​​Travel can be one of the most empowering ways to invest in yourself — but it requires intentional planning, smart saving, and creative strategies. In this Goalchella episode, we explore how women can prioritize travel in 2026 while strengthening their financial wellness.

We discuss actionable steps to turn travel dreams into reality, from setting up dedicated travel savings accounts and budgeting for your trips, to visualizing your ideal experiences and bringing them to life through social media inspiration. Our guest shares insider tips on making travel more budget-friendly, including using credit card points, off-season travel, flight trackers, and local strategies to stretch your dollar.

We also cover favorite credit cards for women looking to maximize rewards, and the importance of understanding your finances as a tool for freedom, not stress. Whether you’re saving for a honeymoon, a backpacking adventure, or exploring new cities, this episode equips you to travel more, spend smarter, and take control of your financial wellness — so your money supports the life and adventures you truly want.

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In our twenties and thirties, I feel like the

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world sort of opens up to us.

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I know a lot of girls and guys

in general felt more freedom once

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they got their driver's license.

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They went from not.

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Having their driver's license

and relying on someone else to

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transport them to now all of a

sudden having their driver's license.

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And I know a lot of people felt that

sense of freedom with that stage of life.

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I'd say I felt that sense of freedom

when I started making more adult money

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and realized that my adult money could

actually help me to travel the world, and

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I could spend that adult money on things

like travel and exploring new countries.

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So I know a lot of girls, especially in

their twenties and thirties, who have

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maybe graduated college or grad school

and are starting that transition into.

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Real adulthood are wanting to

travel and experience new things.

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So what are some ways that we can

align our mindsets, our finances, if

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travel is a priority for us in 2026?

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Katie Kelton: Yeah, I totally agree.

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When I was young, the first thing I

wanted to do with my first paycheck

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was just like, go to Rome and go.

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To Northern Ireland,

and it is so empowering.

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But I also made some mistakes

when I did those trips.

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I spent way more than I need to.

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I, you know, I didn't know about

the resources available to me now.

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So I think a great place to

start would be to figure out.

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What kind of trip you'd like to go on?

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Because there are a million

gazillion factors to this.

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One of the biggest ones being

how much money do you wanna spend

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because, you know, the touristy

Instagram places, if you do it the

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whole way with the resort and the.

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Flight and all that, like peak

season, it's gonna be so expensive.

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So I would start by figuring out

how much money you wanna spend.

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You can figure out do I want

to be warm, do I want to hike,

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do I wanna visit a friend?

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Like there are so many

different ways to do it.

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And then of course there

are like tried and true.

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Tips for saving money, which are to

travel during the off season to do as

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the locals do, which is like taking

public transit and cooking when you can.

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And Airbnb experiences can be a

really cool way to have an experience

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without spending as much money.

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So anyway, figuring out the

kind of trip you wanna go on.

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Then what I would do is set up

a separate account and start

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putting your money in there.

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My fiance and I Airbnb a couple rooms out

of our house and we funnel all of those

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pay cuts directly into our travel account

because that's what we wanna use it for.

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If you have a side gig, maybe

you put your money in there.

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If not, you can also.

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Set up a transfer or put a certain

amount of money in there every month.

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'cause then you get to watch it grow

and you can start dreaming about

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where you're gonna go with the money

that's already in that account.

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It's also a good way to pay for the

trip with money you already have instead

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of going into debt for it, right?

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Because then you'll

end up paying interest.

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It just adds to the cost of

a trip with no value added.

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Kelsy: I don't know how prevalent the

Cheesecake Factory is around the nation

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or around the globe, but the Cheesecake

Factory menu, it's a restaurant.

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It's like so many pages and

it can be decision overload.

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And I felt the same way with travel.

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So I actually think your tip to like

actually think about the experience

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that you want because you see

these beautiful destinations and.

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A lot of the time you see the influencers

and all of these travel content

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creators going to these destinations

and you're like, I want that experience.

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And part of it, they're probably

getting paid for some of it, or they're

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getting gifted some of these stays, but

the world is so big and when I had no

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criteria on how to narrow that down, I

don't have to travel during a certain

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time of year because of kids or school.

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my job allows me to travel

during the off seasons.

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There's different parts of the world that

I wanna travel to, and I haven't been to

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so many places that it felt to me like

the Cheesecake Factory menu, where there

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were so many decisions to be made, so many

places to go, and it was overwhelming.

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So I actually think that that first tip

would've been a super helpful for me to

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be like, what experience do you want?

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Rather than just like of the shiny

things that I saw when it came to travel.

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So knowing we both have a few regrets

when it came to how we traveled early

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on, what are some of those things that

you wish you knew when it came to travel?

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Katie Kelton: When I became a credit

cards writer, ironically, I learned

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so much about how to help myself in my

personal life when it comes to taking

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advantage of like free credit card stuff.

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And I say this.

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With the caveat that you need

to be a responsible credit user,

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like don't carry a balance.

