Business Insider · 18 Oct, 09:00 · Business briefing

I've used credit card rewards to book long-haul flights and trips for 20 years. Here are my 3 best tips.

A seasoned traveller shares two decades of experience in leveraging credit card rewards to secure long-haul flights and holidays.

What it means for you ↓ Courses for this story

26%average salary uplift after a professional certificate

2.7xfaster promotion for certified professionals

71%of leaders prefer candidates who upskill continuously

20days to your first credential

The briefing

The story
in brief.

What happened, who it affects, and why it landed on our intelligence desk — in plain English, sixty seconds or less.

A seasoned traveller shares two decades of experience in leveraging credit card rewards to secure long-haul flights and holidays. The article outlines three practical strategies for maximising these benefits, focusing on effective point accumulation and redemption techniques. This advice targets individuals seeking to reduce travel expenses through financial planning rather than corporate benefits. It highlights the growing importance of personal financial literacy in managing discretionary spending. The piece serves as a practical guide for professionals who frequently travel for work or leisure, offering actionable insights into optimising everyday financial tools for significant savings on international travel arrangements.

Employer demand for Finance and Accounting skills — indexed growth since 2019
Indicative index of skill mentions in professional job postings for the field this story moves (2019 = 1)

Your move

What this means
for your career.

Every headline redistributes opportunity. Here is who this one rewards — and how to be on the right side of it.

You must treat personal finance as a core professional competency. This story highlights that financial literacy directly impacts your disposable income and lifestyle quality. Professionals who understand loyalty programmes and reward optimisation gain a tangible advantage in managing travel costs, whether for business or leisure. You should prioritise learning how to navigate financial products strategically. This skill set is increasingly valuable for roles requiring frequent travel, such as sales, consulting, or executive positions. To stay ahead, audit your current spending habits and align them with reward structures. Develop a disciplined approach to tracking points and understanding redemption values. This proactive financial management demonstrates fiscal responsibility and strategic thinking, traits highly prized by employers. Mastering these mechanics allows you to retain more wealth, enhancing your overall professional resilience and personal freedom.

For this story, the fields that convert it into pay are Finance and Accounting, Business And Management, Tourism And Hospitality and Risk Management Strategies — exactly the programmes matched below. The chart shows the indicative salary uplift certified professionals report in each of those fields; every one of them is a click away, from £79, finishing in as few as 20 days.

Indicative salary uplift in the fields matched to this story
Indicative ranges from published continuing-education salary studies, by field — each field is a recommended course below

Matched to this story

Enrol in these
to benefit.

These programmes position you for exactly this shift — online, self-paced, and finishing with a verifiable certificate you can share the day you pass.