21 Amazon Travel Essentials You Need For Long-Term Travel

Traveling long-term is an exciting adventure, but without the right gear it can be a headache. Make sure you’re prepared with this list of 21 Amazon travel essentials for long-term travel.

amazon travel essentials for long term travel suitcase with clothes and travel items.

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I am a self-proclaimed minimalist, and I really think less is more when you’re traveling. However, that does not mean that you can’t bring some things with you that are going to make traveling a bit easier on you.

This list of 21 Amazon travel must haves for long-term travelers comes from my own personal experience of traveling for 6 months to 18 countries. I found out what was worth bringing and what I wish I had thought to bring!

When my husband and I left for our 6 month trip to 18 countries, we knew that airfare would be one of the single largest individual costs of our trip. So, after a little bit of research, we found a way to get affordable flights all over the world: travel credit cards.

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The first note here that I need to make is that almost no flight is truly free, you do have to pay the taxes and fees. But, what if I told you I just bought a $6 flight from North Carolina, USA to Athens, Greece this week. Or that I’ve spent only $11 for me and Colton to fly from NC to Turkey?

Would you believe those numbers?

I never in a million years thought I could fly abroad for less than a few hundred dollars, and that’s if I somehow found an amazing deal!

It wasn’t until I came across travel credit cards and the world of points and miles that I understood how these serial travelers I was seeing everywhere were affording their flights.

The trick was, they were barely paying for them.

So, after tons of research, applying for credit cards, hitting bonuses, and of course getting everything in order to leave home for 6 months to travel, I bought our one way flights out of the country for $11.

How did we do it?

The world of points and miles, of course!

Let me tell you how we did it and give you the information you need to start earning free flights with your credit card!

Let me preface this with one statement: the world of points and miles is BIG and there is a lot that you honestly don’t need to know to just get started.

So, I’m going to give you the most necessary information to get you started and cut out all the fluff. Let’s go!

I promise you this is not a scam, because maybe that’s the first place your mind is headed when I say “free” flights.

In fact, paying with points and miles to purchase flights at insanely low prices is entirely legal, I promise!

Want my help choosing a travel credit card?
Fill out my Free Credit Card Consultation Form & I’ll email you personalized recommendations!

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Find them here!

What Are Points and Miles

Table of Contents

Points and miles are the reward currency of airlines and hotels: aka loyalty points.

I’m not talking about the points you earn by flying with an airline repeatedly, that you only rack up over several years.

I’m talking about points and miles you earn just from having the credit card you already use!

Each bank or airline that offers credit cards with points and miles use them as an alternative currency for purchasing flights.

Many of the banks that offer travel credit cards have both airline and non-airline branded credit cards: a.k.a the airline the bank has partnered with offers airline miles as the sign up bonus, not credit card points. Those miles can only be used with that airline.

If you apply for a bank branded card with no airline association, you’ll earn points with that bank that can then be transferred to their airline or hotel partners.

How To Get Points And Miles With Travel Credit Cards?

The fastest way, and most likely reason why you’re wanting a travel credit card, is to earn points with a sign up bonus.

Most banks offer a sign up bonus of varying amounts after a certain amount of qualifying purchases on the card in the first few months.

It might sound something like this: “earn 60k bonus points when you spend $3,000 dollars on purchases in the first 4 months.” Yadah yadah.

But, you will also earn points while using your card on your everyday purchases! Some cards offer bonus categories, like 3x on grocery purchases, or 2x at restaurants, etc. So, when you spend money on your card, you’ll earn points in return that can be redeemed for various things, like flights or hotel stays.

Generally, if you’re wanting to redeem miles for flights or hotels, you’re going to need a good chunk of miles to do so.

You can purchase some domestic flights with as little as 8,500k points one way, but if you’re flying international, it will likely cost you 15k one way, at the very least.

Of course, the cost of award flights in points can greatly vary and is not always directly tied to the cash ticket price.