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I don't want you to ruin your credit

score for this, but for example, some of

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the best travel cards out there will give

you like 50 to a hundred thousand points

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as a welcome bonus when you get them.

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And you have to reach

them by spending like.

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$4,000 in three months, which kind of

sounds like a lot, but if you look at your

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budget, it's usually pretty achievable

or you can time it with a big purchase.

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So I use these welcome

bonuses to pay for my trips.

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And what I mean by that is,

like, for example, my fiance and

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I are planning a wedding, we're

gonna wanna go on a honeymoon.

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I just applied for one of these cards.

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I'm gonna use it to pay for some of

the down payments on my wedding stuff.

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Earn the welcome bonus,

which right now is.

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I'll even tell you it's

Capital One's Venture Card.

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They're having a boosted

welcome bonus right now.

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So you get 75,000 points and you get

a $250 Capital One travel credit.

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And when you get that by spending

$4,000 like that is gonna pay

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for our honeymoon flights.

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that will pay for one of our hotel nights.

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You know?

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And otherwise, like in my early

twenties, ironically, I had less

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money I was paying for all of this

out of pocket 'cause I didn't know.

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And so anyway, that's my advice

is to explore credit cards

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with welcome bonuses and then.

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Use a travel credit card for

all your other stuff too.

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at bank rate, I have statistically

found that people prefer cashback cards.

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I genuinely think it's

just easier to understand.

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You get this much dollar for this

much spend, but travel points actually

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tend to be worth more than cash back,

and it's so much more rewarding to

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pay for a flight than to get like.

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Money back as a statement,

credit on your card.

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So use your travel card to pay for

groceries, to pay for your essentials,

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and then you can use that stash

of points to pay for your trips.

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So that's my biggest money tip

for young people that I wish I

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had known in my early twenties.

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And other tips would be to do

things like travel during the off

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season, live like a local, save

your money and do things like that.

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Kelsy: I think that is definitely one

of the things that I did not understand

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early on, and luckily my husband

did understand that and he sort of

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forced it on me where the benefits

of credit cards and travel points and

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just like a silly little side note.

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When we first got married, he gave

me probably five or six credit

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cards and he was like, Kelsey,

I need you to use this for gas.

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I need you to use this for retail

purchases, this for groceries.

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And I was like, I need this spreadsheet.

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Why do I have to use certain

credit cards for certain things?

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And I didn't understand that he was

trying to maximize the points and the.

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Percent back that we got

with those points until

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Katie Kelton: Mm-hmm.

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Kelsy: first trip to Europe.

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And he's like, yeah, I

booked it all on points.

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It actually didn't come out of our

account and my jaw was on the floor.

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I was like, this is why it

mattered where I spent it.

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And I don't think you have

to get that intense at all.

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He just tracks it.

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And I think it helped

to have him track that.

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'cause I was completely lost.

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'cause some of it would also change

every three months where he'd be

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like, okay, now use this card for

groceries and this card for gas.

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And I was just like.

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I was laughing about it because I

didn't understand the benefits of

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it, and then when I finally saw the

payoff of we didn't have to spend on

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flights for our Europe trip exactly

as you said for your honeymoon.

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I was like, oh, this is cool.

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Like this is really awesome that our

family spending is paying for that trip.

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And He luckily has educated me on

this a little bit more, but knowing

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that if I spend a dollar here or if

cash back rate is a dollar and you

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get a dollar, but if you transfer

that to a flight or a hotel, that $1

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might turn into $3 if you use it for.

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Travel in some way.

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, So there are just some cool tips

and tricks that, that is probably

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one of my biggest regrets.

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It's not fully understanding that

whole system before, because it

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does make travel so much better.

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Katie Kelton: Yeah, I feel like my

fiance feels the same way that you felt.

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'cause I am always like, okay,

Now we're using this card.

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Or like last year I made him apply

for the Southwest credit card

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because they were giving away a

year's worth of a companion pass.

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And I was like, babe, think

of all the places we can go

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I'll fly for free so we can just.

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Pay for one flight.

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You know?

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And it's true once you get into it, it

helps if at least one person knows how

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to do it, and then the other person will

appreciate it once they realize like, oh,

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we're not actually paying for flights.

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Like it's an amazing perk.

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Kelsy: I call it free money.

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And he does not like that because he

also knows that it's a one-to-one.

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He's like, no, we could also

get this in cash, Kelsey.

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It's not technically free money, but

I still look at it as free money.

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'cause I'm like, Hey, it's not,

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Katie Kelton: Yeah.

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Kelsy: It's not coming.

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You know, I'm not having to.

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it out of the account that I

see the money, you know, and

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I, it's, it's the way that I

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Katie Kelton: Girl math

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Kelsy: I'm girl math it.

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Katie Kelton: it is free.

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Kelsy: Thank you.

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And he's, yeah, he sees it a little more

logically, which again, it helps, but

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Katie Kelton: Yeah.

