Rewards credit cards offer a host of benefits for frequent travelers: reimbursement for lost luggage, damage coverage for rental cars, an easy system to dispute fraudulent charges, and, most importantly, points for everyday purchases that can be redeemed for airfare, hotels, and car rentals.�� But they aren’t one-size-fits-all. Navigating the vast field of plastic can be overwhelming, and something I've spent years doing as a certified financial planner. Here, I've outlined the best options��and broken down how you can earn enough��to fund that weekend trip you’ve been holding off on.��

How to Pick the Right Card

Choosing a card is all about finding one that best matches your spending habits while balancing sign-up bonuses, interest rates (APR), and annual fees. Some cards give you one point back per dollar spent; others offer extra��for eating out, travel, or streaming services. There are also sign-up bonuses that, depending on how much you spend, could almost double your yearly points earnings. Unfortunately, rewards cards have a downside: they typically come with a higher interest rate than regular credit cards. But pay it off in full each month, and you can make up for a higher APR with bigger point boosts��and redemption benefits.��

Based on this criteria, three rewards cards came out on top: the ,��,��and the . To illustrate how much you can earn with each, let’s map out some monthly expenses an average household of two might put on a credit card, based on my own spending and chats with friends: $400 on groceries, $250 on eating out, $250 in personal products (home improvement, drugstores), $125 on streaming services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon), and $60 on rideshare services and taxis. This equates to monthly credit card expenses of $1,085 (or $13,020 a year). With this scheme, you would��earn around 13,000 points—or $130—that year, enough for a night at a decent hotel or a couple of days with a rental car, depending on where you go. But combine this with bonus points and extra sign-up perks, and you could cover a whole vacation.��

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Get this if you travel often and eat out a few times a week. It has a high APR and annual fee, but comes with a huge signup bonus for frequent spenders. Plus, you’ll earn a redemption bonus of 25 percent when you use points directly toward travel expenses.��

• Sign-up bonus: 60,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 in three months
• Point accumulation: Double points for every dollar spent on travel (flights, hotels, rental cars) and dining out, and one point on all other purchases
• Annual Percentage Rate (APR): 16.99 to 26.99 percent
• Annual fee: $95
• Foreign transaction fee: $0
• Rewards: Redeem at and get 25 percent more points when they are reclaimed for airfare, hotel stays, car rental, and cruises.

Your potential one-year earnings: 85,260 points or $852.60.��

Wells Fargo Propel Card

This is great for someone who travels a lot, but also likes��some extras at home, as it issues three points per dollar on purchases on flights, eating out, gas, and streaming services. Plus, there’s no annual fee, or interest for the first year. However, be sure to keep up with your payments: the APR skyrockets after the first 12 months.

• Sign-up bonus: 30,000 bonus points if you spend $3,000 in three months
• Point accumulation: Three points for every dollar spent on travel (flights, hotels, car rentals), transit (gas stations, buses), meals out, and streaming services, and one point on all other purchases
• Annual Percentage Rate (APR): 0% for the first 12 months of purchases, 15.74 to 27.74 percent thereafter, depending on how much you keep up with your payments
• Annual fee: $0
• Foreign transaction fee: $0
• Rewards: Redeem for travel with most major airline and hotel brands, gift cards for hundreds of stores such as REI and Amazon, or cash back��

Your potential one-year earnings: 77,460 points or $774.60.��

Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa

This is a great first for someone interested in having the freedom to spend their cash back however they’d like, as it offers direct deposits into your bank account and no annual fee. The sign-up bonus and rewards points aren’t as big as other cards, however.��

• Sign-up bonus: $150 when you spend $500 in three months
• Point accumulation: 1.5% cash rewards on every dollar spent plus 1.8% cash rewards on purchases made using a qualified mobile wallet (Apple Pay or��Google Pay)��in the first 12 months��
• Annual Percentage Rate (APR): 0% on purchases for the first 15 months, 15.74 to 27.74 percent thereafter
• Annual fee: $0
• Foreign transaction fee: $0
• Redeem rewards: Redeem in the Go Far Rewards program for cash-back as a statement credit or direct deposit into your bank account. Cash rewards never expire.��

Your potential one-year earnings:��19,680 points or $190.68.

How to Use Credit Card Points

My husband and I paid for a recent weekend trip to Big Sur entirely with points. It took us about a year to build the 51,250 points on our Chase Sapphire card that was able to cover two nights at a swanky resort that would have otherwise cost around $625, thanks in large part to its 25 percent bonus on travel purchases. We also exchanged 40,000 points for $400 cash back from our Wells Fargo card to pay for gas, food, and activities.��

Every card has a redemption website that allows points to be exchanged for cash back or directly for travel expenses like hotels, flights, and rental cars. Start looking two to three months in advance in order to get the lowest prices. Cards also offer bonus deals on certain purchases—in a similar way to that of flash sales at brick-and-mortar stores—so it’s worth checking in every month or signing up for email blasts from your card rewards program.��

Redeeming directly for travel expenses versus cash back is usually a matter of preference, unless you’re using a card like Chase Sapphire, which offers bonus points when certain bookings, like hotel stays, are made directly through them. Before deciding on a card, though, you should check for its partnered brands to ensure that your points will make the most impact—if you mainly fly with Southwest, don’t get a card that gives you lots of Delta miles. You’ll also earn more points by consolidating your spending into one or two cards, rather than spreading it across multiple. I prefer to have one card that offers great cash-back rewards for my day to day, and one with extra bonuses for booking travel.��

As long as you’re smart about your spending, there’s no reason to not let your card earn money for you.��

The post How to Fund a Vacation with Credit-Card Points appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

We’ve all seen those artfully framed shots of the same places that show up on our feeds time and time again: bright blue��Lake Louise surrounded by high peaks or��the Colorado River��winding around Horseshoe Bend at sunset. But let’s be honest, that doesn’t stop most of us from taking the exact same photo when we visit these iconic destinations ourselves. “Gotta get the ’gram,”��you say, as you snap the 79,305th photo ever taken of that one cypress tree outside Monterey, California.��

Of course you’re joking. Travel is about the experience, not the social-media affirmation. But what if even a tiny part of you was serious—how steep��is��the price tag on that banger shot anyway?

Between flights, hotel stays, and guiding services, we broke down the expenses of��getting��to the most��Instagram-famous locations in the world. Here’s how much it costs to capture these iconic pics—and, OK, maybe the memories they represent, too.

