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Frugal Friends Podcast
Travel for (Almost) Free: Mastering Credit Card Rewards with Amber Paul
00:51:02
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- [00:00]
Amber
This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
- [00:02]
Jen
Did you know Apple Card has no fees?
- [00:04]
Amber
No fees.
- [00:05]
Jen
None. No annual, late or foreign transaction fees.
- [00:09]
Amber
I guess when they say no fees they mean it.
- [00:11]
Jen
That's right. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app and start using it right away with Apple Pay.
- [00:15]
Amber
Subject to credit approval. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of January 1, 2025. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch and more at applecart.com.
- [00:36]
Jill
Every step, every mile, every course at the Boston Marathon presented by bank of America. Thousands of athletes are running to make an impact. Some are racing for a cure, others for their communities, but all are running for something more than time. Join bank of America in supporting athletes who are running for a cause. Find a runner, help a cause and give if you can@bofa.com helpacause what would you like the power to do? Bank of America Bring spring to your door with target circle360 get all you need for Easter hosting spring get togethers and more with unlimited same day Delivery through Target Circle360 from Easter Basket goodies to fresh florals, getting everything the same day is easy. Open the Target app and bring the magic of the season to your door with unlimited same day delivery Through Target Circle 360.
- [01:31]
Amber
Visit target.com circle or the Target app for more details.
- [01:34]
Jill
Subscription required. Same day delivery is subject to terms.
- [01:37]
Amber
Applies to orders over $35. Every morning brings a fresh new energy and no matter what the day holds, we come to the Today show for all of it.
- [01:47]
Jen
We get the best start to the.
- [01:49]
Jill
Day because we started together. Watch the Today show weekdays at 7am on NBC.
- [01:54]
Jen
Episode 503 Travel for Almost Mastering credit card rewards with Amber Paul.
- [02:05]
Jill
Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast where you'll learn.
- [02:08]
Jen
To save money, embrace simplicity and live a richer life.
- [02:15]
Jill
Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.
- [02:21]
Jen
Welcome to Frugal Friends Podcast. My name is Jen. My name is Jill and today we are talking about credit card rewards points because so many of you want to save money on travel. It's one of the things that you spend on without guilt but we want to save as much as possible on that spending so you can maximize guilt.
- [02:43]
Amber
Free spending and Amber is a great person to ask about this. Not only is she super expert on how to maximize and be the most efficient with credit card rewards, she also has three children so she's doing the whole travel thing with a Family.
- [03:00]
Jen
Yeah. Three young kids. Yeah. So this is applicable whether you are single or you are a family looking to travel on points. But first, this episode is brought to you by your travel sinking fund. Even if you are using points for your flight and hotels, you're still going to be spending more money on food and other snacks and maybe souvenirs. Maybe you're forced to get your kids something because you walked into a store accidentally and they won't leave screaming without the thing. You're just going to spend more money than you think you are. So you need to have a travel sinking fund and we recommend you have it at a high yield savings account like cit frugalfriendspodcast.com cit opening one there. It doesn't just get you a currently 4% APY, but it also supports the show at no cost to you. So again, frugalfriendspodcast.com cit get your travel sinking fund together so you can have some really good travel this summer.
- [04:11]
Amber
Yes. Do it.
- [04:13]
Jen
So if you love traveling, then we have a lot of episodes for you. How to travel full time on a budget is episode 312. How to Save Money on Travel is episode 250. But I think this is probably the best episode we've done on saving money on travels. Definitely my favorite. We haven't done a travel rewards episode in a really long time and Amber's definitely the one to do it with. So she's a former teacher now. She teaches people online how to travel with their families for less money. You know her as Amber on points on Instagram. Let's get into the episode.
- [04:54]
Amber
Yeah, I will say that she is not able to talk about specific credit cards and really a lot of the recommendations do change. So we'll talk about where you can find more information on some of those specific cards that she does recommend, kind of through links in the show notes and that kind of a thing. But just a little caveat there about the conversation, but still super helpful. So let's kick it to Amber.
- [05:22]
Jen
Amber, welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. We are so excited to talk about this topic because everybody wants to travel more.
- [05:30]
Jill
We do. Thank you so much for having me. I also want to travel more, so I'm excited to share the love.
- [05:36]
Amber
I just love traveling and I've got some specific questions on, like, how to do it better. So I'm so glad you're here.
- [05:42]
Jen
Yeah, we want to get past, like, you know, the definition of travel rewards points. And we all, we all know what they can do for us. And so I would love to kind of use this opportunity to my advantage and hopefully to the advantage of whoever's listening. I want to take my family of four, two adults, two children, on a vacation using travel rewards points. I am. I'm at an advantage because I already have some already. But, like, where should I start? Like, yeah, how do you pick your vacations with travel rewards points?
- [06:26]
Jill
It's a good question. I would say, first of all, if kids are involved, congratulations, you made a good choice to only have two of them. Because when you are outside of the US it becomes almost impossible to book more than two kids and two adults in one room. You then have to transition into having two rooms. Typically, I know here in the U.S. typically, you can kind of like sneak someone in, right? And it's not a big deal. But in other countries, it can kind of be an issue. So what I recommend, whether you're a smaller family or a larger family, if we're talking about places within the U.S. you want to earn flexible points that can be transferred to travel partners. And then once you've earned those points, you have so many options. And the ones that I think are most helpful, especially for families, are the travel partners being Southwest Airlines and Hyatt. So first of all, Southwest Airlines is awesome whether you're paying cash or whether you are paying points. And this is why you can book a flight and maybe you're booking it at the absolute peak time, but then you might see a Southwest sale and you might think, oh, well, oh, I should have waited and booked my flight. But just by going onto where you have your existing reservation, you can click where it says change and you can actually get points back or money back. And so I think lots of the times or oftentimes I should say we think, oh, I'm not going to book this flight now, because what if Wednesday night at 10pm is the best time to book? And obviously, those are all myths, but Southwest, you can always get points or cash back, no matter what, no matter what the sell is. And so that is a huge sweet spot. And so what I do from there is I typically just look, where does Southwest fly? And Southwest flies over the majority of the U.S. including Hawaii, and also to Mexico, Caribbean, we've gone to Belize, we've gone to Puerto Rico. And so there are definitely options to fly Southwest for. So anyways, what I would do is, first of all, find somewhere that Southwest flies. And then second, I typically, when using points, choose to stay in Hyatt hotels. And the reason why I Say this is because Hyatt, you can typically find a room from anywhere between 4,5000 points a night to maybe like 40,000 points a night. And 40,000 points a night would be extremely bougie. Like to the point that you're probably like, I don't know if I want to take my kids there.
