Summer vacation season is here—and with airfare, hotels, and gas costs feeling higher, the winning strategy is smart planning. The Points Guy’s Nick Ewen discusses the practical, no-fluff ways to stretch your travel budget:
1. How to find cheaper flights with flexibility (different times/days can mean better prices)
2. The booking trick that can save money: check one-way flights instead of relying only on round-trip
3. What airlines are doing to manage costs (and why competition can impact your fares)
4. Why cruises can be great value: “one price” experiences + fewer out-of-pocket expenses
5. How to approach Disney trips on a budget: plan ahead for tickets and in-park costs, and consider alternatives that leave room for skip-the-line perks
6. National parks still offer real value—plus ways to save with discounted passes and smart timing to beat crowds
7.How to pay for travel in the smartest way: use rewards credit cards for benefits and protections, then redeem points when the value is better than cash
8. If you’re planning a trip to grandma, chasing a last-minute getaway, or planning months ahead, these strategies will help you get more fun for your money—this summer.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Nick, it’s great to see you.
Thanks for joining us in the program this morning. Of course, thanks so much for having me on. You know, it’s no surprise to anyone watching or to you or to anyone else maybe listening within ear’s length that, you know, affordability has been a real challenge for so many Americans.
Gas prices have gone up. That’s contributed to food prices. One area that I think has, we’ve seen a spike is in travel, travel expenses, airlines, hotels, et cetera.
So I wanted to come to you and ask you, if someone’s planning their summer vacation, we’re right at summertime, what’s the best way to go about planning the travel to grandma’s or anywhere else?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yeah, I think there are a lot of things that go into this. Obviously, we’ve seen demand still maintained in spite of these high prices because people love taking those trips. Summer is the time to get away.
So there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First of all, flexibility. If you are able to travel at different times, maybe take that 6 a.m. flight instead of maybe the 10 a.m. flight, that’s a little bit more convenient for your schedule. Generally, those flights are going to be lower priced because people don’t want to take that crack of dawn flight. They don’t want to necessarily get up with the kids that early. So if you can be flexible with the days that you’re leaving, if you are not locked into a specific week, then that can really help, especially if you’re looking ahead to like a labor day, a last minute getaway.
There are a lot of people that are going to be kind of clustered around that holiday. So you can be flexible. That’s one really great tip in the days or the time that you’re leaving.
Another thing to keep in mind is if you’re looking at flights in particular, don’t just jump to a round trip ticket. Consider searching one way for the dates that you’re flying. Because if you try to search for a round trip flight, oftentimes you’ll get forced into the same airline for both your outbound and the return.
That can wind up costing you money because maybe one airline has a discounted one way flight on the outbound, but a different one has it on the return. That can be a really powerful tool if you are looking to take a flight this summer.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Are you seeing airline, you know, we had, I think it was Spirit Airlines that kind of declared bankruptcy, I think. So we’ve got one less airline. Are you seeing maybe some of the airline carriers acknowledging that, hey, look, we want people to travel.
We need the revenue, obviously. Are they trying to work with consumers and the travel sites? I think a lot of people probably use third-party sites to book.
But are the airlines recognizing this as a challenge and trying to figure out a way to work with the consumer?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yeah, so what’s interesting is, you know, the increased fuel costs, they’ve gotten a ton of press. Airlines are trying to not pass along all of those increased costs to customers because they know travelers are so price-conscious and price-sensitive, especially during the summer. You have leisure travelers, generally more than business travelers.
So those are really individuals that are not going to be able to absorb huge price increases. What’s been interesting is with the demise of Spirit, we’ve seen a lot of airlines jumping in to serve routes that Spirit previously operated. So Spirit had a huge presence at Fort Lauderdale.
You’ve seen JetBlue jump into that. They had a huge presence in Myrtle Beach and Atlantic City. You’ve seen some of the new lower-cost airlines like Breeze jump in to support some of those routes.
At the end of the day, thankfully most of the airlines are in a much better financial situation than Spirit. So I don’t expect to see any further bankruptcies. But long-term, I will say this is not good news for consumers because previously when we saw Spirit pull out of a particular market, we did see fares increase pretty significantly.
So airlines are doing their best to not have those really high prices this summer. But long-term, if you are in a market where Spirit previously operated, it’s probably not going to be good news for your wallet.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, people, consumers want choices. The market wants choices. That’s how, I guess that competitive nature is what actually brings prices down.
