The Best Ways to Save Money on Summer Travel

Summer travel can be a little on the pricy side, and 2026 could be a bit worse for your wallet than past years.

Regardless of how you’re traveling, costs are up. The average price of gas was $4.15 as of April 10, a 39% jump from $2.98 on Feb. 26 — two days before the Iran war began. It’s also the first time a gallon cost more than $4 since the summer of 2022. Meanwhile, airfares rose by 2.7% in March, and have climbed more than 14% since last year.

It’s unclear whether these prices will come down, so it could be a good idea to look for alternative ways to make your summer vacation more affordable. CNBC Select rounded up some top tools to help, from making sure your trip is protected to some cheaper ways to fill up your tank or snag airline tickets.

While travel insurance can be an additional cost, it could help you save in the long run if something goes awry.  

From an injury that results in canceling your trip, to an illness that requires paying for medical expenses abroad, travel insurance can help you recoup lost funds. It can also compensate you for things like lost bags, flight delays, and rental car damage.  

Oftentimes, travel insurance is relatively affordable, costing 4% to 10% of your trip’s total cost. However, each insurance company may consider your personal information, including your age and destination, differently when setting rates. Shopping around and comparing quotes from several insurers is the best way to find a good deal for you.  

We like Squaremouth for insurance comparison shopping, as it compares rates from dozens of travel insurance brands side by side after just a few clicks on the site.  

We’ve also named Faye as one of our top travel insurance companies for affordability. Its reasonable prices combined with the speedy, mobile-friendly claims process make this brand an excellent option for many travelers.  

But before you buy, check if a credit card that’s already in your wallet has travel insurance coverage. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), for example, has travel insurance that covers baggage delay, lost luggage, travel accidents, trip delays and emergency assistance. This card also comes with primary auto rental coverage.  

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card also stands out if you plan to rent a car, with coverage up to the value of any rental vehicle as long as the original manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $75,000 or less. 

If your vacation plans involve a road trip, there are ways to minimize the pain at the pump. And, even if you’re driving an electric vehicle, costs away from home are significantly higher — the average charge at home costs about $0.17 per kilowatt-hour, while public stations cost an average of $0.37 per kilowatt-hour, according to clean energy comparison site Energysage.

Doing a bit of research before you fuel up or plug in can make a big difference. For example, using an app like GasBuddy can help you easily compare prices around you and save.

Additionally, signing up for a wholesale or warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s Club could cut costs. Gas prices at these clubs can be lower than those at smaller gas stations. When combined with the store’s credit card, deals can be even more lucrative.

For example, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers 5% back on gas at the club and 4% back on other eligible gas and EV charging, along with other rewards.

Sam’s Club® Mastercard® holders can also get 5% back in Sam’s Cash on gas and EV charging, on their first $6,000 of fuel spend per year, then 1%.

If you’d prefer a credit card that offers savings across all kinds of gas or EV stations, consider the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card, as you’ll earn 5X on gas and EV stations. The rewards you earn can be redeemed for travel, gift cards or merchandise but can’t be transferred, so they stay within the PenFed ecosystem.

If you were hoping to earn more flexible rewards on your gas purchases (and don’t mind missing out on EV rewards), you might want to lean toward the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. This $95 annual fee card (see rates and fees) charges $0 for the first year and earns 3% cash back at eligible U.S. gas stations and on transit.

If your summer travel is taking you outside the U.S., Select recommends researching an electronic SIM card for your phone, or eSIM. The roaming charges you could incur if you use your regular network abroad can really add up. Instead, an eSIM lets you add a second mobile plan digitally, without swapping physical SIM cards, allowing you to use local plans, which are often significantly cheaper.

Saily, which is owned by NordVPN, offers VPNs for over 200 destinations. Plans start at $1.99 but prices vary based on country, length of stay and data requirements. Saily also supports personal hotspots on most devices, meaning you only need one plan and can share your data with your other devices.

If you tend to be on your phone a lot while traveling, either for directions or uploading all your vacation photos, you might prefer an unlimited data plan. Holafly is a great option that puts an emphasis on unlimited data plans for Mexico, Europe, Japan, China and over 160 other destinations. While these plans are typically a little more expensive than some competitors, they’re a good option for people who don’t want to constantly check how much data they’re using.

Flight deals are out there if you know how and where to search. Luckily, there are tools that make the process easy.

We like Going for its ability to send push alerts right to your phone when prices drop, letting you catch good deals before they’re gone.

And, if you have any travel points, this year’s summer trip might be the time to use them. Summer tends to be a peak time for travel, and prices can surge for these dates. But not every airline has its mileage or point system’s prices correlate with its cash prices. Some airlines still use a reward chart which set points values independently of cash prices. Using this alternative could help you find an even better deal when prices are high.

If you’re booking your travel far enough in advance, snagging some award seats — tickets booked with points or miles instead of cash — can cut your costs, but they get harder to find the closer you book to your travel date.

If you’re loyal to a certain airline, it might make sense to sign up for its credit card to snag helpful perks. The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard has a $0 annual fee for the first year (then $95), and you’ll receive your first checked bag for free on domestic American Airlines flights and enjoy preferred boarding. You’ll also earn AAdvantage® miles on all your eligible American Airlines purchases, which typically get the best value when redeemed for future flights.

Commonly, the rewards you earn from airline cards are only usable with the same airline, but if you’re looking for something more flexible, we suggest a more general travel card.

Whether you’re looking for a hotel room, vacation rental, bed-and-breakfast or anything in between, using the right tools can make booking a place to stay easy on you and your wallet.

One of our favorite places to look for a variety of accommodations is Hopper, an accredited travel agency that can help you search for hotels and home rentals, as well as flights and rental cars. Its price prediction tool, available only in the app, is based on trillions of data points and can help you book at just the right time.  

Opening a credit card with hotel rewards, or using the cards you already have, can also help you keep costs low.

With the Citi Strata Premier^® Card, you’ll earn 3X points on air travel and hotel purchases, and $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) booked through cititravel.com. The card comes with a generous welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, and the points can be transferred to 22 different hotels or airlines, giving you lots of travel options.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of personal finance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select’s in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X to stay up to date.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.