We are living in crazy times, to say the least.  And we’d be remiss if we didn’t address how the current economy is affecting our travels right now.  With a family of 5, the struggle is always so real to minimize out-of-pocket expenses.  And it’s only gotten harder – with inflation, tariffs, and of course, devaluations to say the least.  Here are three things I’m currently doing to keep travel possible, and feasible for us.

1 – Earning Flexible Points

I’m focusing *mostly* on earning lots of flexible bank points.  These are points earned from bank cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.  Devaluations amongst airline or hotel loyalty programs is common, real, and very normal.  And it takes a lot of points and miles for my family of 5 to go anywhere!  Unless I have a more definite plan on how I’m going to use points and miles earned from co-branded cards, I’m going to focus on earning flexible points from everyday spend.  This way, my points and miles are not tied to a specific loyalty program, and I can always transfer points to partners and book travel when I’m ready.

To clarify, this doesn’t mean I’m going to overlook elevated offers on co-branded airline or hotel cards.  What works for an individual or two, won’t always work for me – not matter how “great” the redemption is.  I’ll identify possible opportunities first that can work for us, before I jump on co-branded cards.  Of course, this is putting aside programs like World of Hyatt or American Airlines.  Those are loyalty programs, that without a doubt, I find use from all the time.

Elevated Offers From Chase & Capital One

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an elevated offer for 100K points!  This is a big deal because this is rare, and last happened 4 years ago!  The is THE card that’s recommended in award travel because it has the most domestic travel partners, that make for more beginner-friendly redemptions (Hello World of Hyatt & Southwest!), a minimal annual fee with great perks and benefits, and built-in travel insurances, for starters.  It’s one card in a family of no-fee, personal, and business cards, meaning, lots of opportunities to earn more Chase points!  Also, this is the Sapphire card you’re going to want to keep if you want to transfer points to airline and hotel partners, and redeem for travel.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card currently has two elevated offers right now, which is interesting.  There’s an offer for 75k miles + a one-time $250 travel credit.  But targeted referral links are showing offers for 100K miles!  I love Venture miles because they offer me additional flexibility in covering expenses that can’t be directly booked using points and miles.  This includes boutique hotel stays, car rentals, train tickets, and plane tickets.  The best value for your points and miles will generally always be to transfer them to airline and hotel partners.  But sometimes you use your miles in “less than ideal ways,” because that’s what works best.  And can we talk about how the straighforward 2x the miles on all purchases makes this card easy to use?  It’s a perfect, “no-thinking” card, for any and all expenses!

Capital One Venture Rewards 100K Referral Offer (This is a personal referral link from the HOH community.)

Both of these cards have annual fees of $95.

2 – Making Use of Perks & Benefits On Keeper Cards

No, I don’t always make use of or pay attention to perks and benefits on cards I keep.  But I’ve gotten better.

Some examples:

• My husband holds the Chase Freedom Flex® which has quarterly rotating bonus categories.  This second quarter, Amazon is one of them.  We use Amazon more than I’d like to admit.  Atleast I can earn 5 points/$1 on purchases I’m already making (up to $1,500 worth).
• We use ride-sharing services occasionally between my husband’s travels, our travels, and to get our parents to respective medical appointments.  While we first always compare prices, I’ll make sure to use Lyft (if it comes out the winner) and charge those rides to my Chase Sapphire Preferred® since I’ll earn 5x total points for those rides.

I use the TravelFreely app to stay organized with all cards that me and my husband hold.  This app is FREE, and doesn’t require any sensitive information.  It reminds me of minimum spend and annual fee deadlines.  This way, I’m only keeping cards past the first year, that I find value in and not paying annual fees on cards that I don’t.  (If I don’t plan on keeping a card past the first year, I downgrade it to a no-fee card option, also known as a product change.  Always keep a card for the first year!)

3 – Loyalty to World of Hyatt

It’s no secret I love World of Hyatt!  World of Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase, and my favorite way to use these bank points.  I transfer my Chase points to Hyatt often to book $0 stays.  There’s no taxes and fees on award stays, and when you need to book 2 rooms everywhere – this hits different!

I currently hit Globalist last fall, which is the higest status you can hold.  As a Globalist I can receive such benefits (as applicable):

• Free breakfast
• Free parking
• Waived resort fees
• Late checkout
• Room upgrades (based on availability)
• Ability to earn suite upgrade and Guest of Honor awards

Even before I hit Globalist, I felt that loyalty to a hotel brand served our family best.  This is not to say that you can’t find benefit in other major hotel loyalty programs.  But perks like free breakfast and free parking help our family save more money in our travels, simply put.

As a wife of a corporate traveler, I also aim to have my husband book Hyatt stays when he can.  (Yes, it’s not always possible.)  If it’s an international trip, where it can easily add up to a few thousand dollars, I’ll have him charge expenses to my personal World of Hyatt card.  For example, for every $5k spent on the card, you can earn 2 nights towards status.  When you hit select tiers, you can earn additional rewards such as free night certificates.  In sum, strategic spend and stays, adds up to more savings for us during our family travels.

I also have a couple conferences I’m attending this year, and I currently have Hyatt properties booked.  Of course, I’ll always do what’s financially feasible, but I want to keep costs minimal even during business travels.  Free breakfast, for starters, will help – and the ability to book in points, or a mix of points + cash, will help me save further.  (Select Hyatt properties have options at the time of booking, to book select or all nights using a mix of points +cash.)  Not to mention, I’m accruing nights towards renewing my status.

In Sum

Will I base my future travels on if there are Hyatt properties available in the area?  Maybe.  I mean, nothing beats a free stay – period.  Will I re-think “bucket-list” or certain destinations that were on top of my list?  Maybe.  Just like with everything else, my points and miles strategy will need to evolve with the times, and seasons of life.  At the end of the day, if it means I get to continue traveling with my family, I’m ok with that.  Because just that in itself, is a huge blessing and privilege.

 

Check out all the best card offers here to help you earn points and miles towards travel! 

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