As long as traveling isn’t free we still have to pay for our happy travels. Now of course there are many different ways to do that but I’m here to tell you why you should really pay for your flights with a credit card. I might say flights but actually it is best to do this for your hotel stays as well. However not all hotels have the availability of payment by credit card while most airlines do. It heavily depends on the type of hotel that you booked. There are many benefits as to why you should book airline tickets with a credit card so let’s get into it.
Important PSA About Using Credit Cards
Before I tell you the reasons why you should use a credit card to pay for your flights, I want to highlight two very important things when it comes to credit cards.
1. Having a credit card is a privilege
Being able to afford a credit card is a huge privilege. In our current world it seems that everyone has a credit card and paying with one is super normal but it actually is not. Credit cards are not free. You have to pay to use the card and depending on the type of credit card you have the fees can run steep. Of course this is supposed to coincide with the package of benefits the credit cards give you but whether this is true depends on you and the kind of life you live.
There are a lot of people who have credit cards that don’t use the full package, don’t be mistaken about that. Even though they don’t use the full package they can still comfortably afford the card and that is a privilege.
2. Credit Cards Are Monopoly Money
Even though I stand by booking your travels with credit cards, I still want to drive home the point that credit cards are basically playing with monopoly money. Yes of course it is real money that the cards use to pay for things when you use it but the money isn’t actually completely yours. It’s borrowed money. Borrowed money means you have to pay it back which brings us to the most crucial point of credit cards.
No matter your ability to pay your flights with a credit card you still have to have the money to be able to pay the price out of pocket. As at some point in time you actually will have to pay for your credit card expenses with your own money. There are different time frames that credit card companies give to pay them back but no matter how long it is, it is just a delay of the inevitable. You have to pay them back, there’s no way around that. Some even with interest, which is something to also be mindful of.
That’s also why having a credit card is not a way to afford to travel when you actually can’t afford to travel when having to exclusively rely on your debit card without overdraft. I told you in the first part of this PSA people are able to afford credit cards not just have them. This will forever remain true.
There are several benefits to paying for travel with a credit card and I do encourage you to actually use your credit card to pay for your travels. However this is only on the basis that without the credit card you could have also afforded your travel and thus can pay back the credit card company without racking up debts and such. Going into debt to travel is never worth it in my opinion.
Yes you can amount serious debts while paying with your credit card when you don’t follow the rule I explained above. I call using credit cards playing with monopoly money because, in my opinion, you have to know how to handle your money to safely use a credit card. When you don’t the debts will pile on quite like in monopoly and things can go as far as losing your house. To travel is absolutely wonderful, but going into debt to do it is not worth it. Thus only use your credit card when you know you can actually pay for the things you are purchasing.
Now that you know the two most important things about using credit cards, let’s get into the fun stuff of how credit cards can get you more when using them to pay for flights.
4 Reasons To Pay For Your Flights By Credit Card
1. Credit Card Point Systems
I’m going to start with one of the best reasons to pay by credit card. Most credit cards have reward point systems attached to your purchases. These points can usually be used in a variety of ways which is very beneficial. The best one being that with some of the bigger credit card companies you can pay for flights with the points.
How that works is either with a redeeming system or they have a direct connection with the airlines. A redeeming system is that you pay for your flight using your credit card and then either through an online portal or by phone contact let them know that you would want to use your points to pay the charge to the card.
The other way is that they have a direct connection with the airline companies and they have their own set up as to how you can pay for the flight using the points. For example either through using a special link or booking your tickets by phone via them. Each credit card company will always be able to instruct you how exactly to go about paying for your flights with the credit card.
Another great thing about using your credit card to pay for your airfare is that with the payment you get new points (though usually only over the amount that you don’t use points for to pay). Basically by paying for your flight with your credit card you get points which you can then use to purchase another flight without actually using your money! So for every purchase you are already putting a “down payment”, as I like to call it, on a future purchase.
When you are starting out you obviously are not going to have any or not many points but when you pay for a flight you immediately rack up quite a number of points which you can then potentially use to pay for your next travels! Racking up points with flights is easy because the numbers we’re talking about are not low. Flying costs a pretty penny and now that can work in your advantage when using your credit card to pay.