Lake Louise, Alberta��

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The best time to visit Lake Louise is June to August, when the waters turn a luminescent turquoise from glacial runoff. The reflection of light off rock-flour particles��gives the lake its famous coloring, presenting prime photo-snapping opportunities.

Plane Tickets

Fly into Calgary International Airport, which is an easy 90-minute drive to Lake Louise.�� offers competitive rates to Calgary out of most major airports. Prices are highest in the summer months—between $375 and��$590 round-trip from Los Angeles, $500 and��$700 from New York City, and $370 and��$460 from Chicago. For a more affordable backdrop that’s just as striking, visit in September and October, when fall foliage peaks and prices drop to between $280 and��$400 from the same major cities.����

Ground Transportation

There are many��, including the Banff Airporter shuttle, which runs $101 round-trip from Calgary to Banff. You can also rent a car from the airport, starting at $19 a day.

Entrance Fees

Admission is free on July 1��(Canada Day), when you’ll likely be fighting for that prime��spot;��otherwise, it’s $9.80 per day.

Lodging

There are a number of places to stay around Lake Louise, including luxury hotels, family-friendly chalets, condo rentals, and RV sites. The�� is probably the most recognizable— is from the rocky shoreline right in front of the hotel, but rates top $675 in the summer. You don’t have to stay at the hotel to access the vantage, though, so it’s possible to consider lower-budget options, like , which has over 200 campsites that run $36.50 per night and include firewood.

Food

The lakeside is littered with high-end options, where you’re paying more for the view than the food—capturing a plate of steak frites against a spectacular panorama��from Lakeview Lounge at the Fairmont will cost you $36. If you’re set with your shorefront��snap, however, there are a few ��restaurants, like Chateau Deli at the Fairmont and Bill Peyto’s Café, and a couple of supermarkets in the area that will help you keep this expense to an average of $24 to $30 per day.

Activities

One of the best ways to get your shot is the easy 1.2-mile hike on the , where you can shoot��photos of the lake from multiple vantage points. If you prefer to bike, the Lake Louise is a fantastic three-mile gravel path with plenty of pulloffs at picturesque spots. Bike rentals cost about��. For a bit of a different angle, rent a canoe for $125 an hour and paddle out onto the turquoise waters.��

Total Price: From $592 for a three-day, two-night stay

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

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Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona, just north of Flagstaff and a few minutes south of Lake Powell, is a time-honored social-media hit. The most famous photo site��on Instagram is on the rim, where the Colorado River wraps itself around sandstone canyon walls. Be sure to secure��a spot��during sunset when the light bathes the Colorado River in soft pinks, yellows, and reds.

Plane Tickets

��offers roundtrip��fares starting at $29 directly into Page from Las Vegas and Phoenix. Alternately, round-trip flights into Las Vegas or Phoenix (the closest larger��airports) in the late fall and early winter run from $57 to $87 out of Los Angeles, $120 to $180 out of Chicago, and $170 to $340 from New York. From��mid��to late spring, prices spike to around $100 from Los Angeles up to $500 from New York.��

Ground Transportation

Horseshoe Bend is only 6.5 miles from Page Municipal Airport.��Renting a car is easy, since you have only one choice:��, which averages $48 a day. Or��pick up a car in Las Vegas or Phoenix for around $30 per day, and enjoy the scenic four-and-a-half-hour drive southeast.����

Entrance Fees

Entrance is free if you’re on foot, but parking costs $10 a day.

Lodging

Your best option is to stay in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Flagstaff, or Page. In Page, hotels like Hampton and the Holiday Inn��range from $100 to $300 a night. There are also a few campgrounds located around Lake Powell, like the Wahweap Campground, which has nearly 300 sites and costs about��.

Food

Pack a picnic, as there aren’t many great dining choices nearby.��For meals out, Page is��your best bet, with options from casual, like Birdhouse, where a fried-chicken lunch will cost you about $8 to $10 on average, to upscale spots, like Rainbow Room. Cheaper choices will round out to about $35 for three meals.��

Activities

If you want your photos to��, book the�� ($90), which includes an hourlong hike and a six-mile truck ride through the hills over Navajo sandstone to a slot canyon with a guide. Another popular option is the��, where you can explore the area on horseback for one to two hours (from $60).

Total price: From $312 for a three-day, two-night stay

Taft Point, Yosemite National Park, California

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Yosemite is one of the most visited national parks in the U.S., welcoming more than four million visitors each year. It’s especially popular from May to September, when the weather is predictable and the roads are open. One of the most photogenic spots, Taft Point, overlooks Yosemite Valley, with broad views of Yosemite Falls and El Capitan.��

Plane Tickets

The closest airport is the small, local Mammoth Yosemite Airport, 42 miles from the park’s eastern Tioga Pass entrance. Prices are usually steep: round-trip��flights start at $183 year-round from Los Angeles, and $400 from Chicago and New York in January, which spikes to��almost $800 in the summer. Better options include Oakland International and San Francisco International, 150 and 169 miles, respectively,��from the western Big Oak entrance. From Los Angeles to either, average prices range from $70 in winter to $290 in summer, from New York they run between $360 and��$493, and from Chicago they cost between $200 and��$350.��

Ground Transportation

Yosemite is three and a half hours from Oakland and four and a half hours from San Francisco, with rentals starting at about $30 with the standard companies. There are also ways to reach Yosemite via��; the least expensive option is taking��Amtrak from Oakland’s airport to Fresno (from $35) and then a Greyhound bus to Yosemite (from $5).��

Entrance Fees

are $30 per car or $15 per person. If you plan to visit at least three national parks or monuments in a year, it’s well worth it to buy a $80��annual pass.��

Lodging

The is the park’s grandest hotel, with rates starting at $376 a night in the low season. Also inside Yosemite, you’ll find more affordable��hotels, cabins, and vacation homes, plus�� Lodging fills up fast, so make sure you book at least three to six months in advance, especially if your visit falls in peak season.

Food

Yosemite has a�� to meet almost any budget, from a $44 rack of lamb at the Ahwahnee to an $8 pizza at Curry��Village. There are also a half dozen grocery stores in the park, selling everything from dried backpacking meals��to fresh fruits and vegetables. Lower-cost options can keep your food budget down to about .

Activities

The best way to get an Instagram-worthy��shot of Taft Point is to set out on a roughly from the trailhead off Glacier Point Road, on the southern side of the park. Remember to bring plenty of water, warm layers, good hiking shoes, and a headlamp if you start out late in the day. There are also a handful��of�� of Yosemite, starting at $50.

