Hey, beautiful people! My goodness, I traveled A LOT this year so I want to share with you all how I got to travel for free this year. For clarity, the things I did while at the places weren’t free but getting there was! So let’s talk, shall we?! People look on my Instagram or YouTube and notice that I am always going somewhere different. It was always a desire of my heart to travel the world. This year, we took a leap of faith and pretty much went places.
I’ve mentioned this before that traveling is not cheap but I always find deals and ways to travel within my means. I did a blog post on that so you can check it out HERE. Anyhoo, I mentioned in that post that my husband and I switched our credit card to an airline card. That was the best decision we made pertaining to our finances. Granted, I am still not a fan of credit cards but the benefits are so rewarding!
When you make everyday purchases, purchase hotels, flights or rental cars using your card, you accumulate tons of points. Those points can be used towards fights and other deals that your airline may have! So that’s the answer right there! Our saved up points allowed us to travel for free this year! Airfares are not cheap especially when you have to pay for your toddler (that’s over two yrs old) to have seat on the plane. But with our points, we were able to score deals to afford tickets that allowed us three to travel. Also, flying out on the cheapest days (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Sometimes Saturdays depending on where you are going) worked in our favor as well. The only flight that we had to pay for was our flight to Houston, Texas.
- Southwest Airlines has a special a few times a year where you can get One-Way trips for as low as $59. It’s going on now until September 21st so go and check it out! That special was going on at that time so we took advantage of it since we were only flying into Houston but returning home from Puerto Rico.
FYI: We have 4 set trips that we take every year. A trip with my family (my mom and sisters), A trip with my in-loves (my husband’s family), our anniversary trip, and a family trip with just the three of us. Those are trips that we definitely take. It’s like a yearly tradition. The other trips usually happen when I find great deals or we will drive there if it’s in driving distance.
I say all of this to say that our points were the key components as to why were able to travel a lot this year. We had a lot of points from last year that rolled over this year. From all of our random purchases last year and this year, we were able to accumulate points as well! Our accommodations were taken care of by booking through our airline to obtain points as well. We were able to find attractions tickets on Groupon, our airline, and other discount sites. We paid for our food while we were at our locations and Voila!
I know some people love to spend a fortune when they travel. There is nothing wrong with that at all. But I love finding ways to travel within our means and I’m so glad that our points and airline has granted us the opportunity to do so.
If you are using a credit card and desire to travel, please switch over to an airline card. You can choose whichever one you would like, but we LOVE our Southwest Airline card and the benefits that come with it. There so many promotions and offers that happen to obtain a lot of points. I would like to get a Delta one later on but I love how Southwest Airlines spoils us so maybe not lol. I kid. Like I said before, I am not a fan of credit cards. But for free or discounted flights to travel wherever in the US or Carribeans, I’m all for it. If you are ever wondering how we get to travel a lot, just know a few things:
1) We plan in well in advance and travel during off peak seasons for the most part. You will be in shock to know how much you save traveling to places during their down season!
2) I do a lot of research when it comes to finding 3+ star hotels for cheap, discounted tickets and etc. It can take days or weeks but I don’t stop looking until I find the best deal.
3) Our points towards our flights and etc. are major key! That is what we use and man oh man are they lifesavers!
If you would like to invest in airline credit card, make sure to do your research! Read the fine prints pertaining to interest rates, annual fees and the things they don’t tell you. Also, make sure you are financially responsible so that you don’t get caught up in unnecessary debt for free flights and etc. It’s not worth it! I hope to see more people, especially young people get out and travel more. I know some people find it hard to travel with kids, their work schedule and etc. But where there is a will, there IS a way! Thank goodness we found a way! 🙂