Regular readers know I’m currently pursuing an MBA. What they don’t know is that I’m currently taking 6 classes plus an Applied Management Research project which is almost twice the usual workload. I’m a third of the way through the quarter and I’m already feeling burnt out.

To help take my mind off things, I decided to look at vacation packages. Once my quarter gets over, I might travel for a week.  I’ve been dying to visit South America or the West Indies for quite a while. Several packages look pretty good. And by  good, I mean from the aspect of being good value for money. Yes, I like to travel cheap, or as I like to emphasize, I’m a price-conscious consumer. Some of the places that had good deals were Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Mazatlan. Argentina also looked enticing, but the flights were slightly more expensive. One of the things I noticed was that my Discover Card was offering 5% cashback on travel booking until the end March 2010.

I don’t usually use my Discover credit card very much. It has a strange (but useful) rotational rewards program. Usually, you get 1% cashback, but every month (or sometimes for a whole quarter) you’ll get 5% cashback on a specific category of purchases. Each month its a different category. For example, it might be on travel (plane, hotel, car rentals or cruises), only restaurants, gas or maybe just groceries. This quarter, it just happens to be travel. Pretty useful if I actually end up traveling somewhere.

I typically use my American Express True Earnings Card instead of Discover. The rewards are more predictable. You get the typical 1% cashback on regular purchases, but you always get 2% cashback at restaurants and 3% cashback on travel. I paid my MBA tuition fees with it and got over $500 on it! While I don’t condone spending $50,000 just to get $500 back, it still makes for a nice Christmas present! (I would’ve actually preferred the American Express Starwoods Card since the rewards are great for taking vacations and the points are redeemable for stuff on Amazon, but I was coldly rejected).

So before making any major purchases, you should definitely go through your credit card rewards and see which one gives you more bang for your buck. If you don’t have a Discover card, make sure you sign up for it – the additional 5% might be worth it if you’re planning a big ticket purchase.

If you’re a student with limited credit history, you can sign up for the Discover Student credit card. It is a bit easier to get approved for it and it comes with the same set of rewards.

And if any of you have any vacation suggestions for the end of March, please let me know.