Photo courtesy of Jake, my son.
Frugal as we may be, our family loves to vacation.
How do we do it? We cut expenses drastically in other areas in order to save, but don’t sacrifice our love of travel.
Each year, we take at least two vacations (though we’ve been known to take up to four). And, though we typically travel on a budget, our most recent trip was our most expensive yet.
Our typical vacation schedule includes one “normal” vacation, where we stay in hotels or rental homes through vrbo or Airbnb, and one or two “camping” vacations, where we tow our camper to places near and far.
The “normal” vacation this year was unique. Our 13 year old daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, desperate to visit Universal Studios in Orlando to check out Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Now, we’ve never, ever done a theme park vacation – it’s not really my idea of a “vacation”. Our entire family is somewhere on the introvert spectrum, so I knew we couldn’t handle too much time at a theme park, considering the crowds. But our daughter really wanted to go and, I admit it, I was curious as to what all the hype was about.
The compromise was to spend 2 days at Universal Studios in Orlando and 5 days in the Florida Keys. This schedule worked well, so well in fact, that my daughter actually thanked me on Day 2 for limiting our time at Universal (I didn’t say, “I told you so”, but the temptation was there).
We started planning over a year ago for the trip so we could do a little travel hacking, something we’d dabbled in before, but not to this extent. Admittedly, we could have scored even more travel rewards on this trip, but $2100 isn’t bad savings, in my opinion.
In the process of planning the trip, I turned to Richmond Savers for advice on where to begin. This site offers a wealth of information for using credit card rewards to travel for free, including specific information on traveling to Disney.
Since we didn’t go to Disney and we didn’t want to open too many credit cards, we didn’t follow their plan exactly, but the advice and suggestions they provide guided our methods for getting round-trip airfare and 5 nights in hotels free.
$2100 Free Travel: How we did it
1. We opened two Chase Sapphire cards. First, my husband opened a card, we spent the required amount ($4000 right now) in the first 3 months, and received 50,000 points toward travel, with a bonus of 5,000 points for adding an additional card to his account (for me). After we received his rewards, I opened a card and repeated the process.
We received a total of 110,000 Chase Sapphire points and converted them to Southwest Airlines points on the Southwest site. We easily covered roundtrip airfare for all four of us, with points to spare. (We did have to pay a small fee for each ticket, totalling $44 for all of us).
Total value = approximately $1300.00
2. I opened one Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. I spent the required $3000 in the first 3 months to receive 25,000 SPG points to use at Starwood hotels. (We decided to just use the one card because we were considering refinancing our mortgage and the banks don’t like it when you open several new credit cards.)
We stayed a total of five free nights in Sheraton hotels (4 nights = 3,000 points/each and 1 night = 12,000 points). Hotel fees are not included in the free nights, so we paid $83 total in resort fees for these five nights.
Total value = $630 for five hotel nights
3. We banked cash rewards on other cards, mainly on our American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card, which ended up giving us another $150 in statement credits for the trip (plus a $40 credit on our Discover card).
Total value = $190
Timeshare? No thanks, but I’ll take the discount
Believe me, we were on the fence on this one, but we saved even more on a 7 day Universal Studios ticket by agreeing with the hotel representative to sit through a 90 minute presentation* on buying a timeshare (we only used 2 days, plus the evening before we flew home, but it still saved us money). They worked around our schedule and saved us another $250 off of our Universal tickets, plus we got Early Park Admission (which is a joke).
What we paid for
Total park-to-park admission for two days (and one evening before we left) at Universal was $1060, plus food and drinks (though we took some water and snacks). This includes $360 for Express Limited passes on the second day to save ourselves a ton of waiting time. We were already exhausted and it was HOT, plus we went with the intention of buying the express passes for both days, and only ended up buying one day. Worth it? I guess so. It’s not something I want to do every year, but I’m glad we did it once.
We also paid for three nights at a resort in Key Largo, plus all other food and activities for the trip, bringing our grand total (out of pocket) to $3750 (our most expensive to date).
I admit, we could have saved even more on this trip if we hadn’t gone out to eat so much or paid for several activities, such as parasailing and snorkeling. And if we hadn’t gotten the free airfare and hotels, I’m certain we couldn’t afford to take this trip this year.
I gotta say, even though this trip cost us a pretty penny, I’m so glad we did this. Our son is graduating high school in two years and our daughter will be there before we know it. We created some unforgettable memories on this trip and were able to spend uninterrupted time talking to, and having adventures with, our kids who will be out on their own before we know it.
Are you taking a vacation this year? How do you save on travel?
Amanda, great article and I’ll have to check out your credit card tips, that’s a lot of points you received! So funny that you went to the keys, we just got back from our family vacation as well where we spent one week in Miami and one week in Hilton Head.
While in Miami, we did a day trip down to John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo and took the snorkeling trip out to the coral reefs – the kids (ages 14 and 16) loved it!
Hope you enjoyed the keys and thanks for the travel tips – I may use some next year!
