One of life’s most enjoyable experiences is traveling. I know I’m not the only one who dreams of filling up my passport with stamps.
Have you been bitten by the travel bug, but can’t stand the fact that each trip drains all the coins from your bank account?
Well, that used to be me too. Until I discovered 3 game-changing ways to travel for cheap or completely FREE.
1. Hopper
Last year, I started using the Hopper app to keep an eye on cheap flight from my airport hubs (DAL & DFW). I’ve used Hopper to book several flights to places like Las Vegas, LA, and New York and it has saved me a ton of money! If you’re not set on traveling to a specific destination, Hopper is a great tool because it allows you to view flight pricing predictions for up to one year.
If your travel dates are flexible, then you need to download Hopper today. Seriously, do it right now. All you have to do is enter your departure location and your preferred destination and let Hopper do the rest. The app will instantly show price predictions for flights up to 12 months in the future. The dates highlighted in green are the cheapest travel dates and the dates highlighted in red are the most expensive. My favorite thing about Hopper is the Watch This Trip feature which predicts flight fluctuations and sends you alerts when prices change.
2. Scott’s Cheap Flights
I cannot recommend this site enough! Scott’s Cheap Flights has helped many travelers save up to 90% on international flights by sending cheap flight alerts that are discovered by Scott’s team of dedicated researchers.
The flight that I booked to Barcelona can cost up to $1,000, but my ticket only cost $330! That’s less than half the average price. That’s almost 70% off.
There are two versions of Scott’s cheap flights, free and premium. If you just want to try things out, then sign up for the free version at least. I mean, what do you have to lose?
I personally use the premium version of SCF which costs about $39 per year, but that price is incredibly cheap will you consider the savings. Another reason that I strongly recommend the premium version of Scott’s Cheap Flights is because it will give you access to even more deals, like the trip that I booked to Spain.
3. Travel Hacking
If you are not a member of the travel hacking world, you are truly missing out and leaving a lot of money on the table.
Travel hacking is the “strategic use of promotions and discounts to amass frequent flyer miles and redeem them to book travel at significantly reduced rates”. Travel hacking gives you the freedom to explore the world on a budget.
Over the last year and a half, I’ve accumulated 395,890 points and counting. I racked up these points in a number of ways, primarily by:
- making using credit cards for all of my purchases on credit cards (which I pay completely each month)
- using airline shopping portals
- applying for new credit cards with sign up bonuses
There are two credit cards that I love for maximizing travel rewards. The first is the favorite credit card for travel is the Capital One Venture Card. This card also has a sign-up bonus of 50,000 points as well as additional perks like a $100 credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry membership, 10x points back at Hotels.com, earning 2x points per dollar on all other purchases. I used my Capital One Venture Card with hotels.com to book my hotel room and Barcelona which allowed me to save 20% off of my accommodation!
I am currently planning another trip to Europe, likely Paris, at the end of this year. I plan to use points to book the flight which will save me around $800 to $1,200 depending on the month. I’ll book my hotel on Hotels.com with my Venture Card to save another 20% off on my room.
My other go-to credit card is the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which currently has a sign-up bonus of 50,000 points, plus a $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass lounge access at airports, free TSA PreCheck & Global Entry membership, Lyft Pink membership, Lyft discounts, $60 DoorDash credit, and a free DashPass. Full disclosure, this card does come with a hefty annual fee that was recently raised to $550. While the fee may give you sticker shock initially, the value of this card, at least in the first year, far exceeds the cost. The Points Guy values the Chase Sapphire Reserve at $1000 which is why I will continue to hold on to this card.
I hope this post was helpful! I’d love to know your dream travel destination. Let me know down in the comments or shoot me a DM on the Gram.
Xo,
Your Finance Fairygodmother
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