t have an AF, but their benefits are slimmer, if they have any at all. In the end, for us, the credits and benefits we get from the two cards more than offset the AF. If that’s the case for you, too, you might consider looking into one of these cards. However, make sure you pick the card that has benefits to match your preferences, lifestyle, and goals AND you use them responsibly.
Second, these cards accrue points – the thing we’re really interested in – differently. For example, for our Chase card, we earn 3x points at restaurants and 2x points on travel-related expenses (more if you book through their travel portal). Our AMEX card, by comparison, earns 5x points for flights if you book directly with the airline. So, we’d maximize our point accruals if we use the AMEX to book our flights and our Chase when we eat out. AMEX also gives you a point bonus if you shop at small, local places for the first six months you have the card. Knowing when to use each card can help increase your point accruals pretty quickly.
One other fun fact related to our second point. Some cards will give you a point multiplier for hotel bookings. What we’ve learned is that usually applies to your entire cost at the hotel. So, if you’re going to eat at the restaurant in the hotel you’re staying at you can either charge the bill to your room or pay for it right away. If you pay right away, your card company treats it like a restaurant. If you charge it to your room, your card company is likely to count the entire expense (your actual hotel cost + everything you charge to your room) as a hotel charge and give you the travel multiplier instead of the restaurant multiplier. So, we’ve learned to mostly charge stuff to our room and then pay the entire bill as one, larger hotel expense for the extra benefit. Again, being responsible with your charges is key, but if you’re going to pay for something anyway, why not get more points?
Third, most of the cards that have an AF also have a sign-up bonus (SUB). This is where things really add up quickly. For example, when we were approved for the AMEX card, it came along with a 150,000-point SUB. Our most recent Chase card, by comparison, earned us 100,000 points. Avoid trying to compare these, as it isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. In other words, AMEX and Chase points aren’t worth the same necessarily; usually they have different values. The key is within-card comparisons. For example, from what we’ve seen, a normal Chase SUB is somewhere around 50,000-60,000 points, so the 100,000 SUB offer caught our attention. The catch is you have a minimum spend to earn the SUB. For example, you might need to spend $4,000 in the first 3 months you have the card to earn those points. Again, each card is different in the SUB, the minimum spend to earn it, and how long they give you to hit their threshold, so make sure you take a close look before submitting your application and have a plan on how to meet the SUB to get your points. Also note that some banks will limit you to a single offer over your entire lifetime, whereas others don’t. For example, because Jason got the snazzy deal with AMEX, he’ll never be eligible for another AMEX sign-up offer for the rest of his life. On the other hand, we got a good deal with Chase and will be eligible for another after a certain number of years. All that’s to say, do your homework to make sure you’re getting the best deal you can find, as it could be the only one you get.
Fourth, each bank that issues cards (like AMEX and Chase) have different transfer partners. Here’s the deal: it’s great to earn points on the things you’re already buying, but what do you do with all those points? Well, you can either use them within the card(s) you have, or you can transfer your points to other companies with which your bank has arrangements. Let’s take an example. Let’s say you want to take a trip, so you book using one of your travel-friendly credit cards (which you’ve been using responsibly). One option is to convert your points into cash and pay off those items on your card statement, at least some card companies will let you do this. Alternatively, you can transfer your points to a hotel, for example, and then book your hotel stay directly with the hotel using the hotel points. Usually you get a 1:1 transfer rate, so if you transfer 100,000 points from AMEX to Hilton Hotels, for example, you’d convert your 100,000 AMEX points to 100,000 Hilton points. However, sometimes there are specials that include a transfer multiplier. For example, you might get a 3x multiplier, so your 100,000 AMEX points transfer to 300,000 Hilton points. Usually, the bank that issues your card will tell you its transfer partners in their portal, but the 10X group also has pretty good tabs on this.
Fifth, another layer to this game is status matching across hotel brands. An example: we hold Diamond status with Hilton. At one point this Diamond status could be status matched to Wyndham brand hotels which could then, in turn, match to Caesar branded hotels. They typically don’t tier match directly from brand to brand, but you should at least land somewhere mid-tier with a few perks. This takes patience and research to figure out which brands play nicely together. We had planned to status match on a recent trip to Vegas to stay at The Paris Hotel, which is a Caesar’s brand, but it didn’t work out because Wyndham wasn’t currently accepting new applications for the process and as far as I know, they don’t plan to. Bummer. But, we now have a Wyndham account and we’ll be keeping an eye on it for future Vegas trips (although we have taken a liking to the new Hilton Resorts World). It would be nice to have the perks of a “high-roller” without having to gain that status for each individual brand. Focus on one brand that plays nicely with others that makes sense for your style of travel. Having status with a hotel brand is another way to gain points in the travel world. We recently booked a stay at a Hilton in Edinburgh for free thanks to our point accrual and loyalty. We typically only stay at global chains when we’re abroad the night before we catch a flight home. This allows us to stay close to the airport so we can turn the car in a day early and hop on the shuttle or a cab to make the day a little easier, and shorter.
We know credit cards can be scary things to have, and we can’t emphasize enough how important it is to use them responsibly. It’s never a good idea to dig yourself into a hole you can’t escape, even if it is for a super cool travel destination. That said, we’ve found using the right combination of cards on the rights kinds of transactions while following a budget has allowed us to build up large point totals, which we can then use to travel more often. And if they’re expenses you already have, why not?
N.B. Just so we’re all clear, we are not financial experts nor are we qualified to give you finance-related advise. That’s not what we’re doing here. Instead, we’re telling you what works for us in the hopes it might shed some light on a process we didn’t know much about until we dug deeper. More than anything, it’s super important to be responsible with your finances, so make sure that’s your primary focus, everything else comes after. And if you really aren’t sure, talk to your finance professional or CPA who is qualified to give you finance-related advice.
