Credit Card Takes A Vacation

Whether it’s a weekend getaway or a two-week escape traveling
your favorite foreign country, getting a “designated traveler”
credit card can make life much simpler
What’s a designated traveler? It isn’t as mysterious or as
complex as it may sound and it isn’t some new kind of credit
card In fact, that’s part of the beauty as any credit card can
do the job It simply means designating one of your existing
cards or getting an additional credit card that you use strictly
for travels, no matter how short or how long, domestic or
foreign
Why do I need one? The simple answer is to separate your travel
expenses from your day-to-day credit card charges There are
many reasons for this
You can match your designated traveler credit card to your
vacation budgeting strategy People manage their credit
differently some pay off their charges every month, others
continually carry a balance, and then some use both strategies,
depending on the current situations However, when you go to
travel, you may wish to adopt a different strategy for that
trip you specifically save up for a trip to pay for it all
when it happens, but you might normally carry balances
elsewhere Or, you may normally pay your balance in full each
month, but might want to pay off your vacation over a few months
time
Along with this budgeting strategy, you can adopt the
appropriate credit card strategy If you pay your designated
traveler credit card off immediately, then you might want to use
a credit card that has great rewards or cash back, even though
it carries a much higher interest rate Likewise, if you carry a
balance on this card, obtaining the lowest interest rate may be
more important No sense paying high interest rates on the milk
and gas you bought last week on top of your vacation expenses
Match up your credit strategies to the appropriate credit cards
Everyone should audit their credit card statements when paying
their bill to make sure that all charges are accurate and
legitimate Mixing in a bunch of travel charges with all your
regular charges can make things considerably more complicated
This is especially true when you are traveling abroad where you
may not recognize the name of the business and it may be in a
different language Now add in the effects of exchange rates and
currencies to try to match up your expenses to You’ll still
need some cash when traveling abroad, but your designated
traveler can simplify money handling, limit your risk, and cut
down on currency exchange charges
So next trip, give your regular credit cards and your new
designated traveler credit card well deserved vacations

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