How You Can Stretch Your Dollar Further – Forbes Advisor

Labor Day is on the horizon, and the upcoming three-day weekend means it might be time to catch a red-eye flight.

A domestic trip gives vacationers plenty of time for a meaningful getaway, with a buffet of destinations to choose from. Best of all, airfare prices are trending down, and smart travelers can utilize travel and airline cards to accumulate rewards toward a future trip.

Low Fares, I’m There

According to AAA, domestic roundtrip flight prices are down 6% from the year prior, averaging $720 per ticket. Top destinations include New York, Atlanta, Denver and Orlando.

Travelers are also taking full advantage of lower hotel prices—down 11% from last Labor Day—and car rentals, which have dipped 3%.

AAA based its study on flight booking data from Thursday, August 28, through Monday, September 1, and compared it to booking data during the same five-day period in 2024.

For a home away from home, travelers are hitting the Pacific Northwest, with Seattle edging out Orlando as the holiday season’s top domestic destination. Coming in third is New York City, a hotspot for adventurers, followed by calmer Boston and Anchorage, Alaska.

Meanwhile, international fares have risen 8% from last year’s levels. While European cities filled out the list of top ten most popular cities, Vancouver took first place, followed by Rome, Dublin, London, Paris and Amsterdam.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Axios that it screened 17.1 million people last Labor Day weekend, with a peak of 2.91 million travelers on the busiest day, marking the busiest year to date.

This year’s traveler volume is anticipated to smash that record, as TSA projects 17.4 million travelers between Thursday, August 28, and Wednesday, September 3, including 2.91 million passengers on the busiest day.

Buckle Up, Save a Buck

For budget-conscious travelers, paying for flights with a debit card is a setback at the start line. Make your money work harder by booking travel with a credit card that earns miles or points toward future trips.

The top travel credit cards open a world of valuable incentives, like point transfers to hotel partners, built-in travel protections and the ability to purchase products and services abroad without incurring foreign transaction fees.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Whether you’re flying, taking a train or renting a car to hotspots like Seattle or Vancouver, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card helps you max stretch every dollar with multipliers like 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.

Book your travel through Chase’s portal to rack up rewards even faster, and once you’ve accumulated a stockpile of points, you can transfer them 1:1 to over a dozen travel partners for free or discounted flights and hotel stays.

Keep in mind, the Chase Sapphire Preferred charges an annual fee of $95, making a spending strategy important to squeeze out as many points as possible to make the card worthwhile.

Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card

One of the best starter travel cards on the market, the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card currently boasts a generous welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

Unlike cards like the Sapphire Preferred, which tie hefty reward multipliers to their in-house travel portal, the Autograph Journey has an open-door policy with no portal required, especially when it comes to hotel bookings.

The card earns 5 points per dollar on hotels, 4 points per dollar on airlines, 3 points per dollar on other travel and restaurants and 1 point per dollar on other purchases, making it a solid daily driver to earn travel rewards at the same $95 annual fee as the Sapphire Preferred.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

For more advanced rewards, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has become a cult-favorite among travelers thanks to its generous earning structure: 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases, 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel.

At first glance, its $395 annual fee might scare people away, but a closer look reveals a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus that can take the sting out of that fee if you travel at least once per year.

Aside from its earnings, a sizeable welcome offer is icing on the cake: 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.