How We Save Thousands on Family Travel

After our trip to Puerto Rico, I promised to follow up with some of our money-saving travel hacks, so here they are! None of these are particularly glamorous, but together they've saved us many thousands of dollars.

Every time I see travel influencers online, they're opening 20 credit cards a year, flying first class around the world, or staying in overwater bungalows in the Maldives on points. Good for them...but that doesn’t really work for us as a family of four. Saving enough points for four first-class tickets is a completely different game than booking one luxury redemption. And even if I could, I'd rather stretch those points to take multiple trips than spend them all on one fancy flight.

Instead, I focus on practical strategies that save our family real money year after year.

Southwest Airlines

This is currently our biggest win! Last year I applied for a Southwest credit card toward the end of the year, earned the sign-up bonus in January, and booked our February Greece hotels through the Southwest hotel portal. That was enough to earn the Southwest Companion Pass for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027.

The Companion Pass lets one person fly with me for free (plus taxes and fees), which is huge for a family. The credit card also gives us free checked bags and free seat selection 48 hours before the flight.

Since I also have a Chase Sapphire card, I wait until Chase offers transfer bonuses before moving my points to Southwest. They recently had a 30% bonus, so my points went quite a bit further.

So far this year, we've flown 40 domestic one-way flights using Southwest points and the Companion Pass. At around $200 per ticket, that's roughly $8,000 we didn't spend on airfare.

Basic Economy Fares

I still book Basic Economy fares most of the time because they're often significantly cheaper. I've been a member of Going.com (back when it was Scott's Cheap Flights) for years, and I also set up Google Flights alerts whenever I'm watching a particular destination. Between those two tools, I've booked some incredible airfare deals over the years.

That said...my family finally staged a small rebellion after one too many overnight flights in the last row next to the bathroom with seats that didn't recline, so these days, I'll often use points to pay for seat selection on those long international flights. It keeps the cash cost low while making the trip much more enjoyable. (This is how we’re going to Porto, Portugal this Christmas for $800 apiece!)

I also keep airline credit cards for several airlines. Between the free checked bags and priority boarding, the annual fees usually pay for themselves with a family of four, and some of the cards even allow me to pay the annual fee using the points I’ve accrued.

Know your Passenger Rights

This is probably the least-talked-about travel strategy that has saved us the most money.

The U.S. doesn't have great passenger protections, but many other countries do. If your international flight is delayed or canceled, you may be entitled to compensation. We've filed claims after trips to Chile, Spain, and Greece, and between those three trips we've received over $8,000 in refunds because of flight disruptions.

It's definitely worth looking into if you have a major delay. Most people don't even realize those protections exist.

Hotels

Now that my kids refuse to share a bed or sleep in the same room with us, we often are forced to stick with Airbnbs. But when we do stay at hotels, we usually stay at Hyatt when we can because they're a Chase transfer partner with good redemption rates. (And the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels sort of have a room partition!)

We also have random hotel credits through various credit cards - usually something like $50 or $100 off if you book through their travel portal. Those portals aren't always the cheapest option, so I usually save those credits for one-night stays. Otherwise, I'll compare prices on Priceline, Booking.com, and the hotel's own website before booking.

Never Stop Shopping for Rental Cars

Rental car prices are all over the place – sometimes cheaper earlier, sometimes cheaper last-minute. As soon as I know we're taking a trip, I book a refundable reservation. Then every week or two, and especially during the week before departure, I'll check prices again and rebook if they’ve dropped.

It's not exciting, but it probably saves us around $500 every year for about 10 minutes of effort.

My Biggest Travel Philosophy

Travel is one of my favorite things to spend money on, but that doesn't mean I want to spend more than I have to. (I’m a real estate investor for goodness sake – we’re as cheap, I mean, ‘frugal’ as they come!)

If I can save a few hundred dollars on flights, hotels, or rental cars with just a little planning, that's money I can put toward our next trip instead. For me, that's a much better tradeoff than chasing luxury travel just because everyone else seems to be doing it.

The good news is that you don't have to become an extreme travel hacker to dramatically reduce your travel costs. I don't spend extra money just to earn points. I don't open dozens of credit cards every year. And I'm definitely not trying to fly first class everywhere. (Although once these kids are grown and flown, I did promise my husband I'd ease up on the Basic Economy tickets a little!!) 🤪

None of this is particularly complex - it just takes a little planning. And if it means our family gets to see a little more of the world without spending any more money than we have to, I'd call that a pretty good return on investment.