travel chic + travel cheap.
I don’t remember the first time I flew since I was six-weeks-old at the time (infant probs), but I do remember being 10-years-old and flying by myself for the first time to see my Mimi in Colorado Springs.
These were back in the days when they would allow minors to travel unaccompanied, even when there was a layover. They just slapped on a neon orange “MINOR” wristband, and hoped for the best. My mom had also given me a phone card with minutes on it so that I could call her from the airport payphone during my layover (LOL @ payphones).
the view from our hotel room in a Curio Collection Hotel in NYC
Fast forward to 2019: The #1 response I get anytime Colin and I take a short weekend trip? “How are you guys able to travel all the time??”
We’re definitely blessed to be able to travel around the US as often as we do. Part of it is due to Colin’s work requiring travel, but a lot of where we go is just for fun.
Now for the kicker - we are able to travel 75% of the time on points, aka, for free.
hotel fyi
Up until January 2017, whenever Colin and I wanted to take a trip to a specific location, we’d do some googling, and find whatever the best priced hotel was and cheapest flights were. Usually for the hotel, we’d save about $30 a night by shopping around. For flights, we’d save about $50 per person by purchasing the cheapest flight available.
Then, in January 2017, Colin had done some research and realized that there were perks to being loyal to specific hotels + airlines, and using their credit cards.
the how
There are tonsssss of hotel loyalty programs to choose from - Starwood Preferred Guest, Wyndham, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG to name a few.
When trying to decide which loyalty program is right for you, keep in mind what kind of traveling you want to do. Some programs have more properties in the US, while others have more worldwide (we chose one for specifically traveling in the US, although it does have properties abroad). Some offer primarily luxury hotels while others have more economical properties.
In addition, look at what other benefits each program offers in terms of value of points (how many $$ is a reward point worth), ease of redemption (are there lots of blackout dates?) What are the perks? Do they offer co-branded credit cards?
the London House in Chicago, also a Curio Collection Hotel where we have stayed
We eliminated two programs right off the bat. While Wyndham + IHG have a *few* nice hotels, they generally have lower quality hotels around the US (think Holiday Inn + Days Inn). Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton are all really similar to each other in regards to quality, so we didn’t have much of a preference there.
We also wanted a mixture of higher-end properties in larger cities + more economical options (for Colin’s work stuff) around the rest of the country. That left us with really two options - Marriott or Hilton. In full disclosure, we just picked Hilton and went with it (I don’t think it would have made much of a difference if we had chosen Marriott - we have friends who are Marriott loyalists and love it).
Hilton Honors has a co-branded card with American Express that offers 100k bonus points for joining, so we signed up for the Hilton credit cards. We have one in each of our names that we started using for most of our everyday spending.
(Disclaimer: if you’re someone who has trouble spending within your means while using a credit card, this isn’t for you. We still paid our cards off at the end of the month - we just began using these cards in lieu of our debit cards.)
another Curio Collection Hotel that we stayed at in Vail, CO
Hilton Honors Card Perks:
For every dollar spent on a Hilton hotel, you earn 7 points.
For every dollar spent on eating out, groceries, and gas, you earn 5 points.
For every dollar spent on anything else, you earn 3 points.
Welcome Offer: After the first $1,000 spent on your card (must be spent within the first 3 months of membership), you automatically earn 80,000 points. (which is enough for 1-3 nights in a Hilton hotel, depending on where you stay).
So, within the first 3 months, we had accumulated 180k points (100k for joining + 80k for spending the $1000). On average, we plan to spend about 70k points for the swankiest of Curio hotels, and about 20k for hotels like Hampton Inn. You really have the freedom to make your points stretch if you want to.
As you continue to use your cards, you continue to move up in status: Honors, Silver, Gold, and then finally Diamond.
Normally, we try to pay cash for Colin’s work trips using those trips to accumulate points, and then use the points for fun trips. Most often, we use the Hilton Honors app to book a hotel - it’s super easy to use and you can use points, cash, or a combination of the points + cash. (For real. The app is so easy to use, I cannot recommend it enough).
The interior of a Curio Collection Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where we stayed this Spring
If Colin is traveling for work, he will normally stay wherever is cheap and close to where his meetings are (mainly when he’s in Kansas, and I’m not with him LOL). A lot of times, it’s a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites. If we’re traveling for fun, we try to stay in Hilton’s “Curio” Collection.
I strongly recommend Hilton’s Curio Collection hotels - they are cute, and have more of a boutique-feel, and are hotels that most people wouldn’t automatically assume are Hilton properties (at least I didn’t). We’ve stayed in Curio Hotels in KC (before moving there, lol), Washington DC, New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, two different Curio’s in San Diego, Vail, Houston. (Curio Collection hotels are also all around the world, if you’re interested in international travel.)
All of the pictures on this blog post are from Curio Hotels we’ve stayed in, with the exception of a few pictures from other Hilton properties we’ve stayed in that aren’t part of the Curio Collection, but are still nice.
Because of how much we use our credit card we are now considered “Diamond” members (so fancy, I know). This has a few different perks from room upgrades (occasionally, and when available) to free breakfast every morning at the hotel’s restaurant while we are staying there (usually in the form of a ~$25 voucher per person per morning). We also get one free weekend night per year, and any time we book 4 nights, we get the 5th night free.
