We get asked all the time, “How can you afford to take a year off to travel?” Since there isn’t a simple, straight-forward answer to that question, we usually end up stumbling through a brief response with statements like “Well, we’ve been saving for a while…” or “We’re traveling on a tight budget…” In reality, there is a lot that goes into budget travel and how to stretch your savings into the trip of a lifetime.
Yes, we have been saving money for a long time. We have a separate post dedicated to how we are budgeting for the next 12-15 months and what steps we took in order to hit our savings goals. You can read that post here.
We have also tried to accumulate as many hotel points and airline miles as possible because the more rewards points you have, the more travel you can do for free! Here are some of the many ways to earn:
- Flights & Hotel Stays – We both traveled very frequently with our jobs. We made sure any time we took a flight or stayed at a hotel, we included our frequent flyer numbers or hotel rewards account with the trip. We tried to stick to the same airlines (United / Delta) or hotels (Marriott / Hyatt) in order to gain elite status which enabled us to earn even more points and miles.
- Dining Rewards – Many major airlines have restaurant rewards networks online with which you can register your credit card. Then, whenever you eat at one of the participating restaurants and pay with your registered card, you automatically earn airline miles for your purchase. Our favorites are Mileage Plus Dining and SkyMiles® Dining.
- Shopping Rewards – Similar to the dining rewards, many airlines have online shopping websites. When you make purchases online through these sites, you can earn airline miles for those purchases. We frequently shopped through MileagePlus Shopping or SkyMiles Shopping.
- Partner Rewards Programs – You can find many partnerships among the major airline, hotel and car rental brands. Depending on what your rewards priorities are, you can opt to earn points or miles on one of the partners’ rewards programs instead of through the company you are using. For example, if you are renting a car through Hertz, instead of earning Hertz rewards points, you can choose to receive United miles for your rental instead. Do a little research on the partnering organizations to make sure you are maximizing your earnings each time!
- Travel Credit Cards – This is the BIG one. A large number of airlines, hotel chains and banks offer travel credit cards with significant sign-up bonuses for joining. Typically, the way to earn these bonuses is to hit a certain dollar spend within a limited time frame (for example: spending $2,000 in the first three months you have the card).
When applying for new cards, make sure to space out the applications so you don’t get dinged on your credit score. Between the two of us, we have opened a combined eight credit cards and canceled three over the past two years. We make it a high priority to pay off all of our cards on time and haven’t seen a negative impact on our credit scores.
Once you open up a credit card, use it! No purchase is too small and every point you accumulate by using the card can help you reach your travel goals. If you have more than one card, pay attention to which card rewards which type of purchase. If one of your cards gives 2x points for dining, use that card when you eat out. If another card will pay out 3x points at the gas station, use that card when you fill up. It can seem like a lot to keep track of, but it’s worth it when you see those points rolling in.
There are lots of card options out there, so it’s important to do your research and make sure the card perks line up with your travel goals. Many of these cards will offer to waive the annual fee for the first year, so it’s also important to keep an eye on that and make sure you either cancel the card before the fee kicks in or, oftentimes, you can downgrade the card to a no-fee option.
Below is a list of the cards we chose. The offer details on these cards tend to change, but listed below are the rewards and offer details at the time we registered.
Chase Sapphire – We each opened up one of these cards to earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This card has no foreign transaction fees, 2x point on travel and dining, and you can transfer points to participating frequent travel programs at full value, so 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point is equal to 1 partner mile/point.
Marriott Rewards – We each opened up one of these cards to earn 70,000 Marriott Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. This card also has no foreign transaction fees, 5x points for every $1 spent at Marriott locations and 2x points for airline tickets, car rentals and restaurants. You are also awarded 1 free night stay at a Category 1-4 hotel.
United MileagePlus Explorer – We each opened up one of these cards to earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. With this card, there are no foreign transaction fees, a free checked bag when you fly, 2 miles for every $1 spent on tickets purchased from United, and priority boarding on United flights.
Delta Skymiles® American Express – We opened up one of these cards to earn 50,000 bonus miles and a $50 statement credit after spending $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. With this card, there are no foreign transaction fees and you earn 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases made with Delta.
Barclaycard Arrival Plus – We opened up one of these cards to earn 40,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. With this card, there are no foreign transaction fees and you earn 2x miles for every $1 you spend. You also get 10% miles back when you redeem for travel which amounts to a 2.2% rate of cash-back. This card is very flexible and allows you to use your miles for statement credits for any travel expenses (flights, hotels, trains, etc.) so that you essentially “pay yourself back.” So, if you buy a train ticket for $25, you can use 2,500 miles to pay back that expense as a statement credit and receive an additional 250 miles (10%) added to your account. We will be closing that card soon and have received $715 worth of travel for free using this statement credit perk.
There are lots of great resources out there, full of recommendations on how to pick a travel card and make the most of your points and miles. A few of our favorite websites are:
As a result of the miles and points we’ve accumulated, we were able to book our flights to Barcelona using miles and paying only $18.40 in taxes. In fact, we expect to have the majority of our big, international flights covered except for taxes and fees. Additionally, we anticipate having several weeks’ worth of hotel stays for free. This shows that every point and mile you earn can add up. They all count and can help you build the trip of your dreams!
– The Morts
This is so fantastic, Tina and Chris!!! I’m soooo excited for you and to follow your adventure! xoxo
My daily commute probably costs more than $18.40 – great job! How exciting.