Summer vacations should be all about relaxing—not stressing over every dollar.
Whether you’re planning a road trip, beach getaway, adventure abroad or low-key staycation, these creative tips can help you make the most of your travel plans.
The best part? You don’t have to spend hours researching deals or building a budgeting spreadsheet. A few simple tools—starting with KashKick—can help you stretch your summer dollars further.
1. Snag Cheaper Flights with Smarter Flight Tracking
It’s easy to envy those travelers who somehow score $99 roundtrips to Europe only using points, but not many folks have time to master that system.
Instead, set up flight alerts to track prices. Tools like Going (which you may know by its old name, Scott’s Cheap Flights) will scan deals to more than 900 destinations—from Hawaii to Denmark to Japan.
Upgrade to a premium membership to get notified about mistake fares. (Think: An airline accidentally listed a ticket to Paris for $230.) Plus, earn you KashKick reward while you’re at it.
✈️ Travel tip: Going recommends booking domestic flights one to three months ahead of your travel. For international flights, start looking two to eight months out. As a rule of thumb, the earlier you book your travel, the more options you’ll have!
2. Stay Where the Action Is—Without Paying a Premium
After booking your flight, it’s time to find a place to stay. Our recommendation? Check Entertainment Coupons to get up to 65% off on hotels.
Entertainment is like any other site you’d use to search for hotels, but it’s been around since the ’60s and negotiates surprisingly low rates.
Beyond hotels, you can also find deals on cruises, rental cars, restaurants and more on the site.
✈️ Travel tip: Use Google Maps to create a “Want to go” list, and flag the restaurants, shops and attractions you’re eyeing. This will help you determine the most convenient area to stay—and avoid spending too much money on transit.
3. Start Stashing Away Some Fun Money (Without Thinking)
It’s hard to enjoy your trip if you’re constantly worried about spending. Even a small vacation fund can make a big difference.
Start with a micro-saving app like Acorns, which rounds up your purchases and invests the spare change. Spend $5.09 at the coffee shop? Acorns automatically invests the extra 91 cents in a diversified portfolio. The pennies add up faster than you might think!
✈️ Travel tip: Right now, when you set up daily, weekly or monthly recurring deposits after signing up for Acorns via KashKick, you can get a nice bonus reward. This is a super-simple way to kick off your vacation fund.
4. Learn a Few Key Words and Phrases to Get Around
If you’re traveling to a country where you don’t speak the language, learning a few key words and phrases can make your trip smoother.
Apps like Babbel offer bite-sized lessons, games and podcasts to help you start speaking a new language in as little as three weeks. (Perfect for procrastinators!) Plus, you’ll earn your KashKick reward when you subscribe—and another reward if you gift a subscription to a friend.
✈️ Travel tip: Google Translate is a great tool to keep in your back pocket, especially when communicating at restaurants or figuring out transportation. Google Lens is also helpful. Just point your phone over text, and the app will translate it!
5. Keep Foreign Transaction Fees Off Your Itinerary
Those sneaky 2-3% foreign transaction fees? If you aren’t paying attention, they add up fast! Before you go abroad, check whether your debit or credit cards charge them.
If they do, look for a more travel-friendly card. For example, Chime’s checking account and credit builder card both skip foreign transaction fees. Both cars are also powered by Visa, which is widely accepted outside the U.S. (Heads up: You’ll pay up to $2.50 at some ATMs if you’re taking cash out.)
✈️ Travel tip: When you sign up for Chime through KashKick and make a qualifying direct deposit, you could earn up to $355. Not a bad travel bonus, right? (Note: Offers and rates are subject to change.)
6. Don’t Skip Out on the Planning Fun (Seriously!)
Hot take: Sometimes planning is one of the best parts of traveling!
Travel influencers on Instagram and TikTok are constantly sharing their favorite eats, hidden gems and must-have souvenirs. Save or like videos so you can refer back to them later!
✈️ Travel tip: ChatGPT can help you plan travel, too. Provide details about your trip, interests, budget and more. It can even create a customized itinerary and packing list.
Safe travels this summer! Enjoy every minute (and dollar earned) of it!