Total Price: From $248 for a three-day, two-night stay

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

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The Blue Lagoon has been a longtime Instagram stalwart, thanks to its otherworldly landscape and easy access—it sits just 45 minutes from Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik, and only 20 minutes from the airport.

Plane Tickets

You can catch a flight��from most major cities to Reykjavik. Especially after��the folding of WOW Air (which is supposedly poised for a ), getting to Iceland is notoriously expensive��but worth at least a long layover if you’re��headed to other parts of Europe. Companies like����allow for one-to-seven-day��stopovers. Otherwise��flights stay in about the same price range year-round (except on holidays), with tickets��averaging about $700 from Los Angeles, $450 from New York, and $620 from Chicago.��

Ground Transportation

Your best option is to hop a ride on a�� to the Blue Lagoon from either downtown Reykjavik or the airport for around $92 round-trip, which includes the entrance fee to the lagoon.

Entrance Fees

The best bang for your buck is to purchase a standard day-use pass for $55. That includes a towel, locker, and all-day access to the lagoon, saunas, showers, and even a free drink.

Lodging

For an��uncrowded shot—something��that’s been nearly impossible to get since the lagoon blew up on Instagram a decade ago—you can shell out for one of 62 suites at the (from $2,100), which��feature private pools. If that’s a bit out of your budget, there are plenty of lower-cost options, such as , 15 minutes by car from the lagoon, as well as (from $143), which has sites for tents and RVs.����

Food

Plan to spend anywhere from $10 to $70 a day for food in Iceland, if not more. To save money (and the environment),��bring a refillable water bottle,��as the drinking water is exceptionally clean. The Blue Lagoon has�� for affordable dining on-site, but you can also grab supplies at the airport or around Reykjavik to take with you.

Activities

No special gear or guides are required to explore the Blue Lagoon. Just bring a bathing suit.��

Total Price: From $850 for a three day, two-night stay����

The post How Much Would You Pay for the Perfect Instagram Photo? appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

When most people think of travel expenses, they imagine flights and hotels. But in reality, silly fees and extra charges on the ground can quickly add up to expenses in the triple digits. The good news is that most of these are avoidable with careful planning and a bit of bargaining, so��instead of wasting money on parking or ATM transactions, you can use your cash for an epic day of SCUBA diving or a night of unlimited Mai Tais.��

Budgeting��

The easiest way to wreck your travel budget? Not having one in the first place. Besides paying taxes and taking out the trash, budgeting is easily one of the most despised parts of everyday life—hence why it’s the last thing most people want to do when planning a vacation. For most people, a budget tells you what you can’t spend, but I like to look at it as a roadmap for telling you all the fun things you can do with your cash.��

Setting a travel budget is the best way to avoid overspending and set priorities on your holiday. For example, it’ll stop you from running up the bill at a fancy restaurant when that money is allocated for a day snorkeling instead. Plus, overspending typically leads to credit card debt, attached to interest, which ultimately means you end up spending even more.��

Remedy:��As far ahead as you can, do some research into how much a day’s worth of basic expenses (food, drinks, lodging, transportation) will be in your destination. Multiply that number by the number of days of your vacation, and add about 20 to 30 percent to pad for unexpected expenses, like tips or that souvenir you just can’t pass up. Set the total (or as much of the total as you can, if you’re saving up) aside in a separate high-yield savings account, such as , so you won’t be tempted to blow in in the meantime. You can even pre-pay your credit card to set a firm amount and track how close you are to hitting your limit. Before you go, download an app like , so you’ll be able to monitor your spending in real-time and see how it’s tracking against your daily budget goals. If you go over budget, rather than induce spending-stress, the app will suggest costs you can cut back on.

Parking

If you live in a city like Los Angeles, like I do, you only have a few ways to get to the airport: using a ride-share, an airport shuttle, or driving yourself. If your flight gets in at odd hours or you don’t want to deal with an Uber driver, you’ll probably choose the last option, which can end up eating up a sizable portion of your travel budget. Parking fees range anywhere from $9 to more than $25 per day at most major airports. Multiply that by a long weekend, and you’re easily looking at $100.��

Remedy: One of my favorite sites is where you can find rates as low as $5.95 a day at a variety of airports. I always make a reservation at least a week prior to my departure date to score major deals. Also, if you belong to AAA or other membership organizations, such as your college alumni program, always check to see if they offer parking discounts—some can go as high as 30 percent, which quickly adds up if you’re gone a week.

Baggage Fees

If there’s one thing I hate to spend money on it, it’s baggage fees. They are almost inescapable these days (unless you’re traveling overseas, when airlines typically allow��for one checked bag), and usually cost $25��or more per bag per person. If you’re traveling with a family, that comes out to huge expense before you’ve even left the airport.��

Remedy: One of the easiest (and nowadays, only) ways to avoid baggage fees is to use an airline credit card when booking your plane ticket. I have the , which partners with American Airlines and other associated carriers, and gets me up to four bags free with four passengers. My husband and I routinely save $100 roundtrip just from putting our flight on plastic. Most major airlines have this deal, and sites like sum them up nicely.

Foreign ATM and Transaction Fees

These charges are like gremlins that sneak up on you after your trip and haunt you long after you’ve returned. They can range from brand to brand, but most credit and debit card companies charge around three percent for every meal, drink, and trinket purchased abroad.��

Why not just use cash instead? Your bank will get you there, too. Domestically, the majority of banks will charge a withdrawal fee for ATMs from other companies. Internationally, they’ll charge that (usually between $2.50 to $5), a foreign exchange fee, on top of an unfavorable exchange rate. Plus you’ll probably get dinged��by the ATM you’re withdrawing from. Do that enough, and you’ll wind up paying for your vacation weeks after you’ve returned.��

Remedy: There are plenty of credit cards that charge nothing for foreign transactions, so make sure you have one in your wallet before setting foot on international soil. A few good ones: , , and . Always make sure you double check with your credit card company before you leave the country so you know what charges you’re in for and can choose them wisely. Even so, it’s always good to have some cash when you travel, so choose a bank like or Charles Schwab which are truly free, with zero ATM or foreign transaction fees (Schwab will even reimburse you for withdrawal charges from other ATMs). If you’re determined to use your regular bank, you can minimize costs by taking out a lot of cash at once—just be careful to stash it in different places in case of theft or loss. Or, if you’re planning to bring money to exchange, opt to change enough to get you by at airport kiosks, which typically give a less favorable rate, and leave the rest for small, local banks.��

