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Once I found the PERFECT hotel for our vacation: it had a lazy river, bunk beds for the kids, and a kitchen for late-night snacks. But I realized I couldn’t book it with my rewards points. I felt pretty defeated, especially considering how hard I had worked to earn those points.

After some research, I realized there is still good news! There are creative, family-friendly ways to save, some of which can be more flexible (and sometimes more valuable) than using hotel loyalty points.

If you’re new to points and want a simple place to start, my Beginner’s Guide is packed with tips to get you earning free family trips faster.

The Travel‑Eraser Approach: Book Anywhere, Then Redeem

Have you heard of cards with a travel-eraser option? Instead of locking you into a hotel brand or airline program, these cards let you redeem your rewards as a statement credit against any travel purchase. So when we booked that perfect hotel, we charged it to a card that earns flexible travel miles and then erased the cost later.

This is my favorite strategy when I can’t book a hotel with points. A travel eraser card lets you book any hotel you want, directly on the hotel’s website, through Capital One Travel, or even over the phone—and then redeem points as a statement credit afterward.

After you’ve booked a hotel, flights or even a vacation rental, you simply log into your account and apply your miles toward the purchase. Capital One confirms that you can redeem miles against recent travel purchases, including hotels, within 90 days of the charge. There are other travel eraser cards out there, but Capital One is my favorite because it’s just so easy.

Because we can’t name certain banks here, I’ll simply say that my favorite flexible travel rewards cards, the ones I reach for when I can’t use points, are listed here. If you’re a new traveler, start with the best cards for beginners, and for families who love shopping portals (more on that below), I’ve curated a list that pairs well with online cash‑back sites.

These cards all earn at least 1.5 points or miles per dollar, and you can redeem your rewards at a fixed value of about one cent per point or mile. The longer redemption windows and no minimum thresholds make them very forgiving when you’re juggling family expenses. They’ve saved us hundreds on stays in beach condos, national park lodges, and independent hotels.

Stacking Savings with Cash‑Back Portals

Another strategy I love is stacking our travel‑eraser cards with cash‑back portals. Instead of going straight to a hotel website or booking engine, I click through a portal like Rakuten or TopCashback. These sites earn us 5–10 % cash back at places like Hotels.com, Expedia, or Booking.com, and those savings are on top of the points we earn from our card.

• Rakuten partners with over 3,500 merchants and even lets you choose between cash back and flexible points.
• TopCashback features more than 7,000 retailers and often has higher rates than its competitors. There’s no minimum payout, great when you’re earning cents on smaller bookings.

Before I pick a portal, I always check Cashback Monitor to see who’s paying the most. Then I click through the portal, pay with one of my travel‑eraser cards, and later redeem my points to wipe the charge. If you’re curious about how these portals compare, check out my deep dive on Rakuten vs Capital One Shopping Portals.

Tip: If you’re double dipping, be sure to log into your credit‑card portal for potential targeted offers. Sometimes there’s an extra percentage off for specific travel sites, and every little bit helps.

Price Matching and the Best Rate Guarantee

Booking directly with the hotel can still be the best move if you know how to use their price‑match policies. For example, Marriott promises to match a lower publicly available rate and then gives you either 25% off or 5,000 points. My advice? Take the 25% discount, it usually beats the points. You have to submit your claim within 24 hours of booking and at least 24 hours before check‑in, so I recommend booking a flexible rate and immediately scanning other sites for a cheaper option.

We once booked a hotel for spring break, only to find it cheaper on a third‑party site. A quick claim form later, and we not only got the lower price but also an extra 25% off. That’s money back in your pocket for ice cream on your vacation!

Let Technology Work: Hotel Price Alerts

Did you know you can track hotel prices just like you track flights? In 2025, Google rolled out hotel price alerts; once you toggle the bell icon, it sends you an email if your hotel rate drops. Even better, you can set a price alert on a stay you already booked and rebook at the lower rate (assuming your current rate is refundable). We saved almost $200 by rebooking after a mid‑week price drop. It’s a set‑it‑and‑forget‑it strategy that doesn’t cost a thing.

Choose Accommodations That Save You Money

Beyond rewards and discounts, the type of lodging you choose can make or break your budget.

• Kids Stay & Eat Free: Many Holiday Inn properties allow up to two children to stay free when sharing a room with two adults, and up to two kids per adult eat free from the kids’ menu. Age limits vary by region, but for families, it’s like getting a meal plan included.
• Rooms with Kitchens: We love staying at Residence Inn or Vacation Club properties because cooking breakfast and the occasional dinner saves us a fortune. It’s one of the reasons we often prefer a suite or vacation rental over two standard rooms. If you’re curious about booking vacation rentals with points, my post on How to Book Vacation Rentals with Points breaks down the options.
• Comparison Shopping: Before I book, I compare prices across Hotels.com, Booking.com and travel search engines. Sometimes vacation rentals can be cheaper if you are looking at a longer stay. When there’s a kitchen, we order groceries through a service like Walmart Plus (my link gets you a free trial) and basically get meals delivered to our door.

Consider Vacation Rentals

Vacation rentals (Airbnb, VRBO, Vacasa) aren’t tied to loyalty programs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save.

Ways to save on vacation rentals:

• Use discounted Airbnb or VRBO gift cards.
• Check cashback portals (VRBO often offers 2–4% back on Rakuten).
• Redeem points from a travel eraser card.

Need inspiration? I share our experience booking rentals with points in this guide.

Want More Family Travel Tips?

If you enjoy diving into the details like this, you might also like these posts:

• Why I almost never use delta skymiles to fly delta – because sometimes cash or flexible points are better.
• Guide to booking Marriott stays – a deep dive into maximizing one of my favorite family‑friendly hotel brands.
• How to calculate the value of a point – so you know when to pay cash versus use points.

I also share weekly tips on Instagram and inside our Facebook group. Come join our community—we love swapping stories and cheering each other on!

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Want to start earning free family travel? Download my free beginner’s guide and get ready to explore the world on a budget.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Advertiser Disclosure: The Rewards Mom has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Rewards Mom and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.