Other ways to earn points with travel credit cards include anniversary bonuses, giveaways, and transfer bonuses. These come and go and aren’t something I would rely on.

For the purposes of this post, which is all about a beginner’s guide to free flights with points and miles, sign up bonuses are your very best friend.

How Much Are Points and Miles Worth?

Not all points are created equal.

Some points are more valuable than others simply because you can transfer and redeem them in more ways.

Points and miles also get their value depending on the deal you get when redeeming them.

Let me give you an example scenario to explain…

For example, let’s say you have 75k Capital One miles and you want to fly from Atlanta, Georgia to Athens, Greece for an amazing holiday eating delicious Mediterranean food and swimming in crystal clear waters for 8 days.

These are the flights you’re looking at. They’ll take you to Greece during the best time to visit, late summer when it isn’t too crowded and not too hot.

You have a few options for how you can book these flights with points

Option 1: Redeem Points with a Travel Portal

Option 1 is to redeem your points through Capital One Travel and their online portal. When you do this, you’re going to get a fixed redemption rate of 1¢ per mile.

So your 75k miles would be worth $750 for travel. You could use those 75k miles to buy a flight worth up to $750 through the Capital One Travel portal. That’s over half of what this ticket is worth. So you would still have to pay about $390+ on top of your 75k miles for this ticket.

We can definitely do better than that!

Option 2: Transfer to a Partner

Option 2 would be to transfer your Capital One miles to one of their airline transfer partners, then book the flight on their website using your points.

If you did this, those 75k miles could become 75k FlyingBlue points (Air France & KLM’s loyalty program and one of Capital One’s transfer partners).

The same exact flight booked on Air France with cash would cost you $1,142.

But, you can transfer your points from Capital One and over to FlyingBlue, so now you have up to 75k FlyingBlue miles! Let’s use them!

If you use FlyingBlue to book the exact same flight, you would only need 30,000 miles and $208 in taxes & fees. Way better than using all 75k and only covering half of the cost!

And, instead of paying $1,142 out of pocket for a round trip ticket to Europe, you’re only paying $208 plus 30,000 points.

*you want to transfer only the amount of points you need. In this scenario, thats only 30k of the 75k.

In this scenario, you would be redeeming your Capital One points, through FlyingBlue, for 3.1cents per mile. Now that’s more like it!

This is why points can be so valuable and why transfer partners can be the best way to go when redeeming points.

I know that was a lot, so let me summarize if for you:

Out of pocket price for ticket Atlanta to Athens: $1142 on Air France/KLM
Price of same ticket booked through Capital One Travel: 75k miles + $392
Price of same ticket booked through FlyingBlue after transferring Capital One miles: 30,000 miles + $208 in taxes and fees.

You would come out of this deal with around 45k Capital One miles left in the bank. That’s enough to buy you another roundtrip flight to Europe.

Now THAT’S how we use points and miles to our advantage 🙂

RESOURCE: Free List of Transfer Partners & Airline Alliances + How to Use Them

*be sure to only transfer the points you need and no more so you can keep the extra points with your bank and transfer them elsewhere in the future*

How Do You Redeem Points And Miles For Flights?

The way that we typically redeem our points and miles is by using them to purchase flights. We do this by transferring our credit card points to transfer partners.

The scenario above is a great example of how we would use our points and miles to get amazing deals on flights.

Here is that chart again that I made to show you where you can transfer points based on what program you’ve accumulated points with.

The process of transferring points can be a bit complicated, but I’m going to help you out here.

Here is the basic rundown of how to redeem your points for flights:

Accumulate points on your credit card
Research credit card airlines transfer partners
Search Google Flights or Skyscanner to find flight routes
Search for award flights on airline transfer partners
Find desired flights and see how many points/money required to book them
Create a frequent flier account with airline if you don’t already have one
Transfer points on your bank’s website to transfer partner of choice
Book those flights!!

