All-inclusive travel: the best credit cards for a vacation in the South

When you have the opportunity to spend a week in an all-inclusive in the South, it is already very hot. What would be even better?

• eat and relax in a lounge before taking off
• be insured in case of loss of luggage
• get taken care of if a medical emergency occurs
• paid for this vacation with Reward Points from daily purchases
• earn as many reward points as possible on this trip to fund the next one!

Credit card rewards points can make your all-inclusive trip virtually free!

It’s easy to earn $1,500 in travel rewards to pay for an all-inclusive trip each year. How?

In the world of travel hacking, there is no such thing as the best credit card: you have to build your credit card wallet in order to optimize each purchased item (groceries, restaurants, gas, travel, etc.).

For example, the Desjardins Odyssey World Elite Mastercard separates reward categories in this way:

Thus, it is possible to earn the equivalent of $1,500 in BONUSDOLLARS by spending between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.

• $50,000 in the grocery category (3%)
• $100,000 in the other category (1.5%)

What to do when you don’t have a large purchase volume? You should look into credit card application bonuses to afford a vacation in the South.

In fact, it is possible to earn the equivalent of $1,500 in travel rewards for our all-inclusive trip with only $7,500 in annual expenses.

Travel point strategies that can be applied to the travel package and cash back are preferred for all-inclusive vacations.

Here is an example of a strategy

*by maximizing the minimum monthly spending requirement in the 5 points per dollar category.

This strategy accumulates $1,720 in net worth ($1,925 – $205) on $11,001 in expenses or a 15.63% return.

This all-inclusive travel credit card strategy uses three types of rewards points to help defray the costs of a Southern vacation!

Sure, this requires credit card management, but you’ll be on the beach much faster than if you waited to spend $50,000 in order to get enough points. It’s up to you to see if it’s worth it!

Finally, if you really do have $50,000+ in annual spending, why not pick up a lot more points for multiple all-inclusive trips per year?

There are many ways to pay for an all-inclusive trip with credit card travel points.

In fact, with a travel points credit card , you can use your rewards points to pay for all or part of the cost of your vacation on the beach.

Here are some examples of how travel points can be used for sun destination packages.

With the National Bank’s À la carte Rewards program, travel points can be used in two ways.

You can book an all-inclusive package with your travel points through Voyage À la Carte: 10,000 points per $100. You can top it off with money if you don’t have enough points. This is the best way to use National Bank Rewards points. Plus, your purchase will also earn you extra points!

In this example, we can see a $200 discount when using 20,000 points on the price of the all-inclusive trip for two people.

However, if you have found a cheaper all-inclusive trip on another platform, it is also possible to use your points as a statement credit.

It is also possible to use these rewards points when using a travel agency (Voyage à Rabais, Voyages Bergeron, independent agency, etc.) for the all-inclusive package!

Currently, you can benefit from an exclusive welcome offer for Milesopedia readers: 70,000 points and a free first year. That’s a $700 value for your future all-inclusive trip:

At TD, TD Rewards points are used in a similar way as National Bank on the TD platform: Expedia for TD.

Currently, the Carte Visa Infinite* TD Classe ultime Voyages^MD card has a sign-up bonus of up to 145,000 TD Rewards points! This equals $725 in travel discounts on all-inclusive Southern vacations booked through Expedia for TD!

TD Rewards points can also be applied as a statement credit if you book your all-inclusive stay in the South in any way; with a travel agency for example. The value will be slightly less.

The HSBC World Elite^® Mastercard^® is one of the best credit cards to have in your wallet for a frequent traveler.

The latter is the best credit card for saving on conversion fees. That’s a 2.5% value on your all-inclusive vacation excursion purchases!

In addition, expenses categorized as “travel” allow us to collect 6 HSBC Reward Points, which is a 3% return. After booking your all-inclusive trip, simply apply HSBC Rewards Points to the purchase to receive a statement credit: 100,000 points = $500.

Also, since it is a Mastercard, it is accepted everywhere, even at Costco!

The American Express Cobalt^® Card is one of the best credit card in Canada for earn lots of points quickly.

Indeed, its main highlight is that it earns you 5X points on everything categorized as restaurants, food deliveries and groceries. These privilege points are cash back equivalent to 5% at the grocery store.

It’s not mentioned, but grocery stores are indeed businesses that give 5X the points. Think of the gift card display in grocery stores!

It’s a great way to earn lots of points on other types of spending (Walmart, gas, clothing, SAQ, Amazon, etc.).

When used, Reward Points appear as a credit to the account on the credit card statement. The credit is applied in the same manner as a payment from you towards the account balance: 30,000 Membership Rewards points = $300.

Reward points can be used to cover the cost of the all-inclusive trip or on everyday purchases! By saving money every day, a part of the budget is freed up for vacations!

It is possible to use Aeroplan points to book a vacation package in the Carribbean. In fact, it is a travel discount that will be deducted from the final amount when booking the all-inclusive.

This way of paying is similar to using rewards points. You purchase the trip first, then apply points for a credit to the account when the expense appears on the statement.

In this example, the number of points to be redeemed is 200,000 Aeroplan points for a discount of $2,000.

Milesopedia gives a current valuation of 2.0¢ to an Aeroplan point. This is a benchmark figure when considering whether to book a flight with cash or with Aeroplan points. So according to the formula for valuation calculation:

2,000/200,000 = 1¢ per Aeroplan point

However, although the valuation is lower than what we aim for at Milesopedia, money saved is money saved on the all-inclusive trip to be used elsewhere!

All cash back credit cards are also great for saving on an all-inclusive trip to the South.

Cash back is best for those who don’t want to juggle different booking platforms.

There are also some great welcome offers going on!

At the Montreal airport, four VIP lounges are available to passengers.

• National Bank Lounge
• Salon Odyssée Desjardins
• Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
• Air France KLM lounge

For an all-inclusive trip to the South, the National Bank and Odyssey Desjardins lounges will be the easiest to access.

Simply being a National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard^® holder allows unlimited free access for the primary cardholder, one guest and two children under 12!

As for the Desjardins Odyssée lounge, the Odyssey cards provide up to 12 accesses per year.

The Air Canada Maple Leaf and Air France KLM Lounges are also open for people traveling south!

For the Air Canada Lounge, you may be able to access it by holding the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Reserve Card or the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Credit Card.

For the Air France Lounge, you could gain access by being a Platinum Cardmember^®. Or one of the credit cards offering access to the Visa Airport Companion Program lounges such as the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card or the Carte Aventura^MD CIBC Visa Infinite*.

At the Quebec City airport, which also serves several sun destinations, the only lounge is the V.I.P lounge by Club Med. There are several ways to access it, including status, business class tickets, credit cards, etc.

In short, many credit cards offer complimentary or paid access to airport lounges to start your all-inclusive trip more comfortably.

Many credit cards offer comprehensive travel insurance. So there is no need to get another one in most cases.

In fact, in case of delay or lost suitcase, you can go shopping for a new bathing suit immediately and start your vacation while waiting for your luggage.

This luggage insurance protects you if you have paid for your trip with your credit card.

Then, in case of a sudden health problem, emergency medical insurance will help take care of you! In most cases, simply being a credit card holder makes the whole family eligible for insurance.

Finally, credit card cancellation and interruption insurance offers peace of mind in the event of a problem. For example, if a segment of the flight is cancelled or delayed during your trip to the South, many additional charges incurred may be claimed from credit card insurance. Conditions vary according to each card’s insurance policy.

When you equip yourself with the best credit card according to your spending habits, it is possible to easily earn points to pay for an all-inclusive trip to the South!

Credit cards and travel points allow us to travel better and travel more!