I saved over $1,900 on my family trip to Orlando using credit card points. These are the hacks I used.

When I started readying our family's Disney and Universal vacation, I knew it wouldn't beryllium cheap.

Our six-day Orlando travel for a family of 5 costs astir $8,620, including airfare, hotels, theme parkland tickets, airdrome transportation, meals, and different recreation expenses.

So, I started looking for a measurement to offset immoderate of those costs utilizing credit paper rewards. Over time, I earned capable rewards to prevention astir $1,920 connected our vacation, bringing our last out-of-pocket costs down to astir $6,700.

We first researched different in installments cards and planned ahead

The cardinal was timing our in installments paper applications to return advantage of their generous invited bonuses.

Neither my hubby nor I had antecedently held the Capital One Venture Rewards in installments card, truthful we each qualified for the new-cardmember invited offer.

We learned that astatine the time, the paper offered 75,000 prize miles aft spending $4,000 wrong the first 3 months. Since those miles tin beryllium redeemed to screen eligible recreation purchases, this invited prize was worthy $750.

After I opened my card, I realized I could besides "refer" my hubby for his ain card. This earned maine an further 20,000 miles arsenic a referral bonus, worthy $200.

By opening 1 paper successful my sanction and different successful my husband's name, we earned 2 abstracted invited bonuses totaling $1,500. Between the invited bonuses, referral bonus, and miles earned from our mundane spending, we accumulated $1,920.75 successful travel rewards earlier we moreover group ft successful Florida.

We put each expenses connected the in installments cards

We applied for the cards respective months earlier our trip, knowing we had capable upcoming expenses to comfortably meet the $4,000 minimum spending request wrong 3 months without buying thing we didn't already intend to purchase. We charged items for illustration meals, groceries, household bills, and our upcoming recreation expenses.

It was important that we only utilized the cards for purchases we were already readying to make and paid the balances successful afloat each month. Otherwise, we could person ended up carrying indebtedness aliases paying interest, which would quickly erase immoderate savings we gained from the rewards.

Once the recreation charges were posted to our accounts, we utilized Capital One's "Cover Travel Purchases" characteristic to redeem miles for connection credits.

Not each Disney disbursal counted arsenic travel

One instruction I learned is that merchant coding matters.

Our Universal Orlando expenses, for example, were coded arsenic "travel," making them eligible for redemption. That included our edifice and Universal taxable parkland tickets.

Disney purchases were much complicated. Theme parkland tickets purchased straight from Disney are coded arsenic "entertainment" alternatively than "travel," truthful we couldn't redeem our Venture miles to erase those charges. The aforesaid was existent for Lightning Lane walk purchases from Disney.

Fortunately, we had much than capable eligible recreation expenses to redeem each of our rewards. We applied our miles toward 2 of our biggest picnic costs: astir $1,451 successful Frontier airfare and astir $4,948 for our Universal edifice enactment and taxable parkland tickets.

If we had needed different eligible recreation purchase, buying taxable parkland tickets done a third-party recreation agency that codes arsenic recreation — specified arsenic Undercover Tourist — could person been different option.

It's a reminder that earlier counting connected points to screen an expense, it's worthy checking really that merchant is apt to codification it.

The savings went beyond the invited bonus

The invited bonuses accounted for astir of our savings, but they weren't the only perk.

The Venture paper reimbursed my hubby and maine for TSA PreCheck exertion fees, a use worthy $76.75 per person, for a full of $153.50.

We simply charged the exertion fees to each of our cards, and Capital One automatically issued connection credits.

This strategy isn't for everyone

Travel rewards tin beryllium incredibly valuable, but they're only worthwhile if you're prepared to usage them responsibly.

Opening caller in installments cards tin temporarily impact your in installments score, truthful this attack useful champion for group pinch bully in installments who salary their balances successful afloat each month.

It's important to statement that this paper does transportation a $95 yearly fee. Since we each opened a card, we paid $190 successful yearly fees. Even aft accounting for those costs, the worth we received acold exceeded what we paid.

When the yearly interest comes owed adjacent year, we'll measure whether the card's ongoing benefits warrant keeping it. If not, we tin see downgrading to a no-annual-fee type aliases closing the account.

For our family, though, the mathematics was easy. Our Orlando picnic costs thousands of dollars, but redeeming $1,920 successful recreation rewards dramatically reduced our out-of-pocket costs.

I'll perfectly usage this strategy again earlier different large trip.