Are you fed up of spending an enormous amount on flights? Well, good news! Travel hacking can be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to convert sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles that can then be used to obtain discounted or complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider information, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of trading credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives for airline miles. These miles can later be used to buy discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental offers.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for successful travel hacking is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and building out a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to book a flight consider the cost. If the flight is under $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay for a more expensive flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to look into those frequent flyer accounts and see which airline can give you the most value. It all comes down to the number of miles or points in your travel bank for each airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to travel hacking? The first step is to open a credit card with a sign-up bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer various benefits and features. It depends on the type of airline, spending habits and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are perfect to hack travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
Once you’ve been approved for a credit card, you’ll have to meet the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to qualify for the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so make sure to look up this information. Then, it’s all about racking up miles and using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your goals?
After you’ve accrued the points balance, you’re ready to redeem them for some nice travel! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your points. Here are some examples from a few of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you own an Chase card, you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll have access to nearly every airline and you can use a combination of the points as well as cash in order to book your next trip. You can even book entirely with points if you’ve the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flights? Did you not know that when you book directly through United, you have the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful in case you don’t have enough points you aren’t able to combine dollars and points on flights. If you’re only a couple of points away, 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 passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience with extra legroom and free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s which allows you to book with either JetBlue dollar or points however, not both. The difference is that JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that lets you combine your points with your relatives to earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty thrifty and it’s difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars in order to meet the required amount to qualify for credit card bonuses. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and we’re here to share some of our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is an important one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with credit card, go for it! Just be prepared to pay a fee, usually around 3%. It might be worth it over the long term in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another excellent way to meet the spending limit is to cover the medical bills. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up Ask your relatives if you could pay their medical bills and they’ll repay you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration paying them off with an credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t accrue additional debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and look into 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 taking the initiative.
Buy gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts with the credit card you have. In this way, you’ll meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready for gift giving. Just make sure you’re not paying more than you already contemplating to.
There are many ways to make the most from the travel credit card and earn miles or points to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
When you’re planning your next vacation, make use of your travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight or rental car, as well as any other travel-related expenses. Not only will you be able to hit the required amount for your credit card bonus, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover the expenditures.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday expenses
Another way to hit the minimum amount of spending and earn points is by utilising your credit cards for everyday expenses. This can include items like groceries, gas, and even your phone bill. Make sure you pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t pay interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, including eating out or traveling. Check out the rewards program of your credit card and make use of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Consider a balance transfer
If you’re in the middle of a outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer the balance to an account with a travel credit card that has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfer. This will allow you to pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching the minimum spend for the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles carefully
When you’ve earned a significant amount of miles or points, be sure to use them wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example using points to purchase a flight directly through the airline may offer better return than using them for an gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of options and greater flexibility when making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a Hotel rewards programme. This gives the benefit of a larger selection of hotels, flights and other travel benefits that may not be offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should discover the card’s benefits. certain benefits that will save you money on travel-related costs. Some cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection, and other benefits that can be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
When you travel with a friend, both of you can get rewards on your credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card. Also, make sure to keep track of the rewards you earn separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to making the most of your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program of your credit card and to ensure you’re using this program in the most efficient method. Utilizing all of the methods I’ve described, you’ll be able to earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad variety of travel benefits.