- [08:59]
Jen
That's, that's all inclusive.
- [09:01]
Jill
Yes, exactly. And so for the most part, if I just know that one of my favorite banks has that travel, those two travel partners, I would try to earn those points and then I would transfer those points to those travel partners that get me maximum reward.
- [09:19]
Jen
Okay, so I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. What's the longest, not longest flight, but like the two year old I'm worried about taking on a flight and I live in Florida. So like how far? I have about, I think 130,000 Southwest. 180, I have 180,000 Southwest points. What's the furthest I can take him without him melting down?
- [09:45]
Jill
What's the furthest you can handle it? Because the flight is only going to last for so long. Right. And you're never going to see those people again. I will say, okay, so staycations have great options in Florida. You've got the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, which is probably quite close to you, and you can book that starting at 12,000 points a night. And then Hyatt Place, Panama City is on the beach and you can book those for about 23,000 points a night. Now in terms of flights, I live in Texas, grew up in Georgia, so I can get to Cancun in about a two hour flight. And that is no big deal. That is a quick flight. And so we stayed at the Hyatt Mayakoba, the andaz Mayakoba, for 27,000 points a night. Now how long can you take your child on a flight? We recently took our kids overnight to Europe last summer, went to Amsterdam, London, in Paris, and this summer we are doing another European trip. And here's the thing, like I mentioned, you're never going to see these people on the flight again. But kids are resilient and kids can do hard things. And so I really think the question is, as parents, can we handle it and are we willing to? Because it's not easy, right? Like you might have a kid that refuses to sleep all night long. For me, I have found for my two year old who's now no longer two, but if I bring a car seat on a flight, game changer, 100% game changer. Because the kid will sleep just like they would sleep in a car, which for me, fortunately works. And so I would definitely say kids can handle long flights. The question is, can you handle a long flight and you can do it.
- [11:30]
Jen
That's so true. Maybe I can. But yeah, my 2 year old doesn't sleep through the night when we travel. But we do love the Hyatt Grand Cypress. We stay there once a year at least, and it's because it's a short drive. But I want to do a flying one, so you've given me some things to think about.
- [11:53]
Amber
Amber. We see so much, I feel on social media and maybe even hearing about it on podcasts of people just going on wild vacations and sometimes super elaborate, super high end, getting the first class flights, all this stuff on like relatively minimal points. And I don't know how much I believe them or not. But if someone does want to maximize their rewards and really do it as efficiently as possible, what do you think the card strategy should be? And how long could someone anticipate it takes for them to be able to potentially like cover an entire trip, lodging and airfare?
- [12:39]
Jill
That's such a great question. So right now there's an offer on a credit card. It's the Capital One Venture rewards card and it currently has an elevated offer. But the standard offer is that you can earn 75,000 points by signing up for this one credit card and spending $4,000 in three months. Now, Capital One Venture and Venture X cards are awesome because they have really good travel partners, especially international travel partners. And so in terms of seeing people book these bougie first class flights and thinking like, oh, okay, well, how can I really make this happen? I would say you want to be keyed into a few things. So first is you want to be aware of travel partners. And so Capital One has a travel partner, which is Air France klm. It's technically called the Flying Blue Partnership, but both of those flights fall into that partnership. And so what I would do if I wanted to do that, and I actually have done that for this upcoming summer, is you would take your points and you would go to. You guys have heard of Google flights. And I know that most people have heard of Google flights. There are websites that do the same exact thing, but they search the points that you. That you might already have on hand. And so I personally like searching a website. It's completely free. You do have to create a login, but everything else is free. It's called award tool. Like a screwdriver award tool, dot Com. And what you would do is you would, like I said, you log in and you put your beginning airport and then you put your destination. And it's actually really awesome. And this isn't sponsored, though it should be. You can search four days at a time. And so I love that because the key to finding those really awesome maximized deals are having flexible travel times. Right? Like, if you want to go on Christmas Eve and come back on New Year's Eve, like, that's probably not gonna give you great point stills. But anyways, I love searching from this website and there's lots of others that I use as well. But it will, it will, it will scan all of the different airlines for you. I should say almost all. So I personally, living in the US might think to look at United and Delta, but I probably wouldn't think to search Air France. Air France and Iberia and Quanta. You know, there's like so many airlines that I don't naturally look at, and I don't want to look at them.
- [15:04]
Amber
Right.
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Jill
I don't want to create usernames and accounts for all of these different airlines. And so that's where I would start. I would start by going to awardtool.com or point me or there's many, and I would search my destination and I would see what it spits out and then whatever it spits out. So if it's telling me that I need 40,000 points to fly first class from this destination to here, then I know, okay, I probably want to open up a card that will earn me these types of flexible points. And so that's where I would definitely start is by seeing what is my ideal destination, what airlines travel there. And then from that I have this guide that I can share if needed, but it shows all of the different travel partners side by side because different banks have different travel partners and some of them overlap. So the four major banks that are out there all have a travel partner, which I just mentioned, and it's the Flying Blue Alliance. So maybe I have some points in Capital One and then I have some other points stranded in another bank. I can send all of those to fly in blue and book those flights abroad. So to answer your question more specifically, I would say flexible dates and an award searching tool that searches multiple airlines simultaneously.
