5 ways my hotel credit cards help me travel in luxury

For me, the best part of traveling with points and miles is the planning. I love choosing a place I want to go and then carefully selecting cards with rewards that can take me there.

It's the scourge of travellers who fly long haul for business and pleasure alike, but jet lag is an inevitability for many.

I often have sticker shock when booking flights and hotels. Even so, I select the best option and book a rate that offers free cancellation.

Thousands of hotel workers went on strike across major U.S. cities between Sunday and Tuesday. The 21 strikes, organized by the Unite Here union, targeted properties branded by the major hotel groups Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Accor.

Few industries were disrupted as drastically by the Covid pandemic as the hospitality sector. Now, as travel has bounced back to prepandemic highs and Covid precautions have fallen by the wayside, thousands of hotel workers say they are still suffering from the lower wages and higher workloads that the pandemic period ushered in.

Regardless of how much someone is enjoying their vacation, it’s common for travelers to yearn for home at some point while out of town, especially the comfort of their own beds. It’s a sentiment I can usually relate to, but when my husband and I returned from our recent two-month honeymoon, I found myself excited to be back, yet less than thrilled about the bedroom that awaited us.

London is in its global hotel brand era: In the last year, it’s added a Raffles, a Peninsula and a second Mandarin Oriental; a Waldorf Astoria, a St. Regis and a Six Senses are on their way. This new guard is taking over historical icons and throwing up gleaming towers, and it’s upping the ante on amenities, too. A posh afternoon tea is no longer enough, it seems; now, five-stars come with signature scents, subterranean spas, museum-worthy art and long-stay residences. Rooftop bars, a rarity here a decade ago, are now seemingly obligatory (Bar 33 at the Emory wins for views, with everything from Big Ben to Battersea Power Station in its sights). But there’s still room for the occasional independent hotel, like the Broadwick, a maximalist love letter to the owner Noel Hayden’s hotelier parents and the creative Soho of the ’90s in which he came of age. “It’s a bit of a sensory overload,” Hayden says. Naturally, there’s a rooftop bar there, too.

I'm a big proponent of creating a spending strategy when applying for a new credit card. That way, I never miss out on a welcome bonus and don't overspend trying to achieve one.

We spend a lot of time discussing the best credit cards for various earning categories. We have entire articles dedicated to the best credit cards for gas, supermarkets, cruises and more. We also have a guide to the best credit cards for dining.

I turned 40 in 2022. Along with checking a different box for "age range" on forms these days, I'm also taking a fresh look at both my credit and my credit card strategy.

Skift’s State of Travel 2024 report highlighted that the Middle East and Africa are seeing a surge in international tourism, driven largely by Saudi Arabia’s push in recent years.

The Skift Research team recently unveiled its State of Travel 2024 report, a 400-page that documents the consumer and business trends in various sectors of the travel industry — including hotels and online travel agencies.