Travel Hack: How to Save Money on Travel with Credit Cards

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Use Credit Cards to YOUR Advantage

Let’s talk credit cards for a minute.  I know there are plenty of people who think credit cards are evil, but I am NOT one of them.  I’ve had a credit card since I was 16 because my dad WANTED me to have one.  He is a big believer in building good credit as soon as you’re able so he co-signed for my first card.  My limits were low and I had a job to pay for my purchases.  I knew that my bills—insurance, gas for my car and credit cards were my first priority. 

Establishing Credit

Soon I had a credit card in my own name as well as my cell phone bill.  And when my husband and I bought our first house, we didn’t need anyone to co-sign for us. When we bought our new house, we were in our early 30’s and our loan officer was shocked at how good our credit was–especially for our age.

Why do I share my credit history?  Because if you want to make large purchases and get great financing rates, you need to have good credit.  Some people are so scared of having credit cards because they don’t want to mess up their credit.  While that’s a valid concern, having no credit at all is no better! 

You have to discipline yourself to not spend beyond your means. And if you do end up with some debt, you need to figure out a way to budget yourself so you can pay it off.  Paying the minimum payment each month will only get you further into debt.  Bottom line: be responsible and discipline yourself not to max out your credit cards just because that money is there.

How to SAVE with Credit Cards

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about using credit cards to your ADVANTAGE!  I am all about saving money, not spending extra on interest that taps into my savings! I use my credit cards to pay for everything I possibly can! Why not, right?! Especially when I am getting free money! I only spend what is in my budget and I pay off my cards at the end of every month so I don’t get charged interest.

Credit Cards offer some fantastic incentives—and if you use them right, you can get more bang for your buck!  Here is how I maximize my credit card purchases to save money on our trips.

Credit Card Options

There are a variety of cards out there to choose from, but here are the ones I use:

Hilton Honors American Express (NO ANNUAL FEE)

• My Hilton Honors American Express earns points on all purchases and even more points on grocery stores and gas stations.  These points add up fast and we earn FREE nights in Hilton Brand hotels.  We’ve used these points on so many of our vacations.  In the past year alone, we’ve stayed 8 nights at a Hilton Hotel for FREE!
• My Hilton Honors American Express is my go-to card because it pays for things we love most—travel.  Plus it has no annual fee! And you can earn bonus points and a statement credit for signing up!
• Plus, if you’re booking a trip with POINTS, if you stay 4 nights in a hotel, your 5th night is FREE! This works at even the most expensive hotels, saving you tons of money!

Hilton Surpass American Express ($95 ANNUAL FEE)

• Although the Hilton Surpass American Express has an annual fee, it adds on some added benefits that are worth that extra fee. This card offers all the benefits that my Hilton Honors card does, plus more points per stay.
• In addition, it gives us Priority Pass Select, which gives us 10 complimentary lounge visits each year. We used this benefit for the first time in December at Cleveland International Airport. Our family was able to have dinner and drinks (including alcohol) for free all while relaxing in their lounge.
• Plus, if you spend $15,000 in a year on the card, you’ll also earn a free night at one of the many Hilton brand hotels.

Discover IT

• My Discover IT is my other go-to credit card—also with no annual fee.  I got this card a few years ago after hearing that you not only earn cash back on your purchases, but they also double all of the cash back you earn in your first year and give you that amount right at the start of your second year!  That’s right–you earn $500 in cashback your first year, you get that $500 + another $500 at the start of your second year with the card!
• Not to mention, when you sign up, you get a $50 statement credit (and so do I–more on how you can maximize that later)!
• When I signed up for this card, it was the year we were going to Disney and between what I earned with my Disney trip plus what we earned after our first year, it paid for a large chunk of that trip!  The way this card works is that you earn 1% cash back on all purchases, but each quarter you earn 5% cash back on certain categories.  For the past couple of years, here is what was earned:
  • Jan-March: Supermarkets
  • April-June: Gas Stations
  • July-Sept.: Restaurants & Paypal
  • Oct.-Dec.: Amazon.com & Walmart.com

You can earn 5% cash back in these categories (up to $75 cash back) during that quarter and anything additional spent is 1%.  So how do I maximize my savings?  Well let’s look at our Disney trip as an example:

How we saved over $1000 on our Disney Trip

Discover IT: Jan-March + Fuel Perks

We have Giant Eagle in Ohio and we earn Fuel Perks for purchasing gift cards from that supermarket.  I purchased $1500 in Disney gift cards from Giant Eagle on my Discover IT card during this quarter.  Because I bought these gift cards at a supermarket, I earned $75 cash back on my purchases. 

