HUGE Tip for Saving Money on Travel

There is no denying it that travel can be expensive. Of course using points and miles can lessen the blow, I am fully well aware that not everyone has a massive stash in their back pocket and instead using cash is required. One of the best ways to save money on airplane tickets and hotel rooms is to purchase gift cards for your desired airline and hotel chain at a discount.

While there are many ways to do this, one of my favorite and easiest methods is to set up alerts from Raise.com. Raise is a third-party gift card resale site which often has many travel related gift cards at a discount. I’ve purchase Hyatt gift cards a handful of times and just recently purchased an American Airlines gift cards. They have about 100 travel related partners which is great!

If you’ve gone to their site, you’ll notice that they don’t always have all merchant gift cards available. However, you are able to set up an alert and you’ll receive an email anytime that merchant gift card comes available. For example, last week I received an alert from Raise about an American Airline gift card at 13% off. This immediately caught my attention and I purchased it. This worked out great for a flight I was actually looking to buy. While I still had to use cash for the flight, I still saved over $100 and using points just didn’t make sense. Gift cards do not expire and once purchased they will be available in your Raise.com account within 24 hours where you can print them out. Also, all gift cards are guaranteed for 100 days after you purchase it. So if you go to redeem the gift card and you have an issue, you are fully covered for those first three+ months. If you are new to Raise.com you can sign up here. Enjoy!