Are you tired of paying an enormous amount on flights? Well, good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting method to turn credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles, which you can use to get discounted or even complimentary flights for your dream destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider knowledge, you can travel 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 then be used to purchase discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also permit you to use miles for hotel stays and car rental offers.
How Does it Work?
The key to successful travel hacking is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking take a look at the price. If the price is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If your flights begin to climb over $500, you’ll need to check your frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the most value. All it boils down to is the amount of points or miles in your travel bank for each airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets of travel hacking? The first step is opening an account with a sign-up offer. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer a variety of benefits and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit card options that can be great 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 need to hit the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be sure to check for the details. From there you can begin to rack up miles and then using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to set sail with your goals?
After you’ve accrued the points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious travel! Different credit card companies will have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve worked with:
Take a trip through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you have a Chase credit card, then you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll have access to virtually every airline. You can make use of a combination of the points as well as cash in order to book your trip. You can even book completely on points if you have enough balance! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full cost, you are able to purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flight tickets? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful in case you do not have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars for flights. If you’re only a couple of points short, United gives you the possibility of purchasing additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides an enjoyable and comfortable travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing you to book with either JetBlue points or dollars, but not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that lets you join your points with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty thrifty and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for credit card bonuses. But don’t fret as we’ve done it and are here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay your rent with credit card, then do it! Just be prepared to pay a fee, usually about 3%. It could be worthwhile over the long term when the bonus is large enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the required spending is to cover a medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses due Ask your family members to pay them for theirs, and they can pay you back.
Repay the loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration making payments on them with your credit card. Make sure to pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask family for help
Ask your family members to look into any big expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Just make sure you have confidence in the person you are talking to and they are aware of the reason for taking the initiative.
Give presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts using the credit card you have. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready for gift giving. Make sure that you’re not spending more than you were thinking of.
There are many ways to make the most from your travel credit card. You can accrue points or miles to be used towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few more suggestions for maximising your rewards
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of the travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the required amount to qualify for a credit card, but you’ll also be earning points or miles to cover these expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay for everyday expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement and earn points is utilising your credit cards for everyday expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Just make sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accumulate interest.
Benefit from bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide bonus points or miles on certain kinds of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Check out your credit card’s rewards program and avail any bonus categories that match with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, think about transferring that balance to an account with a travel credit card that has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card bonus.
Use your points or miles wisely
If you’ve amassed a large amount of miles or points make sure you use them in a responsible manner. Check out the rewards program on your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example using points to book a flight directly with the airline could provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase an gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of choices and more flexibility in you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or a Hotel rewards programme. This will give an access wider range of flights, hotels as well as other travel perks that aren’t offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, determine the card’s benefits. some perks that could help you save money on travel expenses. Some cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that are extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
If you’re traveling with a friend, both of you can get rewards on your own credit card. Make sure you don’t divide the cost with the same card and make sure to track your rewards in a separate manner.
In the end, the most important thing to do to maximizing your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of your credit card in the most efficient method. Through all of the strategies I’ve listed, you’ll be able to earn rewards fast, exchange them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad variety of travel benefits.