- [16:25]
Jen
And then probably just the amount of time it would take to do the minimum spend on each card, right?
- [16:31]
Jill
Yeah, absolutely. And so you want to do this a little bit in advance. I typically, and I think you guys asked me this question before, and I probably Skipped it. But I typically am working on earning points for maybe nine months out to a year out. Sometimes I'm kind of scrambling. I'm like, ah, I need a little bit more points to add on this last hotel night. But for the most part I'm trying to look ahead about a year.
- [16:58]
Amber
Yeah. And then do you ever run into times when you choose to make the transfer to one of these travel rewards partners and then the points aren't what you thought or the flight is costing more points than maybe what it was showing ahead of time? How much timing of this do we need to do? Because I also know a lot of times once you transfer those points, there's no getting it back. They now entirely reside with whoever that travel partner is, whether it's an airline or a hotel. So what have you seen with that?
- [17:37]
Jill
Yeah, you're absolutely correct. So, so what I do is I start on one of these award searching tools like AwardTool.com and I find the flights. And so maybe it says that I can get flights to Europe for 20,000 points from my home airport, which is Austin, and I definitely can find 20,000 point flights to Europe from Austin. And so what I do then is I say, oh, this is awesome. And then I go to the actual account, you know, to airfrance.com or whatever the trans the travel partner is, and I make sure that not only is that flight available, but is it available for five people, which is the amount of people in my family. And so once I have, I have it there and it's like in my cart and I'm ready to buy it, then I go into my bank and I transfer my points from my bank to Air France and then I book the flight. Now typically when you go to check out, and I'm sure this is what you're talking about, when you go to transfer your points, it says this may take up to 48 hours to transfer the points. And then you're thinking, oh my gosh, what if this sells out before I can book my flights? And typically it is instant. Typically it's if you go up and you refresh it, you'll probably lose everything and have to start over booking the flight.
- [18:48]
Amber
Right.
- [18:49]
Jill
But it'll be there and then it is typically instant. I have seen it in one situation, booking an international flight where it did take 24 hours, but for the most part it is instant and I just wouldn't transfer the points over if it wasn't what I saw on that tool booking site. But I haven't seen that difference before sure.
- [19:09]
Amber
I got burned one time on a hotel Marriott specifically. I'm just going to call them out where I was able to transfer points from my credit card to Marriott. And it was at a time where it even said if you transfer you'll get three times the points. So I'm like that's great. My points will be worth three times the amount if I transfer them to Marriott. But I'm like okay, but I need to look into how much are these points worth. Well without having points through Marriott already, I could not see how much I could book a room for in points. It always only told me the monetary amount of the room. So then I did a deep, deep dive. I spent way too much time on this trying to figure out what is what the value of a point to dollar is within Marriott. The information that I got seemed to indicate. I forget what it was at this point but whatever it indicated at the time made sense that okay, if this is true then these points are going to be worth X amount of dollars. And I don't know if I just was reading wrong or it wasn't the same information as you know what they were talking about. But I finally made the transfer and it was not able to get me even one full night stay. Whereas if it had stayed with the credit card I could have gotten two nights on those same amount of points not even with the three times. So all that to say and I think there's even it's why you're recommending like Hyatt as one of the better hotels. But it is worth knowing and being sure about how many points will this cost me and if the website's not being transparent about that that you might get burned.
- [21:03]
Jill
Yeah and yeah and I think that's one of the things that you kind of just learn as you, you know, as, as you're earning the points and figuring out that, that yeah you can typically get the same level Hyatt hotel. I'd say maybe a 15000 point Hyatt Hotel would 40 to 50,000 points in Marriott or Hilton. And so really learning what those sweet spots are truly can save you so many points when you go to transfer those points. And yeah it sounds like there was definitely something going on that you experienced but in terms of kind of a bummer but are hopefully that can help people going forward as well.
- [21:42]
Amber
Yeah, there is a bit to know about it when we're kind of, you know, transponding.
- [21:47]
Jill
So I think it's worth which might have been one of the places you were comparing and you're looking at Marriott booking on points versus in the portal. Yeah, it might be similar, but if you are looking at travel partners that get really great rewards like I mentioned, Southwest, Hyatt, Air France, Virgin Atlantic is another really great one. If you are looking at those, you can often get way more value by transferring partners by transferring to those partners than you would booking in a portal. Even if you're getting like 1.25 points per dollar or cents per dollar. I guess I should say so. Yeah. Poor point.
- [22:21]
Amber
This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
- [22:24]
Jen
Did you know Apple Card has no fees?
- [22:26]
Amber
No fees.
- [22:27]
Jen
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- [22:30]
Amber
I guess when they say no fees they mean it.
- [22:32]
Jen
That's right. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app and start using it right away with Apple Pay.
- [22:37]
Amber
Subject to credit approval. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of 2025. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more@applecard.com it's tax season, and by now.
- [22:57]
Jen
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Amber
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- [23:08]
Jen
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Amber
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Jill
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Amber
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- [23:18]
Jen
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Amber
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Jen
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Jen
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- [23:56]
Amber
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- [24:25]
Amber
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- [24:36]
Jen
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- [24:47]
Jill
Bring spring to your door with target circle 360. Get all you need for Easter, hosting spring get togethers and more with unlimited same day delivery Through Target Circle360. From Easter Basket goodies to fresh florals, getting everything the same day is easy. Open the Target app and bring the magic of the season to your door with unlimited same day delivery Through Target Circle360. Visit target.com circle or the Target app for more details. Subscription required. Same day delivery is subject to terms.
