Most people hold the notion that travel is expensive.
You need to be rich or have a lot of money to travel.
This is simply not true in today’s world.
Today, when there are hundreds of deal sites ready to give you tickets as low as $15, airline flash sales, hotel loyalty programs that reward you for each stay, the sharing economy, and much more; there are too many ways to save on travel.
I don’t believe in spending a lot of money on travel.
I don’t think you should spend a lot of money on travel either.
I like staying in upscale hotels.
My preferred chains are Marriott and Hilton.
I hold elite status with both chains as well as IHG.
At times, I also love luxury five star hotels like the Waldorf Astoria, Ritz-Carlton, and Intercontinental.
I even like flying business or first class (have not done internationally yet though).
You would think that I am out spending thousands on travel from this list.
The opposite is the truth.
In the past, I spent just above the average person’s monthly dining out budget on travel.
The average person spends $300 per month dining out.
Most people think nothing of dining out every month.
Honestly, that was the past and more than I would spend today when I know all kinds of travel hacks.
The point is that if you cut something like dining out, you would have an extra $300 per month or $3600 per year for travel.
I am not telling you to give up dining out if that is something you love and head out and book a flight.
I am a Foodie myself.
The idea is that things like dining out can be reduced and you could have a nice monthly or yearly budget for travel without changing anything in your current spending.
I actually like to cut expenses to put money toward bigger financial goals and use points and miles for traveling though.
You can check out my other blog about saving money at AddingPennies.com.
It shows you how to put money back in your pocket.
Soon, I plan to add reselling.
Reselling allows you to earn more credit card points and make a small profit.
It is popular in the points and miles community.
As I said in other posts, reselling is how I plan to travel completely free in the future.
I will talk more about it later.
I like to travel frequently though (like every week or month).
I think most people should travel more whether it be a third vacation a year or adding weekend trips.
Why should you not jet off for the weekend if it won’t cost you anything or only pennies?
I will write a post about traveling more frequently later.
Basically, you could travel more and spend less.
If you just want to take two or three vacations a year, that can easily be done free with credit card reward points though.
Each person has different goals.
I mention the frequency because a lot of times people learn something new they never thought of doing.
So, again, there are so many ways to travel for less.
You can pick the one that fits you best.
Here are the top 5 reasons why you don’t need to have a lot of money to travel.
Remember the way that you think or look at things, affects what you do in reality.
If you think travel is too expensive, you will travel less.
So, if you were one of those people who thought you were “too poor to travel,” I hope I can persuade you differently.
I think it will open up a new world as it did for me.
5 Reasons Why You Don’t Have To Be Rich To Travel
1. Credit card rewards programs
In today’s times, credit card sign up bonuses can get you a free trip.
Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and American Express Platinum cards offer high 50,000 point sign up bonuses that are the cash equivalent of $650 or more .
All you have to do is meet a minimum spending requirement.
Don’t be scared when you see you need to meet $3,000 or more in three months. We will explain why that is easy later.
For now, just know that you put your normal spending that you usually use cash for like groceries on your credit card.
Three thousand in three months is $1,300 per month, so if you spend $500 in groceries per month, you would be halfway their.
Again, we will explain how to meet minimum spending requirements later.
You would then just pay the card off.
What could 50,000 American Express or Chase Ultimate points get you?
Here is a list:
- A round trip ticket to Hawaii
- A round trip ticket (possibly for two) to the Caribbean
- Two round trip tickets to Canada
- A one way or round trip ticket to Europe
- Two round trip tickets in the United States
That is just for one credit card.
Most people who get into points and miles will apply for more than one credit card.
Not only do credit card companies like Chase, American Express, and Capital One offer huge sign up bonuses, they also offer a reward structure on each card.
For instance, the Chase Freedom Unlimited offers 1.5% on all purchases.
After you have met you initial minimum spending on that card, you could then get 1.5 % back on all purchases.
With the $1300 per month example earlier, you would earn about 2000 per month (plus your intial spending requirement at 1.5%).
At the end of the year, that would be 24,000 points, enough for a free domestic flight.
Most people can do better than that too.
A lot of cards offer more than 1.5% in certain categories (as much as 2-5%)
2. Lucrative airline frequent flyer programs that don’t require flying
Airlines make a lot of money off their frequent flyer programs.
It used to be that you had to fly thousands of miles to get a free ticket.
Now, you can get free miles without stepping foot on a plane.
This is possible through airlines partnering with credit card companies offering huge sign up bonuses for airline credit cards like the American Express Delta Gold card.
In addition, credit card companies like Chase and American Express make it easy to transfer points to an airline like Delta or use its partners.
