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The airplane that flew us to Frankfurt, on our way to the final destination of Paris
Traveling is fun! But there are some not so nice parts to it, like waiting in line, which can feel like a waste of vacation time and the costs for hotels, car rentals, flights, etc. Here are 5 ways you can save time and money. Right now while some of us are still sheltering in place and not traveling afar, is a good time to consider signing up for for some of them so that when things open up again you have these things set in place!
1 Credit Cards with Perks
One of the best ways to get travel perks is through credit cards. There are the types sponsored by airlines or hotels and the types that are not for a specific travel company, but you earn points that you can use toward travel.
With most airline credit cards, when you fly with them after booking travel with their credit card, you get one free baggage check, which is a great benefit to have. Some airlines will even cover the luggage fee for your entire party, for instance each person in your family could get a free bag checked in. This is a $25-35 saving! So if there’s an airline that you usually fly with then it’s worth checking if they have a credit card.
With some hotel credit cards you automatically get a certain status level at the specific hotel, which could include free breakfasts or upgrades. The Hilton Amex Surpass card will give you gold level status and just getting the free breakfasts has paid off the annual fee of $95. We also get 10 free airport lounge with the Priority Pass membership that comes with this card. Then also if you stay 4 nights using rewards, you get a 5th free night. I’ve been really happy with the perks on this card.
When it comes to deciding which credit card to sign up for if you are loyal to one airline or hotel then you can choose to go with their sponsored credit card, otherwise there are other travel reward cards where you can accrue points and use them for flights, hotels, and vacations, there is a detailed helpful write up for these types of credit cards in this article in Money Magazine.
With some credit cards you get the Priority Pass, which gives you access to airport lounges. Who doesn’t want to sit and relax comfortably with free wifi, food and drinks before getting on a flight or between long layovers?
I’m not an expert at the travel credit cards as there are so many types and different strategies of how to use them, but since the credit cards can be used right now while we’re stuck at home and by charging to certain cards (and paying them off every month), you can accrue points that will go towards your travel. For instance, when I use the Hilton American Express Surpass card for groceries I get 6 times the dollars worth of points. And right now through the end of July, they’re giving card holders 12 times the amount of points for each dollar spent!
2 Skip Lines at the Airport
US citizens can sign up for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry (GOES) program and you can go in the fast security line upon departure and not have to take your shoes off, pull out your laptop or liquids and keep your jacket on (depending on the number of zippers/metal on your jacket). If you travel internationally GOES is nice as you can go through the shorter customs line upon arrival back to the US. The cost for Precheck is $85 and Global Entry is $100, some credit cards will pay for the fee so you can actually get this for free, so check on this and use the appropriate card to pay for it. I think the worst part about this process is having to do the interview, although most people find this a quick 5 minute deal, and then you’re good for 5 years before you have to renew.
Once you’ve received your Known Traveler Number, don’t forget to add it to your airline account so that you automatically have the PreTSA marking on your boarding pass the next time you fly.
There is also a phone app called Mobile Passport that can help you save time at customs. Once you’ve filled out information on the app, upon arrival at most International US airports you can follow the signs to a specific line for Mobile Passport and go through a shorter line for customs.
3 Free Hotel Nights
A Room in the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas
When booking hotels there are several sites you can use to find the cheapest rates, although these days they all seem to have close matching prices, so look for some perks that you can get. For instance if you book with Hotels.com, after every 10 room nights that you stay, you get a free night (the rate for the free night is an average of the 10 nights). This has been such a nice perk! We’ve used the free night to spend a weekend in a fun city nearby such as the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco (across the street from the Ferry Building — a foodie wonderland), the Wave Inn in Monterey California (a block away from the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium), and something farther afield, the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes in London (on Baker Street, of course!).
4 Car Rentals
Some rental car companies like Avis, have a Preferred level, so once you make your car reservations ahead of time when you arrive at your destination there is no waiting in a long check-in line to get the rental car. You just look for your name on a board to find the car assigned to you and go straight to the car, once in a while depending on the location there might be a check-in desk that you have to go to first but for the most part it is quick.
There’s nothing sadder than arriving at your destination airport and then getting stuck standing in line and waiting an hour for your rental car. This happened to us with Hertz in Kauai, Hawaii and we were not happy! It was not a great way to start a vacation.
So check with your preferred car rental company — for instance, Enterprise has Enterprise Plus where you can also accrue points to go toward a future rental and National has the Emerald Club — to see what they have and sign up for it.
Also for discounted rental rates or coupons, check through your work organization, bank, credit union, Costco, AAA or certain credit cards and use their coupon code to get a rental car.
5 Perks with City Passes
For discounts at museums or attractions, skipping lines, and for transportation in most major cities there is a City Pass or Museum pass. For instance, the Hop On and Hop Off bus goes along with the pass in some cities like Barcelona, Spain, or San Francisco, California, that provide tours to listen to as you ride. Some passes will give you access to public transportation instead of a Hop On Hop Off bus for the days that you are using the pass.
We used this in Barcelona where we were only there for a two full days, so having the transportation to get to the different sites that were spread throughout the city without having to spend time figuring out best ways to travel (bus, metro, taxi) was super convenient. We were able to get to places that we might not have gone to otherwise. And of course the pass allows you entry into museums and sites plus often there is a special shorter line you can use as you already have a ticket via the pass.
The line to get into Versailles!
These are the main ways I try to save time and money when traveling, hopefully you find this information useful! What do you do for travel benefits?
