Use points and miles to save money during the wedding season

A wedding can be one of the most expensive events in your lifetime. But as weddings and the celebrations leading up to them become more lavish, brides and grooms aren’t the only ones paying big bucks to celebrate their love.

Now, whether you’re attending a wedding party or simply attending as a guest, you can pay for a trip, buy new clothes to fit the wedding dress code, and of course be happy. Buy gifts for couples.

With all these components, it’s not uncommon to spend over $1,000 to be part of a wedding. If you’re on a tight budget or need to attend multiple weddings, the cost of wedding season can really hurt.

Luckily, credit card points and miles can help ease that pain.

You can often use them to help cover some of the expenses for the wedding season. Whether you’re currently in the middle of wedding season or planning for next year, follow the tips below to get the most out of that spending.

Use the right card to maximize your rewards on your daily purchases. Try it now with his TPG app for free.

use points and miles

cover travel

When traveling for a wedding, the easiest way is to use points and miles for travel. In the video below, TPG’s Madison Blancaflor helps two readers come up with multiple options for using their points and miles on their next wedding getaway.

To determine the best strategy for yourself, follow the process she explains in this video. Start by making a list of the points and miles you already have. Next, let’s take a look at the different flight and accommodation options that can help you with your wedding travel. Choose a card or a card that earns transferable points.

For example, I have a wedding in California next year. A good option for me is Chase Sapphire Reserve® I was able to transfer my 80,000 point sign-up bonus to United and Hyatt to cover a round trip flight between Nashville and San Francisco and two nights at a hotel near my wedding.

Covering these travel expenses will allow you to spend a little more money on costumes and wedding gifts, allowing you to focus on the celebration rather than worrying about the cost of travel.

gift card

Using points and miles for gift cards is usually less valuable than other options, but it’s a good way to keep costs down during the wedding season.

Redeem your points for gift cards that can be used as the wedding gift itself, or buy anything you want, like the perfect pair of shoes or coffee to fuel your shopping.

Citi ThankYou points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points offer the best gift card redemption value of 1 cent per point or more during sales. Use these points to get gift cards for Williams-Sonoma, Saks Fifth Avenue, Target, Amazon, Starbucks and more.

cash back

This is another redemption that we generally do not recommend as it is rarely as valuable as other redemption options unless the card only earns cashback rewards. However, it can be an attractive option as it’s the easiest way to cover expenses during the wedding season.

Most cards that allow you to earn transferable points allow you to redeem your points for statement credit, but some have restrictions. For cards with these restrictions, you can still redeem your points into acceptable cashback categories and use part of your budget for other wedding expenses.

If you want to use the cashback option as a strategy for budgeting for the wedding season, the best way to go is to get a cashback card that currently offers welcome bonuses.of American Express Blue Cash Preferred® Card (see Fees and Fees), Chase Freedom Flex℠ When US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card It’s a great option as it offers bonuses worth between $200 and $500. With one of these cards, you can apply bonuses to your spending and continue earning cashback on all your wedding season purchases.

Earn points and miles

If you can’t use your Points and Miles to offset your wedding trip and don’t want to redeem them for less valuable gift cards or statement credits, shift your focus to maximizing your Points and Miles and buy your card for that. Swipe. new wedding outfits and gifts

use the right card

The categories you spend in are likely not the ones that allow you to earn extra points or miles with your card, so it’s best to use a card other than your usual go-to card. The trick is to use a card with a stable and consistent rate of return. Capital One Venture Rewards credit card, Chase Freedom Unlimited® Also Citi® Double Cash Card.

Check seller offers

Check to see if the card has merchant offers that can be used for wedding season purchases. You may have skipped some offers.

Using Amex Installments on Group Purchases

If it’s part of a group purchase of some sort, such as a celebratory dinner or group gift, put the purchase on an American Express card and offer to have someone else refund it. This way, you can earn points on your entire purchase and request payments from others using Amex’s installment payment feature.

If you’ve linked your Venmo account, you can choose to have the payment returned directly to your account as a statement credit. You can also track who paid through the app. This lets you get all the points, but skips most of the hassle of collecting payments.

Conclusion

Wedding season can be expensive, but with the right credit card, you can get the most out of your expenses. Whether you choose a travel card with a welcome bonus to help you attend a wedding or focus on using the card that helps you earn the most points on your purchases, put your points and miles to good use There are some excellent options for You celebrate all seasons.