Let me ask you about other forms of vacations. Let’s talk about cruise lines for a second. I have a really good friend.
He works at the street. His name is Daniel Klein. He’s a cruise guy.
Are cruises a good value today relative to maybe going to the Bahamas I haven’t been on vacation in a long time, but are they a good value for people maybe seeking escape?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yeah, we’ve seen a huge expanded increase in cruising because it’s that kind of one price gets you everything. I mean, sure, you have flights if you are traveling from out of state that you need to get to the cruise port. But once you’re on board, a lot of cruise lines offer either all-inclusive packages or are just all-inclusive by themselves.
And you’re paying for very little out of pocket. A lot of travelers really like that idea of, I’m not gonna have to fork over money for the restaurants and some of the entertainment that I might if I was just going to say Disney World or going to another Caribbean island. The other thing that’s interesting is a lot of cruise lines have really ramped up their amenities on their ships.
We’ve seen over the last year or year and a half, some absolute mega ships hit the waters. MSC World America is one of them that launched last year. And they’ve also really ramped up some of the amenities they offer at their private islands.
We’ve seen some new destinations that have been opened up. The big thing that I would say is if you’re considering a cruise versus another vacation, crunch the numbers, put in how much you would expect to spend on food, how much you would expect to spend on entertainment, and then compare that to what you would get on a four-night, seven-night, 10-day cruise, whatever the case may be. You may find out that you come ahead with a cruise because so much of what you would otherwise spend your money on is actually included in that base cruise fare.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
You brought up Disney. I haven’t been to Disney since 1982 when I was like 10 years old. I enjoyed it.
It’s grown. It’s a very popular destination. I’ve been hearing a lot, and I wanna get your input on this, whether you go to Disney World or Disneyland, it’s expensive to stay inside the park, which is a lot more convenient, is expensive.
What have you seen? Are people still booking travel to Disney? They’re going on It’s a Small World, Country Bear Jamboree.
Those are just some of the rides that I rode on as a little boy. But in all seriousness, are people still booking Disney trips?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yeah. The mouse has some continued lasting magic. It really is incredible.
Obviously, Disney has its hands in a variety of entities now with Disney+, all of the movies, but they really capture the heart of so many Americans, and not just families with kids, but there are a lot of adult Disney fans that make their annual pilgrimage or have annual passes and go multiple times a year. The big thing with Disney is you’ve got to plan ahead because not only are tickets expensive, but once you actually get into the parks, there are a lot of ways to fork over money, not just for food and drinks, but also for those fast passes to skip the lines. I always tell my friends and family when they’re planning a trip to Disney, I always say, go all out.
Spend the money for all the fast passes, all of the lightning lanes, everything that you can because you really can’t put a price on not waiting in line for three hours to board Mine Train. If you’re looking to plan a Disney trip, you’ve got to look at all those factors. You know what?
Maybe you say, we’re going to sacrifice that convenience instead of staying on Disney property. We’re going to pick a lower cost alternative so we then have the budget to get all of the fast passes and pay for all of the skip the line amenities. That can be a really great tool.
The other thing to note is, of course, we love our points here at The Points Guy. There are a number of great points properties really close to Disney. The Swan, the Dolphin, the Swan Reserve, those are all Marriott properties.
So you can actually use your Marriott points there. So that can be another great way to investigate. If you can save money on the hotel by using your points, that frees up your funds for park tickets, for the skip the line passes, for the food and the other things you want to do once you’re actually in the parks.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And I’m glad you brought up the points. I want to come back to that at the end of our conversation. But before I get to that, I want to ask you about some of the national parks.
Are they still a good value even though gas price, like I’m thinking about driving to Mount Rushmore, some of the parks, the national parks for camping, are they still a good value given that gas prices are expensive or work? Yeah. Yeah.
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
National parks could still be a really great value. They also give you a great opportunity to just get out and enjoy the beauty of our country. Of course, we’re celebrating our 250th birthday.
So getting into a national park with your family is a great thing to do. The other thing to note is not every park does require you to drive a significant amount. We were actually just in Zion National Park in April with my wife and daughter.
There’s the main road. You actually can’t drive on it. You have to take a shuttle bus.
