There is more to planning a trip then finally booking the airfare and hotel. Financially planning for a trip in advance will absolutely lead to a less stressful situation.
In about a month or so I turn the big 3-0 and to celebrate The Wife, myself and The Boy are heading to Atlanta to see the Falcons play the Carolina Panthers this weekend (October 16). Despite growing up in New York I am a huge fan of The Falcons and I think it all stems back to Deion Sanders who started his career and loud mouth ways there. What makes this trip even more exciting is how well financially it was planned by The Wife and I.
Planning To Travel Makes Traveling So Much More Enjoyable
From airfare to hotel to spending money we started planning this mini-vacation almost a year ago.
Airfare
It was about a year ago that I received an advertisement in the mail for 50,000 miles from American Express for spending $3,000 in the first couple months. At the time I was living on cash-only and had only recently eliminated $18,000 of debt, but this was 50,000 miles!
After talking it out with The Wife we decided to use this card for everything and since it was a charge card rather than a credit card we had to pay it off monthly.
Over the course of a year we earned another 25,000 points and received 2 tickets for “free.” Yes, I consider them free since:
- I would have spent the money anyway it was just concentrated one specific card
- The Gold American Express is a charge card not a credit card so I had to pay it off monthly
- While there are usually annual fees I recently got all my American Express Fees Waived
Saving = $600 – $700
Spending Money & Hotel
I am not shy with my love affair for ING Direct. Its high-yield savings account interest rate may be a joke it is still higher than the national average. I have a ton of sub-accounts but a screenshot from the beginning of 2010 highlights how I have “free” spending money for Atlanta.
For years, The Wife and I would each put $30 bucks in the account labeled “vacation fund” from our separate cash accounts. Whenever we go away we use this account to pay the bills off. I know everyone’s situation is different but I do not ‘feel’ $30 coming out of my checking despite the fact that I purposefully keep myself cash poor.
How do you plan for a Trip? Do you just put it on a credit card and pay it off?
I usually put everything on my card for rewards and I use miles cards like you. Ive been able to build up a pretty large miles cache over the last year or so, so im happy about that. I’ve got a vacation fund started, but usually just charge and pay off when the bill comes.
We have done the same thing and it works great. We got 6 free flights alone this past year.
I usually put everything on my credit card for the rewards. I make sure I have enough in my checking account to pay it off when it comes time to do so though. I don’t plan out very far in advance for trips because most of them are not week long expensive vacations (weekend trips), so it doesn’t take me long to accumulate the money.
What I do recommend is signing up for the airline’s and hotel’s rewards programs. Over time you’ll get a free ticket or upgrade or a free night’s stay. A co-worker has accumulated about 2 million miles on an airline because of all the traveling he does for work. Now he and his wife always fly business class to Europe from LA.
I’m definitely a last minute traveler. However, usually I luck out with deals for flights.
Nice planning! We try to use cash mostly, but I wouldn’t pass up a 50,000 miles reward if it become available again.
I am planning a trip right now for next year. I already have enough frequent flier miles to fly to Europe business class. Other details are still in the investigation stage.
We use money we’ve saved for our trips, otherwise it would never get paid off. That’s so awesome that you two get free tickets for your trip. Have a fun early b-day. 🙂
i definitely try to capitalize on lucrative promos such as AA’s recent 75k mile giveaway and BA’s 100k mile giveaway from which i got royally rejected because i think i abused the system too much. we usually have a budget (x dollars or y % of income) set aside for vacation which we never really follow but often end up within the ballpark because my wife likes to shop around and get the best deal. when we spend, its all put on CCs and paid off when it’s due the next month (more points to accumulate). can’t remember the last time i paid cash for anything really…