How far you can stretch your points heavily depends on the rules of the point system. However when you have enough you definitely buy very nice things for yourself, even pay for your entire flight with just points. How amazing is that?
1.1 Using Your Points To Pay For Hotels
I want to give an honorable mention to hotels. Lots of credit card companies also have deals with hotels. Either deals that you can get a discount when paying via the credit card or with the point system again. For example x amount of points can be used for a room upgrade or late/early check out/in.
Paying your hotel with the credit card is also a really good way of racking up points by the way. The higher the bill the more points you get, which is fantastic!
Just in case you didn’t notice but you get points with everything you purchase not just flights or hotel stays. Those two things are just the easiest to get a bunch of points in seconds instead of slowly building them up with everyday purchases such as groceries. Those help too though, don’t be mistaken!
2. Credit Card Purchase Protection
Nowadays most cards come with purchase protection. However the purchase protection of most credit cards is longer than with your regular debit card.
The purchase protection being long is perfect for when you are traveling. It is perfect because most people plan their travels in advance. This means that even though your travels are four months away for example your purchase is still protected should the airline company not send your tickets on time for example.
I do want to say that purchase protection is different from travel insurance. Purchase protection is something you have for everything you buy with your credit card no matter what it is basically. Travel insurance covers the travels and things that happen to you during your travels. What exactly is covered by your travel insurance is dependent on the type of travel insurance you have and the policy attached to it.
When it comes to traveling, even though you purchased your holiday package with your credit card, your travel insurance is the place to be when things go haywire. However if the airline company mailed your tickets to you but they were never delivered for example then you can call upon your purchase protection to help sort it out, apart from definitely calling the airline company!
The purchase protection is an extra layer of protection against things that your travel insurance might not cover as it has little to do with traveling. Mind you though that it only protects you against things that go wrong during purchase so not the actual travel.
3. Getting Your Money Back Is Easier
When you need to get your money back because something didn’t go right, disputing a charge on a credit card is easier done than with a debit card.
In the event of your card being charged twice or anything else your credit card company can usually help you sort things out easily by stopping the charge and even overturning it. Something I personally love when traveling abroad.
Another thing I love is that when a charge seems suspicious it will be held to be overviewed manually. Sometimes this manual overview is even to call you and confirm that the charge is supposed to happen. An example of when this is known to happen is when there’s a sudden charge from a different country. As far as I know this is also dependent on your own purchasing behavior and the amount of the charge, so it’s definitely not an everyday everything practise!
4. Credit Cards Have Travel Insurance
Lots of credit cards have travel insurance in the card plans. The only thing you need to do to ‘’activate’’ this insurance is actually pay for your travels so think of flights, hotels and transport with the credit card. It literally couldn’t be easier. When you do that you will have your purchase protection and your travel insurance as well.
Having a credit card with travel insurance can save you a pretty penny because you won’t have to take up separate travel insurance. You’re already paying for the card and thus also for travel insurance instead of having to pay for both.
A warning that I want to give with this is that you do have to make sure that the travel insurance that comes with your credit card actually covers your needs. What type of travel insurance and what is covered of course differs per credit card company. It’s nice that you don’t have to pay and the card and the insurance but when it doesn’t cover what you need it to then in the event of a mishap you’re still left in a potentially sour spot.
A really important thing to be mindful of is that not everyone is protected under the travel insurance. Let me explain that a bit more. Based on what you read above it of course makes sense to charge all travel items to your credit card for the whole family for example. Let the family be you, your partner and your in-laws. Easy-peasy everything arranged, including travel insurance, in one swell swoop.
The including travel insurance is where you might be wrong as you have the insurance plans policy details to consider. You know the often glanced over fine print. It’s not always because the tickets and all were purchased with the credit card that the travel insurance applies to everyone. It could be that the travel insurance only applies to you as you are the cardholder and extends to your partner via the marriage. Since you are married into the family but are not married to the in-laws this could mean that they are not covered under the travel insurance. Definitely something to ask more information about before departing! The purchase protection however would be valid for them as their tickets are still something that you purchased.
Those were the four reasons why you should buy your flights with a credit card. If you read everything you could notice that this actually extends to most travel necessities, especially accommodations such as hotels. Have you purchased tickets with your credit card before? Are you going to now?
Let your credit card help you travel easier and faster.
Love,
DCPR.
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