Game Of Thrones hero Ned Stark was right when he galvanized his people with his speech in the opening episode to warn them that “winter is coming.” Because winter is here. After getting over the frenzied weeks leading up to the holly jolly jam-packed holiday season, January and February leave us melancholy.
The upside? We have a bit of an open-ended agenda. No major holidays coming. Festival season is still out on the horizon.
If you’re feeling the itch to trade the winter weather for some summer temperatures at U.S. National Parks, sip on some brews at can’t-miss-breweries in Massachusetts, play like a kid at the new rides and experiences at Disney theme parks, or party and eat your way through Down Under in Melbourne, Australia, peak winter is the prime time to do so.
As we already know, in the realm of everything travel, maximizing rewards and points on credit cards is essential. After hearing from flight and point experts on the most valuable credit card sign-up bonuses and sure-in strategies for maximizing your credit cards and redeeming them for an epic early-year trip, we asked our panel for their best tip for scoring the last-minute deals for your winter escape, wherever that may be.
Let the travel commence!
Thomas Lonergan (@travelliketommy): Book Last Minute To Secure Great Deals
If you want to live life on the edge a little bit, book your flights last minute!
In order to successfully do this, you must be flexible and spontaneous with your dates. If you’re itching to get out to Southeast Asia this winter but don’t exactly know when set some flight alerts for last-minute deals and be prepared to head to the airport the next day if you have to.
Specifically search for flights out of major hubs like JFK, IAD, ORD, LAX, and SFO.
Adam Hill (@adamhillyeah): Set Hotel & Flight Alerts On Seats.Aero, Point.Me & Awayz To Use & Transfer Points For Last-Minute Deals
I get this a lot from people looking to book a vacation or escape in a relatively short amount of time and with specific dates. It’s hard to get the best deals when you aren’t flexible or wait until the last minute, however, fear not as there is hope. Let it be known that I recommend booking as early as possible, sometimes up to almost a year in advance, by setting alerts or diligently, and tediously searching for whatever coveted hotel or flight you are looking at.
Many times, some of the best award spaces or hotels become available at the last minute. Prime examples of this are booking Lufthansa First Class seats which often become available 1-14 days before the travel date, or even with Japan Airlines first class. This last-minute method typically works best with one person but having a player two isn’t impossible either. Many airlines will release last-minute saver business class award space or even have saver economy available if you have more than two people. It may not be sexy to fly economy, but saving money and getting the family somewhere to have a memorable experience is the ultimate goal here.
Hotels can oftentimes have last-minute rates open up for unsold rooms on a cheap cash fare, or at a reasonable award rate. It may not be the lowest off-peak rate, but if it saves you from paying a huge amount of cash, that’s a win in my book.
People looking for last-minute deals, or looking to set alerts for hotels and flights can use websites like Seats.Aero to find last minute deals or Point.me as both websites will show you how to transfer points and from what programs you can do it. The other great hotel award finder I like to use is AWAYZ as it has been helpful in the past for myself. If you are looking for cheap cash fares, you can download the chrome extension of Travel Arrow which you can then search the hidden hotels on priceline.com and see what the hidden hotels are
Allison Tackette (@luckytictac): Let The Points & Miles Guide Your Destination
Let the point and miles deals guide your destination. If looking for a beach escape, don’t settle on a location. Take a look at all the warm beaches during your dates and choose the one with the cheapest points options.
Don’t forget to check nearby airports as well. Want to go skiing in Aspen or Vail during peak season? It may be difficult to find points options into those airports. Don’t forget about Denver. It’s a shuttle ride to your final destination.
Angel Trinh (@pennywisetraveler): Find Positioning Flights
Look into positioning flights. For example, you can take a flight to catch another flight if there is a deal there. For example, my Delta One flight is out of JFK (and not LAX my home airport) because there was a Virgin Atlantic deal to fly Delta One Business Class. The Delta flight was 50,000 points + $5.60 in taxes with Virgin Atlantic (a transfer partner of the bank) vs. $3,782 or 252,080 in the bank portal!
To get to New York, I’m taking a cheap flight out of LAX. Currently, I’m booked with Southwest Airlines, but I’m going to cancel this flight if I find a nonstop flight out of JFK on red eye.
