Travel Tips
For the best travel-related products and services, we share our travel hacks, tips and tricks to help save you money before, during, and after your trip.
Travel Insurance – For global travel medical insurance and even health insurance for digital nomads, we recommend and use Safety Wing. You can purchase travel insurance even if you're already abroad. Most health care coverage is home country specific (i.e. U.S., Canadian, UK insurance plans do not cover you when traveling outside the country), thus it's extremely important to protect yourself from out of pocket costs due to a medical emergency. We learned this the hard way which you can watch watch here. To learn more about Safety Wing and why it's the best option in the market, click here.
Travel Credit Card – For the best travel credit card, we recommend the Chase Sapphire Reserve. We use it to book free stays with reward points, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, primary car rental insurance, lounge access through Priority Pass, and to avoid foreign transaction fees just to name a few of this card’s incredible perks. To learn more or apply, use this link to get 60,000 bonus points (worth $900 according to Chase). Our calculation is twice that amount as we regularly get $.03/point when redeeming our Chase Ultimate Rewards (i.e. points) through partners.
Even though there is a hefty $550 annual fee, you receive a credit of $300 for travel (i.e. airfare, uber, etc) after payment. For the remaining $250, the card easily pays for itself. For example, free room upgrades at hotels, $50-100 hotel credits for booking through the Chase travel portal, and primary rental car insurance are just a few other benefits that we find provide additional value. Also, if you don’t have global entry yet, another card benefit covers your $100 application fee. You also earn 3x points on each dollar spent on travel, so rewards add up quickly.
When you go to redeem your points, you receive 150% credit when using the Chase travel portal or you can transfer them to numerous partner airlines and hotels. Trai's had this card since 2017, and it’s his only credit card—he's obsessed with it and encourages everyone who travels to have it in their wallet.
Pro tip – If you don't have a complimentary Priority Pass membership through a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, this benefit may be worth the annual fee alone, as we save hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year in food and beverage at airports around the world.
Hotel Discounts – Book with Hotels.com to save 10% or more on over 100,000 hotels with Member Prices. We regularly find better prices as a member and love the free room upgrades when available. Our featured hotel is Almar Luxury LGBTQ+ Resort located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.Â
Travel Deals – For deep discounts available to travel professionals and their friends and family, we love using ID90. As a bonus, if you use our referral link, you receive $10 after your first hotel booking and so do we! We love a win-win. Also, if you follow our Youtube channel, we use ID90 to book our cruises every year. The last minute discounts can be truly unbelievable.Â
Misterb&b – In cities like Chicago, Orlando, and San Diego, the gayborhood may not have many hotel options. In such cases, we look to see if any gay locals have a room for rent. With this link, you can learn more, create an account, and receive $10 for your first booking or listing a room in your home. We have made many new friends using Misterb&b as both hosts and guests.
Airbnb – When you travel, have you considered earning extra money by renting out your home? Learn more about hosting with Airbnb. Our featured Airbnb is our very own, Casa Cangrejo in Tulum, Mexico, which is now accepting reservations for up to six months in advance.Â
Travel Experiences – Discover authentic, unforgettable experiences and explore the world with Viator and Get Your Guide. We consistently use both of these tour providers in our travels, and they offer excellent customer service. Our featured adventure is an incredible hot air balloon flight over the Teotihuacán Pyramids outside Mexico City. You can book this tour with Get Your Guide.
Pro tip – When we visit a new destination, we like to see what tours are available from local providers. We suggest you sort or filter the results by rating versus recommended for you to find the best tours in the area.
Car Rental – Should your travel plans call for hiring a car, we use rentalcars.com to search the best prices among the major car rental companies. With flexible rentals, no hidden fees, and price match guarantee, we feel confident booking with them. Just make sure to book with your Chase Sapphire Reserve for extra protection like primary car rental insurance.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) – Enjoy unrestricted access worldwide, enhanced privacy, and complete security while on the go. More specifically, ExpressVPN hides your IP address and encrypts your network data so no one can see what you’re doing. One click, and you’re protected. In addition, ExpressVPN defeats content restrictions and censorship to deliver unlimited access to video, music, social media, and more, from anywhere in the world. For CNET's Best Overall VPN and our favorite for travel, we strongly recommend you add ExpressVPN to all of your devices. Learn more about ExpressVPN.Â
Travel Essentials – To keep all of your electronics charged around the world, we recommend this universal international travel power adapter. It’s the exact same one airline crew receive. To shop more of our favorite travel essentials, check out our Amazon Storefront.
Rakuten – Join for free and get cash back on everyday purchases. We are obsessed with checking Rakuten for deals before making any online purchase. As two recent examples, we received 10% cash back on our Nike.com purchases (if we have to wear clothes, Nike dry fit is our favorite) as well as huge discounts on filing our tax returns with TurboTax. Over the years, we've earned over $1,000+ in cash back, so we always double check Rakuten for offers before shopping online. If you give them a try and spend at least $30, you'll get to stack an extra 10% on top of the stated discount as extra cash back. It's another win-win as they throw us some coin as well. It's another great way to save some money for yourself and support our website and YouTube channel at no additional cost to you. Learn more about Rakuten.Â
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