- [25:15]
Amber
Applies to orders over $35.
- [25:18]
Jen
Okay, so now that we're talking about where to book travel, does it ever make sense to. So you recommend transferring it to the partner. Does it ever make sense, sense to. To book something like outside of a hotel, like a, like an Airbnb, or to do like a cash transfer versus points? Like what are the alternatives and when do they make sense?
- [25:46]
Jill
Yes, great question. So in terms of knowing when to to transfer your points versus not it, it is going to kind of depend on the redemption. So for instance, as I mentioned, I have a family of five. And so if I wanted to book a hotel room in Europe, I am a two hotel room family. The maximum occupancy in most European hotels is two, maybe three. And so there's no way I can get around booking two rooms. So if I say the hotel room that I want is 20,000 points a night, well, I need two rooms, so that's 40,000 points a night. However, it might be a better deal for me to book an Airbnb, right? Because the cash value of 40,000 points, let's just very vaguely say maybe 40,000 points equals 400 bucks, right? That's kind of how on average it equals out. Well, if I can find an Airbnb, that would cost me less than $400 a night, which I surely in most places can, it would be more beneficial for me to use that Capital One Venture card that I talked about earlier. And there is something that you can do when you earn points through Capital One. You can go back and you can basically reimburse yourself for a charge. And so maybe instead of booking one night at a hotel for 40,000 points, maybe I can book three or four nights through an Airbnb for 400 bucks. And I know that this is a little bit difficult to do the transition in your head, especially if you're newer to this, but basically, if I have 40,000 points through capital One, I can go through and I can reimburse myself for 400. Or let's see, I'm doing the math on my head wrong, but I can go through and I can reimburse myself for what? For that charge. And so that is something that's huge for families when they're booking. When they're, when they're booking, especially internationally. And I don't know about you guys, but anyone that has kids, it's not super likely that they really enjoy staying in a hotel. And so just having the option to go through and book maybe on Capital One or through another way. But you can definitely use your points to cover those Airbnb charges, which can be huge, especially abroad. So that's.
- [28:21]
Jen
Could you also do it to cover a cruise in that sense?
- [28:25]
Jill
Absolutely. So, okay, I need to mention is that if you have the Venture Awards card or the Venture X, you need to book the cruise or you need to book the Airbnb on that credit card. Right. So that's key number one. There's also actually a workaround for Disney where if you want to do the same thing with Disney tickets, which are obviously insanely expensive, if you book those tickets through a travel agent, and I know that sounds cumbersome, but really, you're just going to a website like Getaway Today or Undercover Tourist, and you book the, the, the Disney tickets on that website, then it will code as travel. And I should mention that the Capital One rewards cards, they. You can use those points to reimburse yourself for anything that codes as travel. And so that's why I would be able to go through and pay myself back for an Airbnb or for a cruise or for Disney tickets if they code as travel, which if you buy them directly through Disney, they code as entertainment. And that's why I'm making a big deal about booking it through a travel agent.
- [29:35]
Jen
And Undercover Tourists is a very reputable site. It's not one of those, like, shady roadside Disney dealers.
- [29:41]
Jill
Totally, absolutely. And, and lots of times we think of travel agent. Oh, you got to find a person and they're making plans for you and all this stuff. And it's really, you know, it's 2025, you can just go online and buy your tickets to their website. And so, yes, so if you prefer to travel, you know, cruising or Airbnb or maybe you want to do a Disney type situation, there are different cards that you can use to make travel work for you. And I think that's what's so valuable is you, you can travel whether you're traveling solo or with your person or as a family, there are ways that you can travel affordably. And that's what I love. Because we all want to spend the money on food. Food and not on accommodations. Am I right?
- [30:21]
Jen
And one more note on Disney, I know we don't love Marriott, but the Disney Swan and Dolphin is technically a Marriott.
- [30:30]
Jill
It is. And I just stayed there in January. Yeah. Occasionally there will be a really great offer where you can get 50,000 point certificates on those cards. And that is the best time to, to capitalize on those because those hotels, the Swan and the Dolphin, typically go for about 50,000 points a night, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less. And that is what you want to watch out for.
- [31:01]
Amber
How do you stay alerted on whether or not your card is offering one of those certificates for a specific hotel?
- [31:09]
Jill
Great question. I mean, unfortunately, you can probably join like 8,000 different mailing lists for all of these different credit cards. I email all of the, you know, my, my Instagram community, I definitely email them whenever there's a really great card offer that comes out. I don't spam them, but if it's worth going for, I will definitely send out an email. And that's one of them that I think is valuable.
- [31:32]
Amber
Would you recommend that people have multiple travel rewards credit cards at a time like, is that the strategy here to be able to maximize this?
- [31:41]
Jill
That is the strategy, yeah. So my husband and I, 11 years ago, started opening up credit cards to travel on points. And I was a teacher and he was a student. And so we, you know, learned about this kind of thing and we thought, oh, maybe we can do this. So there are some rules. There's a rule called the 524 rule, which means you can only open up five personal credit cards in 24 months. And some banks go by this and some don't. But so what we have done is we have just strategically figured out that maybe my husband opens up a card and I say this meaning, and I want you to know that we have never spent a cent in interest. And I do not recommend this to anyone that maybe is in debt. But in terms of signing up for a credit card you probably have seen on the TV where it's like, oh, if you sign up for this credit card, we'll give you X amount of points by spending $4,000 and three months. And we have just used this in a way where we are using our credit cards like a debit card, 100%. We set up autopay, we budget just like we typically budget using, you know, different apps that we have. And then we buy normal things. We buy, you know, gas and groceries and, and all of the things. And so yeah, we do have a few different credit cards that we use. And typically at the year mark, when the fee comes up, the annual fee comes up, we take a step back and we think, okay, is there a benefit to keeping this card for another year? Now, some cards might give you a free night stay every year on the anniversary. So maybe I'm getting a free night at Amerria or at Hilton or at an IHG property. And I don't know about you, but I typically cannot book a hotel room for less than 100 bucks a night. And so paying an annual fee of $100 a night might be worth it for me to keep some of these cards year after year. And others I might think, this is no longer serving me. So I'm going to cancel this card at the year mark. And so definitely every year we reassess what cards we want to hang on to and which ones we don't think benefit us any longer. And, and we kind of go from there. So do we have multiple travel rewards earning cards? Absolutely, we do, but some of them, it's kind of like you're getting a coupon because, you know, the annual free night or whatever the, the perk is.