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Kelsy: But it's one of those things

that I do wish I knew earlier.

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Do you have any other favorite travel

credit cards or different things if

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people wanna fly domestically versus

internationally or how they prefer

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to experience a certain destination?

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Katie Kelton: Sure.

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My favorite travel card of all time

that I use, like daily, I've already

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cashed in the welcome bonus, but

I use it for my regular spending

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is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

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It gets good rewards on everyday

stuff like dining and drug stores.

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And then I just accrue a stash of

points that I can use with Chase.

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And then I mentioned for my.

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Wedding, we're gonna use the

Capital One Venture Card.

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Another reason I like these is because

the annual fee is under a hundred dollars

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and I can justify that for an entire year

of spending and rewards Some of these

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premium cards get into like the $800.

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Speed kudos.

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If you can maximize all the perks and

rewards, that is not in my budget.

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And so I don't use those cards.

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But if you have a preferred bank,

a lot of banks offer a version of

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that mid-tier travel card, Amex,

Citi, discover look and see what's

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available, where you currently lend.

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For domestic flights.

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I also think there is a lot of merit to

airline branded cards like Southwest,

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for example, I fly Southwest a lot

'cause I live in the Southwest.

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I have the card, I like the perks.

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You get free checked bags with the card.

208

You get free wifi with the

card and you can accrue points

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for Southwest specifically.

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And there's a version of

that for most airlines.

211

You can also look, and this is

getting in the weeds here, I would

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say if the listener does not wanna

do all this, I completely understand.

213

But there are something called transfer

partners, which you alluded to earlier,

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and some airlines partner with card

issuers so that when you transfer points

215

from the card to your loyalty program with

that airline, they're actually worth more.

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So if you do have a beloved airline.

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An alternate route to getting a co-branded

card would be to check and see which

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lender they are a transfer partner with.

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That way you can earn points with

that card directly, transfer them to

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your favorite airline, and you might

get even more bang for your buck.

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Kelsy: You explained that a lot more

beautifully than I did because I was like,

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I hope people understand what I'm saying.

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But that really has been how we've

been able to maximize and get, I

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guess, more money, you know, more

girl math, more money for our money.

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I told my sister recently

about the honeymoon.

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She's also getting married this

year and looking for honeymoon.

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So I told her exactly about,

Hey, y'all should look into.

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Some of these credit cards to get some

of those welcome bonuses because you

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know, two grand here on flowers and then

you know, four grand here on catering.

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And I know some people are

probably eye-rolling at those

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prices out on both extremes.

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Like, wow, that's so cheap.

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Or, wow, that's so expensive.

234

But it's those bigger purchases, like

you said, getting that credit card

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to get those bonuses to be able to

girl math it and get free flights or.

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Hotels later on too.

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I think it's one of the, hottest travel

tips that has really helped us be

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able to travel more since we've been

married because he understood that.

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And like you said, having one

partner that understands that and

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the other one will maybe catch up

once they see the benefits from it.

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I think it'd be cool if it was

all the girls here that were like,

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no, this is how we can get, you

know, free money for our partners

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or our trips together as a couple.

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I think that's awesome.

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Katie Kelton: Totally.

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And if you're single and you just

wanna travel, like fund your life's.

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Style with points.

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I fully support that you're gonna

spend the money anyway, so you

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might as well get something for it.

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Kelsy: it.

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Well, thank you so much

for coming on and chatting.

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Travel with us.

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I think you explained things so

beautifully and I know we're only

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just scratching the surface, so if

people want more resources for travel

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and travel credit cards, I will leave

the link to Katie's articles and

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post below for you guys to go back

into and just like look and see.

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I also think this can be confusing

and some of the terminology can be

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very confusing, I actually think

AI is a really good use for this.

259

Where if you hear us say certain

phrases or certain things that you

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don't understand, I know I have done

it for financial emails that I get,

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or travel credit card emails or posts

that I get sent in my newsletter.

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I'm like, I have no idea what this means.

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Can you explain it to me

like I am in kindergarten?

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And that way they can just help you.

265

Define it.

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chat can help you understand what

we mean, even if the larger words

267

and terminology and more financial

words and terminology might not make

268

that much sense to you right now.

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So I think AI is a good use for this

too, because this really is a super key.

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travel hack that a lot

of people dunno about.

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Katie Kelton: Of course AI is also

really good at math, and if you're

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thinking about interest and you wanna

know how much you're accruing, how

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much you'll pay, how much should I be

putting in my account using interest?

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AI is way better at figuring

that out than I would ever be,

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so you can use it that way too.

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Kelsy: I love it.

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Well, thank you so much for coming

on chatting Travel with us and I hope

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you guys learned a lot from Katie.

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I'll leave again all those links

and resources below and I'll

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see you guys again in the next

episode of Wellness Big Sis the pod

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Katie Kelton: Thanks Kelsey.

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So fun.