Thanks Jon! Hope you all had a great trip as well! The snorkeling was one of the highlights of the trip – we all loved it!
I would encourage you to try out the travel rewards if you take vacations every year. Even if you just opened a couple of cards, it can add up to a great deal of savings. I know some people worry it will affect their credit, but we haven’t had any ill effects in that area.
Nice work travel hacking the trip and it definitely sounds like the amount you did spend was worth the great memories. What a fun family vacation!
I’m curious, why did you transfer the Sapphire rewards to Southwest? I just opened a Sapphire card myself and my wife will be soon. Were you not able to buy airfare through the Chase Ultimate Rewards for that trip or was traveling on Southwest cheaper? Just curious how that worked for you as I may be looking to do the same.
And how was sitting through the 90 minutes presentation on time shares? Was it a pretty hard sell they put on? That sounds like a great idea to get some money off on travel budget and worth 90 minutes of your time.
Again, great trip and sounds like the perfect combination of successfully travel hacking and enjoying the vacation to the fullest.
Thanks – it was a great trip!
We transferred the rewards to Southwest because it was cheaper and easier for us to do it that way. I think it depends where you are traveling to and from, availability and prices. I wouldn’t rule out using Chase to book the flights – just check out all of your options prior to booking. It was easy-peasy to transfer the points.
Ahh, the timeshare presentation. It wasn’t a totally hard sell, but they tried every angle imaginable. I had to tell my husband to quit debating with them so we could get out of there. It was worth our time to save the money, but what they were selling was not worth it (in my opinion), especially at almost 16% interest and payments over several years. I laughed out loud when I saw the numbers. The most interesting thing was how so many people were buying.
We saved about $2100 on our summer vacation too! We used Chase Sapphire and Southwest visa to accumulate points to save on our airline to California. We are really excited to be able to use credit cards to save money on travel. We are gearing up for a trip to Orlando next spring and will be banking points until than, It will be a last being trip before our son and daughter head off to college.
That’s great, Brian! Using the rewards really helps with the travel! I think we are going to open a Southwest card next for airfare next year. Not sure where we are going yet but, like you, our kids will be flying the coop soon, so we will definitely be going somewhere! I have a few tips on Universal Studios – let me know if you are planning to go there next year and I’ll send them along.
I keep hearing about the great benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Currently I have the United Explorer Card and it’s great but could be more. I’m hoping to either use the points towards a flight to India (I’m currently in Thailand for the next few months) or using it for FinCon next year.
Great idea to use the points for FinCon! I’ll have to look into the United Explorer Card. My next card is probably going to be the Southwest Airlines card since Southwest is convenient for us.
Sounds great! We sat through a timeshare to and got a free meal on the beach on our honeymoon, lol. You did so well with your savings!
I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan too!
Thanks, Francesca! If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’d like Universal Studios! I’d never sat through a timeshare sales pitch before; we were supposed to get breakfast, but it was really just coffee and yogurt, so I was bummed about that! 🙂
Jon surprised me with a “timeshare vacation” twice. I had to make him promise never ever ever to do it again. We didn’t bite, but I hated the entire experience. (He doesn’t mind them. He says he gets sales tips from watching.) For the one we did in Orlando, the 90 minute presentation lasted over 4 hours, and we didn’t get to the park until 4 pm, and we had to go to a second time share presentation three days later in Fort Lauderdale. The best part of that vacation was a couple of days in Key West that were not part of the package. (The best part of the other timeshare vacation was that Little Bit arrived 9 months later.)
Our vacations since our daughter was born have been pretty low key. We usually rent a beach house off season or stay at my dad’s lake house. We’ve talked about doing Orlando, and I think we may try soon as Jon has an aunt we can stay with.
That’s funny that your husband likes to get sales tips; mine likes to debate every issue. Oh my, I would have been livid if our 90 minute presentation lasted four hours! We actually were there about 2 hours, but had to take a shuttle back to the hotel, so it wasn’t that bad. At least you had Key West – and the results (Little Bit) are priceless!
We did pretty low key vacations when the kids were younger, but they have been ramping up as they age. They are more into the excitement and thrills of trying new things now (which is fine with me – I love a good adrenaline rush)! 🙂
Thanks for breaking down the costs and savings of your trip. Very interesting–I’ve never been to a theme park like this before so I’m also somewhat intrigued, although not totally sold on it yet. The Harry Potter World sounds awesome, though.
We also highly value taking family vacations and do so 2-3 times per year. We usually spend about $2000 per year total on such trips, but might go over that this year to do a Myrtle Beach trip this September. It’s the last year we won’t have kids in school and we want to make the most of it!
I’m glad you got some benefit out of the cost break down, Kalie! The trip could have been less – let’s just say those of us from the Midwest don’t get fresh seafood often and we took full advantage of the availability (which added up $$!) I’ve never been sold on the theme parks either and, though it was really fun, it was absolutely exhausting. I’m glad my kids are as old as they are and I didn’t have to carry them! 🙂
You should definitely take full advantage of not having kids in school yet. We used to home school until the kids were in 3rd grade and loved being able to take our trips right after school started to avoid crowds and save money over peak times. Now we have to stick to summers; we tried a few spring breaks but that time of year can be busy and expensive too. Have fun on your trip to Myrtle Beach – the kids will love it!
