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S/O - Making vacations financially doable



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amother
Cerise


 

Post Wed, Jan 09 2019, 11:10 am
This thread is for posters like doctorima, Saw, and others to post ideas of how to work with points and credit cards to enable vacations. I know there's Dansdeals, but honestly, that site is seriously overwhelming; it's information overload for a beginner. Also maybe there are other helpful sites.


My idea of a financially doable vacation is camping. We've done it twice with the kids and everyone enjoyed!
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 09 2019, 11:47 am
Great S/O. Let's start with what I posted on the other thread and go from there about how we're able to travel so much in an economical manner:

Short answer: Dansdeals Smile

Longer answer: As I wrote, DH is very into this, and every few months, he opens up several new credit cards, and by spending a certain amount on each, we get massive sign-up bonuses that cover our flights and lodging. We pay tuition and maaser using credit cards, and DH is always giving me new cards for grocery shopping, etc.

Even after the sign-up bonuses, you can earn more points just from daily spending as well, though not nearly as much. We do them all - Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi Thank-You, Delta, United, Southwest, American, Jetblue, Alaskan, etc. His and hers sign-up bonuses for a card or two is usually enough to fly an entire family (depending on the size of your "entire" Smile round-trip and then some (international flights cost more).

And since I'm always asked, we pay off every card in full every month and never spend a penny on late fees. And both of us have credit scores of 800+ which are not destroyed by constantly opening up cards, as people frequently think (though if you're about to buy a house and get a mortgage, you should definitely take a break until after the closing).

People know about airline points, but not as well-known are the hotel credit cards (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc.) that have enabled us to stay in some very spacious, high-end rooms for no out-of-pocket cost.

There's even a wonderful website called awardmapper.com that has a map of the entire world, labelled with all the hotels from the various chains that can be booked with points. You can specify which chains it should show you based on which "currencies" you have. When DH knows what area we'll be in on a given night, he checks there to see what lodging options exist and works from there. The site isn't so well-maintained and some of the listings are out-of-date, but it's a phenomenal starting point.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 09 2019, 11:47 am
I'm not a true dansdealer in the sense that I don't manufacture funds to play the credit card game. But here's my basic take on it:

You sign up for a credit card with a good bonus. Let's say Hyatt for 60,000 points. Then you use that credit card to meet the sign on bonus. Then you move on to the next card.

You always need to make sure that you aren't buying more than you can afford and that you pay off your bills in full, otherwise you are just wasting money.
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amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 12:42 am
saw50st8 wrote:
I'm not a true dansdealer in the sense that I don't manufacture funds to play the credit card game. But here's my basic take on it:

You sign up for a credit card with a good bonus. Let's say Hyatt for 60,000 points. Then you use that credit card to meet the sign on bonus. Then you move on to the next card.

You always need to make sure that you aren't buying more than you can afford and that you pay off your bills in full, otherwise you are just wasting money.

Can you explain the bolded a bit more?
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amother
Slategray


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 1:21 am
amother wrote:
This thread is for posters like doctorima, Saw, and others to post ideas of how to work with points and credit cards to enable vacations. I know there's Dansdeals, but honestly, that site is seriously overwhelming; it's information overload for a beginner. Also maybe there are other helpful sites.


My idea of a financially doable vacation is camping. We've done it twice with the kids and everyone enjoyed!


I'm here to make a public service announcement. To make your vacations more affordable, DO NOT ASK A COMPLETE STRANGER to stay in their house. And no, it's not better if you ask someone you sorta know to ask the complete stranger FOR YOU.

Shabbos is one thing. But the whole week? Really?
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 5:16 am
I don't know dansdeal and I find the besttttt ideas and bargains, it's like my challenge Smile

I'd never ask to be hosted
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 6:54 am
amother wrote:
Can you explain the bolded a bit more?


I don't do it so I don't really know the details, but here is my basic understanding. You buy gift cards (like Amex or Visa gift cards) at stores that give 5% cash back in points. Then you take the gift cards and buy money orders and then deposit the money order back in your bank account. You can spend thousands of dollars and get bonuses but not actually spend much money.
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amother
Gold


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 8:20 am
We use the Hyatt's credit card and Amex for points. We have traveled business class on Amex and only stay in suites with points.

The schools charge a fee to pay by credit card. One school charges 3 %. ...the points are worth a penny and half.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 8:29 am
I don’t understand something About the point. We ave citi card and Wells Fargo card and we earn cash on purchases. Where are the points?
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amother
Copper


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 8:56 am
you are choosing to get cash instead of points. we make the same decision. e but if you want to make air travel, hotels... a priority then you get different cards that give you "points" instead of cash since you'd be spending that money anyway. It depends on your financial situation and how you spend your money. we rather do road trips, get the cash and hopefully be able to do air travel when we are older.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 9:00 am
amother wrote:
I don’t understand something About the point. We ave citi card and Wells Fargo card and we earn cash on purchases. Where are the points?


Different credit cards offer points instead of cashback. The points are usually more valuable if you are cashing them in for hotels and flights.
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amother
Jade


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 9:02 am
we have been doing the points for years and b"h were
able to take my kids on amazing vacations for so little.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 9:48 am
What are the credit card that give points? We have Costco citi credit card and we made a lot of money as a reward
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amother
White


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 10:18 am
How much in annual fees do you pay? Is it really all free?
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 11:04 am
Annual fees depends on the cards, sometimes fees are waived the first year, sometimes not.
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amother
Azure


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 11:37 am
I think when I use Costco citi card I make a lot of money. Are points better than that?
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 12:18 pm
Points are only better than cash if you specifically want to use them for flights and accommodations - keep in mind that it is getting harder and harder to redeem points for travel but that's another issue.

I prefer to get my rewards in the form of rewards - I use my amazon card a lot and since I shop at amazon it's something that is seamless for me to use. I don't care that my points are theoretically less than if I accumulated for something else.

Like anything else, the amount of energy you spend on it needs to be taken into account. I used to watch a show in which people showed how much stuff they could get with couponing and they were buying a lot of stuff no one in their right mind would want in that quantity and also they were essentially spending hours each day tracking their coupons so it was a job.
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amother
Oak


 

Post Thu, Jan 10 2019, 12:23 pm
amother wrote:
I think when I use Costco citi card I make a lot of money. Are points better than that?


U get $ that can only be spent in costco. With points u dont actaully take$ out of ur pocket.
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EMEN




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 11:44 am
This dansdeals post explains things pretty well
https://www.dansdeals.com/cred.....ecta/
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