To use the example from above, I would find the flights I want and make sure I have enough points to pay for them. Then, I would log into Capital One and go to the Capital One Travel portal to transfer my points to FlyingBlue. Once my points were transferred, I would buy my flights!

The real trick is finding award flight availability and the deals that are out there waiting to be had! It takes a little bit of time and practice but you’ll get the gist!

What Travel Credit Cards Are Best?

For me to answer this question, you’ll need to ask yourself a question first: what are your goals?

Are you looking to cover some international long haul flights? Maybe you’re an avid domestic traveler and would like to cover a few legs of travel for your upcoming trips. Would you like to stay in nice hotels for just the cost of fees?

It’s good to look at the options and decide what you think will work best for your goals!

If you want to cover some flights, I would find a card that has great travel benefits and flexible rewards. If you’re more interested in hotel stays, get a hotel branded card!

You can find my favorite travel credit cards and all the information about them on my
Travel Credit Cards Recommendations page.

Want my help choosing a travel credit card?
Fill out my Free Credit Card Consultation Form & I’ll email you personalized recommendations!

“Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.”

21 Amazon Travel Essentials For Travelers

If you’re planning long-term travel, you’ve probably mulled over your packing situation for a good amount of time. What do I really need? What is worth the space? How can I fit it all?

Below I’ve compiled some Amazon travel essentials that will help you save space, stay organized, stay healthy, and stay safe on your journey!

I don’t think you need all 21 of these, but I do think you should look at this list and decide for yourself what you think is going to make your travel experience more enjoyable.

Packing Travel Essentials

1. Hanging Toiletry Bag

When I tell you there has never been a more important travel item to me than this hanging toiletry bag, I admit I’m being dramatic. But I’m also serious.

Here is why: you are in a tiny bathroom in Thailand trying to freshen up after a long travel day. There is nowhere to set your toiletry bag. It’s a bit ~dirty~ in there. What are you going to do? Put it on the floor?? No, you brought a hanging toiletry bag and you can hang it from the mirror, the door handle, the sink, the doorframe. Aren’t you glad you brought it?

2. Pill Case

Use this tiny pill case to bring some familiar medicine with you so you don’t have to go hunt it down in a foreign country when you inevitably get a cold. I like to bring some pain medicine, cold medicine, dramamine, and Benadryl. Plus, it serves as a nice little carrying case for any other mini items you need to wrangle.

3. Compression Packing Cubes

If you aren’t using packing cubes, you’re doing it wrong. Sorry to break it to you!

In particular, you need these compression packing cubes. Why, you ask? Because we’re trying to pack for long-term travel in one bag, that’s why! The compression cubes in particular zip down to push all the air out of the cube to smush your clothes down even more. I was able to pack SO much stuff in my suitcase for our 6 month trip using these!

4. Bag Scale

If you travel with a checked bag (which I really don’t advise but hey, to each his own!) bring a portable bag scale with you. Never get caught at the airport with luggage over the weight limit again!

5. Jewelry Organizer

Keep your necklaces and earrings from becoming one giant knot with this compact jewelry organizer!

6. Neck pillow

Don’t bring a bulky one, bring this one that’s easy to pack but still supportive. You’ll love it.

7. Passport/Vaccine Holder

A passport holder is a nice touch to give it a little more bulk and make it identifiable if you ever lost it (I pray you never do). Plus, if you need any other documents with you, like a vaccine card, you can keep them all together in this nifty and nice looking holder.

Beauty Travel Essentials

8. Liquid pouches

Whatever you do, don’t put your lotions and liquids in those cheap plastic bottles where half of the product ends up never coming out again. Use these pouches (think like those to-go applesauce pouches) so you can squeeze every last drop of product out. And, they’re easy to clean and refill!

9. Travel Mirror

A nice thing to have when you’re traveling long-term because it’s common that you have to get ready on the go or share a bathroom. I use this travel mirror at home and when I travel!

