I really think I have OCD. When I find out about something that excites me, I become an obsessed woman and stay up until crazy hours (like now, 1 a.m.) thinking about it, researching it, figuring out how I can have my hands on what I want.
Well, a travel rewards program was offered to me the other day and generally I never got into those programs because I never saw the purpose. There’s always some fine print that prevents you from traveling on the days that you really want to travel. I am a woman who pays for convenience, especially with little ones.
So, I looked over the program, thought about all the places I’d be traveling to next year and how I could possibly pimp the rewards program to the fullest! The main thng that holds me back is timing – this is the absolute worst time of the year for any company to ask this family to buy a product, let alone an expensive one. In addition, I’m still a believer of saving money by piece-mealing things together but then again, this notion totally contradicts my “woman of convenience” badge. Hmmm.
The only programs that we do use are hotel rewards programs. We have stayed many free nights and gotten upgrades through these types of programs but they are pretty straight forward.
I know that airline rewards programs can be great but the airlines have gotten on my nerves so much over the years that I never could stay with just one carrier. It always boiled down to who had the cheapest flight.
The better bet is to have a credit card with that airline and charge your purchases that you would normally pay cash with and take care of your balance immediately. If you can demonstrate discipline, then you could really benefit from an airline rewards credit card. That would never fly in my house because my husband is the antithesis of discipline when it comes to immediately paying off charges.
Bottom Line: Read the fine print. Then read it again. Drum up what your next vacation would be and speak to the representative of the rewards program to find out what you would spend (or not spend) by being a member. After you’ve done that, then you can move on to obsessing over the trip itself.
Hi There!
Thanks so much for posting this. I never fully understand those rewards programs… lol. I’m happy that I found your blog — as a newly single mom who loves to travel, I will have to travel w/my son now who’s 3. So this site will help me ALOT.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m your newest follower and look forward to connecting with you even more through our work.
Cheers!
Yaay! So happy to have you here Alicia and I hope that I can provide you with the resources you need to equip you for fun and stress-reduced travel with your son.
Alicia, I’m happy to say that I did the research and made the decision yesterday to sign up with a travel rewards program. This will force my husband and I to not only use one site for booking and build points but also commit us to planning the next family trip quickly. I’m excited because there are no black out dates for when we could use our points – this was KEY in signing up with the program as that can always be a pain in planning vacations. So, I’ll be happy to post more information about our experience as time goes on.
HEY!
I am now following you back, thanks!
Hi DaLa, so where’s the last place that you traveled with your child(ren) and where will you be going next? Would love to know!! 🙂
Great site. I am a father with two kids (5 and 7) and we love to travel. Keep up the great work!
I love your blog! It makes me want to travel. The most I have done is go from Detroit to Cedar Point.