Can you believe that using travel rewards credit card programs have saved me thousands of dollars on vacation expenses? It’s true! Who doesn’t want to save money?

The most common question I am asked is what travel rewards credit card I use? Followed by, how do you earn so many air miles? The answer is simple. First, I have found two credit card rewards programs that work for me. Second, I use one credit card to pay for everything I can.  Using a rewards card to pay for living expenses earns money towards future vacations.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

I have tried several different programs and now use two that work best for me. 

Getting Started

It’s important to use your location to your advantage. For example, Alaska Airlines is based out of the Pacific Northwest. Living in Oregon, a majority of our flights departing from Portland begin on Alaska Airlines. For us, this works well, although depending on where you live, a different airline reward program may work better.

Not All Mileage Plans are Equal

Alaska Airlines Signature Card

Fifteen years ago, I opened an Alaska Airlines Signature Card.  I still use this card because it consistently saves me money on airfare.  I have found 6 amazing benefits to using this card.

Most importantly is the $121 annual companion fare.  This is my favorite perk of this card.   Instead of paying for two $500 round-trip tickets to Hawaii, I paid $500 for the first ticket and $50 for the second.  My annual companion fare saved me $450 on airfare.

Second, members earn 3 miles for every $1 spent on Alaska Airline purchases and earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

Third, frequent flyer miles are accumulated for travel on Alaska Airlines or partner airlines.  These miles can be used towards free tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines or their partner airlines fly.

Fourth, the Alaska Airlines Signature Card also offers free checked baggage on Alaska flights up to six passengers on the same reservation. This is a $120 savings if everyone in a family of four has one checked bag.  Let’s be honest, I’m pretty much jumping for joy if I can check my regular size suitcase for free. I know, I know, travel light… but who has really mastered that? My point is, free checked baggage is a lovely benefit for a $75 a year annual fee.

And for those of you who don’t already have one, Alaska Airlines usually offers 40,000 bonus miles upon signing up for their credit card.  That alone gets you on your way to a free ticket.

How I’ve Saved Thousands Using the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare

This has been a great rewards system when traveling as a family.  My husband and I both have an Alaska Airlines Signature Visa so both are earning an annual companion fare.  This allows the four of us to travel only paying for two tickets and using companion fares for the other two tickets.

Two round-trip tickets from Portland, Oregon to Maui in June is approximately $1,800.  With the companion pass and one round-trip ticket, the cost is $1,022 for two people.  By using both of our rewards programs together, the four of us can travel to Maui next summer using two-companion fares for $2,044. This saved us $1,566.  That $1,566 can help pay for lodging for the week. That is hard to beat!  

If you want to read more about how to save money on hotels see my post on “12 Secrets to Save Money on Hotels and Lodging“.

Rewards Credit Card Saved Money by Using Air Miles

Here’s another example of how using our Alaska Airlines Signature Card saved us money.  Several years ago, we were able to fly round-trip to Italy on one of Alaska Airline’s partners using accumulated miles for one ticket and paying for the other.  In that situation, our accumulated miles from the rewards card saved us $1,500.

Capital One Venture Card 

The Capital One Venture Card is my favorite travel rewards program.  It’s the card that Jennifer Garner promotes asking “What’s in your wallet?”  I’m telling you, my friend, it should be this card!  The rewards from this card have increased our ability to travel due to the money we have saved.

The thing I like most about this card is that you are not limited to specific airlines, blackout dates, or other specific travel-related companies.  With the Capital One Venture Card, you accumulate points, purchase the airfare, lodging, or travel-related activities of choice, on your Capital One Card and they credit your account.  It’s that easy!

How to Use the Capital One Venture Card to Save Money

Similar to the Alaska Airlines Signature Visa, Capital One also offers a bonus to new cardmembers.  Currently, it is 50,000 bonus miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account. That equals a $500 credit towards travel just for signing up.

Then you earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on everyday purchases and 10 miles per dollar when booking hotels at Hotels.com.