So that’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg in terms of gas prices and still give you some incredible scenery. The big thing I would say is make sure that you look into various discounted passes. For example, any of the watchers out there that have fourth grade children, fourth graders get a free national park pass.
So that can be a great way to save a little bit of money. There’s a Senior America the Beautiful Pass where you can get a lifetime pass over a certain age. So you definitely want to look into some of those options.
But just note, if you go to some of those really popular spots like Zion or Grand Canyon or Yellowstone during the summer, they tend to get pretty crowded. So plan ahead, try to arrive early, make those reservations for your campgrounds or your accommodations as soon as you possibly can.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So did you have to bring bear repellent with you or whatever it’s called? The kind of, did you see any bears at Zion?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
No, we did not see any bears. We did see a lot of really cool wildlife. And we also did an amazing hike through the Narrows, which we had water up to our chests at some point.
Very memorable experience. My wife and daughter, probably not as into that as I was, but it was a beautiful park. We’d never been there before.
Highly recommend it. But there are also some really great ones that are kind of under the radar. So if you’re doing Mount Rushmore, take a side trip to Badlands.
That’s a great spot to see. North Cascades Park in Northern Washington is an amazing place that tends to have fewer crowds. So there are a lot of great kind of under the radar national parks that maybe don’t have the same level of excitement that are still really great to consider for your summer trip.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So I told you I wanted to come back to the payment. That’s always a part of it, right? There is no free lunch, to quote Milton Freeman.
I know you work at the Points guy. So how do we, what’s the best way to pay? Assuming you have a credit card, you can do buy now, pay later.
You could probably pay through Venmo, I guess. And I guess you could pay in crypto. But what’s, seriously, what’s the best way to find the best deals and to pay your credit card?
I mean, pay for your trip, I’m sorry.
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yeah. So I always like to say the best thing to do is to use a credit card that’s going to earn you some kind of rewards, whether it’s a cash back, airline miles, or just flexible travel points. There are a few things beyond just the rewards that you get on these cards.
A lot of people don’t realize that many of the best travel cards out there offer some really fantastic protections for you. This includes fraud prevention, where if someone steals your credit cards, you’re not going to be liable for those charges. But some popular travel cards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, will actually give you trip delay protection, where if you charge travel to your card and then you’re delayed by a certain amount or have to spend an unexpected night in a hotel near the airport because you missed your connection and the airline can’t book you until the next day, you can actually file a claim for reimbursement and put that right back in your pocket. So we love our points. We love all our exciting benefits, like getting airport lounge access.
But really, one of the biggest benefits of paying for your travel with a Top Travel Rewards card is that peace of mind that it can offer you in the event that your travel is disruptive. Of course, during the summer, you have summer thunderstorms if you’re connecting through an airport like Atlanta or Charlotte, trying to go to Florida. So having that peace of mind can be really, really important.
And the other thing to note is that if you are sitting on a pot of points, whether it’s in your hotel account or in a credit card account or with an airline, summer can be a great time to finally put those to use. There are actually some great tools out there that will help you identify whether the redemption with your rewards is a good deal. One of my favorites is actually called the Points Path Browser Extensions, which sits right inside Google Flights.
It’ll actually show you the points price right next to the cash price of your ticket when you’re searching for a flight on Google Flights. So it’s a great tool that you can use to make sure that you’re getting a really good value for putting those points to use.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And I wanna quote our good friend, we have a mutual acquaintance in Ted Rossman, is it still considered a good practice to pay off that bill every month rather than pay the minimum on the card if you can’t use your points?
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy
Yes, absolutely. So the cardinal rule is if you want to get into the game of credit card rewards, points and miles, you absolutely should pay your bill on time, in full every single month. Otherwise, any of the interest charges you’re going to accrue by carrying a balance, that will negate the value of any rewards you’re earning.
The only exception would be there are some credit cards that offer an introductory 0% APR. This can actually be a great option if you are looking at wanting to take an expensive vacation and you don’t have the funds to pay it right away. The big thing is you wanna make sure that you pay everything off before the end of that introductory period.
So just consider that as a great option, but on a normal credit card, you absolutely wanna pay your balances in full, on time, every single month.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Well said, Nick Ewan. From The Points Guy, great to see you as always, Nick. Thanks for joining us.
And guess what? We’re gonna have you back again very soon. Thanks, sir.
Nick Ewen, The Points Guy Of course, anytime. Thanks for having me on.
