The past couple months I have been busy planning my first trip to Southeast Asia. This will be my first time in Asia, and I’m looking forward to checking out Vietnam and Thailand.
Between flights, ground transportation, excursions, hotels, and food and drinks this trip will cost my wife and I over two thousand dollars.
Two thousand dollars is no small amount but the trip could have been much more expensive. The round-trip flights to and from Vietnam or Thailand could have cost us at least a thousand dollars each, which would have doubled the cost of the trip. Using airlines rewards the flights to and from Asia cost us less than a couple hundred dollars in taxes and fees.
We also could have spent less on hotels and excursions, but it’s an area we didn’t want to cut back on. Despite booking slightly higher-priced hotels – which are still very reasonable-priced in Thailand and Vietnam – we also had a couple tricks up our sleeves to cut the costs further.
Our motivation to save money on travel – and everything else – comes from our student loan debt. We don’t want to wait until our student loan debt is gone to travel, but we also want to be good stewards of our money. When it comes to travel that means finding ways to cut the cost drastically. And that all starts with asking the right questions: how can I get free or cheap flights? How can I cut the cost of staying at a hotel? What other travel-related expenses can I cut the cost of?
In this post I will talk primarily about ways my wife and I have made travel more affordable, but I will also reference strategies that others have used. These strategies won’t make sense for everyone, but it’s undeniable that they’ve saved us thousands of dollars over the years.
Let’s start by focusing on one of the biggest travel expenses: flights.
Use Airline Rewards Points for Free Flights
My wife and I have taken many flights over the past five years, all for no charge. (To be transparent, there are sometimes taxes/fees that the airport requires you to pay, such as $5 per person, which is still a lot less than hundreds or thousands you would spend on flights)
We did this primarily by taking part in airline rewards programs.
You may be wondering but don’t you have to fly a ton to get free flights? Isn’t that the point of frequent flier programs? While frequent fliers do get free flights and upgrades, we are not frequent fliers.
We don’t fly for work, and we typically only go on two or three trips a year.
So how do we get miles and points in the frequent flier programs?
Credit card rewards.
Let’s take the United Explorer Card as an example. You earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months the account is open. These miles go towards the United Airlines MileagePlus program and can be redeemed for flights. When we traveled to Aruba we found flights that were just 17,500 miles. You can do the math – with the sign-up bonus alone you’d have enough miles for a round-trip flight, and then some.
But that’s not the only way to get miles for United Airlines. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and other cards that get you Chase Ultimate Rewards points are valuable because you can transfer them 1:1 to a variety of airline and hotel partners. For example, if you got the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and spent $4,000 within the first three months of account opening you would earn 60,000 bonus miles points. You can transfer those points 1:1 to your United MileagePlus account – or any of their other airline partners – and redeem them for flights. Learn more about Chase Ultimate Rewards in my guide to maximizing them.
Virtually all airlines have rewards programs, and many have credit cards that give you rewards in the form of miles. You can browse all the airline credit cards here. Besides United Airlines we also use miles for flights on Delta, Sun Country, and American Airlines.
Once you look into some of these opportunities you will see how it’s totally possible to save at least hundreds, if not thousands, on flights.
Another perk of having an airline credit card is that you typically get a free checked bag for you and others in your party. Let’s say it’s $25 for a checked bag each way. If you are traveling with one other person, you will save $100 that otherwise would have gone towards baggage fees. You also typically get to board the aircraft early, and sometimes get access to airline lounges.
Another note on points and mile programs: know if and when your points and miles expire. For most rewards programs points have an expiration date, which is something most people wouldn’t give a second thought to. Check out when your points expire and keep track so you can ensure you use the points in time. For points and miles that do expire, the expiration date will typically be extended when you take a specific action, like charging something to a credit card aligned to the program.
Save Money on Accommodations
Saving money on flights is great, but what about accommodations? You can definitely cut the cost of accommodations by finding an inexpensive Airbnb or hostel, but I personally prefer to stay in hotels. How do you cut the cost of hotels?
While there are a few ways to save money on accommodations without staying in an Airbnb or hostel, the best way is through points credit cards. Credit cards, again? Yes. There is a lot of money in credit cards, which naturally causes fierce competition. The consumer wins in the end because there are so many great cards available.
Let’s take the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card (learn more here) as an example. This card offers you a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Those 50,000 “miles” are equal to $500 in travel. Let’s say you get the 50,000 miles. You can then book any travel (i.e. flights, hotels, etc.) and get up to $500 reimbursed. This is a great opportunity to save hundreds on a hotel stay.
There are also some hotel-specific credit cards that can result in free nights (you can browse those here). I personally like the points cards because of the flexibility they provide.