Rental Car��

Rental companies will charge a premium for the cars best suited for your destination. For example, driving a Jeep around Oahu could cost up to $90 per day. That’s not including insurance pushed by rental agents that can run as high as $50 a day, a price they can get away with because most people don’t know there are other insurance options available.��

Remedy: Despite companies’ dire warnings of terrible crashes and freak hail storms, most experts recommend against their insurance.��There are , like going through your own auto insurance and most major credit cards, or booking through an agency like , which usually offers coverage for as little as $10 a day. Also keep in mind that rental prices change frequently: On a recent trip to Maui, I saved over $150 by continuing to scan prices up to a week before the trip.��

Lodging

Comparing prices on third-party sites like Kayak, Priceline, and Expedia can sometimes be counterproductive—budget hotels that offer similar amenities in the same neighborhoods are often priced the same, despite having different standards.��

Remedy: Most people assume the price posted on a hotel’s website is non-negotiable, but if you see a lower price on a third-party site like Expedia, call the front desk and ask for a discount if you book through them. Most hotels would rather have you book directly through them versus an online site, and will give you an even better rate.

The post How to Save Money While You Travel appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

A scroll through Instagram is a sure-fire way to get travel-inspired. But plug those mountain towns��and remote islands into your Google flight search, and the logistics and costs involved can make anywhere far from a major city feel inaccessible.

But arm yourself with some insider��intel, like when to book your flight and how to get creative with your connections, and you can make almost any obscure destination a reality. We consulted industry experts for their tips on getting to and from out-there locations on a budget.

Get Creative with Low-Cost Airlines and Regional Airports��

There’s a where low-cost carriers offer better fares out of smaller, regional airports than large hubs. The more popular airlines dominate big airports because they can take over a terminal and service a massive amount of people daily. In this model, regional airlines find it harder to compete due to outsized brand recognition, so they turn to tiny, local airports.��

“In the U.S., for example, you can save money on flying with Norwegian Airlines to Dublin out of [upstate New York’s] Stewart Airport, located an hour and a half by airport shuttle (from $20) from New York City, for a median airfare of about $385, versus flying out of John F. Kennedy Airport [on the same airline], which can cost upwards of $500,” says Steven Sintra, regional director of North America at . Carriers like Frontier and Southwest are also known for servicing smaller airports to lure customers. You don’t have to stick with one airline for your entire booking, either. According to Sintra, “Oftentimes, booking two one-way tickets on different airlines can save you money versus booking a traditional round-trip ticket.”��

For your international arrival, this argument is inverted. Because flying into a smaller airport is usually your only option, direct flights from international hubs are typically sky-high. According to Jesse Neugarten, founder of budget flight-finding site , “Ninety-five percent of the time, it’s going to be more expensive to fly directly into smaller airports than bigger ones,” he says. “It’s simple supply and demand.”

The solution? Fly into a major airport and book a separate connecting flight to a smaller one. He gives the example of the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador. “Roundtrip flights from U.S. hubs to the islands run roughly $1,500 on average,” he says. “[Instead], you can fly roundtrip into Quito for $300 to $500, then book another roundtrip to the Galapagos for around $200. Just by doing that, you’ve saved [as much as] $1,000.”��

Time Your Booking

Although some of the old-school advice you’ve heard, like booking late at night or on Tuesdays, has largely been discredited, timing your booking correctly is still crucial to ensuring you get the best price.��

First off, start your search��two to three months in advance for domestic flights and three to five for international flights, suggests Neugarten. When you see a great fare that far out, his advice is to jump on it—it won’t last long, and you’re unlikely to find a cheaper price by waiting. He also notes that if you can be flexible, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are the cheapest days to fly. Most booking sites, include Google Flights, have a calendar view option that allows you to compare ticket prices across days and months to quickly find the cheapest travel dates.��

Time of year can also make a difference. “We typically see a decrease in median airfare for those searching for travel in January, as opposed to April or May,” Sintra says. “This is likely because they’re traveling in March or April—two of the cheapest travel months of the year.” The two most expensive months are easy to guess: July and August, where most destinations enjoy warmer and drier climes.

Save on Rental Cars

If you can’t fly into a small local airport, your other option is to fly into a large airport and make up that distance by renting a car. Between credit cards and discount memberships, there are plenty of ways to knock some cash off of your rental.��

or offer some of the best discounts around. With a Costco membership ($60 a year), you get a 30-percent discount on major car rental brands such as Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz, as well as the ability to add a second driver free of charge.��

Car sharing companies like , which services cities across the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the U.K., have made car rental more accessible in destinations that typically didn’t have a market for it. You can book a variety of cars and SUVs online and many car owners will even provide delivery to the airport or a convenient location. For more out-of-the-way destinations, oftentimes, your best cost-saving bet is going through local companies, like in Iceland and in New Zealand.

Make the Most of Your Layover

Traveling to distant spots—and taking advantage of those handy connections—usually means a long layover. Sintra encourages travelers to not just endure a layover, but to enjoy it. “Several airlines such as Icelandic Air, Finnair, Air Canada, and TAP offer stopover programs so strategic travelers can get two vacations for the price of one,” he says. Kayak’s recent Travel Awards Guide offers a list of top stopover destinations, including Reykjavík, Helsinki, and Panama City.��Some of those airlines, like TAP (which makes pit stops in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal), even offer upgrades that let you explore the city for five days with discounts on hotels and restaurants.

If leaving the airport isn’t an option, you can still get a much-needed reprieve without stepping out of the double doors. Frequent travelers should get a credit card, such as , that includes lounge access. Or check out , a lounge-crashing app that often allows you to purchase access for rates that compete with a typical airport meal.��At other airports, you can partake in luxuries without a pass at all: Munich, Dubai, and London Heathrow are among the airports that have nap pods, beer gardens, yoga rooms, and pet parks. ��

The post You Can Travel Anywhere Remote on a Budget. Here’s How. appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

For some of us, living a life of adventure feels like an impossible dream. That’s part of what makes Shane Dillon Gidcumb’s story so special. Shane, 38, a former winery executive and author of����book series, decided one day to radically change his life, leave his corporate office, and head out on an adventure: biking across the United States��and Europe. With a salary of $50,000 that he pieces together by��teaching and writing, Shane’s been able to experience the world and live out his dreams, one adventure at a time.

