5 Top Money-Saving Travel Hacks, According to Rachel Cruze and George Kamel
Written by
Catherine Collins
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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According to the American Express 2025 Global Travel Trends Report, 74% of people plan to take between one and three domestic trips and between one and three international trips this year. However, amid the impact of inflation and rising prices, it’s become more important than ever to use travel hacks to save money on flights, hotels and experiences.
In a recent episode of the “Smart Money Happy Hour” podcast, financial experts Rachel Cruze and George Kamel gave their top tips for saving money on travel to their 140,000+ subscribers.
Cruze and Kamel are Dave Ramsey personalities, so they do not believe in using credit cards to accumulate points and miles for travel. However, they share several other alternatives people can use to save money on trips in the future.
Use Travel Aggregators
Cruze and Kamel explained that one of the first tools they use to save money when booking is a travel aggregator service. Some examples are Skyscanner and Expedia. They also mention adding browser extensions like Travel Arrow, which can help people save money or see better priced options while they’re researching flights and accommodations.
They also encouraged their viewers to use caution when purchasing tickets on third-party websites and apps. Read reviews of the services to ensure travel discount websites and services are legitimate first.
Sign Up for Loyalty Programs
Even though Cruze and Kamel don’t use credit cards themselves (or advise using them for others), they still value signing up for loyalty programs. Hotel and airline loyalty programs allow people to earn frequent flyer miles and loyalty status, while offering opportunities for status upgrades, room upgrades and more.
The experts said another hack is to choose an airline or hotel chain and remain loyal to that brand. That way, travelers can build up points faster rather than spread out loyalty rewards among several different airlines or hotel chains.
Time Flights
Many people know that traveling during the week can result in lower airline prices. There’s also another hack many people use for Southwest flights specifically: rebooking the flight and getting a credit for the difference. This requires that people monitor flight prices and rebook for lower fares. However, even saving $50 by rebooking frees up that amount of money to pay for a dinner out on a trip.
Consider Alternate Accommodations
Thinking outside the box when it comes to traveling is another good way to save money. For example, Turo is a car rental service where people offer their cars for rent directly. The prices are usually lower than those of traditional car rental services.
There are also websites where people can sign up to house sit or pet sit for others in exchange for a free stay. Vacation rentals can help people save money on going out to eat because travelers have a fully stocked kitchen to make meals. Of course, if people have friends of family members they’re visiting, staying with them is another way to cut down on travel costs.
Use a Travel Budget
By far, the best way to save money on travel is to create a travel budget and stay within it. Cruze and Kamel also recommended creating a savings fund specifically for travel . This allows people to have the money they need for their trip ahead of time, which can prevent travelers from going into debt and paying interest on their vacations.
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