Travel Smarter - Not Harder

Here's the basic premise: you need to spend a little bit before you leave, in order to reap rewards far beyond your initial investment.  The mindset that you must get the cheapest fare, the most bargain-basement room and the like can lead to far greater cost and frustration once you've left home.

Enjoy yourself and regain some of the glamour of a bon voyage without breaking the bank.

Three tips for today:

(1) Get a good credit card.  This means absolutely no international transaction fees and ideally a storefront presence around the world.  It's great to support your local credit union, but when your stuck in Uganda with no cash you'll be glad you keep a little something at Citibank.  Look for additional perks like lounge access, double points on the sorts of things you spend the most on (plane flights, hotels, dining out, Amazon, etc).

To my mind, at the moment, there are only two regularly accessible options, and they're competing with each other for your business:

Chase Sapphire Preferred and Amex Platinum. 

Chase is try to catch up in terms of perks and service, but I still truly wouldn't leave home without Amex.  It carries a hefty annual fee but you can easily regain this cost if you travel even the slightest bit.  You'll get $200 toward checked bags or other airlines expenses like food and club access, perks with Hertz and Starwood hotels, deals through their "luxury collection" website for nice properties like Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, and Ritz Carlton.  Amex also has offices world-wide, which have some particular advantages, especially if your card goes missing or you need cash.

Straight of Gibraltar as seen from the air.

(2) Get access to a lounge.  Even if you buy access on a per-trip basis, it can be worth every penny.  If you're stuck in summer thunderstorms in Chicago or a blizzard in Minneapolis, the agents inside the club are many, many times better, kinder and more accommodating than anyone outside in the terminal getting screamed at by half the world.  If $50 gets you home a day earlier, that's a lot cheaper than a surprise hotel room.  And you can sneak a gin and tonic or decent espresso, depending on the lounge.  You can get annual memberships through individual airlines or their partner credit cards -- and something like Amex Plat. gives you access to a wide range, except, notably, United, which has partnered exclusively with Chase.

(3) Nice hotels are nicer.  Especially if you don't travel much and have saved for that once-a-year vacation, pay another $50 or $100 a night to avoid a run down chain hotel.  You don't need to stay at the Taj -- many lovely boutique hotels have great rates and far superior service.  I like the Lenox in Boston, for instance - it has real charm, great service, and no homogoneous "you are at a Marriott and you won't forget it" feel.