I’ve worked overtime trying to become a hardworking businesswoman, but in my time off, I find myself scrolling for hours on Instagram. And what I see is this: friends sipping limoncello in Italy, solo travelers hiking the Appalachian Trail, and views of the Eiffel Tower from moving trains. For a while, I found myself racking my brain as to how this was possible! I mean, being a student is a full-time job between time management and finances. How have all of my peers made travel during college possible?
But after considering my current challenges some more, I knew I’d have to get creative. After years of research and “on-site learning”, I discovered a couple of nifty tricks that have helped me travel freely (almost). So, I can’t speak for everyone on my lengthy Instagram feed, and everyone’s personal and financial situations are different, but I can tell you my personal experience with making traveling during college possible.
Traveling in the off-season didn’t give me the dreamy beach vacation I wanted, but it did offer so many other great benefits. Not only did my wallet thank me, but so did my schedule. If you travel to Spain during peak season, you can expect to pay around $1,200 for a plane ticket. I traveled to Spain the second week of December instead, and paid only $500 ($300 technically, but I’ll get to that later). No, I couldn’t go tanning at the beach, but what I found was that my time and my money were far better spent. Rather than wasting time waiting in lines, or spending money on overpriced food and admissions tickets, I checked every single touristy sight off my bucket list, and still had money for yummy foods and drinks.
I also went to New York City the second week of January (frigidly cold) but worth every layer of coats! I could freely waltz around Times Square pretending I was Carrie Bradshaw. It’s also important to remember, that despite facing frigid temperatures, experiencing the holidays in places around the world is an adventure in itself. Who doesn’t want to sip on warm spiced sangria on a rooftop in Barcelona? I’ll take the cold temps for the magical holidays.
Let me explain how I traveled to Spain for only $300…this was made possible using credit card points. I learned that credit card companies can often offer some really unbeatable deals. They typically offer X amount of points if you spend X amount of dollars in X amount of time. One of my cards offered a spend bonus that would cover almost half of my flight after spending $500. So I booked my $500 plane ticket, received my miles, and used those miles to pay myself back, leaving me with a grand total of $300 paid out of pocket to fly roundtrip to Spain. Wow.
Throughout my time in college, I have covered a four-night stay in Las Vegas on the strip, a five-night stay in New York City next to Times Square, countless two-night stays road tripping around Florida, and one round-trip plane ticket to Spain all with points. I’ve currently saved up enough points to fully cover two round trip plane tickets and hotel costs for twelve days in Europe in May 2026. Most cards I’ve used also came with extra perks like an annual hotel credit, faster security lines at airports, and lounge access, which made traveling much more comfortable for me.
I’ve had to learn a lot about using credit cards in this way. It was really important to me that I was still being responsible financially, and there are certainly “rules” I’ve learned to follow so as to manage every aspect of this hack. Here are the personal boundaries I set for myself so I don’t overspend or hurt my credit.
I always wait at least 3 months between the time I get my most recent credit card to apply for a new one. Otherwise I will hurt my credit score. I also make sure I can meet the minimum spend. I don’t spend the money just so I can receive the points. I only get cards with a minimum spend that’s equal to what I already spend on a monthly basis. That being said, it is one of the most overlooked and best hacks I’ve learned to help me travel for (almost) free.
So, there it is! My deepest secrets divulged. As someone who has a passion for learning new things and experiencing new cultures, travel is a very important aspect of my life. It’s been hard figuring out how to balance that with the requirements of being a full time student. I really had to think outside of the box and do some serious research to learn these “hacks.” But the time and the research has been far worth the payoff.