Are you tired of paying thousands of dollars on travel? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting way to convert bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles which you can use to obtain discounted or complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a bit of creativity and some insider knowledge, you can travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of swapping credit card sign-up bonus and incentives for airline miles. The miles can be used to pay for discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles for hotel stays and car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The secret to success in travel hacking is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking take a look at the price. If the cost is under $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay for a more expensive flight. If your flights begin to climb over $500, you’ll need to check your frequent flyer accounts and see which airline can give you the best deal. All it boils down to is the number of miles or points in your travel bank for every airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you ready to discover the secrets of travel hacking? Your first task is to open a credit card with a sign-up offer. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that provide various benefits and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, spending habits and the features that are most important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are great 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 or debit 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 look up the details. Then you can begin to rack up miles, and using them to book your dream vacation!
Are you ready to set sail with your points?
Once you’ve accumulated your points amount, it’s time to use them towards nice vacation! Different credit card companies will have different methods of redeeming your points, but here are some examples from a few of the ones I’ve worked with:
Take a trip by using Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own a Chase card, you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within the portal, you’ll have access to virtually every airline. You can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can even book entirely on points if you have the balance for it! Sometimes even if you do not possess enough points for the full cost, you still can buy flights with 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 know that when you book directly through United You have the option to pay with either points or dollars? But, be careful, if you don’t have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars on the same flight. If you’re just a few points short, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is like United’s that allows you to book with either JetBlue points or dollars but not both. The difference is that JetBlue has a unique feature that lets you join your points with your relatives to earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to verify that you are a family member before trying to hack into the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty thrifty 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 because we’ve been there and are 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 your rent with credit card, go for it! Just be prepared to pay a cost, which is usually about 3%. It might be worth it in the end in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the spending limit is to cover an 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.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re a borrower, consider repaying them using your credit card. Make sure to pay off the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Ask your family members to determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Make sure that you are able to trust the person and they understand why you’re doing this.
Give presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all of your gifts with cards from your credit account. In this way, you’ll meet the minimum spending limit and also be prepared to give gifts. Be sure to avoid paying more than you already contemplating to.
There are many ways to make the most from your travel credit card. accrue points or miles to spend on flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are some additional ideas for maximizing your rewards
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, use you travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight or rental car, as well as other travel costs. You’ll not only be able to meet the minimum spend to earn your credit card reward as well, however, you’ll also earn points or miles to cover those expenses.
Utilize your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenses
Another method to reach the minimum spend and earn points is utilising your credit cards to pay for daily expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries or even your phone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full each month so you don’t pay interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, such as dining or travel. Make sure you review your rewards program on your credit card and make use of any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Consider a balance transfer
If you have existing debt on a credit card, consider transferring that balance onto the travel credit card which has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off the debt without accruing interest and simultaneously assist you in reaching the minimum spending requirement for the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize them wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and then compare the value of different redemption options. For example you can use your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline could provide you with a greater return than using them for an gift card.
Another suggestion is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to get a wider selection of options and greater freedom when it comes to redeeming your rewards. For example, you may be able to transfer your reward to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a reward program for hotels. This can give the benefit of a larger variety of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that may not be available through your credit card’s rewards program.
Also, determine the card’s benefits. certain benefits that will reduce your travel expenses. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with a companion and both of you earn rewards with your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t divide the cost with the same card. Also, make sure you keep track of your rewards separately.
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 to ensure you’re making use of this program in the most effective way possible. Utilizing all of the strategies I’ve listed that you can earn rewards fast, exchange them for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.