How Using My Credit Cards Turned into a Hawaiian Vacation
How you Can Use Credit Card Rewards to take a Vacation
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The beautiful blue waters, refreshing sea breeze and breathtaking scenery of Hawaii. I have seen this magnificent place on the television or in magazines but never imagined that I would enjoy an entire week snorkeling, feasting and reveling on the Hawaiian Islands simply by using my credit cards.
It all began when I did some research on credit cards rewards and offers. There are so many sites out there that are dedicated to informing people about the latest credit card deals so you should just start with a simple Google search. After sorting through all of the offers I narrowed it down to a few cards that offered hotel points and two cards that provided airline miles.
My final choice was for the Hyatt Hotel card from Chase. This card is for people with pretty good credit with about 700+ credit score. The offer was for two free nights at any Hyatt Hotel location when spending $2,000 within three months. With my normal spending on things like groceries, gas and tolls plus a few monthly bills this was pretty easy to achieve. I applied for this card online and got approved within a few minutes. After spending the required amount the reward nights were linked to my account and I was able to call Hyatt directly and book my hotel stay with them.
I was so happy with the card and rewards that I convinced my girlfriend to apply for the card also. She completed the required spending and we had a total of four FREE nights at any Hyatt Hotel at our disposal.
My girlfriend did some research and found another card for the Starwood Hotel brands. There are several hotel options to stay at under this brand so finding some great hotels in any vacation spot you want to go should not be a problem. It was essentially the same deal with $2,000 spending required to earn the reward nights, however, this card offered three FREE nights upon completion. Since she had tuition to pay for the upcoming semester it was a no-brainier to get this card also.
After this we had an astounding seven FREE nights of hotel stays to take advantage of. This served us very well as you will see later in this post.
The final piece of the puzzle was our flight. I applied for and was approved for the Delta Airlines card from American Express. The offer on this card was $2,000 in three months for 50K Delta Airline Miles. This translated to nearly a free flight with only a few hundred dollars to make up the missing point values. We did have to pay taxes for the flight and you might also have a fee if you have a bunch of luggage to check in at the airport.
Once I had the flight booked we made the final hotel reservations. I called and booked my two FREE nights at the Hyatt on Maui and then my girlfriend called and did the same. She then made the call to get our room at the Sheraton (which is a brand under the Starwood group of hotel chains) on the big island.
The trip was so affordable since a full week of hotel stays and almost the entire flight to Hawaii was taken care of. We did have to pay taxes on the flight and the hotel rooms but that was next to nothing when compared to what we would’ve paid. With the left over money we were able to dine at some really great places, go on a whale watching tour and pick up tons of souvenirs for our family back home. And there you have it, seven FREE hotel nights and a flight out to the most beautiful place that I have ever been to in my life. All from using credit cards like we normally do.
More and more credit card companies are offering incentives to get your business. If you use credit cards for everyday purchases, then you should really think about getting some that earn you free hotel stays or airline miles. You will be able to go to Hawaii or anywhere else your heart desires for a huge discount.
Tips to Remember
– Make sure you can manage and pay the credit cards. Do not just get these cards to earn the trip you cannot pay off the bill.
– Offers change constantly to always be doing your research before you sign up for any credit card offers.
– Plan your trip months in advance since applying for cards, reaching the required spending and then receiving the rewards does take some time.
– Book your flight and hotel stays as far in advance as possible. As your travel dates get closer the prices or miles required tend to increase.
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