I just stumbled upon the motherlode of travel savings opportunities which I will address in a three-part series of articles.
Part 2: Mastercard Easy Savings
Part 3: Check Inn – CLC Lodging
These three programs for small businesses are the best kept secret in the travel blogosphere. The programs have all been around for years and they are a cinch to use.
The first program, Visa SavingsEdge, discussed in today’s post, is good; the second program, Mastercard Easy Savings, is even better; and the third program is great. Please signup for email notifications of these future articles.
Visa SavingsEdge
If you are a small business owner and have a Visa business credit card, you may be interested in the Visa SavingsEdge program.
With a single registration, you can receive automatic discounts from dozens of vendors. The savings show up as credits on your monthly statement. No fuss, no muss. This is the lazy person’s savings program.
The program is for holders of Visa small business credit cards. All you have to do is register your card once and the discounts are automatic.
You can check whether your card is eligible on the Visa website. My Chase United Mileage Plus business card and my Chase Southwest business card are both eligible, and I have heard that the Club Carson Business Card is also eligible.
The savings range from 1 to 20 percent on a variety of business services:
- Dining and Entertainment
- Information Technology
- Automotive Fuel & Parts
- Business Services
- Travel Services
Savings are offered by more than 40 companies.
Current offers include one percent off gas at Texaco and Chevron stations, and 20 percent off auto parts at Sears. You can save five percent on Lenovo computers and eight percent on Godiva chocolates. Yum.
Alamo and National car rental offer 4 percent discounts. There are discounts on airport shuttles and parking.
Hotel discounts of 5 percent (of total charges for room, tax, and incidentals) are offered by a large number of chain hotels:
- Baymont
- Wingate
- Travelodge
- Days Inn
- Microtel
- Ramada
- Knights Inn
- Super Eight
- Howard Johnson
- La Quinta
What’s more, you can stack the discounts by going through a cash back portal such as FatWallet, or an online shopping portal such as Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping, or the United Mileage Plus shopping site. You will also earn loyalty program points for your hotel stays and car rentals.
This is the kind of program that you can forget about once you’ve registered your card. No coupons or special codes are needed. The savings will show up automatically. It is the kind of offer that busy small business people can appreciate.
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Hmm…better than AmEx?
Some of the discounts Amex offers their small business cardholders are for more expensive suppliers such as Hertz and Hyatt. It just depends on you preferences. If you already have a small business Visa, it doesn’t hurt to register for the savings program because statement credits are automatic.