Credit card points and miles are great for paying for our flights and hotels. But those aren’t the only vacation costs. There are still rental cars, food, and excursions to pay for. You can certainly book rental cars through a portal and pay for some excursions with the Capital One purchase eraser. To be honest, we don’t do either of those things as we prefer to save our points for flights or hotels. But as always, you do you. We have used a couple of other helpful methods to pay for these expenses, though—bank account bonuses and Swagbucks earnings. Let’s go over these today.

 

Bank Account Bonuses

If you have some savings you could potentially move around, you can park money in a bank account for a certain period of time, and the bank will pay you a bonus to try out their bank. I have made thousands in the past by doing this. You can read an entire article about this here. It is a very simple and lucrative way to earn money for those “extras” that points can’t always cover on a trip.

I suggest finding bonuses that don’t require a direct deposit, as they are much simpler to do at first. Later on, you can decide whether it is worth the time required to change your direct deposits between banks.

My favorite way to search for available bank account bonuses is through Doctor of Credit. They list the best checking and savings account bonuses for your area (and nationwide). These are updated monthly. They even have a list of what will work for a direct deposit.

There are many that are only available for first-time customers, so there comes a time when there may not be as many to apply for. Even though I have done many, here are a few you might be interested in that are current:

KeyBank

This offer is available in AK, CO, CT, ID, IN, MA, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, PA, UT, VT, or WA. 

Wells Fargo

While I’m not eligible for this offer, as I’ve done it a couple of times before, it is an easy one.

 

 

Chase Business Account

If you have a small business (or a large one), this is a good offer if you have money you can park in an account for a few months.

 

 

Swagbucks

I have also earned thousands of dollars in gift cards with Swagbucks by trying out different services. Swagbucks also rewards new users by giving them a $10 bonus when they sign up and earn 2,500 Swagbucks within their first 60 days of joining. Once you achieve this milestone, your bonus will be awarded within one day after you qualify. You earn Swagbucks that can then be converted to Amazon gift cards, various travel gift cards, Target gift cards, or restaurant gift cards, and they can even deposited into your PayPal account.

Some of the services that I have tried and earned extra savings on (above and beyond the cost of the service) have been:

• At-home food services such as Hello Fresh, Open Chef, and Sun Basket
• Chime bank
• Albert bank
• Acorns savings
• Varo Bank

You can also earn Swagbucks by doing surveys, but I don’t bother with that.  Here is an article that talks about all the ways to earn Swagbucks. I like to look at the featured special offers to find deals. Swagbucks operates on a standard conversion rate of 100 SB = $1.00.

 

When I was looking today, I found some interesting deals:

 

 

 

 

 

Offers vary throughout the year. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they aren’t. It is important to take screenshots of the offers you use, as it doesn’t always track them well. But if you have trouble, you can contact their customer care team, and they can usually help you secure your Swagbucks.

Just like Rakuten, you can also earn cash back (although I would prefer to earn points through Rakuten), and you can get some good deals, as noted by the message that appeared when I was on today.

 

 

Bottom Line

I’ve earned money and gift cards by taking advantage of bank account bonuses, and Swagbucks offers (that then help me save on items that aren’t covered by credit card points and miles). Have you used any of these methods to earn more money for vacations?

 

Related Posts

Maximize Your Rewards: Convert Rakuten Cash Back into Bilt Points

Podcast 184. The Best Online Shopping Portals: Stop Leaving Points on the Table

Capital One Shopping: How It Works, When It Pays Off, and How To Get Better Offers