Saving on travel playing the card game

TAMPA – When it comes to saving on vacation, travelers are playing a game of credit card strategy.

“I use a Southwest credit card and a Marriott credit card and have for years, in their rewards clubs and get points. Probably five, $10,000 a year just on flights,” said traveler Andy Garver.

“We use our American Express Delta Reserve card so that we can acquire points to get free flights, free luggage,” said traveler Angel Suarez.

“Your Chase rewards, credit card. If you really build up enough and spend enough, then, you know, there’s at times I can put five, $600 into my account. You know, and it just lets you either use it for travel, use it for rental cars, or just put it in your account,” said traveler Jeanette McDonald. 

But gift cards can also be a way to go.

“It is very reasonable to save 10% on your vacations each year by buying discounted gift cards,” said Summer Hull, the Director of Content with The Points Guy.

Hull said it’s a good idea to check membership warehouses.

“At both Sam’s and Costco, this year, we have seen Southwest Airlines offer a $500 Southwest Airlines gift card for $449. So obviously, right there, you’re picking up like $50 in savings just by being strategic on how you purchase the gift card,” said Hull.

“So, you can double up your points on that. Because if you buy them with credit cards that have points, you get points for buying the card. And then you can use that and the discount to kind of like stack it up if you know what I mean. Like you’re getting points from the credit card and then you’re getting the discount cards from Costco. 

“Every once in a while, they’ll have the Disney World ones for $100 for $75. So, you buy 3 or 4 of those because you’re going to empty your wallet there, save some money that way, and then you get points on your credit card too,”, said traveler Joshua Susmarski.

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But you don’t have to be a warehouse member to find these kinds of deals.

“You can also create this at Target. If you have a Target card, you can get 5% off the gift cards there too. And they have some of those same brands. They actually have a few more,” said Hull.

And she said you can create your own bonus gift card.

“If you have a credit card in your wallet that gives bonus points or bonus cash back at somewhere like, say, a grocery store, an office supply store, Chase and Amex have those on some of their cards. Those places also sell gift cards. So, if you can get like five x points on office supply stores and you can go ahead and buy your Disney gift cards there, you may actually end up saving more if you value your points,” said Hull.

Also check for built-in offers with your credit cards. 

“So, you have to log into your account and add these manually. There will be discounts on like hotels, airlines, etc. I’ve saved $100 on our last Marriott, stay, by adding an Amex offer that gave me a $100 back at Marriott, if I spent $300, which was a huge savings right there, and the only thing I had to do was log into my Amex and literally click the button to add that offer. There are usually 100 offers in there for you to pick from, and they change over time,”, said Hull.

For more information about The Points Guy, click here.