- [34:05]
Amber
When we get to the point of having multiple credit cards. What would you say is the strategy for kind of keeping track of them, not getting confused, making sure that we are maximizing all the offerings 100%.
- [34:19]
Jill
I use an app called Travel Freely. I have a link to it on my website. If I'm kind of going through lots of things where you're like, ah, what is she saying? But I use the Travel Freely app and this is what I love about it. One, it's free. Two, it sent so I don't have to give it any bank information. Right. I value that. So you're probably thinking, okay, well how do I put my credit cards in? And so basically when you sign up for a new credit card, you go from like a drop down menu and you click, this is the one I Got and then it populates all the info and so then it'll send me a reminder for when my annual fee is coming up. I think it gives me like a 45 day warning and then a 10 day warning so that I can have it on the radar that I might want to close this card or reassess if I want to keep it open. And so that's something that I love. And then it also will remind me, you know, I mentioned these welcome offers that you can receive by spending a certain amount of money and then you get a big chunk of points. And so it kind of just keeps it straight for me. So it tells me the date that I need to earn, that I need to spend the money by to earn that huge chunk of points. And so that's another thing I really value about the Travel Freely app.
- [35:28]
Amber
Yeah, that's cool.
- [35:30]
Jill
So that's how I keep it all organized. And I should also mention there's a tab. So I've got a tab for my husband and for myself.
- [35:38]
Jen
That's awesome. I just paid a annual fee, which I am typically very against, but I realized my Global entry is up at the end of the year and I need to renew that. And this particular card offers a Global Entry credit. And Global entry includes TSA PreCheck, which is actually what I use it mostly for. So. Yeah, and it actually was a little bit more than what I would have paid for the update, but it also gets me free like priority boarding. So I was like, oh, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep it for the priority boarding.
- [36:26]
Jill
Right. And you, and you might keep it for one more year, but your pre check or your Global Entry might last you more than one year.
- [36:31]
Jen
Right.
- [36:32]
Jill
And so that lasts for five, one more year. But yeah, yes, absolutely. There are some credit cards too where if you have them, maybe you'll get. So the IHG program, it allows you to have the fourth night free when you're booking on points. And then the Marriott and Hilton programs both allow you to have the fifth night free when you're booking on points. And so there are often benefits to just being a cardholder in general. And sometimes it's just free breakfast, you know. And so it's definitely something that we reassess at the year mark and say, okay, is this serving us? And if not, no, we're not going to pay a fee on a card that isn't benefiting us anymore. And then for us, because we have been doing this for 11 years, sometimes we think, okay, but do I want to Open this card again in the future. Because some cards, you can receive a welcome offer every two years, so every 24 months. And some cards are every four years. So it just depends. Did I say 28 months? 24 months.
- [37:27]
Jen
24, yeah.
- [37:29]
Jill
Okay, great.
- [37:31]
Jen
So that card that I mentioned, that's a business card. Last question. Not a question, but it's a business card and it's not necessarily connected to the business of frugal friends. And talk about how you rationalize adding those, because those don't count towards the 524 rule.
- [37:52]
Jill
Yeah, so most people don't know. I mean, it sounds like your following is pretty up on things. So you guys might know, but many people don't know that you probably own a business and you don't know it, and you can probably qualify for a business card. So first and foremost, business cards have huge welcome offers and they benefit us greatly because you can get a huge chunk of points. And they also don't count against that rule that I mentioned earlier, which is the 524 rule. You can have five personal cards in 24 months. Right. And so with that said so many times, we think, oh, well, I'm not a dentist. I don't have a dentist office. So I don't have a legit business. But if you sell clothes on Marketplace, if you sell some furniture once or twice a year, if you tutor, if you teach piano lessons, if you take, if you, if you do photography, you know, whatever your side hustle is, you can likely qualify to get a business card. And how do I justify this? It's not a justification. You know, I definitely recommend that you. I mean, if you don't have a business, you shouldn't open a business card. Right. But so many of us do have something going on on the side, which, I mean, I heard in your last episode I was just listening to, you were thinking about selling an instant pot. And you know, if you are selling things consistently throughout your house, you own a business, you are reselling items. And so you might not have an EIN or an llc, and you don't need one because you can apply for a business card as a sole proprietor using your Social Security number. And so that's something that I definitely recommend you do if you do have some sort of a side hustle. And if you don't have a side hustle, well, today is the day to start one, because you can get really great rewards from that.
- [39:40]
Jen
And you don't need a profit because so many of the businesses that you think turn a profit are not turning a Profit. So neither do you have an investment.
- [39:49]
Jill
Property, and it is not making a profit. So thanks for rubbing that in. But we definitely have business cards for it.
- [39:55]
Amber
Yeah. Do you know what we most definitely have time for? And we can maximize the most?
- [40:04]
Jen
It's so efficient.
- [40:06]
Jill
Let's do it. The bill of the week.
- [40:20]
Jen
That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week.
- [40:24]
Jill
Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck Bills. Buffalo Bills.
- [40:35]
Amber
Bill Clinton.
- [40:37]
Jen
This is the bill of the week, Amber. Every week, we invite our listeners and our guests to share with us their favorite bill for the week. And we would love to hear yours today.