OUTSIDE: What made you decide to quit your job and ride across the United States��and Europe?
Shane Dillon Gidcumb: I worked for 11 years in the wine industry in Sonoma County, California. I started as an intern and left 11 years later as the vice president of the winery. Working in the wine industry was fun, but I felt like there was something missing in my life. By the end, I didn’t feel like I was learning anymore. It wasn’t that I was unhappy. I just felt like my days had turned into a monotonous routine with money being the only goal. One day��it occurred to me that I could go on doing this for the next 40 years. If I lived life this way, those 40 years could basically be condensed into a single week—repeated again and again. I knew I had to find a way to start learning and adventuring again.

How did you afford to do this, and what advice would you give to others who want to take that leap?
The theory of slow travel is that the slower you travel, the cheaper it becomes. Based on this idea, walking is the cheapest way to get around, and bicycling is a close second. Your biggest expense is food, which is essentially fuel. It’s amazing how your body becomes an efficient machine after a few weeks of bicycling eight hours a day.

During my bike��journeys on Disco��(yes, Disco is the name of my bike—you’d��be surprised by the things you think up while cycling eight hours a day for months),��I spent about $15 per day on food. In the beginning, I ate mainly at restaurants, and then I figured out it was cheaper and healthier to buy food from grocery stores to cook on my camp stove. For lodging, I tried to sleep in my tent as many nights as possible. I found most people would let me sleep in their backyards, and some even invited me into their homes for dinner and a shower. Other alternatives I used closer to cities were apps like����and . Sometimes, if I was desperate, I would just pitch my tent behind a church at sunset and make sure to be on the road by sunrise. There are a lot of free options to find a place to sleep at night.

The advice I would give to others is to just do it. I know it sounds crazy. In hindsight, I would make the same decision every time. Bicycle touring is a life-changing experience—essentially a crash course in minimalism.

What sort of gear do you have, and how much did you spend?
Before I left on my trip across the U.S., I had to buy all new gear. I made the mistake of buying cheap gear and having to upgrade later to a more durable setup. After cycling for a month, I was forced to replace my panniers, front handlebar bag, tent, and sleeping pad. These items are essential and can really improve the quality of life on the road. If at all possible, I recommend buying high-quality gear that will last. It will not only make your life easier, but it will also save you money in the long run.

Here’s my list of essential gear:

• Bike:
• Rear panniers:
• Front handlebar bag:
• Bivy��sack/tent:
• Sleeping bag:
• Sleeping pad:
• Socks:
• Chamois cream:
• Sunblock:
• Camera: An old Olympus digital camera converted to infrared

How do you make money now?
While cycling across the U.S., I started sending my résumé to teaching positions abroad. To my surprise, I landed a job in the south of Spain in a fishing village on the Mediterranean Sea. That was two years ago, and I have been living in Spain ever since. I work part-time at a grade school teaching English. The job provides a modest salary, a work visa, health insurance, and an abundance of free time. The money I make teaching is sufficient enough to get me through the school year. Then, in the summer, I dip into my investment account to fund my adventures. I am also a writer, and the money I make from my books definitely helps out.

What does your monthly budget look like?
Living in Spain, I am able to maximize the dollars I earned and saved in the U.S. My monthly budget is $1,200. Of that, I plan on spending half for fixed expenses, while the other $600 goes to my daily expenses. My daily budget is $20 per day, which is more than enough to live comfortably in Spain. On top of that, I set aside an additional $5,000 each year for travel. Currently, I live in Malaga, an ancient city on the Mediterranean.

Have you gleaned any money-saving tips over the years?
My creativity is a major form of my entertainment, and it actually pays for itself. One thing you learn about yourself while living on the road is how free time feeds your creativity. I’ve found that the more free time I have, the more productive I am from a creative standpoint. I don’t watch TV anymore, and my internet time is limited. Now all of my free time is devoted to my passions, which just so happen to be free. I am currently writing a personal finance book series for young adults��in addition to my photography. Physical fitness is important to me, and there are many low-cost options available, no matter where you live.

A few other tips? Each Sunday, I make two big pots of soup. I freeze individual servings and enjoy them throughout the week. A serving of soup costs less than $2. This is a great way to save money. When I go out for tapas with friends, I don’t feel bad about dining out.

I bike or walk everywhere I go in the city, which means I have nearly eliminated my transportation expenses. I was spending at least $400 a month on transportation in the states. Now I spend less than $10 a month. Essentially, I have eliminated one of my biggest expenses by living in Europe.

Finally, Google has an awesome cellphone plan called that works in more than 170 countries. This allows me to travel the world without worrying about expensive international rates. Monthly, I spend about $50 per month using this plan.

Where is your next adventure?
This summer, I’ve��decided to give Disco��some time off.��I’m��planning on doing two long hikes. First, I’m going to hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It’s about a 500-mile hike and will take about five weeks to complete. The second big hike I’m planning is a coast-to-coast trail across Ireland. It’s a little shorter and should take anywhere from three to four weeks to complete. One thing I have learned through my travels is that the journey inward is longer than journey outward. Last summer, I got in the habit of cycling during the day and working on my books at night. As there are more daylight hours than I can cycle or hike, I figured I would use my free time to write. During the day, I’m able to listen to podcasts to research for my book while pedaling. I plan on applying this same concept while hiking in Spain and Ireland.

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The average person will spend —or up to 9��percent of their household budget. That number includes expenses like plane tickets, transportation, food, and lodging, which means there’s not a lot of cash left over to go crazy on gear.

That’s why I decided to do a little experiment this summer��to see what items qualified as a true travel essential and that, as such, warranted a bigger investment. These are the five products I came up with.

A Good Suitcase

A good suitcase is one of the best travel investments I’ve made. If you’ve ever looked outside the window of a plane and seen the crew chucking bags around, you know what I mean. You will pay more for hard-sided luggage, but it will be worth your investment when it comes to protected belongings.��

Young companies like ��have soared onto the luggage scene, thanks in part to their Instagram-worthy looks and slick technical features. Then, of course, there are the kings of suitcase brands, like ,��, , and��.��Here are a few tips of mine for choosing the right luggage to meet your travel needs:

• Buy a color that is anything other than black. Everyone seems to have a black suitcase, so��it’s really easy to get them confused. If you’re��going to buy a black suitcase, put some sort of distinguishable feature,��like a sticker or a bow, on your bag.��
• Consider your travel needs. Do your before you hit the buy-now button. There are lots of sizes and dimensions, depending on whether you prefer to��carry on or stow your luggage.��
• Plan to spend at least $200. I have not found a suitcase that lasts for more than��a few years or protects my stuff for less than this.��

A Memory-Foam Pillow

If you’ve��ever fallen asleep on a plane only to wake up with the most horrific neck pain, then you’re��a good candidate for a memory-foam travel pillow. Every time I travel to Europe, I somehow pick the seat that doesn’t seem to recline properly or has a��headrest that feels like it swallowed a rock.

