One of the largest hurdles of travelling that I have heard is not being able to afford the flights. In my last blog post on finding budget flights, I discussed how they were often the most expensive part of a trip. But what if you were able to mitigate this part entirely?

I first heard about travel credit cards when I was in my teens, as my mom always used one to be able to take us on cool trips that a family of 4 parented by teachers likely would not have been able to afford. From there, I began my deep-dive into watching youtube videos, listening to podcasts, and comparing and contrasting cards on an excel sheet. There are some beneficial aspects of travel cards that I will outline below:

Companion Fares

Many credit cards have this cool feature where if you buy one flight, you get another for a discounted cost. The Westjet RBC World Elite Mastercard has a companion fare for $119. So if you buy a flight, you can buy another seat on the same trajectory for $119, no matter how much the original flight was.

Travel Points

The biggest highlight of travel credit cards is that you receive points you can use on travel (whether that is flights, hotels, rental cars, or sometimes experiences). Most cards have a welcome bonus of points that you receive when you open the card and spend a certain amount of money. This Website is super cool as it outlines a bunch of Canadian credit cards (and I specify Canadian because there are sometimes better options from other countries but they are unavailable if you are solely a Canadian citizen) and how much you save by opening one and using it to the most of its capabilities within the first year.

Other Features

Travel credit cards often have other features, such as access to lounge passes, waived foreign fees when making transactions in other countries, priority check in and boarding, or free checked bags. Every traveller is going to have different preferences on what they are wanting as a perk and it is important to find the one that works the best for you. This Blog outlines 3 of their favourite Canadian cards with reasons on why they like them so much.

If you are wanting a credit card that will make travel more accessible, cheaper, and easier, make sure you do your research and find the one that works the best for you and your style. It can be tedious, but it is worth it in the long run.