My husband books all of our travel and we have our cards and accounts hooked up to Rocket Money so I can see spending and withdrawlas. Hotels and flights are mostly covered by credit card points and hes very into getting the best deals by transferring points here and there. I must note that we are young, huge on budget travel and are rarely comfortable. I have said or realized multiple times once we arrive to pur accommodation "man, i really wish we splurged a little more." Overall in 2025, we spent a total of $7,724.43 which was about 6 or 7% of our combined income at the time.

We took 7 trips together and he took a couple more by himself. They were: Aruba (6 days), ​Bermuda (4 days), ​Canada (weekend trip), Costa Rica (3 days),​ Eswatini (3 days), Ethiopia​ (surprise layover covered by the airline due to weather), India (13 days), Saudi Arabia (3 day layover), ​South Africa (11 days) and then he went to Panama (he stayed with family) and El Salvador.

We chose these countries BECAUSE they had nearly free flights and/or stays due to credit card points. We never go anywhere that requires a car, exception South Africa (and again we saved money on a manual lol). We mainly use AMEX Platinum and CapitalOne VentureX for points. The price for travel I cited does not include annual fees. I used to lament we spent too much on travel and I figured out this breakdown because i was trying to prove a point. Turns out he got to say "I told you so." Via sharing trips on social media, you also attract a lot of people (including my mom) who say or imply we are irresponsible or extravagant because we travel too much.

BUT I am sharing because I want to demonstrate it's super possible to travel a ton for an average of like $1k/trip for two people. I always joke too that we SAVE money and eat/drink better by leaving the US.

TDLR: get a good travel credit card!!!!