While a memory-foam travel pillow is not necessarily a blow-your-budget item, it will seriously change your travel life to get a decent one. I’ve��tried many different pillows over the years and even committed the cardinal sin of buying an overpriced pillow in the airport. The best one I’ve found is the�� Evolution S3 ($40).

Not all travel pillows are created equal. Expect to spend somewhere between ��for a good-quality memory-foam pillow. Also��make sure you buy your pillow from a place that allows returns if it doesn’t feel right on your neck. Comfort is key.

Travel Insurance

Here’s the thing: travel insurance is cheap compared to the price of your trip. You should expect to spend anywhere from��. So if your trip costs $3,000, you should expect to spend around $120 to $300 for a travel-insurance policy. Seems worth it to me.��

Travel-insurance policies cover things like trip interruption, trip delay, and lost baggage. They��can also cover medical emergencies, including��everything from a checkup��to an ER visit. Some plans even cover medical-evacuation costs.��

Do your research before you choose a travel-insurance policy to make sure you know what you’re paying for. Some plans exclude preexisting issues, like pregnancy, from their policies. Here are my go-to websites when I’m shopping for travel insurance.

A Collapsible Water Bottle

Stop buying throwaway plastic bottles; not only are they bad for the environment, but they’re expensive to replace at every airport and hotel.��

Many airports now offer clean water dispensers where you can easily fill up your water bottle preflight. When I began looking for a water bottle worth my money, I knew I needed one that was collapsible, portable, leakproof, made of BPA-free plastic, and could easily fit in my backpack or purse.

My favorite find is the 17-ounce��bottle ($25). This piece of gear��is everything it claims to be and more. I also like the����and the����bottles.

A Backpack

Whether your definition of adventure is glamping for a night or you’re��a serious adventurer who plans to go far into the backcountry, you need a good travel backpack.��This can be a big chunk of your travel-item budget; however, there are many different makes and models for you to choose from. When I was searching for my perfect bag, I considered a few features to be important:

• A laptop compartment
• A cord pass-through for headphones
• A bottle pocket
• Durable, waterproof fabric

I came across a few contenders that had most or all of these key features.

• ($280)
• ($259)
• ($140)

I ended up purchasing the Nomatic Travel Bag and can say that it’s living up to its expectations.

The post The 5 Travel Items That Are Worth Splurging On appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

I’ll do just about anything to avoid paying full price for a plane ticket. It doesn’t help that the tickets seem to be more expensive than ever, while airlines have simultaneously cut down on all the extras that make flying even halfway tolerable. For that reason, I’ve cultivated a few tricks that enable me to save enough money for a spendy��international plane ticket in less than six months.

Do Your Research

Not all plane tickets are created equal. You could use two or three different search engines, plus go directly to an airline’s site, and come up with very different prices. It’s well worth the extra time to��do some serious searching over the course of a few weeks and at different times of day, as prices change constantly.

In the initial research phase, look��for the average price for a plane ticket to your desired destination. When you get ready to book, my rule is to search at least three different sites to find the best price. Here’s my strategy:

• Check the actual airline site first to see what its��price is. Sometimes it will be the best deal.
• Check at least two online travel agencies, such as , , and��,��to see what their prices are.

Set Your Budget

You should have a pretty good idea of what you’ll need to spend on a ticket, based on your research. This is your starting point for a budget.

From here��you can figure how much money you need to save each month. For instance, let’s say your ticket will cost you approximately $1,000 to visit Europe in the fall. In this example, you would need to save around $160 per month for six months to afford the ticket. And since airline prices are in constant flux, I always suggest adding 20 to 30 percent to that anticipated ticket price and budgeting accordingly. You can never go wrong with aiming high on a savings goal—the worst case is you have extra cash for the trip. So in the example above, I would actually plan on setting aside $200 per month for a $1,000 ticket.

If you have accumulated airline miles on a credit card, now is the time to see how much those miles are worth. Some credit cards, like cards, give you access to the company’s��Ultimate Rewards program. If you book an airline flight through Ultimate Rewards, you receive a 25 percent bonus for any points you use.

Find the Hole in Your Spending��

There is a black hole in everyone’s spending. I’ve worked with clients for over 12��years and have yet to find one person who doesn’t have a black hole in their spending. For most of us, it’s either the amount��we spend when��eating out or��on miscellaneous purchases at places like drugstores or on��Lyft or Uber rides, etc.

To hit your savings goal, or any goal you have, finding your black hole is essential and doesn’t take a lot of heavy lifting. I fully understand that you might not want to know what your black-hole spending category is, but trust me, it’s a good experiment.

There are so many different budgeting apps to help you categorize your spending, including��, , and .

The old-school method to find your black-hole spending category is to print off your most recent bank statement, grab some highlighters and a beverage of your choice, and highlight your expenses, broken down into categories. Add up each category when you’re done, and see what stands out to you. For instance, if you think you’re spending $200 a month eating out, and in reality��that number is closer to $500, that’s a clue you can use to alter your spending.

All of these little tweaks to your spending only help you��reach��your savings goals in the long run.

Up Your App Game

Mobile apps can do a lot of the work��when it comes to managing your money. There are lots of apps that��can help you save and invest your money, but since you’ll��need to tap your savings in the next few months, it’s best to use apps that keep your money liquid (easily accessible).

You might be thinking, Why would I go through all the trouble of using an app to save money?��That’s a great question. One of the best ways to rev up your savings is to earn interest on your savings—even if that means a few extra bucks here and there. In the world of savings, every little bit helps to get you to your goal.

Here are some of my favorite apps to do this.

Ally Bank

might be a name you recognize. It’s��one of the leaders in online banking and has��an impressive online savings account that currently earns 2.2 percent annual percentage yield (APY). Indeed��an excellent place to stash your cash while you’re saving to hit your goal.

Aspiration Bank

is a bank meets app, with zero fees. You can earn up to 2 percent��APY on your savings, track your spending, and get cash-back rewards.

Tip Yourself

is a mobile app that allows��you to��tip yourself throughout the day. Think of it as a��modern-day mobile swear jar. The app motivates you to save for all sorts of tasks you complete during the day.

Use these tips to save for a plane ticket in whatever period of time you have. Remember:��a little money strategy goes a long way in helping you hit your travel-adventure goals.

