#297 - Travel Rewards for Touring Musicians - a podcast by Simon Tam

Are you taking advantage of the many travel rewards available for musicians? You could be leaving a lot of benefits like free flights and hotel rooms as well as discounts off gas on the table. Today, I talk about one of the least discusses best business practices that more artists should be taking advantage of: travel rewards.

Here's the system I use: 

• Hotels.com for booking accomodations. I always them because they have the largest selection available, competitive pricing, and give you a free hotel room for every ten nights you book - that's like getting 10% off each time. Plus, you can save the nights up and have a future tour taken care of. If you sign up here, you'll get $50 off your first stay.
• I pay for all of my purchases through my Chase Sapphire Preferred card. That's because you get 2x points for all travel and dining (which is almost my entire tour) and you get some of the best and flexible travel rewards out there. If you use my referral link, you'll get 60,000 points after 90 days - which is enough for two roundtrip flights just about anywhere in the U.S.
• Frequent flyer programs for American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Delta Airlines. That's because I tend to fly those three airlines more than anyone else. In addition to getting points from my Chase card, I also accrue rewards from each of these airlines for additional free flights.
• Hotel rewards programs through Hilton, Marriott, and IHG. While you don't get credit for nights stayed unless you book directly through the hotel, you do get other perks for signing up for their free programs like free wifi and bottles of water when you check in. I've also received upgrades as well. I don't stay enough at any of these hotels so I still prefer hotels.com for the place to make my reservations.
• Get reimbursed when possible. When I fly out to events or have an agreement where organizations/promoters will take of the hotel, I always offer to make travel arrangements and get reimbursed so that I can take advantage of the rewards points available.

Great websites to review programs:

The Points Guy: The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards of 2019

US News: Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Further episodes of Music Business Hacks

Further podcasts by Simon Tam

Website of Simon Tam