Using points and miles can significantly cut your travel costs. It can even allow you more travel opportunities. But even after your hotel stays and flights are covered in points, you will still have other out-of-pocket costs. Depending on how you travel, and how many people are with you, costs can certainly add up. It’s important to remember that award travel is NOT free travel, and you still need to keep a travel budget.
Other Travel-Related Expenses
You don’t want to just get to a place, you want to actually experience it. Now, unless you are at an all-inclusive resort with no resort fees (World of Hyatt has many options), and just paid flight taxes – you will have other travel-related, out-of-pocket costs. Here are some examples, after airfare taxes:
- Hotel taxes (Generally speaking, World of Hyatt does not charge taxes on award stays. Depending on property and location, you may be charged some.)
- Car Rental & Gas
- Vacation Rental
- Excursions/Experiences/Activities
- Food & Dining
- Shopping
- Miscellaneous Expenses
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card & Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card are great card options if you are looking for a way to cover some of these expenses by using miles.
Positioning flights
Many times, award deals are found outside of your home airport. You’ll need to book a positioning flight to the city where you will depart from to go to your final destination. While there are multiple factors to consider when booking a positioning flight, you’ll often book in cash.
Positioning flights are another reason to have a good working stash of points and miles. I generally like keeping a stash of Southwest Airlines miles to book such flights. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s another reason why my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a big part of my award travel strategy (Southwest Airlines is an airline partner of Chase Bank). It’s one card I use for everyday, and regular monthly spend.
More Travel Opportunities
Points & miles have not only significantly lowered our travel costs, but they have allowed us, well, more opportunities for travel. We generally keep a yearly travel budget, and with points and miles I follow the deals, not the destinations. On the flipside, the more we travel, the more costs we will incur.
This is where the travel budget comes in. Some trips will have more out-of-pocket costs than others. We want to enjoy our family trips, and spend on what we need to, but also want to maintain a budget for sometimes spontaneous or future travel opportunities.
This past February, my husband & I, along with our toddler, went to Tulum for a weekend. This was planned just six weeks out , unlike our other family trips. It was an opportunity to make use of some free night certificates that were expiring from our Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Cards. We stayed at the beautiful Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort, but had other expenses such as the ride from the airport to the hotel, and back. Luckily, l leveraged Capital One miles earned from my husband’s Capital One Venture X, to cover that fee. I had to think twice when booking, as this trip was not initially part of the yearly plan and budget.
Keeping The End Goal In Mind
Award travel is about working smart, not hard. You want to cut down or cover trips you might have already paid for in cash, and then see how your budget allows for more travel. You certainly don’t want to maintain a lifestyle you can’t afford. Thankfully, there are so many ways points and miles can allow you to make memories you never thought possible. I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s easy to get excited when you see a great award deal to a destination you want to visit. So when that happens, remember to ask yourself, what costs should I anticipate?
Picture: Dallas, Texas – February 2023
