Are you fed up of spending an enormous amount on flights? Good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting way to convert credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into miles which can be used to obtain discounted or free flights to your desired destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider know-how, you’ll fly for no cost in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about exchanging credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives for airline miles. These miles can later be used to pay for discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and building out a frequent flyer mile program on a select group of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking consider the cost. If the flight is under $300, it’s usually better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If the prices start to rise above $500, you’ll want to check those frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the best deal. It all boils down to the amount of miles or points in your travel account for each airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? The first step is to open a credit card with a sign-up offer. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer a variety of features and benefits. It all depends on your preferred airline, spending habits and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit card options that can be excellent for travel hacking:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit card, you’ll need to hit the limit of spending minimum in order to get the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so be sure to check for the details. Then it’s all about building up miles, and using them to book your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your points?
Now that you’ve built up the points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious getaway! Different credit card providers will have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are some examples from some of the providers I have experience with:
Take a trip by using Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of an Chase card, you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through the portal, you’ll get access to almost every airline. You can combine the points as well as cash in order to pay for your trip. You can book your flight entirely using points if you’ve got enough balance! Sometimes even if you do not possess enough points for the entire price, you can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option to pay with either points or dollars? But, be careful in case you do not have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars for one flight. If you’re a few points short, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s that allows you to book with either JetBlue dollar or points however, not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature that allows you to pool your points together with family members to accrue points twice as quickly. Just make sure you can prove you’re really family before trying to hack into the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty economical and it’s challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars in order to meet the minimum amount required to earn credit card bonuses. Don’t worry as we’ve done it and are here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with credit card, then do it! Make sure you be charged a fee, typically around 3%. It might be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to cover an medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills in the near future, ask your relatives if you could pay them for theirs, and they will pay you back.
Pay off a loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration repaying them using an credit card. Make sure to pay the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Talk to your family and determine if they’ve got any big expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they know why you’re doing this.
Buy presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season, consider buying all of your gifts with cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to hit that minimum spend and be ready for gift giving. Be sure to avoid spending more than you contemplating to.
There are plenty of ways to get the most of the travel credit card and accrue points or miles to spend on the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few more ways to maximize your rewards
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a vacation, make use of the travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel or rental car, as well as other travel costs. Not only will you achieve the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card bonus as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles for those expenditures.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday expenses
Another method to reach the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points using your credit card for everyday costs. This can include things like gas, groceries or even your phone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accumulate interest.
Benefit from bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or bonus points for certain types of purchases, such as dining or travel. Be sure to review your rewards program on your credit card and make use of any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Take into consideration the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a high-interest credit card, consider transferring that balance to the travel credit card which has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also aid in achieving the minimum amount required to earn the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points make sure you use them wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance, using points to book a ticket directly with the airline could offer better value than using them to purchase the purchase of a gift card.
Another suggestion is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will let you have a wider range of choices and more flexibility in making use of your rewards. For example, you may be able to transfer your reward to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a Hotel rewards programme. This gives an access greater variety of hotels, flights, and other travel perks that aren’t accessible through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to find out whether your credit card has any perks that can save you money on travel-related costs. Some cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection, and other benefits that are extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
When you travel with someone else each of you will be able to earn rewards with your own credit card. Be aware that you cannot split the cost on the same card and make sure to track your rewards in a separate manner.
The key to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program of your credit card and ensure that you’re making use of this program in the most efficient way possible. Utilizing all of the strategies I’ve listed that you can earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide assortment of travel-related perks.