Go Away Alex Travel Design

Or rather, how to fund a trip out of money you’ve already spent. One of my specialties, since I caught the travel bug, is crafting a budget trip for the least amount of money possible. Here I will do my best to help you learn how to get a bit of legwork done, and also see what you can accomplish with what you already have!

There is definitely some legwork required to be able to use points for travel.

Travel Credit Cards:

For example, I’ve opened several travel credit cards in the last decade that allow me to get points on my general spending. Always check for a good sign up bonus, but also find a card that makes the most sense for you to keep open long term. For me, I have 2 cards that I refuse to get rid of.

1. Bilt – this card is hands down the best invention ever. It allows you to pay your rent AND get points on it. If you’ve known me or read my blogs for a while, you’ll be familiar with my praises for this card so I won’t go too deeply into it. All you need to know is rent=points and no annual fee. There’s really no reason not to have this card if you pay rent. And good news for mortgage payers- they are releasing new Bilt versions this year with the possibility of paying your mortgage with them and also getting points. So keep updated with that. Feel free to message me for a referral code.
   • I’ve had my bilt card for over 2 years now. I receive at least 2k in points every month. That’s 24k per year just for paying my rent.
2. Capital One Venture X – this is me on my soap box again. This card does have an annual fee but it pays for itself. The travel perks wildly outweigh the $395 annual fee with a $300 travel credit every year and a 10k bonus points every anniversary. It also comes with priority pass and Capital One lounge access and if you’re in Denver- that’s the best lounge you’re ever gonna meet. I’d get the card just for that lounge alone. Bacon mac n cheese, and original blueberry lemon soda, need I say more?

There are hundreds of cards on the market and I’m happy to point you in a direction of one that might work for you. But the likelihood is that you already have a card giving you some rewards, hopefully they’re points, so let’s move on!

(If you use an atm or debit card for all your purchases, I suggest you get budget savvy enough to trust yourself and make the switch to credit cards (only if you’re responsible though. Don’t go into debt). I always pay my credit cards off every month. I know my limits!)

Join Email Lists for Flight Deals

I hate emails, so this sometimes annoys me. But when I’m itching to travel, it’s the first place I look.

1. Secret Flying
2. Airline email lists that you fly (eg: United, Delta, etc)
3. Smart Points
4. Dollar Flight Club
5. Travel Zoo

You don’t (and probably shouldn’t) actually book through these sites. It’s just a great launch point. Always book your airfare directly if you can. You can transfer credit card points to airlines (hopefully if they partner up). More on that later.

These sites and emails can be great if you don’t have specific dates or places you want to go. Being open is key if you’re on a budget!

If you DO have specific dates, then head straight to google flight explore tab. Input your origin and your specific dates, and move that map around to see where you can go. You can set parameters like price, stop #, airlines, etc. This is how I’ve started to plan numerous trips!

MORE Legwork

Sign up for everything. Every airline. Every hotel chain. Specifically the ones who have partnered with the credit card companies you’ve chosen. You probably won’t be able to search reward flights or stays without having an account. They’re all free (just annoying) so make sure to check the box that doesn’t send you emails every day so you don’t pull your hair out.

Moves to Make Now

Okay, your spring break is around the corner. You’ve done your legwork, or maybe you haven’t! You might feel like it’s too late to plan something, but it’s not. Take an inventory on what you have right now. Example:

-48,000 bilt points

-12,000 Capital One points (I made these numbers up before starting this example)

-Dates March 22-30

-Maybe $1k of money you’re willing to spend up front

-You have one month to save some spending money on food and transportation

Let’s see what we can do!

Hopefully you live close enough to a major airport. I’m going to use LAX as my example.

What you need to do/know before you start searching:

1. Where do your points transfer?
   • You’re going to get the most bang for your buck if you can transfer your credit card points directly to the airline. You might have to poke around your credit card travel portals a little bit to find “transfer partners”. You should note all of these, EVEN the hotel chain options.
   • For example: Bilt transfers to:
     • American Airlines
     • Flying Blue (klm & air france)
     • Air Canada
     • United
     • Emirates
     • Alaska
     • Cathay
     • Virgin
     • Avianca
     • Turkish
     • Iberia
     • British
     • Aerclub
     • Hawaiian
     • IHG (hotel)
     • Hyatt (hotel)
     • Marriott (hotel)
   • Note that each credit card company has different partners, so sometimes it won’t line up perfectly. You should still be able to use points in the portal regardless of the transfer partners. This is just a way to get MORE value for your points.
2. Your parameters!
   • What are you willing to spend on a flight?
   • How many stops is worth it? (for a week long trip, I’d say only one stopover)
   • How long of a flight do you want to take? Flying all the way to Asia for 5 days, isn’t worth it. How can you maximize your time and energy AND budget?

Right now I see flights from LA-Guadalajara (home of Tequila) for $216 for these dates on Volaris with one stop. Unfortunately that’s not a partner of bilt, however Bilt travel portal has nonstop options for 22,186 points per flight (that’s about $220) so you can use 44k of your 48k bilt points to cover the flights. I’m assuming there’s two of you! 🙂

Okay, now you’ve got free tickets to Guadalajara for a week! Great job!

Now you need a place to stay! You’ve got 4k bilt points and 12k capital one points left.

Capital One hotel partners are Wyndham only, so I recommend heading to Wyndham to see if there are any deals! Input Guadalajara from March 22-30. There’s a few options for 15k per night and one option for 7.5k per night. Click on that one! It’s centrally located, and if you opt for cash & points, it is 12112.80 MXN +12,000 points (perfect). That’s about $595 USD and the exact number of points that I made up earlier. Make sure the hotel is up to your standards of course. There weren’t very many options here, so you can also check your Capital one site and see what other things come up. Make sure you read the reviews and look into the location.

So now you have flights for 2 for points only, and a hotel for 12k points and $600. You still have about $400 of your budget and 4k bilt points. I always like to head over to the “activity” travel tab in the credit card portals and just have a look to see if there’s anything that piques my interest.

Activities!

Admire Your Craft

So now, you have your flights, your stay, and a possible day trip all for the price of …very little. With that leftover money, you can save it for spending on food, but I’ll also ALWAYS recommend travel insurance. I typically suggest an insurance that costs about $10-20 per person per day at least. And if you’re reading this, you already know who to ask! Come at me with your travel insurance questions, I get great rates AND commission.

That’s it. You crafted a trip with only $600 of your own money. For a week in Mexico, I think that’s a steal.

I know this isn’t for everyone. Hopefully you have a slightly larger budget and maybe even more points you’ve racked up. But, this is what I do all the time to maximize my travel. It’s taken years to hone, so don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t come naturally right away. You can always ask me for help! And if all of this is daunting. You can hire me to plan your trip 🙂 After all, that’s my job!

Hiring a travel agent will take away these hours of possible headache for you. Some folks enjoy it (me)!