- [40:49]
Jill
Let's do it. Okay, so this is actually a win that I've been going for for a long time. Remember when we were kids and, like, the only options we had to watch on TV was, like, Scooby Doo marathons and TLC marathons? Me too. Anyways, so I've been bugging my husband about canceling some of our streaming services. And I know that this is nothing exciting, but basically, we sign up for a streaming service. It's called Sling tv. We get it every year during football, like, college football season. Well, a couple years ago, we stopped canceling it on the not college football season. And I just thought, why are we paying $80 a month for this stupid thing? Like, why can't our kids just be bored and watch one streaming service instead of having options of so many? And so we made a list of the ones we wanted to cancel, of the ones that I wanted to cancel, and we actually canceled Sling finally. And we've got two more on the docket for coming up next. The problem is I have some credit cards that give us some of these streaming services for free. And so even though I still want to get rid of more, I'm like, oh, but it's free. But anyways, so we just saved $80 a month starting, like, three days ago, because we are no longer paying for Sling because it is not college football season.
- [42:03]
Jen
Sorry, Sling. If you were thinking about sponsoring the show, sorry. That's awesome. That's legit. The streaming services are adding up so hard.
- [42:19]
Jill
I know. We all canceled DirecTV and all the things 10 years ago to save money, and now they all cost more than if we just kept paying for the one thing.
- [42:28]
Jen
Yep, the times, they are a changing.
- [42:31]
Jill
They are.
- [42:32]
Amber
Isn't that how it goes? We, too, try and keep just one streaming service at a time, but sometimes it just gets out of hand. I know you got to take inventory again and slice and dice and be willing to do that. Thanks so much for sharing that bill. If you all listening have a bill that you want to share. If it has to do with letting the kids be bored or bills you don't mind paying, or how much you love being named Bill frugalfriendspodcast.com Bill leave it for us. Looking to save even more money on your phone bill? How does free sound? Helium Mobile is offering the first free phone plan. That's right, free phone service. Seriously. No bill, no contract, just free.
- [43:16]
Jen
It's not just some limited time deal. You get nationwide 5G coverage with 3 gigabytes of data, 300 texts and 100 minutes of calls. If you need more data you can upgrade to their other plans. Plus you're supporting a community built network that's growing every day to keep you seamlessly connected wherever you go.
- [43:33]
Amber
When we first heard about Helium Mobile, we couldn't wait to share it with all our frugal listeners who are looking to budget smarter when it comes to everyday necessities without sacrificing quality.
- [43:43]
Jen
So if you're in the market to cut that monthly phone bill, like really cut it, Helium Mobile is where it's at. Download the Helium Mobile app today and use the code Froogle to get your free plan today.
- [43:54]
Jill
Bring spring to your door with target circle 360. Get all you need for Easter hosting spring get togethers and more with unlimited same day delivery Through Target Circle 360. From Easter basket goodies to fresh florals, getting everything the same day is easy. Open the Target app and bring the magic of the season to your door with unlimited same day Delivery through Target Circle360. Visit target.com circle or the Target app for more details. Subscription required. Same day delivery is subject to terms.
- [44:22]
Amber
Applies to orders over $35.
- [44:24]
Jen
What's good fam the Black Effect Podcast.
- [44:26]
Jill
Festival is back and taking over Pullman.
- [44:29]
Jen
Yards in Atlanta on Saturday, April 26 and it's gonna be a whole vibe.
- [44:33]
Jill
Doors open at 11am so you already.
- [44:35]
Jen
Know it's an all day celebration of.
- [44:37]
Jill
Black excellence and we're partnering with Nissan.
- [44:39]
Jen
To bring you an event you won't wanna miss cause it's all going down.
- [44:42]
Jill
In the Nissan Lounge.
- [44:44]
Jen
If you haven't seen the all new 2025 Nissan Kicks or the Nissan Rogue.
- [44:48]
Jill
Yet, this is your moment. From available Intelligent around view monitor to.
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Jen
Available Bose Personal plus sound system, the all new Nissan Kicks is ready.
- [44:56]
Jill
Whether you're cruising through the city or.
- [44:57]
Jen
Hitting the highway, the Nissan Rogue S.
- [45:00]
Jill
Is more affordable than CR V and RAV4 with available HD enhanced intelligent around.
- [45:05]
Jen
View monitor with moving object detection and.
- [45:07]
Jill
A standard VC turbo engine. So pull up to the Nissan Lounge.
- [45:10]
Jen
To explore their cutting edge features, snap some epic pics and see which ride matches your energy, music, love, culture and community all in one place. So come through, show out and make some memories. Tickets are on sale now@blackffect.com podcastfestival Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone. Paying Big Wireless Way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint.
- [45:36]
Jill
You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments.
- [45:41]
Jen
But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway.
- [45:45]
Jill
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.
- [45:55]
Amber
See full terms@mintmobile.com and now it's time for lightning round pew.
- [46:04]
Jen
Okay, what's the most impressive travel strategy you've ever pulled off?
- [46:11]
Jill
I would say 85,000 points. Whole family of five to Europe each way. I've done it, get going there once, coming back once, and I've got it planned again for the summer. 85,000 points, five people.
- [46:27]
Amber
How long?
- [46:27]
Jill
One way.
- [46:28]
Amber
And what did it cover?
- [46:29]
Jill
Amazing. What?
- [46:30]
Jen
Wow.
- [46:31]
Amber
How? Oh wait, are you saying just it. It covered a one way flight for five people?
- [46:35]
Jill
Yep. Total.
- [46:36]
Amber
Nice.
- [46:37]
Jill
So kids through flying blue are 25% off. So that means all of my kids flights were 15,000 points and our flights were 20,000 points. So that was amazing.
