How to Turn House Projects Into Vacations

Sooo I’ll be real with ya: being part of a travel company when you're in a "get everything done on your house" season of life can be a bit of a bummer sometimes.

Mike's off in a new country every other week, McKay is off to somewhere fun several times a month, Katie's currently in the Alps, and I'm over here using my PTO to demolish walls in my fixer-upper. 😮‍💨 

My coping mechanism amidst the chaos is turning necessary house purchases into little treats. And by little treats, I mean future trips.

So today, let's talk about how to turn those house projects into your next vacation.

The main name of the game? Timing welcome bonuses with big purchases (no surprise there).

Some recent little treats included:     

• New furnace = 5 nights in a 4-star hotel in Madrid, thanks to a past welcome offer on The World of Hyatt Credit Card

• Construction materials = flights to France and 4 nights at a 4-star hotel in Paris, thanks to a welcome offer on the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (which happens to have an elevated offer again)

• Kitchen cabinets = tbd, but I plan on turning the bonus I just earned on the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card into free nights on a future trip to Ireland.

You get the idea.

Best Cards to Use for Home Improvement Purchases

Earning a welcome offer is the best way to put these higher-ticket purchases to work. But for ongoing expenses, I’d recommend:

• Cards that earn 2x on everything (like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, or the Bilt Palladium Card)

• If you prefer a Chase card or no annual fee, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5% cash back on everything (it’s the one I use for purchases on my unit)

• Any card with a 0% intro APR – great for spreading out hefty spending over time, just make sure you’ve fully paid off the balance before the promo period ends

If you have a multi-unit property (like I do), you can unlock the world of business cards and their (often higher) welcome offers. (And if you don’t think you’re eligible for a business card… you might be surprised to learn who can qualify).

Here are two to check out:

• The new Capital One Venture Businesslets you earn 2x miles on everything for a low annual fee of just Annual Fee: $95

• The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has no annual fee and earns 1.5% cash back on everything (and is the one I use for spending on my rental unit)

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has a hefty annual fee but earns 2x on purchases at U.S. construction material & hardware suppliers

Of course, because this is Daily Drop, we’re not gonna stop at which cards to use. We’re gonna stack, baby. 🥞

Stack the Shop

Your first step is to check your go-to shopping portals for any increased multipliers you can tap into.

Currently, Rove Miles has the best offer for big-box home improvement purchases:

Rakuten had a few offers too, depending on your preferred retailers:  

If your card’s bank has a shopping portal (most do), check it to see what might be available.

For example, I saw this in Chase’s shopping portal:

Then there are airline-specific shopping portals, so if you’re trying to load up on a certain airline’s points, check your fav.

And don’t forget your bank’s merchant offers, too.

You’d be surprised at how many extra points you can rack up this way. 🫰

To Gift Card or Not?

I do quickly want to mention that you could also buy gift cards to home improvement stores at other retailers (like grocery stores or office supply stores), if you hold a card that gives you an added multiplier on that, like the American Express® Gold Card (4x at U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1x after) or the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at office supply stores, internet, cable, and phone services).

Just be aware that if you’re using a gift card, you’re forgoing purchase protections offered by credit cards.

I prefer to use my cards directly to make sure I’m covered (especially for larger purchases like appliances). I’m fine with leaving some points on the table to do that. But you do you, boo! 😙

Let’s Talk About Contractors

If you’ve gotten this far, you might already be thinking: “But my contractor won’t accept credit cards!” Yes, that’s usually true. The secret hack I’ve found for that is to DIY myself into oblivion, but I don’t recommend that for sanity reasons. 🤪

You could potentially pay contractors with a credit card through PayPal or Plastiq for a fee (usually around 3%), but imho this is only worth it if you’re working towards a welcome offer.

If you’re not, ask if you can put any supply orders on your card rather than them rolling it all into one big invoice at the end. You still will likely need to pay for labor separately, but at least you’re earning points on some of it! 👌

Last thing I’ll leave you with: if you’re blessed to live in a house that doesn’t give you a jump scare every time you enter a room, you can still use these strategies for loving up on the place you live.

New sectional? Welcome offer. Buying some new rugs? Shopping portal it up.

You get the idea. The point is to maximize the purchases you’re already making… and if you own a home, you’re probably already spending a fair bit on it. 🙊