Flexible rewards credit cards can help you lock in travel plans before it's too late.
Travel Tips for Last-Minute Planning
Booking Last-Minute Travel
While booking travel six to nine months ahead of time can help you lock in a good deal, sometimes you need to jump on a whim. Even amid busy school calendars and kids’ activities, the end of summer is still a great time to plan last-minute travel, especially if you’re flexible on where you want to go and when. You can even save by using a travel rewards card.
How I Save on Last-Minute Travel
My favorite way to save on last-minute travel involves having a stash of flexible reward points. This allows me to find the best award, then get the best deal by transferring points or redeeming rewards through a travel portal. For example, my husband and I recently booked travel over Labor Day weekend to attend a concert event at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington state. I compared flight prices across all the major frequent flyer programs I have miles for, as well as options through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and the Amex Travel portal.
Ultimately, I transferred some of my American Express Membership Rewards points to my Delta SkyMiles account to cover our round-trip flights from Indianapolis to Spokane, Washington, for the event. By having enough flexible rewards, I could choose a flight that worked with our schedule and our budget.
My Favorite Travel Card
That said, my favorite travel credit card isn’t an Amex credit card at all but rather the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. I love this card for a few reasons, including its bonus rewards in everyday categories and its flexible redemption options. The Sapphire Preferred includes a $50 annual hotel credit that automatically applies as a statement credit if you book through the Chase Travel℠ portal. Plus, it offers 25% more value for points redeemed through Chase Travel.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points can also be used for gift cards, merchandise, cash back, or 1:1 transfers to airline and hotel partners like British Airways, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. I frequently use my points to book flexible travel without blackout dates, but I also transfer my points to partners when it’ll save me even more. At the end of the day, having options is what makes this card appealing for last-minute travel, no matter the time of year. And since the Sapphire Preferred has some of the best built-in travel insurance protections of any travel credit card, I frequently use it for travel coverage. The card’s trip cancellation and interruption insurance, along with its primary auto rental coverage, are particularly helpful for me.
Best Credit Cards for Last-Minute Travel
Almost any rewards or travel credit card can help foot the bill for last-minute summer travel, yet options with flexible redemptions tend to work best. Here are some other cards to consider for your last-minute vacation plans.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is a cash rewards credit card at heart, yet it’s still useful for last-minute travel. This is partly because its welcome offer is so easy to earn, but it’s also due to its flexible redemption options. Redeeming rewards for statement credits can be especially useful since you can charge hotels, car rentals and other travel to your card and then redeem cash back to cover all or part of the purchases after the fact. The Active Cash also has an intro APR offer that makes it a good option for paying down travel bookings interest-free for a limited time.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is another flexible travel credit card to consider. Currently, new cardholders can get a $250 travel credit in the first cardholder year in addition to its generous welcome bonus. Cardholders can earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening an account. Members also get an application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership. Aside from its $250 credit, what makes this card ideal for last-minute travel is its redemption options. Users can book flights, hotels and car rentals through Capital One Travel without any blackout dates, which is ideal for those who have to plan travel around packed schedules. Capital One miles also transfer to a range of useful partners that can help travelers lock in last-minute trips, including Aeromexico Club Premier, Air France (Flying Blue), Virgin Red, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. However, it’s worth noting Capital One doesn’t have any domestic airline partners.
American Express® Gold Card
If you plan vacations around your next meal, the American Express® Gold Card is another good option for you. It also earns American Express Membership Rewards points, which are very flexible. It all starts with redeeming points for travel through AmexTravel.com, which offers options for hotels, flights, car rentals and cruises. Points also transfer to Amex airline and hotel partners like Air France (Flying Blue), Delta SkyMiles, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, to name a few.
A few built-in benefits can also cover some travel and dining purchases. Perks include up to $120 in Uber Cash per year for Uber rides or Uber Eats purchases in the U.S., up to $120 in dining credits per year at eligible eateries, up to $100 in Resy dining credits per year and up to $84 in Dunkin credits per year. Keep in mind that while these credits are accessible every year, they’ll actually be doled out on a monthly basis. That means you can use $10 a month toward Uber Rides or Uber Eats, $10 toward dining credits at specific restaurants and up to $7 a month in statement credits for Dunkin. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Tips for Using Your Card to Fund Your Trip
- Stick to a travel budget: Have a travel budget written out before your trip that includes any travel bookings not covered with rewards and any expenses like dining out, activities and souvenirs. And most importantly, stick to it.
- Use rewards where you can: Redeem travel rewards for any parts of your trip you can easily cover, including flights, hotel stays, cruises and activities. Even if you can’t cover your entire trip with points, bookings you can partially cover with rewards will help you save.
- Utilize any travel insurance protections you have: Some travel insurance benefits come in handy, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, travel delay coverage, and lost luggage reimbursement. You can typically count on the coverages your credit card has if you used your card to book your travel with a common carrier -- so any business that provides transportation to the public, like a plane or a train or bus.
Other Things to Keep in Mind
- Compare several rewards credit cards: Make sure the card’s annual fee and rewards match your spending habits. While paying a credit card annual fee can be worth it if you get plenty of value in return, credit cards with the highest annual fees are hard to justify if you don’t travel very often.
- Pursue credit card welcome offers with caution: Choose offers you can easily earn without having to overextend your finances. For example, if a credit card you desire offers a big welcome bonus when you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening, make sure you can reach the $4,000 threshold with regular spending and bills. That would mean having at least $1,334 in expenses each month for three consecutive months after you apply.
- Have a plan to avoid credit card interest: If you wind up paying credit card interest on your last-minute travel plans, the value of any rewards you earn will be quickly wiped away.