How is everyone affording all of this international travel?

[Anonymous]

We are staying in our current home. We don’t have a lot of electronics and “toys”. We don’t do big gifts for birthdays and holidays. We don’t have fancy cars.

We search endlessly for the right places to stay and hidden gems that aren’t the most expensive hotel in the biggest city. When we do have airline points, we wait until they can make a dent in economy tickets instead of using them to upgrade just for fun. We like to go to local restaurants and parks etc so not every activity or meal is a big splurge.

[Anonymous]

Several things for us:
I budgeted, because of low earned income.
invested in crypto/growth stocks that blew up.
don't pay much in taxes (all in Roth, file HH)
family in EU/SA/FL
We don't have expenses most people have.
Flexible travel times lead to cheaper fare.
Stayed away from 529, 402k accounts. Money grows so much faster in other accounts, like 10X faster.
Drive cars that last at least 15-20 years. Not a car person and no commute. Most people need to own two cars at the same time period. Imagine the money saved by me and lost by them.
I can get another job within 5 minutes of losing the very part time one I have.
It's the security of money coming in, extended family helping out with kids, everyone being healthy, no chance of a job loss. Nothing left but traveling.
Kids are going to EU for Christmas and went for graduation. I'm taking a break from travel.
Absolutely not playing the credit card game. It's like picking up pennies while stepping over $.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We use points for flights for our family of 4, and charge everything to get those points (cc bill paid in full every month). Stay in AirBnBs, eat breakfast in the AirBnB, inexpensive lunches, and maybe one expensive dinner out in a week, but mostly fairly casual - we value the experiences and try to eat where the locals eat, not the touristy places

I sometimes find package deals that are less expensive, or do a Costco trip over Christmas - they are way less money.

Not understanding how the points don't run out at some point. If you get say, average 2 pts per dollar spent (amex) and a single premium economy flight is 50,000 points that's charging 25,000 for one 'free' plane ticket. Don't people using points have to get them from sign-on bonuses and constant business travel as well?

If you really play the game theres other ways- referrals, gift cards converted into points, booking flights for others, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Points for flights. We charge all our tuitions (3 in college and 1 in private high school).

You lie lie lie.

As someone with 4 kids who went to different private schools and 2 in college there is no possible way. You have to pay through a service which charges a fee by bank transfer. Unless your kids go to for profit schools - in which case you’re wasting money

I do not think they lie... I just think they make poor financial decisions. But it seems that they have excess money anyway, so probably not a big financial hit to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People can say what they want but the answers are as follows:
1) people make a lot of money
2) people go into debt

3) Parents and generational wealth is funding it
4) They have loyalty points from airlines and hotels from business travel
5) They get friends and family tickets/discounts from their relatives
6) People are frugal in other ways and spend money on travel
7) People are members of discount travel touring company and they travel off-season or when there are tour sales.
8) People are flexible about tour dates for airlines and hotels - usually retired folks or people who have flexible schedule.

That's it for us. A trip is my MIL's Christmas present for our kids most years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Points for flights. We charge all our tuitions (3 in college and 1 in private high school).

You lie lie lie.

As someone with 4 kids who went to different private schools and 2 in college there is no possible way. You have to pay through a service which charges a fee by bank transfer. Unless your kids go to for profit schools - in which case you’re wasting money

I do not think they lie... I just think they make poor financial decisions. But it seems that they have excess money anyway, so probably not a big financial hit to them.

DP

Yes, there is a CC fee. It’s somewhere between 1.5-3%.

Depending what credit card you use, the points might be worth more than the fee.

We tend to split charges between a card that generates points for an airline and another that accumulates hotel points. I haven’t paid out of pocket for a hotel in years. I also stay loyal to one hotel brand and airline when traveling for business (which is reimbursed by my employer and helps retain status).

But my biggest tip remains building trips around cheap flights, particularly when traveling abroad with kids.

[Anonymous]

I use a credit card with miles for all our spending. We spend over $100K in a year. My husband uses his work Amex to book work travel for him and colleagues. Between the two, we can book most of our international flights for almost nothing. My bonus is about $25K which usually goes towards a big trip. My husband also gets regular investment income. Between it all, there is plenty for travel for our family of 4, which we prioritize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im a single mom of 2 making $85k. My kids are 4 and 7 and they have been to 6 countries. Ive been to 25+. It's doable.

Maybe you missed the part of the OP where they asked how.

[Anonymous]

Local beach travel is so expensive now, I've started to look at international travel. It often works out cheaper or close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People can say what they want but the answers are as follows:
1) people make a lot of money
2) people go into debt

3) Parents and generational wealth is funding it
4) They have loyalty points from airlines and hotels from business travel
5) They get friends and family tickets/discounts from their relatives
6) People are frugal in other ways and spend money on travel
7) People are members of discount travel touring company and they travel off-season or when there are tour sales.
8) People are flexible about tour dates for airlines and hotels - usually retired folks or people who have flexible schedule.

That's it for us. A trip is my MIL's Christmas present for our kids most years.

Glad you are honest about it

[Anonymous]

We make a decent income and save a lot. We don't like toys and gadgets, aren't car people or anything. And we book with points or where we can find a deal flight wise. Being flexible with where we go helps a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Points for flights. We charge all our tuitions (3 in college and 1 in private high school).

You lie lie lie.

As someone with 4 kids who went to different private schools and 2 in college there is no possible way. You have to pay through a service which charges a fee by bank transfer. Unless your kids go to for profit schools - in which case you’re wasting money

I do not think they lie... I just think they make poor financial decisions. But it seems that they have excess money anyway, so probably not a big financial hit to them.

DP

Yes, there is a CC fee. It’s somewhere between 1.5-3%.

Depending what credit card you use, the points might be worth more than the fee.

Pretty rare to have a tuition payment earn any extra points, so at most you would be getting 2 cents per dollar or maybe 2.5 cents if you value the points really highly, and say Chase Freedom Unlimited get 1.5x points on everything. And the cost range is usually not 1.5-3%, it's more like 2.5-3.3%, so yes, rarely worth it- unless you are working on a credit card bonus, in which case your spending is earning a range of 10-15%. Like say you are doing an Amex bonus requiring $20k spending to earn 250k points, then it's worth it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Points for flights. We charge all our tuitions (3 in college and 1 in private high school).

You lie lie lie.

As someone with 4 kids who went to different private schools and 2 in college there is no possible way. You have to pay through a service which charges a fee by bank transfer. Unless your kids go to for profit schools - in which case you’re wasting money

I do not think they lie... I just think they make poor financial decisions. But it seems that they have excess money anyway, so probably not a big financial hit to them.

DP

Yes, there is a CC fee. It’s somewhere between 1.5-3%.

Depending what credit card you use, the points might be worth more than the fee.

Pretty rare to have a tuition payment earn any extra points, so at most you would be getting 2 cents per dollar or maybe 2.5 cents if you value the points really highly, and say Chase Freedom Unlimited get 1.5x points on everything. And the cost range is usually not 1.5-3%, it's more like 2.5-3.3%, so yes, rarely worth it- unless you are working on a credit card bonus, in which case your spending is earning a range of 10-15%. Like say you are doing an Amex bonus requiring $20k spending to earn 250k points, then it's worth it

My credit cards generate better points than Chase Freedom. Ymmv.

[Anonymous]

We make a lot of money (300k), have ample vacation days and live a relatively low-cost lifestyle, with the exception of travel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make a lot of money (300k), have ample vacation days and live a relatively low-cost lifestyle, with the exception of travel

This is us. And international travel really doesn't have to be as expensive as OP thinks it is. I just booked a flight to London for less than $500.