This is so encouraging! I’m trying to travel hack our way to Hawaii next February, but I have no idea what I’m doing, or if what I’m doing is the right thing to do? Seeing you pull this off and save so much money is awesome – way to go!
You can do it, Ty! I didn’t have a clue before this trip either. Planning took a little time, but it really wasn’t any more difficult to use the points than it would have been to pay with a credit card. I have faith that you will successfully travel hack your way to Hawaii and I look forward to reading about it!
Nice job! I have been starting to look at travel hacking and hope to start accumulating points for future trips here soon! Glad to hear it worked so well!
Thanks, Thias! We are fresh out of travel points right now, but I’m motivated to start working on more! Good luck to you!
Awesome savings! I need to open one of those cards once I start working to take advantage of the miles. Have not heard of some of the others but wow they really reduced your cost. How often can you open a new card?
Thanks, Stefan! We were on a 3 month cycle of opening new cards when we were collecting these points. As long as you are paying them off each month and aren’t trying to get a mortgage, it doesn’t cause a problem. But, if there is a mortgage in your near future, I wouldn’t advise opening new cards that often.
What a great trip! And you were so smart to be proactive about finding cost-cutting measures. I struggle with the whole “travel hacking” idea – simply because it plays into the hands of credit card companies who profit so much from widespread debt. People who have got themselves trapped in the minimum payment cycle are funding those points. It’s a great benefit for people who have their money-smarts in place though, and since we have decided not to go on a trip this year, we’ve bought airfare for all three of our daughters via my husband’s points. (One flew out to visit her sister; one is flying home; one flew to a national track competition in which she competed.) He’s all for it, and I’m happy we were able to give these gifts to our girls. Sorry for babbling! All this to say I’m conflicted when it comes to travel hacking.
I hear you, Ruth, and I understand your conflicted feelings on the credit card issue – it is something I have mulled over as well. I should have made the point in the post that we pay off the balance on our cards each month and simply use them as another tool for additional savings. It sounds like your daughters have been traveling a lot – it’s great that you were able to help them out in that way!
We aren’t taking a vacation this year but my daughter wants to go to Disney (Okay, so I do too). I’ve heard a lot about travel hacking and I definitely want to give it some consideration if it means we can go at a fraction of the cost. Like, what’s better than going to Disney than going there for free, right?
Right, Latoya! Disney (and Universal) trips can be really expensive. The travel hacking knocked off enough of the expenses for us to make it much more affordable. I’m sure your daughter (and you!) will really like going to Disney!
I just can’t bring myself to do the timeshare presentations, but good for you! You saved a bundle on this trip. We are jetting off to Costa Rica next week…not saving a bundle. I hope to travel hack my way through an international destination spot next year. This year, we did Vegas for $250. That’s my proudest travel accomplishment!
Oh, believe me, I was very hesitant to do the timeshare presentation – and I’m not sure I’ll do it again! Costa Rica sounds amazing and I’m sure you’ll have a great time (looking forward to reading about it!?) 🙂 . Vegas for $250 is fantastic – definitely something to be proud of!
Starwood is definitely one of the best hotel credit cards, but we recently signed up for the IHG Rewards Card as I frequently stayed at Holiday Inns & HI Expresses with my previous job. We are working on getting the sign-up bonus as it is our first foray into travel hacking.
I’ll definitely have to look into the IHG Rewards Card too – that’s not one that I have heard about before. Good luck to you on your travel hacking!
Hey Amanda,
Sounds like you guys had a GREAT trip, I’m pretty jealous as I’d love to see what it’s like there too 🙂 Maybe one day.
At the moment we’re at that stage where we aren’t going on any ‘holidays’, just day trips into our city and also within driving distance (aka road trips). So we’re saving money by not going on holiday, haha. Australia has very limited rewards points so we can’t travel hack like you can there.
Tristan
You know, Tristan, some of my favorite trips with my family have been local road trips, or even staycations! 🙂 I honestly don’t think it matters where you are or where you go, as long as you take time off, relax, and just have fun spending time with those you love!
We just went to Universal last year. As huge Harry Potter fans we could have spent all day between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I wish we would have thought to try to travel hack that trip since we went to Disney too. We are about to attempt our first travel hack for a trip to Vegas in a few months. We would struggle to spend $4000 over three months unless we paid our mortgage with the card so it takes us awhile to build up the points without the bonus.
We spent the majority of our time in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley too! The travel hacking helped, but it still added up quickly (those theme parks are so expensive!). We usually wait until we are going to have a large purchase if we know we are going to need to spend $3000-$4000 to get a credit card bonus. Paying the mortgage with your card is a great idea! I always just assumed we couldn’t do that, but now I’m definitely going to look into it the next time we plan to gather bonus points on a card. Thanks for the tip!