Angelo Minella (@paidwithpoints): Look For Increased Point Transfers To Partnered Airlines And Hotels
Once you have a grasp on earning and how to redeem points by transferring them, you’re going to want to look for two things. First, keep an eye out for increased transfers to partnered airlines or hotels on a bonus. For example, if American Express points regularly transfer 1:1 into your Emirates account but you notice that there’s currently a limited time offer of 30% bonus, that means that for every point you transfer you will get 1:3 Emirate miles.
Secondly, you want to search for Saver Award flights. This is essentially a discounted award redemption. For example, if it normally costs 50,000 to fly business class from JFK to Dubai, a Saver Award seat may be 37,500.
Using these two strategies can be very effective and a great use of your points.
Ryan Horn (@profitsandpoints): Use Specific Strategies To Secure The Cheapest Flight Possible
There are five different strategies that I always use to make sure that I find the cheapest flights possible:
1) Join a Cheap Flight Newsletter: There are a growing number of cheap flight newsletters out on the market. For the price of a subscription, most of these newsletters will send the lowest-priced flight deals they can find right to your inbox. The companies that run these newsletters typically employ people who spend hours each day searching for the cheapest flights meaning you won’t only save money, but you’ll also save time.
2) Set Price Alerts: Google Flights has an awesome feature that allows you to receive an email whenever the price of a flight you’re looking at goes up or down. These alerts can help you time when to commit to purchasing your flight.
3) Consider Flying Out Of/Into Alternate Airports: Probably the biggest factor at determining the price of a flight is where you’re flying from or where you’re flying to. By looking at other airports that may be a short drive from your first choice airport, you open up the potential to save a lot of money. Advanced travelers may want to also consider positioning flights. A positioning flight is a flight that you would take to get to an airport who’s airfare is cheaper to your final destination. It’s basically like creating your own layover. Just be careful to leave enough time in case something goes wrong with your positioning flight.
4) Rebook Your Flight If The Price Drops: Many airlines will allow you to receive a credit/points/refund if the price of your flight drops. My favorite example is Southwest Airlines. If the price of your flight drops, you can rebook your flight through Southwest and receive a credit for future travel equal to the difference in the fare. If you paid with points, the difference in Rapid Rewards points will automatically go back into your account.
5) Flexibility, Flexibility, Flexibility: Finding cheap flights ultimately comes down to flexibility. Are you willing to fly on a different day? Are you willing to have a longer layover? Are you willing to travel somewhere slightly different than you had first planned? The more flexible you are, the more likely you are to save money on air travel.
Sierra Smith (@highsierrapoints): Use Last-Minute Flight Deals With Points
Winter holidays are peak travel time, so the cash cost of flights will surge. The good news is that last-minute flight deals using points will often show up a few weeks prior to departure if you’re flexible. I will sometimes book a refundable cash flight several months out as a backup, and wait for last-minute award deals to be released. You can also find amazing flight deals for quieter times like early morning or late-night flights.
Spencer Howard (@straighttothepoints): Optimize Winter Travel Deals With Flight & Hotel Points
Summer travel might get all of the hype, but there are some amazing winter destinations. Plus, you can score some great deals on flights and hotels and it’s often easier to use points to book both!
With less competition for award space on flights and at hotels, you can often find great deals in the weeks before your travel dates. Don’t be afraid to book last minute to secure some exceptional deals. Sign up for my business and first-class flight alerts here.
Jess Bohorquez (@pointsbyj): Use A Search Tool To Find Flights That Are Bookable With Points
If you have credit card points or airline miles burning a hole in your digital wallet, now is the time to hop on some great last minute points redemption opportunities!
A simple flight booking how to:
1) Use a search tool for finding flights that are bookable with points. My favorite free one is pointsyeah.com.
2) Once you find a good route, confirm availability and the number of points required to book on the airline’s website directly.
3) If you have airline miles already in your loyalty account, proceed with booking! If you need to transfer points from your premium travel credit card, log into the rewards portal to transfer to your airline loyalty account.
If you don’t yet have enough points or miles, a winter trip will be a great opportunity to earn a lot of them! Credit card “sign-up bonuses” give you a huge stash of points when you spend a certain amount of money after account opening (for example, spend $3,000 in the first three months to earn 80,000 points). By paying with a great travel card, you can earn those sign-up bonus points so that your next trip can be paid for by points! A couple of my favorite premium travel card options are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Plus, with a card like the Venture X, you’ll also get the bonus perk of airport lounge access to make this trip a little more luxurious.
