How to earn a nearly free honeymoon while planning your wedding!
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EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE:
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
It’s such a magical time….planning your dream wedding. 💒😍 The cake, the dress, the venue, all the things that make that special day perfect. And of course, it all adds up. There is no denying that a wedding can be expensive, but there can be a silver lining!
What is that silver lining? A nearly free honeymoon.
And no, it’s not too good to be true! So we’re breaking down exactly how to earn the points and miles you need for your honeymoon by paying for your wedding! 👇🏼
The process
Picture this 📷 You’re booking your venue, you’ve found the perfect spot, and now it’s time to pay your deposit. You’re about to potentially spend thousands of dollars on this purchase, so what if there was a way to earn something for all those dollars?
💳 That’s where travel rewards credit cards come in.
Instead of paying that deposit in cash, you could charge that fee to a brand new credit card, and earn a huge welcome bonus!
Let’s take the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card for instance. You will earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on the card in the first 3 months of card opening. You can charge a few big wedding expenses to the card, pay them off with the money you had saved for the wedding, and then BAM.💥You’ve got over 75,000 flexible points to use for planning your dream honeymoon!
And this process can be repeated over and over to earn multiple welcome offers!
Real life example
My two good friends are getting married this year, and I told them all about the points they could earn if they were to start opening credit cards to pay for their expenses. Seriously, SO many points. So…
1️⃣ My friend opened up a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card.
2️⃣ Paid her venue deposit using the card and earned the welome offer (50,000 miles at the time).
3️⃣ She then referred her fiancé to open a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card as well and earned 20,000 bonus miles for referring him.
4️⃣ He then used his card to pay for other wedding expenses to also earn the welcome offer (another 50,000 miles).
After opening just 2 cards, they had more than enough miles to fly them somewhere round trip!
So what would my next recommenation be? I would focus on earning the points you need for your hotel stay with either cobranded cards (like Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card that specifically earns points for Hilton hotels) or a flexible point card (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card that earns fleixlbe points and can be transferred to hotels like Hyatt).
👉🏻I would recommend repeating the exact same process as above…one person opens the first credit card to earn the welcome offer. They then refer their partner to open the same card and they will earn a referral bonus while their partner also earns the welcome offer.
If you both opened the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you would have more than enough points for up to 4 nights at this luxurious all-inclusive resort in Mexico. And you would pay $0 out of pocket when you transfer your points and book through Hyatt. 😍 Dream. Come. True.
Some expenses to consider
There are so many ways to meet that minimum spending requirement, and some big ones that can take a huge chunk out of that spend right away! Consider charging things like…
💒 Venue
🍽️ Catering
👰🏻♀️ Dress and suit
🎂 Cake
💐 Flowers
🎤 Music/DJ
And anything else that you can charge to your credit card that doesn’t incur a high processing fee.
Final thoughts
Planning a wedding is such a magical time, and yes, there can be a LOT of expenses involved. But with the right travel rewards credit cards, and a solid budgeting strategy, you can easily earn the points and miles you need for a dreamy honeymoon for a fraction of the cost.
Check out a few cards I recommend starting with when it’s time to start planning (and paying for) the big day! 💍👇🏼
💳 Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
💳 Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
💳 Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
💳 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Ready to learn all the ins and outs of award travel? Then you need my FREE Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles! It will walk you through all the steps of the process, common misconceptions, rules you need to know, and how to maximize those points!
Bonus! Listen to my podcast episode…
I was a guest on the White Dress Optional podcast where we chatted about all things honeymoons and points and miles. Listen in while we chat about our best tips, upcoming trips, and how to make the most of your wedding expenses.
Side note: I cannot say thank you enough for using my links to apply! I earn a commission for those applications at no cost to you, and it helps keep all the free resources and support coming! 🩷
EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