- [46:50]
Amber
Cool. So it didn't cover lodging or your return flight. Correct, Correct.
- [46:54]
Jill
So it was the same coming back. Mm. But I mean truly 85,000 points. The cash value of that is 850 bucks. And so could I get even one round trip flight to Europe for 850 bucks? That's probably all I could do, right? Like on a deal. I could probably find a round trip flight to Europe for 850 bucks. So I got all of us there for 85,000 points and all of us back for another 85,000 points.
- [47:21]
Amber
So pretty awesome. You know what though? You don't have to come back. And that's the decision we can all make. We could just go and stay on vacation.
- [47:32]
Jill
It's true. You can, you can.
- [47:37]
Amber
For me, this isn't necessarily related to Credit cards. But it was a strategy that I was, and still am a little proud of. When Eric and I lived in our RV and we came down to live for a couple of months in Florida in our rv, we claimed residence at Jen and Travis's house, which was true. Cause it's where we parked for many months. And so we were like, oh, it'd be great to get a Florida resident Disney pass.
- [48:07]
Jill
Oh, yeah.
- [48:08]
Amber
But in order to claim residency, there's a couple of different mailings that you would need to bring in, whether it's like a utility bill or a bank statement. Statement. So we decided to open up a checking account at a bank that was currently offering a welcome bonus, Like a monetary welcome bonus. And the bonus that they offered happened to be the exact amount that it cost to get both of us, both my husband and I, a four day Disney res, like Florida resident pass. So we both got to go to Disney for four days for free.
- [48:46]
Jill
That's amazing.
- [48:48]
Amber
Yes. That I love.
- [48:50]
Jen
I love that pass.
- [48:52]
Amber
That was a good one. We had a blast before COVID hit.
- [48:57]
Jen
That was right. That was literally March 2020. Yeah. For us, I would say we did four days at an all inclusive resort in Cancun. Flights were on points. The all inclusive resort was on points. And that was. We only did that one once, but that was my favorite. Oh, and we stayed at the Park Hyatt in. Oh my gosh. Somewhere in Colorado. It was a beautiful. The best hotel I've ever stayed at. And I was pregnant and my husband went skiing because it was literally on the mountain. And I stayed inside because I was too big to ski. Well, I. Cause the doctor said it was unsafe at that point in my pregnancy. Not that you can be too big to ski. And I took a bubble bath and they had an assistant espresso in the room. And that was the first time I'd ever had an espresso. It was magical. I love that place. I'd love to go back. And it was. What was it? March. So it was like there was still snow, but it was like not frigid during the day, like warming up. It was just perfect. And those are my two favorites.
- [50:30]
Jill
I love that's. Guys, I feel like you were underwhelmed with mine. And I feel like I need to tell you that we were in Europe for a whole month with these, you know, 85,000 point flights. And I only paid a thousand dollars in accommodations because I use points for all my hotel rooms as well. But I didn't know how fast this lightning round was going to go, and I thought I just had to spit out one click. So it's kind of.
- [50:54]
Jen
It's. We call it a lightning round, but it's not fast.
- [50:59]
Jill
Okay.
- [51:00]
Jen
And I. And I think that's supposed to be funny. We've just always called it a lightning round, but it has never been funny.
- [51:05]
Jill
I was just having a little bit.
- [51:06]
Amber
Of second half almost.
- [51:07]
Jill
You weren't gonna be super impressed by my thing, But I was.
- [51:10]
Jen
But nobody's ever called us out. Yeah, nobody's ever called us out on the lightning round. Okay, Amber.
- [51:17]
Jill
Okay, take it back.
- [51:18]
Jen
You're the first.
- [51:20]
Amber
Never was underwhelmed. But now I am absolutely overwhelmed. And I think it's amazing what you were able to do. Of course. Of course. Amber, you were able to make the most.
- [51:33]
Jill
Thank you.
- [51:34]
Amber
That sounds so fun. What a cool thing to do with your family. Well, thank you for sharing all of your tips and tricks. Can you share where people can find more from you if they want to learn more about these strategies, especially the.
- [51:49]
Jen
Specific cards you're recommending, like, for these strategies.
- [51:53]
Jill
Definitely you can find. And I kind of want to apologize because I told these ladies, but I'm not allowed to mention many cards by name here. And I never want to sound like clickbaity, but that's just how it is. Do some affiliate roles. So, anyways, you can find me at Amber on points on Instagram or you can find me at Amber on points. Com and I would love to see you there. And. And definitely, I know lots of us because you guys are so well versed in all things frugal, which is definitely traveling on points. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a dm.
- [52:24]
Jen
Yay. Thanks so much, Amber.
- [52:26]
Jill
Thank you.
- [52:27]
Amber
Thanks, Amber.
- [52:28]
Jill
That was fun.
- [52:33]
Jen
That was so great. I am excited to travel with my kids. And then I'm, like, punted back to reality of what it's actually like traveling with kids. And I'm like, I don't know if I want to do it too much, but I think. I think we will maybe try to do something this year. We'll see.
- [52:52]
Amber
Where do you think you'll go?
- [52:54]
Jen
I don't know. Travis wants the kids to see snow, and we have the companion pass for southwest through the end of the year. So I'm thinking after Christmas, before New Year trip.
- [53:07]
Amber
Cool.
- [53:07]
Jen
Maybe to find some snow.
- [53:09]
Amber
That would be fun.
- [53:10]
Jen
Yeah.
- [53:11]
Amber
Yeah. I learned a lot in this episode. Like a couple of key takeaways. One being that award tool flight that she told us about. I did not know about that's so useful often as I travel. So I did since recording I looked up kind of a little bit about that and super helpful. It will tell you certainly the flights from where you want to go to the destination from where you're going from to and then how much those flights would cost in points but also where you'd have to transfer from like the partners, the credit card that you would need to have, who you would need to transfer it to in order to get that flight. So it's kind of like a done for you explanation cheat sheet guide and the user interface is nearly exactly like Google flights. So yeah, super, super helpful. I'm excited to actually try it out for my next flight booking.