How the Capital One Venture Card Works to Save You Money

One of the things I love about this card is that I am able to redeem accumulated points at any time.  Every 100 miles equates to $1 towards travel expenses. For example, 20,000 miles will pay for a $200 flight, on any airlines, on any date. It really is fabulous!

How Paying Bills Helps Pay for Your Next Vacation

In order to accumulate miles quickly, I pay for everything and I mean everything I can on my rewards credit card instead of using my debit card. 

I then pay off the balance each time I get paid to avoid paying interest and accumulating debt.  Let’s be honest, with this method you MUST be disciplined to not spend more than you can afford. 

Here’s the key to your everyday life paying for your vacations.  Again, I pay for everything, and I really do mean everything I can, with my Capital One Venture Card.  Utilities, groceries, dining out, gym memberships, home repairs are all paid for on my Capital One card.  If I can use my credit card I do.

Paying College Tuition Paid for a Plane Ticket

The best one yet has been college tuition and related costs. For you, it could be costs for sports, dance, or other kid-related activities.  I consider it the gift that keeps on giving.  It may be the only time while your kids are growing up that their expenses help you save money.

For example, if tuition, books, and fees for a trimester add up to $3,000, I have now earned 6,000 miles.  Even better, I pay the tuition bill with my credit card, earn my miles and then am reimbursed by the college plan that we’ve been saving money in.

Now, I did have to pay an additional $35 to pay by credit card but, I earn miles for that also. In the end, I earned 6,070 miles for something that I had already saved money for in a college fund. I earned 6,070 miles for paying tuition!

Let’s say your monthly spending on your rewards credit card is $3,000. With utilities, cell phones, cable, internet, gas, food, clothing, entertainment, co-pays for doctor appointments, home repairs, and everything else adult humans pay for $3,000 adds up quickly.

Your $3,000 a month equals $3,600 a year or $360 in free travel money.  That could be a free domestic airline ticket for just paying your bills.  Hallelujah!  A year of paying everyday expenses just earned me a plane ticket. 

If One is Good then Two is Better

Here is how I have used my Alaska Airlines Signature Card and my Capital One Venture Card for even more savings.

Alaska Miles and the Venture Card Together Saves Money

The first time we flew to Thailand the round-trip cost to fly from Portland, Oregon to Thailand was $1,400 a person.

At the time, Delta Airlines was a partner with Alaska Airlines so I was able to use my accumulated air miles from my Alaska Card to cover the cost of one ticket. 

I then went to the Delta Airlines website and purchased the second ticket with my Capital One Venture Card. 

After using my Venture Card for a couple of years, and with my bonus miles from opening my account, I had well over the 140,000 miles to cover the cost of my second ticket.

For that trip, we got two round-trip tickets from the U.S. to Thailand for free.  Using both rewards cards saved $2,800. Cha-ching!!!! Not to mention that we both earned additional miles for flying to and from Thailand.

Alaska Companion Fare and Venture Card Saves Money

Here is another way I have used both rewards programs together.  A few years ago, the four of us were traveling to Mexico.  At that time one round-trip ticket from Portland to Los Cabos was approximately $450 per person. We used both of our companion passes allowing the four of us to purchase four tickets for $1,144 (Two tickets for $450 and two companion fares for $121 each). 

I paid for those tickets with my Capital One Venture Card and then used 114,400 miles on my Capital One card to be reimbursed. Had we paid full fare for all four tickets it would have cost us $1,800. Using both rewards cards saved $1,800 and the four of us basically flew for free.

Enjoying the Benefits!

With the examples above, we have saved over $6,000 using these programs. $6,000 pays for a lot of traveling that we otherwise would not have done.

I hope this has been helpful and I hope you too can use this or a similar method to pay for your next vacation!

Thanks for reading this post. I’d love to hear below what you liked about this post, and if you have other tips or tricks that you’ve used to optimize your travel rewards.

Life is short! Book the trip!