I think I have read before that there are some of you that save money to a travel account to save for your trips.

I want to open something like that. I could just put it in savings but I want something I can't touch until I want to use it for flights.

Its way too easy to access my savings account. Does anybody here have anything like this?

Thanks!

Sure.
We use a credit union club account and have payroll deductions deposited to it directly. That way we have no opportunity to divert it.

But if you use it for "flights" you might want to consider a non-cash option such as building a stash of frequent flyer miles via affinity card usage (credit cards that accumulate frequent flyer miles e.g.: American, Delta, etc.) Often the signup bonus with the card will pay for a domestic round trip ticket. Naturally, the catch for all this is that you pay it off each month.

Hi Lesfaye, I have a travel savings account set up just for the reasons you mentioned.

The most convenient option for me was to set up my new travel savings account with my Credit Union so I can arrange for an "Automatic" deduction from my payroll check directly to this account. I have them deduct $1200 per month and after a year of these deposits I have enough in there to pay for not only my airline tickets but for pretty much the entire trip.

I don't have an ATM Debit Card for this savings account, which is key. Once I purchase my airline tickets or whatever else I have to charge before my trip I then transfer the funds to my main account to pay the credit card statement and then spread the rest of money amongst three different ATM Debit Cards (accounts) to take on the trip.

This travel savings account system has worked for me for the past two years. I never see the money, so I don't miss it and by not having an ATM debit card I'm not tempted to withdraw from the account. I highly recommend it.

I am the worlds worst saver. The only way I can save is to make the money unaccessible. What we are doing is I sent my cousin an ATM card connected to my savings account. Every month he draws out the amount in british pounds then mails me the $$. I can't do anything with pounds but either trade them in at a horrific loss or wait until we travel. It is also giving me a bit of a hedge against the dollar/euro/pound thing. So far we've made way better than a savings account.

The downside for most people is finding someone trust worthy to draw out cash in EU.

quote:

Originally posted by Rome Addict:
I am the worlds worst saver. The only way I can save is to make the money unaccessible. What we are doing is I sent my cousin an ATM card connected to my savings account. Every month he draws out the amount in british pounds then mails me the $$. I can't do anything with pounds but either trade them in at a horrific loss or wait until we travel. It is also giving me a bit of a hedge against the dollar/euro/pound thing. So far we've made way better than a savings account.

The downside for most people is finding someone trust worthy to draw out cash in EU.

That's interesting, I could have my sister in law or my mother in law do that in England and just save the money for us over there. Hmmmm...

My in laws are the best savers ever! They have never had a credit card until recently maybe the last 7 years and only use if for emergencies or flights which they pay off immediately. They paid off there house in 1971!

This is a good idea thanks all!