Resources
Every tool I actually use
to travel smarter
Booking platforms, credit cards, tour operators, insurance, and travel essentials — curated from nearly 40 countries of firsthand experience.
On this page
- Credit Cards Capital One Venture X · Chase Sapphire Preferred · Amex · Hilton Honors
- Flights Google Flights · Points Path · Skyscanner
- Hotels Booking.com · Expedia · VRBO · Hotels.com
- Tours & Activities Viator · Get Your Guide · Klook
- Car Rental & Transfers AutoSlash · Kayak · Welcome Pickups
- Travel Insurance SafetyWing · World Nomads · EKTA
- Travel Essentials eSIMs · GigSky · Airalo · Amazon
- Points Tools PointsYeah · Roame · Seats.aero
- Cashback & Shopping Rakuten · Capital One Shopping
Credit cards I actually carry
These are the cards in my wallet. Every recommendation comes from personal experience — I use them for everyday spending and award bookings.
Capital One Venture X
Pays for itself with a $300 annual travel credit, 10k anniversary bonus points, and 2× on everything. Priority Pass lounge access makes this my everyday card.
- $300 annual travel credit
- 10,000 bonus points on anniversary
- 2× miles on all purchases
- Priority Pass + Capital One Lounge access
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The perfect starter card for points beginners. Reasonable annual fee, strong welcome bonus, and transfer partners like Hyatt that unlock serious value.
- Strong welcome bonus
- Transfer to 14+ airline & hotel partners
- Hyatt transfers — best hotel redemptions
- Low annual fee for what you get
Amex Blue Business Plus
No annual fee and 2× Membership Rewards on everything up to $50k/year. I keep this one to maintain my Amex points balance with zero cost.
- No annual fee
- 2× Membership Rewards on all purchases
- Keeps Amex points alive
- Transfers to 20+ airline partners
Hilton Honors Surpass (Amex)
Stacks Hilton points fast and comes with complimentary Gold status. Great for racking up free hotel stays at Hilton properties worldwide.
- Complimentary Hilton Gold status
- High earning rate on Hilton stays
- Free night reward on spending threshold
Not sure which card to get first? Take the 2-minute quiz →
Flight search & booking
I always search multiple platforms before booking a flight. Different engines surface different fares — and some are dramatically better for award searches.
Google Flights
The best starting point for any flight search. Date grids and price graphs make it easy to find the cheapest windows to fly, and you can track prices on routes you’re watching.
- Price grid — see cheapest dates at a glance
- Price tracking alerts on any route
- “Explore” map for flexible destination search
- Shows baggage fees before you click through
Points Path (Chrome Extension)
This free Chrome extension is a game-changer. It overlays your Google Flights search with the points cost from your loyalty programs — so you can see cash price vs. award price side by side without switching tabs.
- Shows award prices inside Google Flights
- Connects to your loyalty program accounts
- Instant comparison — cash vs. points cost
- Free to install and use
Skyscanner
Best for flexible searches — the “everywhere” destination and “whole month” calendar views are unmatched for finding unexpected cheap routes when your dates are open.
Search flights →Hotel booking platforms
I use all of these — they each have a different strength. Booking.com for boutique finds, Expedia for bundle deals, VRBO for families, and Hotels.com for rewards.
Booking.com
My secret weapon for finding locally-run boutique hotels and unique accommodations off the beaten track. The inventory here goes far beyond the chains — it’s where I find the places that make a trip memorable.
- Widest inventory of independent & boutique hotels
- Free cancellation on most properties
- Genius loyalty discounts
Expedia
Best for vacation bundles — flights + hotel together often beat booking separately. Always worth a quick check before confirming any trip.
Search hotels →VRBO
The best option for families or groups who want to spread out in a house or apartment. I always check VRBO when traveling with more than 2 people.
Search rentals →Hotels.com
Earn a free night for every 10 nights booked. Good for stacking rewards on top of card points, especially on shorter trips where hotel loyalty programs don’t apply.
Search hotels →Tours & experiences
I always compare both platforms before booking a tour — they carry different operators and sometimes very different itineraries for the same destination.
Viator
I’ve hand-picked the best excursions for every destination I cover. Check my shop for curated tours — from Great Barrier Reef liveaboards to Loire Valley château visits.
- Tours for every destination I’ve visited
- Verified reviews from real travelers
- Free cancellation on most bookings
Get Your Guide
Slightly different operators to Viator, which means different itineraries for the same tours. Worth comparing — sometimes one platform has a significantly better option.
- Unique operators not on Viator
- Good for skip-the-line tickets
- Strong coverage in Europe
Klook
The go-to platform for Asia and the Middle East. For destinations like Japan, Bali, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore, Klook often has better inventory and lower prices than Viator or GYG.
