Posted on July - 06 - 2011

Discover More: Best Credit Card for Summer Trips

A recent survey from Capital One shows that the year of the “staycation” is over; 62% of Americans polled are planning a true, honest-to-goodness-get-on-a-plane-and-go vacation this year.

But that still leaves just under 40% of cost-conscious Americans planning trips closer to home in the interests of saving money and relaxing without airline and hotel hassles.

There’s no strict definition for a staycation, but a typical staycation involves day trips or perhaps short overnight trips locally combined with time at home relaxing. Some of the costs associated with a staycation include:

  • Restaurant meals
  • Local attractions and amusements
  • Short distance car travel

So what’s the best card to pack for your stay-cation? Without much debate, it’s the Discover More card, which is offering 5% cash back rewards on three categories you’re inclined to use on any good staycation:

  • Movies
  • Theme parks
  • Gas

The fourth 5% category is hotels, making Discover More a good card to use for overnight road trips, too. About the only category missing from this list is restaurants, but if you maxed out your grocery rewards in June, hopefully you’re prepared to put together some home-cooked meals or host a barbecue during your staycation.

Discover and Six Flags

So the Discover card is a great way to get where you’re going on your staycation. Thanks to a partnership with Six Flags theme parks, the benefits don’t end after you buy your theme park tickets.

In addition to earning 5% cash back at theme parks, if you take your family to one of the 19 Six Flags parks across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, you’ll also get 5% off every purchase, for a total of 10% in savings.

The discount applies to:

  • Season Passes
  • Play Passes
  • Daily admission tickets
  • Parking
  • Food
  • Merchandise
  • VIP Tours

Save Time at Six Flags with Discover

When you use your Discover card at a Six Flags location, you not only save money, you’ll save time and enhance your park experience. (No whining kids? That sounds like a vacation to me!)

You’ll save 5% on your purchase of a Flash Pass (starting at $45). A Flash Pass lets you reserve a ride time. Your Flash Pass signals you when your turn to ride is approaching, so you can walk around the park instead of standing in line.

A Golden Flash Pass not only lets you wander; it also reduces your wait time. The Platinum Flash Pass, available in limited quantities, gives you the shortest wait time and allows you to wait once and ride two consecutive times.

Even if you don’t want to spend money on a Flash Pass, you can save time because just having a Discover card lets you enter rides through the Discover CardMember Entrance Lane and get VIP treatment and much shorter wait times for popular rides.

Earn More Points During Your Stay-cation

Don’t forget to shop for everything you need during your stay-cation through the ShopDiscover rewards portal, where you can get discounts and earn bonus points through popular retailers like Sears, Wal-mart, Walgreens, Sunglass Hut, Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods and many, many more. If you order movie tickets online through Fandango you can get a 10% cashback bonus on movie tickets, instead of just 5%.

Why not use your imagination and your Discover card to buck the trend, avoid airline hassles, and plan a money-saving staycation this year?

Similar Posts:

Share
No Comments
Read More

Post a comment