So the summer is almost over and you are planning your next summer vacation. But with 2-3 kids it's not a very affordable idea. According to Stuffed Suitcase, the expected cost for ONE WEEK'S vacation for a family of 4 is OVER $4300.
Last May, my wife and I traveled throughout Europe for 3 weeks. How much did it COST us? $0. Seriously. It didn't cost us anything. You don't believe me, do you? Check out my other blog post to see just how we pulled it off.
Today, I want to show you how you could start working towards your FREE vacation! In order to make the most of this offer, You and your wife/husband need to do it together.
There are so many blog posts and websites that explain all this in their minute details. In order to know what you are doing with the different cards, I suggest that you look into it yourself.
But through it all, you need to have the big picture in mind. You need to know what you want to do so that you don't get distracted by every single offer.
In this post, I will lay out the most basic set up for a FREE vacation.
I promise, it's Simple.
Use the Links. It will give you more details.
March
Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. [This link gives me a small referral bonus. :) ] [They changed the rules so that you could only get either the Preferred or the Reserve ]
Meet the $4000 required minimum spending within 3 months.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers the following benefits.
1. 50,000 miles/points. (which are valued at between $625-725 when redeemed for flight/hotel/rental car/ activities and etc.)
2. Allows you to transfer points to Airlines and Hotel loyalty programs at a 1:1 ration.
3. When you rent a car with this car, decline the insurance that the rental company offers. The card will take care of you in case of an accident.
4. It has a $95 annual fee. "How to AVOID the annual fee"
Everything you need to know about Chase Sapphire Preferred.
OR
Apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve [The BEST Travel Card in my opinion and experience. We have 2 of them.] [They changed the rules so that you could only get either the Preferred or the Reserve ]
Meet the $4000 required minimum spending within 3 months.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers the following benefits.
1. 50,000 points (valued at $725 when redeemed for flights/hotel/rental car/ activities and etc.)
2. Allows you to transfer points to Airlines and Hotel loyalty programs at a 1:1 ration.
3. When you rent a car with this car, decline the insurance that the rental company offers. The card will take care of you in case of an accident.
4. Priority Pass Lounge ACCESS.
5. Free TSA Pre Check
6. It has a $450 annual fee. How the card takes care of its annual fee.
[CLUE: It returns $300 back to you when you use the card for travel such as airline tickets]
June
Apply for the Barclay Arrival Plus Card
Meet the $3000 minimum spending within 3 months.
The Barclay Arrival Plus offers the following benefits.
1. 50,000 points/miles that you could redeem for travel expenses.
2. It has a $95 annual fee. "How to AVOID the annual fee"
September
Apply for IHG Credit Card.
Meet the $1000 required spending requirement within 3 months.
1. 80,000 points towards IHG Hotels.
2. 1 FREE night EVER year after the first 12month.
3. $45 Annual fee, just pay it. It's totally worth it.
Let me break it down for you.
Chase Sapphire Reserve OR Chase Sapphire Preferred
= 50,000
(But Chase Points are valued at 1.5% when redeemed through the Chase Sapphire Reserve Portal.)
= $750 toward travel. OR
(Chase Points are valued at 1.25% when redeemed through the Chase Sapphire Preferred Portal.)
= $625 toward travel.
Barclay Arrival Plus = 50,000 points.
IHG= 80,000 points.
How to use the points.
1. IHG: After you call them and have your account set up, go on to their website and book rooms with the points. You should see the option to book using points as well as points + cash.
Depending on which tier hotel you stay at, you could get up to 16 free nights. But expect about 5-6 Free nights.
[How to redeem IHG Points]
2. Barclay Arrival Plus: Go to Expedia, Travelocity or any of the online travel portals that you prefer and book the room using this card. Each purchase needs to be over $100. Then go on the Barclay website and follow the instructions to redeem the points to cover your purchase. Expect 5 FREE nights.
[How to redeem Barclay Points]
3. Chase Points: When book PLANE TICKETS or booking hotels, always go through the Chase Sapphire Reserve Online Portal. Points rise in value at 1.5%. Plane tickets that cost $500, if you were to pay with money, would cost you 33,333 Chase points(It means that you are using only $333. You are not only getting the ticket for free, you could use the rest of the points for another ticket.)
{How to use the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal]
Wrap-up. Solo
$625-725 towards plane ticket
At least 10 Free Hotel Nights.
Now, your husband/wife does the same thing, everything is doubled.
$1250 -1450 towards plane tickets
Around 15 -20 Free nights.
So there you have it.
Over $3000 off your next vacation. Not bad, eh?
After you open up each of the different cards, do research about each cards and how to best redeem them.
I would love you hear how you succeed with this plan!
APPLY FOR THE CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED TODAY
Notice.
If you don't plan on traveling any time soon, but wish to collect points starting today. These two cards are a MUST. Get these two cards ASAP and the points that you collect can be transferred to Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred and they will go up in value. If you are interested in collecting points, you need these cards.
Apply for the Chase Freedom Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited
These two are the BEST Credit cards to help to collect points towards your next travel.
Chase Freedom Card
- Offers 5% Back on rotating categories all through the year. Right now, you could get 5% back when you use Samsung Pay or Apple Pay to purchase anything and everything. This particular offer is until the end of March.
Chase Freedom Unlimited
- Offers 1.5% back on all purchase all year round.
You need these two cards. How the Chase Set up works.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
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