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Confession: I’m a big fan of travel agents (whoops, sorry, ), even though I could technically book all my trips through websites and apps. And despite the fact that many of us might consider this industry old-fashioned and out-of-date, research shows that travelers, and millennials in particular, are once again turning to these specialists to help plow through TripAdvisor detritus. If you’re wondering: how much does a travel agent cost, and why would I book with one anyway? Read on.

How to Know If You Need a Travel Agent

Once you’ve come around to the idea of hiring a travel agent, ask these three questions before booking:

1. Is this a domestic��trip or one that involves traveling to a part of the world you’ve never been? If it’s the former you don’t need a travel agent.
2. Can I get a better deal by using a travel agent? (This question requires you pricing out your trip with and without one.)
3. Is this a big-budget, special-event kind of trip? If the answer is yes, go with a travel agent.

The Pros of Using a Travel Agent

They can find crazy deals.

This is literally their job. If they have been in the travel business for many years, they likely have supplier relationships in place that can help leverage better deals for you. Many travel agents specialize in locations (i.e., cruise vacations in Europe). Some travel agents offer package deals, with more savings passed on to you then booking the trip on your own—that is good news to your wallet.

They will be your advocate.

One of the best ways to utilize a travel agent is as an advocate��should something derail on your trip. They can help you with lost luggage, in the case of natural disasters, if you get stuck in a location before your trip, etc. They are there to help you get your trip back on track.

They’ll take care of the little things.

I love my travel agent, and I love all the extras she provides when we use her services for a trip. For instance, when we traveled to the Bahamas, she made sure there was a nice bottle of champagne and strawberries in our room on our arrival, and she also upgraded our room free of charge. While this certainly is not a guarantee when you use a travel agent, there are a lot of added-value extras you can expect when you use a travel agent. Why? Because travel agents know you don’t have to use them to book your trip, and they want to say thank you.

They’re true experts.

Most travel agents have been working in the industry for years now, and it’s their job to stay on top of travel trends and upcoming hot destinations. When I spoke with my travel agent about a trip to Europe recently, she offered a few alternate destinations. I was not thinking about the destinations she suggested, but the alternatives offered great activities, culture, food, interesting boutique hotels, and more options for less money��than my original destination.

They don’t usually cost extra.

It’s a myth that working with a travel agent will automatically cost you more; most get paid via commissions from the hotel or outfitter. Sure, some travel agents do charge a fee for putting together an itinerary, but most will credit you that fee if you end up booking the trip through them. Make sure you know all the potential fees before you use a travel agent, and do not hesitate to negotiate away.

The Cons of Using a Travel Agent

They’re not going to help with cheaper airfare.

Back in the day, you would use a travel agent to book every aspect of your trip. However, with so many options to find low-cost airfare, like , , and��, booking your own flights��is easy and cost-effective. Most travel agents cannot score discounted flights, and many travel agents will not even bother. Follow these tips on how to find the cheapest flights possible, instead.

They’re not you.

This may seem obvious, although it’s still��important to consider. A travel agent not only finds you the best deals, but they also offer suggestions for activities, restaurants, and more. This is great if you’re��someone who doesn’t like to research these things, but you run the risk of working with someone who doesn’t get your personal preferences (maybe they lean toward road tours��rather than technical singletrack). Do your own research first, and come up with a list of activities that you want to do. Once you have that list, pass it along to your travel agent to see if they can rustle up any deals as they book.

How to Find a Great One

One of the best ways to find a reputable travel agent is to get referrals from your friends and family. Anyone that has used that travel agent for a previous trip and enjoyed their service is someone worth checking out. As with anything, I always suggest talking to at least two different travel agents to see who you feel most comfortable with. Remember, they are there to work for you.

Know your travel budget before you reach out to a travel agent. Likely, this will be the first question they ask you and will help steer them toward��the best destinations for that budget. If you are traveling somewhere that’s specialized, like going on that once-in-a-lifetime African safari, find a specialist that knows that region inside and out. They will usually have the best deals and relationships with hotels and activity companies in that area.

How Much Does a Travel Agent Cost?

Usually, the cost of hiring a travel agent to organize a trip for you is fairly minimal. Many agencies charge a flat fee of around $100, and others may charge a certain small percentage of your trip. Most of their take-home profits come from the hotels, wholesalers, resorts, and businesses they work with, but be sure to as your travel agent about fees upfront and before you start working with them to plan your next dream vacation. (No one likes hidden fees and surprises.)

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A recent study found that go into debt in order to travel. I’m not surprised; between the rising costs of airfare, eating out, and extracurricular adventure activities, it’s easy to go over budget.

But what if you could trade your talents for travel around the world��without shelling out your savings? That’s part of the strategy Abbey Ley, 33, employs to visit international destinations like Switzerland, Bali, and Australia. A freelance graphic designer, illustrator, and animator, she makes around $50,000 per year, a good chunk of which goes toward taxes, retirement, student loans, and business expenses. A few years ago, Ley started using her talents��to afford travel while staying within her strict budget. Here’s what we all can learn from her process.��

�����ԹϺ���: How do you manage your freelance income and your savings?
Ley: I keep an active text document on my computer��where I track my monthly bills��and��review it every few days. I have most of my monthly bills on auto-pay, so I never have to worry about late fees. For larger payments, like my student loans, I mark the withdrawal date in my calendar so I make sure to have enough funds in my account. In that same doc, I keep track of active clients and the amounts of projects affiliated with each one (when the deadline is and when I expect to be paid). To project monthly income, I total those up, but it often fluctuates; sometimes clients will put projects on hold or I’ll receive payments later than expected. Since my income is so inconsistent, I keep an emergency fund in savings, where I accrue as long as my balance is at least $2,000. This is the fund I typically draw from for my travel adventures.

How did you get started on your current career path?
Early on in my career, a few years after moving to New York City, I worked as the art director for , a series of yoga, wellness, and music festivals. The events take place at different mountain resorts across North America, and traveling was an incredible perk of the job for most of the staff. My job designing, though, didn’t require me to work on-site at the events, so I had to get creative to make a case for my travel expenses to be covered. I took on the role of organizing teams of photographers at each event, took lots of photos myself, and helped run our social-media accounts. I didn’t get paid extra for doing this work, but getting to travel made it worth it. These experiences solidified my love for travel, and I realized that working on the go with a laptop thrilled me much more than sitting in an office. A few years later, I saw a listing to intern abroad in Switzerland for three months as a designer, and I jumped at the opportunity. The pay was low, but I saw value in having flights and housing paid for. The hours were full-time, but I took on freelance projects alongside the job in order to fund adventure-filled weekend trips all around Europe.

