Tip: How To Use Your Credit Card To Save Money While Traveling

We’re always looking for ways to get the best deal while on holiday. Regardless of whether it’s a road trip weekend or a month-long holiday in an exotic city.

That’s the big question, how can I save money while traveling? Every little bit saved could mean a little less belt tightening to afford that holiday, or even be used to extend the trip.

You might not expect it,but having a Petrol cashback credit card can play a huge role in planning your trip. The CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit card offers many benefits for travelers; be it for local holidays or spending time abroad.

1. Save money on fuel with cashback

There are a lot of options out there than can help you save money. Most cards now offer some sort of reward points system; especially for petrol. This is tempting, but it’s better to pick a card that offers the highest possible cashback. That way, you get to put cash back into your wallet, instead of waiting to accumulate points and redeem gifts you might not even want.

Let us show you why a cashback card is a better choice than cards that use the points system :

Cash Value by Points – Card X
For every RM100 spent at PETRONAS	800 points
Conversion rate for 500 points	RM1
Total value for 800 points	RM1.60

Not only is that amount low, you probably need to accumulate double or triple the points before you can redeem anything.

What about cashback?

Cash Value by Cashback – CIMB PETRONAS Platinum
For every RM100 spent at PETRONAS	Up to 7% cash rebate
Total rebate value* for RM100	Up to RM7

CIMB offers up to 7% cash rebate on transactions charged at PETRONAS everyday via CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit cards. Which means you get up to RM7 back for every RM100 spent, which has a higher value than the points system (even if the rewards points can be redeemed for petrol).

* The rebate value is capped at RM50 per month, and requires a monthly statement balance of at least RM3,000. it’s applicable to purchases at any time (and not only on weekends) and is still better than what you get from reward points.

This is great for road trips where you’ll be filling up on petrol several times. If you’re careful about where you’re going, that RM50 could be a lot of souvenirs for your friends and family back home (or a nice dinner for yourself!).

2. Enjoy cashback when you shop, too

Shopping is a fact of every holiday, even if you don’t plan to buy anything at your destination. Luggage, appropriate clothes, snacks, you end up spending a lot of money long before you set foot on that plane.

The CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit card offers unlimited, uncapped cash rebates on retail spend. This rebate is often around the 0.2% and is just enough to take the sting out of preparing for your trip. And did we mention there is no capping? 😉

In fact, this feature is a reason why you could always try to use your credit card whenever possible. It takes quite a bit of shopping to see proper savings, so there’s no reason to keep swiping at every opportunity.

3. Deals to stretch that budget

Credit cards tend to offer deals and discounts on selected purchases to encourage people to make purchases. These usually run from between 10-20% off the bill at restaurants or for groceries; depending on the intended audience for the card.

As such, the CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit card offers a range of travel related deals such as discounts on hotels, golfing, and even pocket WiFi rental.

For the auto enthusiasts looking for a ride upgrade, there is also a host of exclusive deals for polish, tinting or car battery replacement at CARS International, Raytech tinting and Sonic Battery.

Check out deals.cimb.com for more than 4,000 participating partner outlets across ASEAN.

4. Travel in peace

Since we’re using the CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit card as an example, it helps to point out that this card also provides up to RM1 million in travel insurance/takaful coverage.

This includes minor things like your luggage going missing or flight delays, but also includes unfortunate accidents like accidental deaths or dismemberment.

Travel insurance/takaful is one of those things that people don’t think they need until they need it. Kind of like having a toolbox at home.

The only thing to remember is that you’ll need to charge your flight tickets to your CIMB PETRONAS Platinum credit card to get the benefits. Also, this only applies to flight tickets. So you won’t get the benefits while using other modes of transport like trains buses. All we’re saying is that you should plan accordingly.

Save with CIMB and PETRONAS

The idea of being on holiday is that you’re out to relax and enjoy yourself. Having a little extra to spend goes a long way to that goal.

After all, frequent travelers know that they need credit cards while overseas. ATM charges get pretty exorbitant, and you really need a card for emergencies. So why not get your hands on something that will also save you a little money on the side?