10. Body Wipes/Baby Wipes

You’re going to want these wipes…just don’t ask how I know.

I also bring a small roll of toilet paper and wipes with me when I travel no matter where I am. You just don’t want to get stuck without it away from your hotel in a foreign country. Not my idea of fun!

11. Ethique Bars

I brought shampoo and conditioner bars with me on our 6 month trip and I loved them! Here’s why: I didn’t have to worry about liquid limits when flying and they are smaller than bottles. Plus, this brand is sustainable and ethical, not to mention their products are stellar. If you’re traveling long-term, I can’t recommend these enough.

12. Satin Pillowcase

I have curly hair, so if this doesn’t apply to you, take it or leave it! But, I love having this satin pillowcase with me so I can protect my hair when I sleep. And having my own pillowcase feels nice when staying in a new hotel every few days.

13. Microfiber Towel

Sure, most hotels or hostels will have towels for you, but when you need one on the go, you’ll be so glad you brought one! This one with a travel case comes in all different sizes, I have one that is a hand towel size, but you can also get a bath towel size to use as a beach towel on the go!

Safety Travel Essentials

14. Travel Alarm

If you are a solo traveler, or really just any traveler, bring a Birdie alarm with you. My sister gifted me this alarm before we left on our long trip and it made me feel so safe! It’s loud as all get out and has a bright flashing light to scare away anyone intent on doing you harm.

I keep it strapped to my backpack so if I am ever in a sketchy situation, it’s right there to make me feel safer. This is also a great gift for fellow travelers!

15. First Aid Kit

I bring a small first aid kit while traveling and I use it more than I thought I would have to. It’s great peace of mind knowing you have the basics when you need them.

Tech Travel Essentials

16. Phone stand

Watching movies or shows on a train or a bus just got a lot easier.

This portable phone stand can be hung up on the airplane seat in front of you, or can be used on a traytable as well.

17. Universal Adapter

If you’re on the road long-term, there’s a good chance you’ll come across a few different plugs for your electronics. Instead of bringing multiple adapters, bring one universal adapter so you can plug in literally anywhere. As far as Amazon travel essentials go, this one is a non-negotiable on this list!

18. Portable Charger

Please bring this portable charger with you! If you are out and about enjoying yourself, then all of a sudden your phone dies and you can’t get back to your hotel, that’s not a great situation to be in!

I always carry a portable charger and charging cord so I never get stuck with a dead phone while on the road. And be sure to charge your charger at night!

19. Tech Organizer Bag

If you’re bringing any sort of tech with you (ie. a camera, laptop, drone, etc.), literally anything, go ahead and bring a tech organizer. You’re going to feel so much better having all of your cords, hard drives, memory cards, batteries, etc., in an organized bag. I promise. I use this men’s toiletry bag to organize my tech paraphernalia because it’s got tons of pockets!

20. Noise Canceling Headphones

Hands down one of the items I’m most grateful I brought on my 6 month trip are these noise canceling headphones. Crying baby on the plane? Can’t hear it. Loud neighbor on the train? Didn’t notice. These are amazing and affordable!

21. Sound Machine

When I tell you this tiny baby sound machine has saved my life – not kidding. We stayed right above an Irish pub in Dubrovnik where the live entertainment for the night wanted to play only 80’s American music until 3 am… Having a sound machine is the only reason I slept at all while we were in Dubrovnik.

This one is compact and rechargeable so it does not have to be plugged in to work. Love it!

If you are soon embarking on a long-term travel adventure, be sure to bring along these 21 Amazon travel essentials to ensure you’re ready for whatever comes your way!

must have amazon travel essentials for long term travel

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21 Amazon Travel Essentials You Need For Long-Term Travel

What Are Points and Miles

How To Get Points And Miles With Travel Credit Cards?

How Much Are Points and Miles Worth?