What money-saving tricks or tips did you use on your recent trip to Bali and Australia?
I originally planned the two-week trip to Bali because my friend owned a meditation and yoga-retreat center in Bali, and she let me stay there for free in return for branding and graphic-design help. I��traveled in late January and February, which is the off-season, so flights were much cheaper than they would be in the summer. I also stayed with a friend in Brisbane, Australia, so that took care of lodging expenses. When I wasn’t hosted, I booked lodging via Airbnb. Homestays in Bali are very affordable in comparison to the U.S., so I was able to stay in a few beautiful places for about $30 per night. Food is also pretty cheap (and delicious) in the country.��

Australia is��more expensive, so while staying with my friend in Brisbane, I shopped at the farmers’ market and grocery store and utilized his kitchen to cook meals instead of going out all the time. When I left Brisbane to explore Melbourne and Sydney on my own, I booked my own room in shared Airbnbs (and made some great new friends). I also stayed outside the central business district in areas that were less expensive. One money-saving idea��that I decided to do a bit last-minute was to take an overnight train from Melbourne to Sydney, which saved me a night of lodging. Even though I didn’t book a sleeper car, I was still able to get some decent shut-eye.

What tips would you offer someone who wants to figure out how to use their talents to trade for travel?
There are so many careers that can be done remotely and so many opportunities to travel for work. You probably have a skill or two that is worth value to someone else, if you think about it. Figure out what you’d most like to do, and research to find out all you can about it��and the location you want to travel to. Reach out to people who are doing or have done what you want to do, and ask them questions. For women, there’s a that has been a great resource for me.

Save up in preparation for your trip, especially if you are trading your services or volunteering in exchange for travel. When agreeing to trade or volunteer your time, be realistic about the duration of time you can commit to. If you’re able to take on paid work while trading or volunteering, that will help. If not, look for opportunities that provide something of value to you (travel, housing, or meals).

Is there anything we can do from home to prepare for a long trip?
I always cancel subscriptions I don’t use or can live without. is a great mobile app to help with this. Before I go on vacation, I try to double down on the number of meals I make at home. (I always save a surprising amount of money not going to restaurants.)��I try to do this on the road, too. ��

Finally, I rent out my Brooklyn apartment on Airbnb while I’m gone, even if it’s just for a couple weeks. For my Bali and Australia trips, I hired a friend who lived in my building to check on the place between guests. It took a good amount of communication and maintenance, but we figured it out in the end, and in addition to the extra income, I liked helping facilitate��other people’s travel.

The post How This Graphic Designer Travels the World on $50K appeared first on �����ԹϺ��� Online.

Many of us use our social-media accounts to showcase our lives—or at least some glorified, filtered version of them, where we’re always on top of a mountain or looking strong and confident at the gym.

We know the��posts are public; that is, after all, the whole point. But what you might not have known is that we should now count insurance companies as potential secret followers lurking among our audiences. That’s right—just as hiring managers use LinkedIn to confirm resumes, some insurance carriers are turning to social media to find new ways to justify premiums and substantiate claims.

Here’s what you need to know about this creepy new frontier in the health and fitness space.

First, Some History (Thanks A��Lot, New York)

In January 2019, the became the first regulator to allow insurance carriers to use social-media data to help set insurance premiums and verify claims. The official statement read, in part:

“The Department fully supports innovation and the use of technology to improve access to financial services. Indeed, insurers’ use of external data sources has the potential to benefit insurers and consumers alike by simplifying and expediting life insurance sales and underwriting processes. External data sources also have the potential to result in more accurate underwriting and pricing of life insurance.”

Insurance carriers are always on the lookout for ways to improve their underwriting process and confirm that insurance claims are legit. Typically, they ask a series of questions on an application to dial in your risk classification. Here are some standard ones that I’ve seen repeatedly on life- and disability-insurance applications:

• Do you hang glide?
• Are you a pilot of a plane?
• What countries are you traveling to?
• Do you participate in any adventure sports?
• Do you scuba dive?
• Do you participate in hazardous sports?

Disability- and life-insurance carriers will offer you insurance based on a rating classification. The standard top rating is usually referred to as , which only��a small fraction of the population qualifies for. As you might have guessed, those lucky few then tend to get��lower-cost premiums.

Health and��travel insurance don’t use the same rating classification, so your social-media presence isn’t as important in those areas—at least not yet. Health-insurance rates vary based on where you live, what type of deductible you have, and whether or not your company underwrites a portion of your premiums. Travel insurance is based on the amount you wish to insure your trip for, in the case of an unexpected cancellation.

Why Your Posts Matter

Each insurance carrier will have its��own set of lifestyle-based questions. The risk of lying about your activities could come back to bite you in more ways than one.

For example, let’s say you file a disability insurance claim. If insurance carriers have access to your social-media feed and see a photo of you skiing down a mountain or zip lining through the jungle in Costa Rica, well, that’s going to raise some red flags and could trigger an immediate denial of your claim. Conversely, if you stated on your application that you don’t participate in hazardous sports, and then the insurer sees a photo of you BASE jumping on Insta, that can be grounds to offer you a higher rating class, which means you’ll end up paying more money for your insurance.

It’s Not All Totally Unfair

There’s a flip side to all this, too: insurance companies might also reward you for a healthy, active lifestyle. The car-insurance industry, for example,��has been using lifestyle data and mobile apps to help reduce its premiums for so-deemed “good”��drivers for years. Many health-insurance companies are offering gift cards and incentives to stay healthy and check in each time you go to the gym and work out. These credits and incentives can help reduce your health-insurance deductible, putting more money back in your pocket.

A recent pointed to the fact that living a healthy lifestyle could be a great incentive for reducing insurance costs, so there’s that argument for publicly sharing that data.

How to Protect Yourself

For starters, turn on your privacy settings in your social-media feeds, especially��Facebook and Instagram. This will limit your posts and feed to only your friends—not insurance carriers. If you want to be supercautious, you��can also untag yourself from friends’��photos of��yourself in an adventurous setting, which��the suits in New York could deem��risky.

Social media��will, of course, only tell a fraction��of your story. Insurance carriers still rely on good old blood and urine samples to figure out your risk classification. There’s also a lot of health and lifestyle information that can be uncovered from your doctors’ records when you apply for disability or life insurance. But it’s worth taking a minute and ensuring that your��feeds align with your insurance applications and claims. It’s just a little bit more filtering and polishing of our digital lives, after all.

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