How to cut your holiday travel costs with rewards credit cards | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

If you’re looking at end-of-year airfare and hotel prices and wondering how you’re going to make the numbers work, rewards credit cards can be a practical way to bring those costs back down.

According to a November 2025 article from Yahoo Finance, using credit card rewards “can significantly reduce or even eliminate the cost of your holiday airfare” when you integrate the card into your everyday spending and pay it off monthly.

At the same time, 2025’s best travel credit cards come with perks like free checked bags, airport lounge access, and built-in travel insurance that quietly cut the cost and stress of traveling at the busiest time of the year.

Bankrate’s May 2025 report on top credit card perks notes that many of the most valuable benefits are travel-specific, such as complimentary flights, free hotel nights, and statement credits that reimburse travel expenses.

When you line those perks up with your actual holiday plans, you’re no longer just “earning points;” you’re lowering real, out-of-pocket travel costs.

Using credit card rewards can help you save on airfare.

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Choose the right kind of travel card for your needs

The first decision is which type of card fits your holiday travel pattern, because that determines where your savings will show up. Kiplinger’s December 2025 “Best Travel Cards” guide breaks the market into three main buckets: general travel rewards, airline cards, and hotel cards, each designed to cut different pieces of your travel budget.

General travel cards earn flexible points you can use for flights, hotels, and rental cars through the issuer’s portal or by transferring to airline and hotel partners. If you fly different airlines or want freedom to shop around for the best deal, this flexibility is a big advantage.

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Airline cards are more focused, but they can be incredibly powerful for holiday travel when you stick with one carrier. U.S. News Money’s December 2025 travel card guide points out that many co-branded airline cards include free checked bags, priority boarding, and discounts on in-flight purchases in addition to miles.

Hotel credit cards tackle the lodging side of your holiday budget. Business Insider’s 2025 roundup of the best hotel cards notes that many come with a free annual night certificate, automatic elite status, and boosted earning on hotel stays.

The key is to pick the category that matches where you spend the most: flights, hotels, or a bit of everything.

Use welcome bonuses and everyday spending to prepay your holiday travel

Next comes the part that feels almost like a cheat code — but only if you stay disciplined.

The biggest pool of value often isn’t the ongoing rewards; it’s the welcome bonuses when you open a new card in 2025. Monefy’s 2025 comparison notes that sign-up bonuses of 50,000 to 100,000 points are common on top travel cards, sometimes after spending a few thousand dollars in the first three to six months.

Yahoo Finance’s 2025 piece on saving with holiday travel cards explains that you don’t need to change your lifestyle to hit these spending thresholds — you just move your existing bills and purchases onto the new card and set up automatic full payments.

That means groceries, gas, streaming services, utility bills, and everyday shopping can all be fuel for your holiday flight fund, as long as you keep the budget fixed.

Here’s how you can make that work in real life:

Time your card application.
Target bonus categories.
Keep your payoff plan non-negotiable.

Used this way, you’re basically prepaying a good chunk of your trip without dipping into savings.

Redeem points where they save you the most

Earning points is only half the game; you cut your holiday costs when you redeem them for the right things. Yahoo Finance suggests that you get the best value when you redeem points and miles for travel rather than gift cards or merchandise.

Start by looking at your expected holiday dates and routes. Booking award flights and hotel nights as early as possible gives you a better chance of snagging lower-priced “saver” awards before they’re snapped up by other travelers.

Kiplinger’s 2025 travel card coverage notes that flexible bank points, when transferred to airline or hotel partners, can sometimes unlock premium cabins or top-tier properties at a fraction of the cash price. That’s a particularly powerful move for peak holiday travel, when cash prices for those same seats and rooms might be out of reach.

When you’re choosing how to redeem, think like a CFO: Which option saves the most cash on expenses you’d otherwise have to pay for?

Lean on perks, not just points, to trim trip costs

A lot of cardholders underestimate how much value is hiding in their card perks. Bankrate’s 2025 “Top Credit Card Perks” report stresses that perks can be worth more in practice than the headline rewards rate. For holiday travel, some of the most important perks are free checked bags, lounge access, travel credits, and insurance.

Free checked bags are a big one. Many airline cards offer a free checked bag for the primary cardholder, as long as the ticket is paid with that card.

Airport lounge access is another underused benefit that pays off during the chaotic holiday rush. Premium and some mid-tier travel cards now include membership in lounge networks, which can mean free food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and a calmer place to wait.

Then there are travel statement credits. Ratehub’s 2025 travel card coverage, for example, describes premium cards like the American Express Platinum in Canada offering annual travel credits and dining credits worth hundreds of dollars total.

Finally, don’t ignore travel insurance. Benefits like trip delay coverage, trip cancellation insurance, and lost baggage protection usually only apply when you charge the trip to that card and meet specific terms.

Manage 0% APR and fees so your savings are real

A 0% intro APR can be a smart way to spread out holiday travel costs, but Bankrate warns that terms typically last up to about 15 months and then jump into high interest, so you need a payoff plan before the promo ends.

Treat it like a fixed payment schedule (divide what you charge by the promo months and automate payments) while also avoiding foreign transaction fees and only paying annual fees when perks and rewards clearly outweigh the cost.

What this means for your 2025 holiday budget

When you put all of this together, rewards credit cards become a tool to redesign how you pay for your 2025 holiday trip, instead of just a way to earn generic points.

By choosing the right mix of general travel, airline, and hotel cards, timing a welcome bonus or two, and steering your everyday spending through those cards while paying in full, you can walk into peak season with a stash of points ready to cover flights and nights.

Then, by redeeming those rewards for high-value travel redemptions and stacking perks like free checked bags, lounge access, travel credits, and insurance, you’re attacking the biggest line items in your holiday budget from multiple angles.

You won’t eliminate every cost, but you can meaningfully cut what you pay out of pocket.