Make the Most of Your Travel Budget Stress Free

Planning a trip can be a stressful endeavor and budgeting is often the most stressful part. But with the proper preparation, planning your next getaway doesn't have to be that complicated.

Did you know that airfare and lodging are the two most important things when booking a trip? And if given an option 50 percent of us would choose a beach destination for a vacation

“What we are seeing is a huge demand for not only memorable experiences but customized and curated experiences,” said nationally recognized millennial money expert, Stefanie O’Connell. “We are looking at three main travel trends; immersive travel, not just going to a destination but truly immersed, having a local experience; local eating, staying like local, going to local markets. We are also having these emerging destinations that are becoming very popular so it’s beyond the big cities; it’s beyond Rome, beyond Paris but is finding these new destinations courtesy of Instagram or the internet. So Croatia in recent years has been extremely popular, Southeast Asia, South America, having experiences on those destinations. Building an entire vacation around going somewhere but what you’re going to do when you get there. That could be hiking, a wine tour, doing a Michelin Restaurant Tour of all the restaurants in certain city. These are the kind of curated experiences that are becoming increasingly popular.”

Stephanie’s Tips Include:

Budget: If we can cut cost on our trip we can reduce our stress levels when planning our trip.]

Reduce Costs: Plan trips around seeing friends and family in different states or countries.

Transportation: Use public transportation when you arrive at a certain destination.

Booking: Book during the off season. Don’t go to Europe now book in the fall or winter for off season deals. Just out Caribbean in the summer just check the weather before you go.

Rewards: Make use of any travel rewards you may have access to and not just rewards you earn through traveling but rewards earned through your day to day spending by using a travel rewards credit card for example.

Citi and American Airlines are launching the AAdvantage MileUpSM card, a new no-annual-fee credit card for consumers to turn everyday spending into exciting travel experiences.

Starting July 22, the AAdvantage MileUpSM card will offer cardmembers easier ways to earn miles, including:

• 2 AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and at grocery stores, along with 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• A limited-time offer for new cardmembers of 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles and a $50 statement credit after spending $500 in purchases within the first three months of opening an account*

Cardmembers who currently have the Citi / AAdvantage Bronze card will also begin earning 2 AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and at grocery stores, along with 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases made on or after July 22. They will receive the new AAdvantage MileUpSM card when their current Citi / AAdvantage Bronze card expires.

In addition to the new AAdvantage MileUpSM card, Citi and American have recently introduced new benefits on certain other cards to continuously ensure they are best meeting the needs of customers. As well as providing a free checked bag on domestic itineraries and preferred boarding, these existing cards now have additional unique benefits:

• Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select Card: Double miles at restaurants and at gas stations and a $100 American Airlines flight discount after spending $20,000 in purchases during the cardmembership year and after renewal of the card.
• CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Card: Many travel and business benefits, such as double miles at gas stations, on certain telecom and cable spending, car rentals, and 25 percent savings on American Airlines inflight WiFi purchases when using the car

All Citi / AAdvantage cards include 25 percent savings when using the card for food and beverage purchases on American Airlines flights, and access to purchase presale tickets and VIP experiences for thousands of events each year through Citi Private Pass.

For more information regarding the AAdvantage MileUpSM card, including benefits, terms and how to apply for the card, visit citi.com/getaway.

More About Stefanie O’Connell

Stefanie O’Connell is a nationally recognized millennial money expert and author of the book, ‘The Broke and Beautiful Life’. Dubbed 'a financial expert with a best friend's voice', Stefanie has appeared on CBS News, Fox & Friends, ABC World News and The Dr. Oz Show. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Glamour, SUCCESS magazine, Oprah Magazine and various other print and digital media outlets. Dedicated to helping millennials develop rich habits. http://www.stefanieoconnell.com/ is a destination for millennial women who want to feel as confident with their money as they do in the rest of their lives. Follow Stephanie on Instagram

About American Airlines Group

American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, whose members serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

Courtesy: Citi

Photo Courtesy: fjaka CC0 1.0 from pixabay