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How you can use your credit card to save towards your dream holiday

Published on November 27th, 2020
  Written by 
Bill Tsouvalas
Bill Tsouvalas is the managing director and a key company spokesperson at Savvy. As a personal finance expert, he often shares his insights on a range of topics, being featured on leading news outlets including News Corp publications such as the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, Fairfax Media publications such as the Australian Financial Review, the Seven Network and more. Bill has over 15 years of experience working in the finance industry and founded Savvy in 2010 with a vision to provide affordable and accessible finance options to all Australians. He has built Savvy from a small asset finance brokerage into a financial comparison website which now attracts close to 2 million Aussies per year and was included in the BRW’s Fast 100 in 2015 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. He’s passionate about helping Australians make financially savvy decisions and reviews content across the brand to ensure its accuracy. You can follow Bill on LinkedIn.
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Plan the perfect holiday by using your credit card to save you enough money to hang ten. Aussies love to holiday, but how do we go big without breaking the bank and spending yet another vacation at home? These five credit card tips will be the first step to pave the way for a holiday that you will enjoy without the financial woe.

Set a target for your holiday

If you want things to turn south very quickly while on holiday, go to a destination where you have no budget. Although the main point is to kick off your shoes and relax your mind, you will need to have a strict budget so that you won’t return with a holiday debt. 85% of Australians already have a holiday budget set in place. Draw up a realistic budget of how much it will cost you.

To make your budget more affect with your credit card you can use your credit card rewards to ease the expenses. The special concierge feature that some credit cards have can come in handy at this point in time.

Use your swipe wisely

If you have chosen a credit card that comes with sweet deals on rewards it can do a world of good. It is easy to put small purchases on a card while on holiday. These can quickly add up to a holiday debt that will be hard to manage. To ease the strain on your card it is best to open a savings account that you can pull from when purchasing things on holiday. ASIC revealed that 53% of Australians opened a savings account to save up towards their holiday. The average target for a saving account was $11,234. You can reserve your credit card to make important purchases, instead of adding small purchases to it.

Credit card reward features that will be your saving grace

How would you like to catch a free flight or receive enough points to let you use towards hotel bookings and more? This is what credit card rewards can do for you, and no one can resist a good freebie. You can make the most on your holiday trip by selecting a credit card that has the best rewards and features that are suited towards the type of spender you are. Compare the best credit cards online to find one that works for you. Of course, you don’t want to select a card simply for its rewards as this can dig a hole of debt, but you want something that will work for you.

0% purchase credit card

If you are looking for a card that won’t pile up the interest rate after your holiday, then a 0% purchase credit card could be the card for you. When going through your list of things that you need to budget for you will soon realise that the cost can add up. A 0% purchase credit card can help you cover your costs before you go on holiday, especially if there are household expenses you need to deal with. You can make use of the 0% promotional interest rate for the set period to pay off the balance in full before the high interest rates kick in.

Travel insurance that gives peace of mind

You can cancel out the stress of finding travel insurance to cover you on your trip when those “should anything happen” moments come by. Many credit cards offer complimentary travel insurance if you spend a percentage of travel costs through their card. These features vary from bank to bank, it is important that you ask how you can activate your travel insurance before leaving for your trip. Some credit card lenders don’t require that you spend a specific sum but require that you activate this feature by going through NetBank before you leave.

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This guide provides general information and does not consider your individual needs, finances or objectives. We do not make any recommendation or suggestion about which product is best for you based on your specific situation and we do not compare all companies in the market, or all products offered by all companies. It’s always important to consider whether professional financial, legal or taxation advice is appropriate for you before choosing or purchasing a financial product.

The content on our website is produced by experts in the field of finance and reviewed as part of our editorial guidelines. We endeavour to keep all information across our site updated with accurate information.

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