An Important Note on Credit Cards – I’ve talked a lot about credit cards so it would be irresponsible of me to not mention that this only makes sense if you pay off your credit card in full each month. If you carry a balance on your credit cards the interest will quickly cancel out any benefits you receive from the card. If you currently have credit card debt, you’ll want to focus on eliminating that before signing up for any new credit cards.
Whether you use credit cards or not you can still take full advantage of cash back rewards programs to save money on travel. In fact, you can get cash back on just about every online purchase. Here is a list of 10+ cash back apps that you can take advantage of, as well as my strategy for finding the best cash back app/website/portal for each specific purchase (it’s a VERY quick process).
Credit cards can compound the savings. I share some real examples of how I “double-dip” on cash back rewards. One example is directly related to travel where I received $7.07 + $9.82 for a total of $16.89 cash back (nearly 9%) on a $196.35 Hotels.com purchase.
Speaking of Hotels.com, I love their rewards program. You get a free night for each ten nights you book through their site. The free night is worth an average cost of the ten nights you booked.
Other Ways to Save Money on Travel
Let’s round out this post by talking about a few specific tips for making travel more affordable, starting with using public transportation.
Hit Up Public Transportation
When I went to New York City for the first time a few years ago I took an Uber from the airport to the hotel. I also took an Uber from my hotel to the airport when I was leaving. I didn’t want to be overwhelmed during this trip because it was for a media appearance, so I thought Uber would be easiest. But it also cost something like $60 to $70 each way.
Now that I have been to NYC a few times I’m a pro at the subway. But the real savings are taking the train to and from the airport. It ca be a little confusing at first, but it meant saving $50+ each way.
Public transit isn’t always the way to go – in particular I remember taking the bus in Las Vegas and realizing it was a huge mistake because of how slow it moved through traffic. Understanding whether public transit is a good or bad option is something you can look into before you travel. Which brings me to my next point: research.
Research, Research, Research
Planning my Thailand and Vietnam trip was difficult for a couple of reasons. First, there are so many different places you can go in these incredible countries that it’s tough to narrow down where you will spend your time. The second problem was information overload. There are thousands of blog posts on every aspect of traveling to Vietnam and Thailand. The second problem isn’t a “real” problem though, and at worst it’s a good problem to have.
The more you research your trip the better an understanding you will have of where you can save money and where it makes sense to splurge a bit. You also can avoid scams that can be costly. For example in Thailand a common scam is for a taxi driver to say the meter isn’t running and then charge you more than you should have to pay at the end of the trip (is it any wonder why Uber is taking off in Southeast Asia?). There are also taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers who will take you around the city and charge you very little. The catch is they will include a few stops at shops and retail areas where you will encounter high-pressure salesmen.
The explosion of quality content on the internet today is your friend if your goal is to save money on travel. There are many who have specific tips for whatever location you are visiting that could save you hundreds of dollars.
Travel with Someone Else
Solo travel has really taken off the past couple of decades, but it’s undeniable that when it comes to saving money on travel, two is better than one.
Bringing a partner or friend along on your travel adventures could save you a decent chunk of change. For one, you can often split the costs of accommodation, transportation, food, and more. Additionally, many places offer package deals on activities for two or more people.
Traveling with a friend is a great way to save money and have someone to share the experience is. Just make sure that their budget is in line with yours so you aren’t tempted to spend more than you can afford.
Be Flexible
Many people have little flexibility of when they travel. They have to plan around holidays and paid-time off, or around their children’s’ schedules. That creates an opportunity, though for anyone who has the perk of being even a little flexible with their travel plans. Flexibility is your best friend when it comes to saving money on travel.
Before you get your mind completely set on where you want to travel to, do a little research on what places are most affordable at that time of year. Traveling during the low tourism season often means saving on activities, accommodation, flights, and more. If you are redeeming reward miles it can be beneficial to look ahead for when the cheapest flights are.
Pro Trip: Check out Skyscanner’s “Everywhere” function to see the cheapest flights and destinations for the dates you want to travel. This may lead you to go somewhere you hadn’t even considered before!
Prioritize Travel in Your Life
A final tip is to prioritize travel in your life. Most of us don’t have millions of dollars, so we need to prioritize where we spend our money. If travel is really important to you, then spending less on your housing, vehicle, and clothes might make sense so that you can divert more money towards travel. When you want to spend money on something that is a want more than a need, think about whether it’s more important to you then travel. Doing this mental exercise can save you money, which in turn makes travel more realistic.
Another thing you can do is create a side income stream that can help fund travel. Whether that is something straightforward like taking on a part-time job or something a bit more complex that involves building a business, such as starting a blog, is up to you. the beauty of side hustle income is that it’s “extra” money that can go towards whatever you think is most important, be it debt payments, a house down payment, or travel.
Other posts you may want to check out:
My Go-To Credit Cards for Travel and Cash Back
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Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
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