I Just Bought Thousands of Dollars of Airline Tickets All At Once. Here's Why

Could buying a year's worth of airline tickets make good financial sense?

Recently, I sat down with my credit card and I charged several thousand dollars worth of airline tickets in one sitting.

This isn't because I'm flying to an expensive destination abroad. Instead, I ended up spending a small fortune on airline tickets because I purchased an entire year's worth all at one time, buying tickets for six separate trips we're planning.

It might seem crazy to just charge a ton of tickets all at one time, but there was a very good reason why I made this financial move.

Charging a lot of airline tickets helped me maximize my rewards

So, why did I buy airline tickets now for every single trip I'm planning to take over the course of the year? I made this move because I recently signed up for an American Airlines credit card that's offering a special promotion.

This travel credit card is giving me four miles for every $1 that I spend on eligible American Airlines purchases through the end of December 2022. Normally, I earn just two miles per $1 spent, so I was able to double the rewards I’m eligible for just by booking a bunch of tickets at once rather than waiting to purchase them throughout the year as I get closer to my travel dates.

I didn't want to wait until the holiday season (when I'll be much busier) to hunt down flights and hope I could find the right ones by the deadline. Instead, I decided it made the most sense to just buy all of my tickets right now so I make sure I'm maximizing my opportunity to earn double rewards.

By doubling the miles I get, I'm more likely to earn free trips quickly so I can make future vacations cost less.

I was able to take advantage of this opportunity due to my travel savings account

Spending so much upfront on airline tickets is definitely going to pay off for me due to all of the bonus miles I was able to earn. It will also be convenient when I don't have to shop for flights again throughout the year as I get closer to each vacation.

However, it would not have been a smart financial move to do this if I had to carry a balance on my credit card. The interest I would have had to pay if I couldn't repay my statement balance in full would cost me a lot more than the value of the extra miles I earned.

The good thing is, I have a travel savings account that I regularly put money into throughout the year. I always try to make sure there is plenty of money in this account to cover upcoming vacations as well as any surprise expenses I might incur so I don't end up going into debt.

Since I had the money in this account, I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to supersize my credit card rewards. It was well worth using the cash for this purpose, since now I'll have tons of miles on my account that will help me earn free trips a lot faster. In fact, I may be able to take an extra vacation this year due to all the extra miles I was able to earn.