Are you fed up of spending an enormous amount on flights? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking is the answer to your travel-related problems. It’s an exciting method to convert credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles that can then be used to obtain discounted or cheap flights from your desired destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider know-how, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. The miles can be used to buy cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or rental car offers.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing frequent flyer miles for a specific group of airlines. When you are ready to book a flight consider the cost. If the flight is under $300, it’s best to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If the prices start to rise higher than $500, it’s best to review your frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the best price. It all boils down to the amount of miles or points in your travel bank for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? First step to open an account that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that provide a variety of features and benefits. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit card options that can be perfect to use for hacking travel:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
If you’ve been approved for a credit card you’ll need to hit the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to qualify for the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be certain to verify this information. From there it’s all about building up miles and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Are you ready to set sail with your goals?
After you’ve accrued the points balance, you’re ready to use them towards nice travel! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your points. Here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve worked with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you own an Chase card, you are able to redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within it, you’ll have access to nearly every airline and you can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can book your flight entirely using points if you’ve got the balance for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total price, you can purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for flights? Did you not know that when you book directly through United You have the option to pay with dollars or points? Be careful, if you do not have enough points you aren’t able to combine points and dollars for one flight. No worries though, if you’re a few point short United gives you the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra legroom and free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s which allows you to book with either JetBlue points or dollars, but not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature that allows you to combine your points with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Make sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re anything like me and my travel companion Becca I’m sure you’re pretty economical and it’s difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars in order to meet the minimum spend for a credit card bonus. Don’t worry, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share some of our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able to pay for your rent using a credit card, do it! Just be prepared to be charged a fee, typically at least 3%. It might be worth it in the end in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another great way to hit the required spending is to pay for a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills due Ask your relatives if you could pay them for theirs, and they’ll pay you back.
Repay a loan
If you have any loans you owe, think about repaying them using the credit card you have. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Ask your family members to see if they have any major expenses in the near future that you can help pay for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to trust the person and they understand why you’re doing this.
Purchase presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season take into consideration buying all of your gifts with your credit card. In this way, you’ll hit that minimum spend and also be prepared to give gifts. Make sure that you’re not spending more than you were planning to.
There are many methods to get the most out of the travel credit card and accumulate miles or points that you can be used towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are some additional suggestions for maximising your rewards
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
If you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card to pay for your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. In addition, you’ll achieve the minimum amount of spending required to qualify for a credit card as well, but you’ll also earn points or miles on those costs.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday expenditures
Another way to meet the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points by utilising your credit cards to pay for daily expenses. This could include things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Take advantage of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or bonus points for certain types of purchases, like eating out or travelling. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and take advantage of any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you are currently in debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance to an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will enable you to pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also assist you in reaching the minimum spend for the credit card bonus.
Make use of your miles or points wisely
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example using points to book a ticket directly with the airline could give you a better return than using them for an gift card.
Another tip is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will let you get a wider selection of choices and more freedom when it comes to you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or hotel rewards program. This gives an access wider variety of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that may not be accessible through the rewards program on your credit card.
In addition, you should determine whether your credit card has certain benefits that will help you save money on travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection and other benefits that can be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a friend and both of you earn rewards using your own credit card. Be aware that you cannot split the cost on the same card. Also, make sure you keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
Overall, the key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know your credit card’s rewards program and make sure you’re using this program in the most effective method possible. By using all of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences, and enjoy a wide variety of travel benefits.