“Swim in a Swiss mountain lake!
(and support the blog!)”
You can travel the world for nearly free . Below are some juicy credit card bonuses to help you do just that.
Some of these are referral links so it’s also a weird / fun way to support this blog. One signup would cover the costs of the blog for about three months.
I’ll only recommend cards that I think are decent and if there’s anything to look out for with them I’ll make sure to explain that. If I see anything crazy I’ll try to tweet it and add links here.
The world is a big place and travel can change your life - start planning your next trip!
Potentially Great Travel Cards (if they fit your plan)
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Main Benefits: 60,000 (very flexible) bonus points on signup
Drawbacks: $95/year annual fee, not as lucrative (right now) as last year.
It’s a nice, flexible signup bonus (Chase points transfer to a bunch of airlines and hotels).
IHG Rewards Card
Benefits: 125,000 IHG point bonus, free night every year
Drawbacks: $49/year annual fee
It’s a nice signup bonus and an ongoing $50 hotel night once per year. This is one of the few cards I’ve kept over time.
Amex Platinum
Benefits: A whopping 100,000 point bonus, myriad freebies (free audible, New York Times, hotel night, TSA precheck, baggage fees, Clear, way more)
Drawbacks: A whopping $6,000 spend and $695 annual fee
This card is not for everyone but if you are planning an advanced, monster trip and spending a lot of money in the near future, you could fairly easily extract $3-4000+ value from the $700 fee.
Southwest Personal + Business Combo
Benefits: 2 years of nearly free travel for you and a companion through Southwest Companion Pass.
Drawbacks: Need a “business” of some sort for the business card. Start a blog? :)
If you have freedom (retired, pre-kids, etc.) this is a no-brainer for going nuts with domestic travel (for peanuts).
Currently troubleshooting my referral links, but if you can’t wait for me, here are generic links to this powerful combo:
My Everyday Card
Citi Double Cash Card
Benefit: 2% cash back on all purchases (no hassle or annual fee)
Unless it’s for a big free trip, I can’t stand hassle. Because I don’t have time for following all the 5% categories and tracking miles, etc. all of my regular life purchases go on this card and I just take the 2% back in cash.
Amazon Prime Visa
Benefit: 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases (no hassle or annual fee)
Please don’t tell me you use Prime and don’t get 5% back on every single purchase. As we buy everything on Amazon, we’ve gotten tremendous value over the years on this.
Troubleshooting my referral link, but here’s a generic link if you just can’t wait :)