The Luxurious Journey

There’s no question that luxury travel, while amazing, can be pricey! And lately it’s seems more expensive than ever to take those luxurious journeys! I’m always looking for opportunities to maximize my spending power. One of my favorite ways to do this is by making the most out of loyalty programs offered by airlines and hotels. 

PARTNER CREDIT CARDS

The quickest way to earn travel points is to use a travel partner credit card. American Express, Capital One and Barclays are some of the more popular ones. My personal favorite is the Capitol One Venture card. With its purchase eraser feature, it is easy to use on almost any kind of travel. I love the flexibility of this card! Some people prefer a card associated with a certain airline or hotel brand (like the Barclay’s Jet Blue card). Many provide very generous “new client” offers. I find that the best card/airline offers are usually given when you’re on a flight.

There are other ways to earn free travel points and miles that won’t put any stress on your wallet. And the best way to maximize these programs is to earn them while doing something you would be doing anyway!

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

This one is pretty obvious. Joining hotel and airline loyalty programs is almost always free. It costs nothing to start earning credits towards free stays and flights just by joining their loyalty programs. We have memberships in every hotel we ever stay in, even if we don’t plan on using that brand often. In my opinion, there is no downside. And for the few times you stay in those hotels, you can often get extra perks, like free wifi or a welcome gift. 

SHOPPING

Almost all airlines have retail partners which make earning miles easy. There are a variety of ways to earn miles while shopping. For example, right now you can earn mileage points on airlines like American, Delta, United, and Southwest simply by shopping on the Lululemon website. Just register via the airline’s online shopping program and follow the directions. I can even earn American Airline miles shopping at my favorite online store, The Outnet,

I’ve found the easiest way to keep track of which airlines offer the best mileage/shopping opportunities is to use a website like www.cashbackmonitor.com. It consolidates retail stores and carriers into one easy to use search site.

RIDE APPS

Uber and Marriott Bonvoy

Not too long ago, Uber started partnering with Marriott Bonvoy. With this partnership, you  can currently earn 3 points per eligible dollar on Uber xl, Uber comfort, Uber SUV or Uber black. This is especially nice since Uber has stopped its Uber rewards program.

Lyft and Hilton and Delta

Lyft gives you a choice of earning points with either Hilton or Delta.  With Lyft and Hilton, you can earn up to 3 points per $1 on Lyft rides. With Lyft and Delta, you can earn 1 mile per $1 spent on Lyft rides and 2 miles per $1 spent on rides to and from the airport.

Both these services allow you to link your accounts directly in the Uber or Lyft apps. 

Adding these steps might take some extra time, thought and coordination at first. But watching your loyalty accounts grow and redeeming free flights and free hotel stays makes it all worth it!