3 Reasons When it Makes Sense to Pay Cash (Instead of Points🤷🏻‍♀️)

Ok, yes that may sound strange…. If I have points and miles in my diverse portfolio of accounts, WHY on earth would I pay cash? (In this post when we say cash- this refers to paying out of pocket, but of course with a credit card that gets you miles/ points😉…we only use actual cash money to buy tacos at the taco truck down the street 🌮) Let’s go over a few reasons why it might make sense to pay out of pocket instead of with points/miles on travel.

1. Road trips

Ok, this Traveling Tribu loves ❤️a good road trip. This country has some amazing national parks, scenic highways and quirky points of interest that merit loading up the car, packing some snacks, creating a playlist and hitting the road.

We also at times travel with family and since they prefer driving over flying it makes sense. Of course, if overnight stops on the road are needed, we usually use points to stay at a Hyatt or lower end Hilton or we may use a free night certificate that comes with this Marriott card. For some reason I have that old Willie Nelson tune in my mind…”on the road again”🎶☺️

2. Not a great Points price

Our points and miles are so valuable. We have worked hard to get them built up and we want optimum value for each one of them. So if you find a great cash price on a flight or room, sometimes it makes sense to pay cash 💵 and save those points for something else. At the very least, figure each point is worth a penny but we CAN and WILL get much more value out of them than 1 cent.

3. VRBO and Airb&b

Let me just say this, this girl loves a good luxury hotel. Especially when it’s free paid by points- ahhh 😌 dreaming of fluffy beds and white spa robes right now…

Anyway, there are times we opt for staying in a more practical place like a vacation home or apartment. Sometimes you just need the washer/dryer option or the full kitchen to save some cash and cook some of your meals. We love VRBO and Airb&b for these reasons and have stayed at some amazing properties throughout the years. As of yet, I haven’t found a great way to pay for these with points. Some of you have the Capital 1 Venture or Venture X card that lets you erase travel purchases and you could,  I guess, do this with VRBO and Airb&b….BUT it’s probably not getting you the best exchange rate for your most valuable points (see point 2). For us, we usually just pay cash when we book at VRBO or Airb&b and save our points for those luxury hotels…..ahhh 😌tiny shampoos and room service…..Oh no, I’m daydreaming again!

View from the balcony of our VRBO in Rome, Italy

Bottom line….Sometimes saving those valuable points/miles and paying cash makes sense. We all play this points and miles game a little differently, so as Babes always says: You do You!

Happy Travels!