3 Ways to Save Money When Traveling
I love a good road trip. I’d much prefer to have everything I need at my fingertips and drive around the country to see and do all the things. With the cost of gas, lodging and food here in the US, this adds up very quickly and can sometimes be limiting or prohibitive all together.
Find MAX Savings…
When we started thinking about places to go and what travel expenses might be, I came up with 3 ways to save money that I already had but wasn’t using to the fullest benefit.
1) Review Benefits and Perks on ALL Credit Cards.
Know What Benefits
You Have Already…
Some credit cards are designed to give travel points, cash back or other perks like rental car assistance or insurance. Knowing what you already have available can make a big difference. In addition to added specific benefits, see which cards have the best cash back options and aim to use them for costs while traveling like food, activities and other expenses.
As an example, I will use one that many of our Resort-Hoppers may already be familiar with, the Chase Disney Visa*. If you are a fan of Disney’s store, parks or cruises, you’ve likely heard about this card. This is a cash back reward card that offers discounts toward purchases and cash back savings toward statement credit. When we lived in Indiana and traveled here for vacation, we were able to use and payoff this card enough on regular purchases that when it came time for vacation, we could pay for most of our food in the parks on the cash back rewards card.
There are a number of cards for best travel benefits. This article discusses the top 8 for 2024. One point of note is to weight the annual fee of the card over the benefit savings and how much you travel, some of these are steeper than one might expect.
2) Use Loyalty Rewards!
Save Cash, Use Benefits & Perks Where You Frequent!
In 2021 we decided to take mega roadtrip in the post-covid world to just get out of Florida for a while and see the sites and some family, too. We were on the road 19 nights. It was this trip that inspired HOTEL REWARDS. I discovered Hilton Honors program, so we aimed to stay 10-12 nights in a Hilton property and we earned enough points to get 1-2 nights free. Choice Hotels and Marriott-Bonvoy both have loyalty programs, too.
It may also pay to have a few different choices for FUEL LOYALTY REWARDS. Currently, here in Central Florida 7-Eleven has rewards that can save you $.11/gallon. RaceTrac and Wawa both have loyalty rewards, too, and if you are going across the country, the larger regional and national truck stop brands also have some reward options, too. These loyalty rewards can help save some change to put toward more fun things while you are on the road.
There are three other types of loyalty rewards to consider. Many RESTAURANT APPS AND REWARDS can aim for more savings, too. Pick your favorites and enjoy. RENTAL CAR COMPANIES also have some other advantages with loyalty rewards. For example, Hertz Gold Plus* members can earn points redeemable towards free rental days or add an additional driver for free.
AIRLINES also have loyalty programs, too. Many people like to use sites like expedia.com, priceline.com or travelocity.com for savings. If these work for you, great. Every time I’ve tried them I’ve been underwhelmed with the level of service or consistency. When my dad passed away in 2012, Josh and I logged a lot of flight miles and we found it beneficial to log all the flights with one airline. By the time I finished what I could with managing the property and the estate and was able to head back to Florida after 10 long months of separation, we had logged enough flight reward miles to cash in first class airfare to Disneyland and back…for both of us.
3) Plan You Travel Activities Using Memberships You Already Have
There are so many beautiful and interesting things to see here in the US. You could literally take three lifetimes to see them all. When we road trip, I try to plan a wide variety of museums, historical sites, outdoor movement options and play areas, so that we each get a bit of something interesting in the trip.
Some experiences are simply worth the price of admission because they fuel your soul…
Some experiences check off the bucket list, fuel your soul, or are just plain awesome, but why pay more if you can get a discount? I alluded to this in last week’s blog, but it is worth a further discussion. As costs have increased, I have started paying closer attention to the benefits of memberships we were already considering or have already purchased. I’m a huge fan of botanical gardens, museums and places that make for engaging, insightful and educational experiences.
Recently I took our son to the beautiful Bok Tower Gardens*; see our review here. I discovered along with an annual pass purchase, they have a wonder benefit of reciprocal free or discounted admission in a ton of regional or national places. I also discovered that Orlando Science Center, along with over 350 other sites, participate in the ASTC Passport Program that offers reciprocal benefits. So when I started planning this year’s vacation, I pulled out all these lists to see if there were any places that fit in our plan.
After checking the reciprocal benefits of the local gardens, museums, and experiences, there is still so much more to see. National and State Parks offer a number of benefits for movement, and engaging learning in local geology, biology and botany. Some of my favorite memories of childhood are in state parks. Each park experience is as unique as the next. These make great mid-day stops for snack and stretch. All 50 states have state parks, but each state manages them differently. In addition to state parks, National Parks have an annual pass for $80, but it takes preplanning and time to ship through the mail. There is also an interagency pass that may include National Monuments, Historical Sites and more that is also worth looking into.
PRO TIP FROM STEF: If you are traveling with children, it’s helpful to get them involved in the planning process of vacation. When our son was two, I had him help pack his “adventure bag” to make sure I included some of the things that he thought were necessary to keep busy while traveling the country. When he was five, I asked him if he had any goals of things to experience on our long road trip. He offered several suggestions of things that were attainable, but that never would have occurred to me. I love tying in travel activities to some things we plan to do - whether it is a book to read together in the car, a sticker book about the things we might see, or a make your own passport adventure to visit some parks. I love involving creativity in our process.
I’d love to know what you found helpful about this article. If you are new to Central Florida, make sure you check out all 3 STEPS OF HURRICANE PREP STEP 1, STEP 2, and STEP 3 as well as Top 5 Places for Families to Beat the Heat
*Not at paid advertisement or meant as financial advise; used purely for example.