In addition to my cash back, I made sure I waited to purchase those gift cards until Giant Eagle was offering double fuel perks so I also earned 20 cents off per gallon of gas for every $50 I spent! That was $6 in gas and you can get 30 gallons at a time.  So say that gave me 3 fill-ups at $2/gallon, I just saved myself another $180.  That’s a total of $255 savings!

Discover IT: April-June + Fuel Perks

We’re a family of 5 so $1500 does not cover the cost of a Disney trip.  During this quarter, we did the exact same thing, except we bought our $1500 in Disney Gift Cards from Get Go (Giant Eagle’s gas station).  This means we earned that same 5% cash back from our Discover IT Card, saving us $75 PLUS we earned the Fuel Perks from Giant Eagle since we purchased our gift cards from Get Go. 

I of course waited until there was double Fuel Perks so I earned another $6 in gas, saving myself another $180.  Again, I saved a total of $255 off the cost of my trip between Fuel Perks and my Discover IT card cash back!

Discover IT: Referral Bonus

Discover IT has a nice referral bonus where both the person referring AND the person signing up get a bonus! I referred my husband to get the Discover IT Card and we BOTH received a $50 statement credit!  Plus, when he signed up, we were able to spend another $1500 on Disney Gift Cards at GetGo, earning another $75 cash back through my Discover card and another $180 on gas!  And remember, for your first year using Discover IT, your cash back is DOUBLED at your anniversary!

Cashback Savings Summary

Our Disney vacation was around $5000 for the five of us.  Disney is a great example of when to purchase gift cards because you can use them EVERYWHERE! On your hotel, at the parks and at Disney Springs. Here is a breakdown of what we saved:

• Discover Cash Back: $225
• Discover Referral Credit: $100
• Fuel Perks: $540
• Discover Year End Cash Back Bonus (for this trip only): $225
• Total earned towards our Disney Trip: $1090

We saved over 20% on our trip just because we used a credit card to our advantage and combined that with purchasing gift cards that not only earned us cash back, but also fuel perks!

And that was only maxing out our first two quarters of our Discover Cash Back incentive!  Typically when we’re on one vacation, I am already planning the next one! So I usually have to put a deposit down for the trip and can use my Discover card to do that.

Additional Discover IT Cash Back Incentives

For our Disney Trip, I only covered the first six months of the Discover IT Cashback bonus info! Discover’s July-September cash back bonus has historically been for PayPal and Restaurant purchases.  Usually we do some sort of getaway in July or August so we make sure to use our Discover IT card at all the restaurants!

And you can use PayPal to pay for almost any online purchase. I have my PayPal attached to my Discover IT card, so when I am paying for my purchase, I just choose PayPal and it charges my connected card. This allows me to easily maximize my 5% cashback!

The last quarter of the year, Discover typically offers 5% cash back for Amazon.com or Walmart.com purchases.  This comes in handy as you’re shopping for Christmas gifts.  You can easily purchase your gifts from either of these stores and have your items shipped right to your doorstep! No fighting those crazy crowds + 5% cashback!

Over the course of the year, you can max out on the 5% cashback at $300 + 1% cashback on everything else is unlimited.  Combine that money with what you would get back after your first year of using the Discover IT card and get $600+ to spend! 

Credit cards can save you a good amount of money if you just use them to your advantage! And if you need help budgeting your trip, check out this post with my free budget worksheet!

What Credit Cards Save you Money?

I am always looking for ways to save—and this is just one way.  What credit cards do you suggest to get the best value?