Am I a Finance Bro?

As a follow-up to the last post, we thought it would be good to go into a little more detail about the financial side of planning for the trip. Even if you’re not going out of the country for a super long time, I think a lot of this stuff could be really helpful anyway!

First off, one thing that’s always a bummer is getting cash wherever you are. ATM fees are awful, and currency exchange places are guaranteed to rip you off. If your exchange rate isn’t good, then it’s even worse! Luckily, the US dollar is pretty strong right now. I have no idea why, and I don’t plan on learning. Please don’t tell me. My hope is that if I ignore it, it will continue to go my way! 

REGARDLESS, there’s a great way to eliminate international ATM fees completely: a Charles Schwab “high yield investor checking” account. It’s just a checking account via Schwab. No investing is required to open an account. The important thing is that they have UNLIMITED rebates on ATM fees worldwide, no fees or account minimums, and no foreign transaction fees. So they don’t charge you anything to open it, and you can get your money from an ATM without worrying about paying extra for it. Does it sound too good to be true? Then you’re too pessimistic, because Charles has done it again, baby. Honestly the experience was really easy, and I’ve found their customer service to be quite good. I’m not even getting paid to say this! (Although it would be nice… come on Charles, I know you’re loaded…) 

The next thing I would recommend for just about anybody is to have a travel credit card. There is tons of information about this available, so if you’re interested I would look at “The Points Guy” or “Nerd Wallet” if you really want to dig in. This will be a brief overview of the cards that we went with: Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve. 

VENTURE X

I’ve been banking with Capital One for a while, so when I saw that the Venture X card came highly recommended, I was basically sold already. Despite my obvious confirmation bias, I really think it’s paid off pretty well so far. In order to earn their introductory offer, you have to spend $4,000 in three months. That wasn’t too much of a stretch for us, since we timed it with some bigger ticket items we had to purchase. Right now you get 75,000 bonus miles which can be redeemed for up to $525 if you’re using it for travel (easy on an international flight). 

Besides that, Capital One has a pretty decent online portal to book flights (powered by Hopper), hotels, and rental cars. If you use their portal, you get 10x points on hotels and car rentals, and 5x points on flights. We’ve used their portal for quite a bit of stuff and I think it’s convenient and easy to use. HOWEVER, they don’t always have the best prices. Often it’s close, but if you really want the best deal on something like a rental car, you should really look around a bit more rather than be too focused on getting that 10x points back. 

CHASE SAPPHIRE RESERVE

Shriya was already banking with Chase so… you know where this is going! From what I can understand, Chase is a little more established in the travel card sector compared to Capital One, so they have some unique benefits of their own. Chase will give you 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, so it’s just a bit less than Capital One. They also give you 10x points on hotels and rental cars, and 3x points on all other travel and dining (which Venture X does not)! When you don’t have access to your own kitchen, that 3x points on dining will definitely add up.

The other advantage with Chase is that you don’t have to go through their portal to get points for travel-related stuff. There are still benefits to that, but it isn’t necessary. Chase will automatically categorize your purchases and give you credit for what you spend. Despite the fact that I like Capital One’s portal, I think this is a much more convenient setup. 

BOTH CARDS

Both Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve have annual fees, but they’re definitely offset by what you can get based on the welcome offer alone. I haven’t used it yet, but both cards also give you a free membership to Priority Pass (access to hundreds of airport lounges and discounts), $100 credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry applications, up to $300 in annual statement credits for travel-related purchases, and a bunch of other miscellaneous deals based on their partners. 

Also guys, these cards are THICK and metallic which I found quite exciting. Not only is it way easier to feel important when you hand it to somebody, but just a couple taps on the bar with that titanium rectangle, and you’re going to get attention. Trust me. (Also everyone will hate you, but that’s their problem, right? Why are they so insecure?)

Long story short, I would recommend a travel credit card even if you’re only going to take one trip in the next couple years. There’s just a lot to gain for spending that you’re probably going to do anyway. 

OTHER TIPS?

Got any hot finance tips for us to save money on the road? We would greatly appreciate it! Or just say hi!

Shriya & Peter