- [54:11]
Jen
Yeah.
- [54:12]
Amber
Well thank you all so much for listening. We really appreciate you being here spending time with us. We also really appreciate the kind reviews that you've been leaving for us. About our Book Many of you have been loving and purchasing Buy what yout Love without going broke. Like Gerilyn M. Who said Helpful book for achieving your financial goals. Five stars. This book provides a helpful and realistic way of achieving your financial goals. The authors lay out actionable steps that focus on how you can align your spending with your values. Instead of trying to set up a restrictive budget that will inevitably fail, this book offers a variety of exercises to help you think about why you spend money. It also offers simple action steps at the end of each chapter to help you adjust your spending and make changes that will benefit your finances. Highly recommend this book. Thank you for the recommendation. Geralyn.
- [55:05]
Jen
Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much for reading it. If you have not checked out Buy what yout Love without going broke head to buy what you love book.com you can order it there. You can also see if your library doesn't have it. We have instructions on that page for requesting it from your library. And if you have read it, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It really does help the book spread the message further and wider. And leave a review for the podcast as well on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. That too helps us spread this message further and wider.
- [55:39]
Amber
See you next time.
- [55:41]
Jen
Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
- [55:56]
Amber
Yeah, you all are making me think about even more types of credit cards.
- [56:04]
Jen
That is definitely a way to say that. So I have healthcare sharing. So for two of my medical bills from November I have been sent a check. Hopefully the third one they just sent straight to it because that's the big one. But I think what I'm gonna do is open A new card to pay those medical bills to get a welcome bonus.
- [56:34]
Amber
Oh, nice. And then pay it with the money that you just got. Yeah. That's always my scary thing about paying medical bills with a credit card that you're supposed to be reimbursed for is making sure that you've got the money.
- [56:47]
Jill
Right.
- [56:47]
Jen
I already have the money to be.
- [56:48]
Amber
Able to pay it off.
- [56:49]
Jen
Yeah, I didn't. I don't. I don't. I don't pay medical bills until I have the money or I can really negotiate it down. I'm not in a rush to pay medical bills. They no longer go to your credit score. I don't really need a high credit score right now anyway. But trying to spend as little as possible on those medical stays.
- [57:15]
Amber
Yeah, agreed. That's great. Get the bonus. Get a ton of points. That's the thing. The amount of time in between being able to get the welcome bonus.
- [57:27]
Jen
It's just a couple months though.
- [57:29]
Amber
No, I mean, if you've already had the card in the past.
- [57:32]
Jen
Yeah. You gotta open a new one. Yeah, I'm not sure. I might do Venture. Yeah, I might do Venture.
- [57:39]
Amber
It is who I currently have and I have been happy.
- [57:42]
Jen
Yeah, I have had Venture in the past, but it's been over four years. So I can get the bonus again.
- [57:46]
Jill
Excellent.
- [57:47]
Jen
Yeah. So we will see.
- [57:50]
Amber
Oh, can I refer you to it? Oh, yeah, I'm gonna refer you.
- [57:55]
Jen
Please do. Okay, wonderful.
- [57:58]
Amber
Let's go get food.
- [57:59]
Jill
Yeah.
- [58:00]
Jen
If you're listening and you need a referral code for Venture for a number of cards that were alluded to in this episode, send us an email.
- [58:13]
Amber
I think everybody gets a bonus in that situation. I do and you do.
- [58:18]
Jen
Yeah. Specifically Jill for the Venture.
- [58:21]
Amber
Yeah. And if there's another card you're interested in, then go to Jen.
- [58:26]
Jen
Yeah. I have a lot of cards from.
- [58:28]
Amber
The other banks in my email.
- [58:29]
Jen
I guess we're not allowed to say what they are now.
- [58:31]
Amber
No, we can't.
- [58:32]
Jen
For legal reasons. Yeah. Email me jill@frugalfriendspodcast.com or jen frugalfriendspodcast.com let's all win together.
- [58:43]
Amber
Yes. Let's win and travel together. Woo. This is Dr. Laurie Santos from the Happiness Lab at the Boston Marathon presented by bank of America. Thousands of runners are raising funds for life changing causes and you can help make an impact. Visit bofa.com helpacause to donate and support a runner's fundraising efforts. Together we're making a difference. One step at a time. What would you like the power to do bank of America get in the.
- [59:12]
Jill
Zone autozone John always listens to his truck. So when his brakes start talking, he goes to AutoZone where a helpful AutoZoner gets him the right parts. If John has time to put them in, he borrows a kit with loan a tool and if he doesn't, he gets a free shop referral. No hassles, just help. Everything you need, nothing you don't get in the zone. Auto Zone deposit required for loanatool restrictions apply.
- [59:42]
Amber
Looking to save even more money on your phone bill? How does free sound? Helium Mobile is offering the first free phone plan. That's right. Free phone service. Seriously. No bill, no contract, just free.
- [59:55]
Jen
It's not just some limited time deal. You get nationwide 5G coverage with 3 gigabytes of data, 300 texts and 100 minutes of calls. If you need more data, you can upgrade to their other plans. Plus you're supporting a community built network that's growing every day to keep you seamlessly connected wherever you go.
- [60:12]
Amber
When we first heard about Helium Mobile, we couldn't wait to share it with all our frugal listeners who are looking to budget smarter when it comes to everyday necessities without sacrificing quality.
- [60:22]
Jen
So if you're in the market to cut that monthly phone bill, like really cut it, Helium Mobile is where it's at. Download the Helium Mobile app today and use the code Froogle to get your free plan today.
- [60:33]
Jill
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