If you’ve ever been curious about how you can leverage your planning and organizing skills to help you save money, this episode is for you, especially if yo love to travel. Kathleen Paley is a litigator, mother of 2, and podcast host who loves saving and having fun with her family.
She joins me today to share her top 5 strategies for traveling on credit card points — everything from which cards to start with, how to maximize point earnings, and how to spend most cost-effectively. I know this episode inspired me dive in a little deeper to these savings opportunities.
Please note: neither Kathleen nor I are affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on the episode, and these strategies should only be employed if you are paying credit card balances off in full every month — otherwise they will cost you money rather than offer savings!
Kathleen can be found at the Reframe Podcast and The Minimalish Mom on IG. You can ask her questions here if you’d like!
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13 Comments
I loved this episode! I have just recently gotten into the points + miles world (I actually started when you posted a link to the Travel Mom Squad!), and it definitely takes a planner’s mind to track everything, know the benefits of each card and how to maximize them, decide which cards to get, etc. So it’s definitely not for everyone because it does take some leg work and planning skills to make it happen, but I did a pretty deep dive into several resources and now feel pretty confident with my plan. One thing I really appreciated was how Kathleen talked about how you don’t *have* to get sucked into the travel hacker culture around business class flights and luxury hotels. I’m perfectly happy to fly economy with my family if it means we can go more places 🙂
Emily, it’s Kathleen from the episode — thank you so much for your kind feedback! The Travel Mom Squad has a lot of great content, so they’re definitely a solid resource. Cheers to your own points-and-miles efforts… I hope you’re having a blast!
Thanks, Kathleen! It’s definitely been fun to dig in on learning all the tips and tricks (I wasn’t necessarily expecting to find this hobby so fun!). I’ve also relied on Katie’s Travel Tricks and love that all her content is free and geared toward family travel, since 80-90% of my travel is with my husband and kids. Thank you again for sharing your wisdom on Sarah’s podcast.
This was such a fun episode! I definitely support making it a series! One question I had (and sorry if you mentioned this–distracted mom over here) is whether you close cards once you’ve gotten the main benefit from them. For example, if a card has a good sign-up bonus but isn’t as rewarding for everyday purchases, do you close it once you’ve used the rewards, or do you just have an ever-growing number of open accounts?
Thanks, Lauren! And I can’t recall if we discussed your question, so here’s my approach and that of many folks in this space: first look for a fee-free downgrade option before closing a card. So, for example, a Chase Sapphire Reserve could be downgraded to a Chase Freedom Flex. Sometimes there’s not a fee-free option but a lower-fee option that might make sense. These card changes don’t show up as new accounts on your credit report.
But I’ve definitely closed a fair number of cards in my time, when it made sense… and it didn’t tank my credit (credit score over 800).
This article (and others like it) really gave me pause on participating in credit card rewards.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1162380399/the-dirty-secret-to-credit-card-rewards
No judgements to those who use the system as it exists, but just food for thought.
Also, it wasn’t really discussed, but opening up and closing a bunch of cards can impact your credit score, which if you plan to take out a loan can impact your interest rate and negate some of these savings.
Hey Brooke, good point on not wanting to open a bunch of cards right before applying for a mortgage or other large loan. That can spook creditors. I should have mentioned that.
But the common fear that opening a bunch of cards will tank your credit score really doesn’t hold true. If it did, I definitely wouldn’t be in the hobby! But here I am, with a credit score over 800. The same is true for many creators in the points and miles space. The Travel Mom Squad and Katie’s Travel Tips (creators mentioned in the comments here) plus many other prominent creators in the space address this misconception pretty regularly.
Big picture: After an inquiry or new credit line there is a small (a few points)and very temporary dip in credit score, with a quick rebound.
Big components of credit scores include on on-time payment, length of credit history, and percentage of credit utilized. That final factor — percent of credit utilization — actually becomes lower and lower (aka, better and better) as you have more available credit. Building out this credit and using it responsibly actually helps INCREASE credit scores over time! And the first two factors aren’t affected by this game, unless you’re not making your payments!
But totally agree on slowing the roll if you’re looking to secure a mortgage in the near future!
We don’t do points stuff – but we do house swaps and LOVE them! We get great holidays, avoid contributing to the negative impacts of Airbnbs on local housing markets, and get connected with some really fun people. Some of our exchanges are reciprocal (direct swap) but we also let people stay (for points) when we are away at my parents’ for Christmas. We find it so fun to see how people actually live in different countries. My husband took a bit of persuading – but is now a total evangelist for it.
A house swap sounds intriguing!
Love the house swap suggestion above. Another great way to save on travel – if you work for a large corporation, check if the corporate rates can be applied for personal travel. My corporate benefit rental car rates are beyond low. For a recent trip to Hawaii, my corporate benefit was a 1/3 of the absolute lowest price my husband was so proud to find – and it allows us to have the company refill the gas at return at a national average rate (which for HI was a 50 cents/gallon cheaper than local gas stations). We also automatically get elevated status which has other benefits 🙂
Enjoyed this episode and tips mentioned as someone who is interested but not fully in the game. God opportunity to up how I’m approaching it in small ways.
Showing up in small ways can be quite fun! Hope you have a blast at whatever level you want to engage in!
I loved this!With five kids and over 2k a month in groceries, I am leaving SO MANY POINTS on the table. I gotta get on this– thanks for making it seem manageable.