- Best coverage in Asia & Middle East
- Instant confirmation on most bookings
- Strong for attraction tickets and passes
Car rental & transfers
Renting a car unlocks destinations public transport can’t reach. I use comparison sites to find the best rate, then book directly when the price is right.
AutoSlash
The smartest car rental tool I’ve found. Book a rental, give AutoSlash your confirmation number, and it automatically re-books you at a lower rate whenever prices drop — all the way up to your pickup date.
- Automatically re-books at lower prices
- Works with your existing reservation
- Completely free to use
Kayak Car Rental
Compares rates across all major rental companies in one search. Great for getting a benchmark price before booking direct or through AutoSlash.
Compare rates →Welcome Pickups (Airport Transfers)
Pre-booked airport transfers with a fixed price, flight tracking, and English-speaking drivers. Especially worth it for late arrivals or unfamiliar cities. Available in 100+ destinations.
Book a transfer →Travel insurance —
non-negotiable
I learned this the hard way. Medical costs abroad, cancelled flights, and lost luggage can cost thousands. Travel insurance is the one thing I never leave home without.
SafetyWing
Best for long-term travelers and digital nomads. Monthly subscription model — you can start and stop coverage around your trips. Affordable and comprehensive.
Get a quote →World Nomads
My go-to for adventure travel — covers activities like diving, hiking, and surfing that standard policies exclude. Strong medical coverage and easy claims process.
Get a quote →EKTA
Solid trip cancellation and interruption coverage at competitive rates. Good option for family trips where the financial stakes of cancellation are higher.
Get a quote →Note: some premium travel credit cards include travel insurance — check your card benefits before buying a separate policy.
Travel essentials I actually pack
Gear I’ve tested across 40 countries. No sponsored picks — everything here I either own or have personally used on a trip.
13 Best Gifts for Solo Female Travelers
My curated list of the most useful travel products — doubles as a packing guide for anyone heading out solo. Everything on this list has been tested in the field.
Read the guide →eSIMs — Airalo & GigSky
I switched from local SIMs to eSIMs and never looked back. Before you buy one though — check your credit card benefits. Several Visa cards (including some Chase and Capital One cards) include a few free GBs of international data through GigSky automatically. Check your card perks first.
- GigSky — often free with premium Visa cards
- Airalo — best rates for 200+ countries
- Activate before you land, no airport queues
- Buy only what you need, avoid roaming charges
Amazon Travel Finds
Packing cubes, adapters, noise-cancelling headphones, compression bags — the unglamorous stuff that makes long trips dramatically more comfortable.
Shop travel gear →Tools for finding award flights
Finding award availability is the hardest part of points travel. These three tools make it dramatically easier — each has a slightly different strength, and together they cover almost everything.
PointsYeah
My go-to for searching award availability across multiple airline programs at once. Instead of checking each airline separately, PointsYeah shows you what’s available across programs in a single search — and highlights the best redemption value.
- Multi-program search in one place
- Shows points cost across loyalty programs
- Highlights best value redemptions
- Great for finding business class availability
Roame
Excellent for flexible searches — tell Roame your origin, your points balance, and where you want to go (or let it suggest destinations), and it maps out what’s achievable. Brilliant for inspiration when you have points and aren’t locked to a destination yet.
- Destination discovery based on your points
- Visual map of reachable destinations
- Shows realistic award options, not just cash
Seats.aero
The best tool for tracking business and first class award space. Seats.aero continuously monitors partner award availability across programs and sends alerts when seats open up — especially useful for hard-to-find premium cabin redemptions.
- Real-time award availability monitoring
- Alerts when seats open on your route
- Best for premium cabin searches
- Covers partner award space other tools miss
How I use them together: Roame for inspiration → PointsYeah to confirm availability → Seats.aero to set an alert if the seats aren’t open yet.
Cashback & shopping portals
One of the easiest ways to earn extra points is through shopping portals — shop online the same way you normally would, but click through a portal first and earn points or cash back on top of your credit card rewards.
Rakuten
My favorite shopping portal because you can elect to receive your earnings as Amex Membership Rewards points instead of cash — at a 1:1 rate. Shop at 3,500+ stores, click through Rakuten first, and stack rewards on top of your credit card points. The browser extension makes it automatic.
- Earn Amex Membership Rewards points on online purchases
- 3,500+ stores including travel brands
- Free Chrome extension adds cashback automatically
- Stack with credit card points for double earning
Capital One Shopping
A free browser extension from Capital One that automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout, and compares prices across retailers. Even if you don’t have a Capital One card it’s useful — but Venture X cardholders earn extra rewards through it.
- Auto-applies coupons at checkout
- Price comparison across retailers
- Earn Capital One credits on purchases
- Free to use for anyone
Pro tip: use Rakuten for your Amex cards and Capital One Shopping for your Venture X. Run both extensions and let them work together — they don’t conflict.