There are also yearly promotions that you can participate in. The first one we took advantage of was an offer for 4 days, 3 nights in Vegas for $100, as long as we listened to a one-hour sales pitch about another promotion they were offering. (Hilton also gave us a Royal Caribbean cruise voucher for listening to the pitch. Perks on perks on perks.)
We’ve also signed up for another one that we haven’t scheduled yet. This is a 4 day, 3 night stay in Park City, UT for $120, as long as we go on an hour tour of a new Hilton facility they’ve recently built. (There were actually over a dozen locations we could have picked from for this promotion, including Chicago, Hilton Head, and Miami. I’ve just never been to Utah, soooo here we are.)
These promotions occur fairly often, you just have to check in with Hilton.
As long as you are willing to participate in their promos, the trips are definitely worth the hassle! (A several day vacation for an hour worth of my time? Beam me up, Scotty!)
One of the coolest things has been the ability to let our friends and family use our points for free stays. We’ve used points on friends’ hotels in New York, and we’ve booked stays in Memphis for my family. (Granted, one thing that has made it easier for us to rack up points is that we also use the credit cards for Sandlot purchases as well.)
The pool at the Waldorf Astoria, a Hilton property we have stayed at in Vegas (not a Curio Collection Hotel, and I didn’t take this photo)
airfare fyi
Thankfully, airline credit cards are more straightforward.
Much like the hotel credit cards, there are multiple credit cards we could choose from: Delta, United, American, etc.
We chose Southwest simply because there are a plethora of Southwest flights from KC, and Southwest offers a free carry on, as well as 2 free checked bags per person. (However, depending on where you live, another airline may be a better option. Had we lived in Atlanta, we would have probably gone with Delta due to its hub being there.)
One downside - unlike the Hilton credit card, we have to pay $69 yearly to have the Southwest credit card. Still though, it’s worth it in the long run.
Like our Hilton card, we use a Southwest business credit card for business purchases, allowing us to rack up points quickly. When we opened the card in the Fall of 2018, we received 60k points. We were able to quickly rack up another 50k points which allowed us to get the Southwest Companion Pass (the companion pass is available once you raise 110k points, but it doesn’t cost 110K, so we still have those points to apply towards flights).
Another view of the London House in Chicago - the rooftop (I didn’t take this photo)
the breakdown
We earn 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest, and 1 point on everything else. (Granted, it’s not quite as many points per dollar spent as we get with our Hilton card).
With the pass, when Colin buys a plane ticket for himself, we can get another pass for me, and then we only have to pay the taxes for my flight (typically around $20). On average, for a round trip flight within the US, we expect to spend 25k - 40k points. It will be more if you are trying to purchase last minute flights.
The companion pass ends 12/31 of the following year, so you’re much better off to get it as close to the beginning of the year as possible so that you are able to use it for the full two years. For instance, if you got it in November, you would still just have it until December 31 of the following year.
The companion pass is by far one of the best perks available, simply because we are essentially able to fly BOGO free. The only downside is that Southwest doesn’t have international flights, so we are only able to fly Southwest within the US. (BUT Southwest, as of this Spring, started flying to Hawaii. Can I interest anyone in a lei?)
Our room at Hotel Phillips a Curio Collection Hotel in Kansas City
how do i get it though?
Spending $70k on a Southwest credit card to rack up points probably isn’t doable for most people. However, Southwest also offers a business credit card. The best way to get the companion pass is to stack a business southwest card and a personal card together on your rapid rewards account.
So to quickly recap how to earn the Southwest Companion Pass:
Get Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card, spend $1,000 in 3 months (40k points)
Get Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, spend $3,000 in 3 months (60k points)
Spend a little more to get over the 110k point hump!
what if i don’t have a business?
It’s not actually hard to get a business credit card. If you’ve ever sold something with Etsy, Ebay, Craigslist, etc, you can qualify! Or, do you coach or teach music lessons? Paid for tutoring? Or, freelance photography? Anytime you sell a service or a product, you can qualify as a business owner.
On Southwest’s site, there will be a section asking what kind of business you own + and will ask for your business tax identification number. If you’re just in business on your own, you can choose to answer that you’re a sole proprietor (which if it’s just a small hustle on the side for you, that’s what you probably qualify as anyway), and in most cases you can enter your social security number instead of a tax id number.
I’m sure this goes without saying because (mostly because I don’t think any of you are hardened criminals haha) but please don’t lie on a business credit card application. A companion pass will not fly you out of a jail cell, lol.
The Madison: The Curio Collection Hotel we stayed in while in DC
do you feel like I’m a salesman yet?
Whew. Sorry y’all, that may have been information overload. I just wanted to share it with you because I know I wish I had someone to tell me about it sooner. There are definitely TONS of options out there for credit cards that help with travel, so if these two aren’t the right fit for you, do some research and find ones that are! It’s definitely worth it in the long run. While I know that not everyone has a business that they can use to build up points, it’s still worth being loyal to certain hotels + airlines if traveling is something you feel passionately about.
Now for my personal plug - if you sign up for a Hilton American Express using the link below, we BOTH GET POINTS! (I’m shameless, I know.)
Apply for a Hilton American Express here
Enroll in Southwest Rapid Rewards here
Apply for a Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card here
Apply for a Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card here
Feel free to email me if you have ANY questions! Traveling is one of those things that you can’t put a price tag on. You know what they say, “it’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”
xx
The interior of The Madison in DC
The patio area of The La Jolla Hotel in La Jolla, CA that is also part of the Curio Collection
Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island, CA is a recently acquired Hilton property, but is not part of the Curio Collection
