Overview
The World Cup is upon us. Even if you’ve never so much as dropped your six-year-old off at soccer practice, it’s likely you’re already getting a little caught up in the hype. And so you should. As a European, I’m biased, but it’s the greatest sporting event on the planet, with over a billion people tuning in for the tournament’s opening game last week. For comparison’s sake, the Super Bowl only drew 125 million.
If you’ve caught the bug, there’s still plenty of time left to get involved, but there’s no getting around the fact that visiting any of the host cities in the US, Canada, or Mexico is pricey, and that’s before you even consider ticket prices.
But we’re here to help, and have thrown together this guide to the best credit cards to use and how to wrangle points to save money, plus some general tips for booking your last-minute World Cup adventure. Let’s get to it.
Oh, and I resent calling it soccer.
It’s football. Thank you.
The Basics
Use your credit cards to stay protected
Whatever else goes on, it’s vital that you use your credit cards to book almost everything. Your tickets, your flights, your hotels, your fan events, and even your food (although the last one is probably the least important besides earning points.
The reason for this is protection.
Last-minute travel comes with risks. Flights have been getting cancelled owing to the fuel crisis (although, with the conflict looking like it’s over, that will hopefully change soon), weather has been a bit mad, and it has felt like the world is five minutes from chaos at any one time for the past few years, so having a credit card that has solid protections goes a long way.
Anything from lost or delayed luggage to missed experiences can be covered by the right card. Products like the Chase Sapphire Reserve cover your luggage up to $3,000 and trip interruptions and cancellations up to $20,000 per trip, as well as trip delay coverage and even car rental insurance. All this can be an immense help when things go wrong.
Check out our article on credit card insurance to see the best cards for coverage.
Make sure you’re not paying international credit card fees
Almost all of the cards we promote on The Daily Navigator have no foreign transaction fees. That’s primarily because they’re reward cards or travel cards, and it would be immensely counterintuitive for them to charge for the privilege.
If you’re not sure if your card enforces foreign transaction fees, check your online account. There will be a section in your monthly statements or in the card management section. But all the big lines we cover, like the American Express Platinum, Gold, Green, and Blue, the Sapphire lines from Chase, and the Citi Strata line, and the Capital One Venture family, should all be good to go.
Careful with withdrawing cash and paying your home currency
If you need to withdraw cash while you’re in Mexico or Canada or offered a choice of paying in the local currency (obviously this won’t be an issue in the US), make sure you make the right call. It’s almost always more favorable to withdraw in the local currency, as it lets your credit card company or bank make the conversion for you at a better rate.
The Exciting Stuff (How to Use Points To Make It Cheaper)
I’ll preface this by saying you shouldn’t get your hopes up too high. The tournament has already started, and there are going to be a lot of last-minute chancers who have been taken by the exciting start to the Cup. Cities were already busy, and flights were already full, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance.
At this point, I’d say follow the tickets more than your own team. If you can grab some seats for the US’ last group games or their knock-out stage fixtures (assuming they make it), brilliant, but be prepared to pay a premium for them as ticket sales are dynamic. If you get one for less than a grand, you’re doing well.
Those prices are also not normal. The cost of this World Cup is unprecedented. I went to six matches at the last World Cup and only paid $600 total, and that included three knock-out games. Regardless, here’s what I’d do if I was chasing cheap travel with my points.
Hone in on the game or city you want
Let’s say you’ve found some tickets for the USA’s potential round of 32 game. If they come out on top of their group, they’ll play in Santa Clara, California on July 1st. With July 4th that weekend, this could be an absolutely insane day to fly. But let’s see what we can do. Pretend you live in Chicago.
First, I’d look at a site like Seats.aero. I’d plug in the day of the game and the day before, and sift through my options. Amazingly, there are actually a lot of options. I would find this hard to believe anywhere but in the USA. The pick of the bunch would be an American Airlines flight for just 10K miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. That’s a direct flight leaving at 6:20 AM, giving you plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere the day before. There are a few for 9,500 miles, too, but they add a layover, so it’s worth sticking with the 10K.
Average flights are around the $200-250 mark, so you’d be getting an incredible 1.9 cents per mile.
If you don’t have Citi ThankYou points or American Airlines AAdvantage miles, you’ll need to opt for one of the other airlines like Air Canada or United. The deals still weren’t bad.
The later you leave this, the less likely it will be that those flights will still be there, but that’s part of the risk with the World Cup. Whatever happens, you’ll be heading to San Diego for an epic day. There are even flights to New York on the day before the final for less than 10,000 points.
If you leave it super last minute and availability is low, I’d check out airlines like JetBlue and Southwest. They tie their reward rates to the cash price, so while they might not look like the best redemptions in the world, they won’t be a bad rate, and they’ll allow every seat to be booked using points — something most other airlines don’t do.
Accommodation
When it comes to finding somewhere to sleep for the same game, websites like Booking are showing as much as 84% of the city’s hotels, motels, and guesthouses full. There are some cheap spots, still, but they’re mainly hostels so you’ll have a single bed in a dorm. If you can deal with that $40, you’ll be in San Diego for $5.90 and staying for $40 a night.
But if that isn’t your cup of tea, and you need something a little cozier, you still somehow have options.
At the time of writing, I’m seeing tons of Hyatt properties for as little as 12,000 points a night. There are seriously impressive places for 30,000 points, too. Honestly, I’m a little baffled.
I thought this article would require a hell of a lot more research, but it turns out demand on those dates just isn’t insane yet. If you have Chase points or a cache of Hyatt points, you’re sorted.
The Point
Honestly, just treat it exactly as you would any other vacation. At the minute, it’s really not looking too bad. All the foreign fans booked their travel months ago, and the US fans haven’t caught up with the excitement yet (maybe they won’t ever). Prices are high for tickets, but if you have a good cache of transferable points, you could be looking at less than 50,000 points for round-trip flights and a hotel room from almost anywhere in the country.
That definitely softens the blow a little.
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