This can get you a free international flight for pennies
Here is a list of airline credit cards by issuer:
Chase
- United Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- British Airways
- Iberia
American Express:
- Delta Airlines
Citi:
- American Airlines
Barclay:
- American Airlines
Each bank usually issues more than one credit card with each airline, so you can chose from no fee cards to mid-range annual fee cards (usually around $95) to luxury $400+ cards.
As I said earlier, banks that have transferable currencies (Chase, American Express, Citi, and Capital One) allow you to transfer their points directly to airlines.
Though there is nothing wrong with an airline credit card, this is usually the best way to go.
You will not be tied to one airline, and you can maximize everyday spending to build your point’s balance.
3. Lucrative hotel rewards programs
Hotel rewards programs have become lucrative too.
Hotels reward people for booking directly with them instead of using a third party like Expedia or Hotels.com.
For your loyalty, you are rewarded for each stay.
Each hotel brand gives you a certain amount of points.
After a certain number of stays, you can get a free hotel within the chain.
For example, the Marriott Bonvoy program will give you 10 points per dollar (except Residence Inn, Towne Place, and Element hotels where you only earn 5 points per dollar).
You can redeem Marriott category 1 hotels starting at 5000 points
(off peak).
In addition to the base points I described, you also get points for elite status and for having a Marriott credit card.
For example, the Marriott Boundless credit card gives an extra 6 points per dollar.
That is 18.5 points for someone who is a Marriott Silver with the Boundless credit card.
You get Marriott Silver status just for having a credit card.
Last, among other things, you can earn points for hotel promotions.
These are just additional points.
For instance, the current Marriott promotion gives 2500 points for each Marriott stay.
I have probably had about 30+ free hotels in my 5 years of traveling using points and miles.
That was not as good as I can do either.
Two of those years were taken off travel.
Your normal hotel stay can turn into your next free hotel stay.
Remember to stick within your budget.
As with anything, if you go over your budget, you are giving hotels free money and not winning.
4. Discounts on flights, even international
A trip to Europe used to cost at least $1000.
The other day, during Delta’s flash sale, I saw a deal for $250 round trip to Europe.
These deals can be found every day.
Not only are these kind of deals common, you can even fly budget airlines like Ryanair, Spirit, or Frontier without a sale.
5. So many more budget tricks
This does not even touch every budget trick out there.
Keep reading the blog.
One budget trick is to travel in the off season.
One year, I went to Chicago in November.
No normal person likes a bitterly cold Chicago winter.
I am from Alabama, but I lived in New York City in the past for almost a decade.
A New York City winter is a joke in Chicago.
So Chicago hotels in winter (on certain dates) were dirt cheap that year.
I stayed at the Hilton Chicago on the Michigan Avenue for $93/day plus taxes.
All Hiltons and Marriotts were that price.
Those are usually my preferred chains again.
This would usually be $350+ per day after taxes.
Michagan Avenue is in the midst of everything in downtown Chicago.
This approach can be taken not only in the off season but certain days of the week too.
For instance, business travelers usually prefer the week day.
If you get a hotel with a lot of business travelers, your weekend can be half off.
The opposite was true in San Francisco’s Union Square one year I went.
A lot of travelers there prefer the weekend.
On one trip to San Francisco, I was able to pay $80 (with Hilton partial points) instead of $350+.
This was the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in the middle of all the action.
Whenever I can pay $100 per day or less for a $350-500 hotel, I am ecstatic.
This is one of my favorite things to do.
And there are so many other budget tricks.
You see not only did I pay less in both those cases, but I also got prime location.
Summary
Most people think that travel is expensive.
In the past, I spent a little more than the average person’s dining out budget again.
Instead of dining out, you can put money toward travel!
Most people would be surprised how much they would have.
In the case of eating fast food, it would probably be better for your health, and you could still enjoy a nice restaurant every now and then.
This is not about takeout or dining out though.
Again, the point is that if you cut out other things, you could travel more whether it was monthly or more vacations per year.
Look for my post on things you can cut to travel more in the future.
You don’t need a lot of money to travel
It is the mission of this blog to show you why and how this is true.
As you see, I also like to travel in style and stay in upscale and luxury hotels.
I love travel.
I love upscale and luxury hotels.
I can’t promise things will be completely free all the time.
I can promise that you will save a lot and pay much less than what you expected if you follow this blog.
You will also probably get upgraded experiences like prime locations and upscale and/or luxury hotels.
If that is your goal, that is.
Whatever your travel goals, you can accomplish them.
Keep following the blog to learn more.
