Are you tired of spending a fortune on airfare? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s a fun way to turn credit card welcome bonuses and other incentives into miles which can be used to get discounted or even complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a bit of imagination and a little bit of insider information, you’ll 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 cheap or free flight tickets. Some credit cards also allow you to redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for successful hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking, evaluate the cost. If the flight is under $300, it’s best to pay cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. When the flights start getting over $500, you’ll need to look into the frequent flyer account and determine which airline offers you the best price. All it boils down to is the amount of points or miles you have in your travel account for every airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to hacking travel? The first step is opening the credit card that comes with a sign-up offer. There are many great credit cards that offer a variety of features and benefits. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards that are great to use for hacking 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 credit card has its own set of guidelines, so make certain to verify this information. From there you can begin to rack up miles, and then using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up the points balance, it’s time to use them towards delicious vacation! Different credit card companies have different methods for redeeming your rewards, here are some examples from a few of the ones I have experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of a Chase card, you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through this portal you’ll have access to virtually every airline and you can combine points and cash to pay for 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 possess enough points for the entire cost, you are able to book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flight tickets? Did you know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? Be careful in case you don’t have enough points you can’t combine dollars and points for one flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re only a couple of points short, United gives you the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s that allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points, however, not both. But, JetBlue offers a distinct feature that allows you to join your points with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Make sure to verify that you are a family member before trying to hack the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me and my travel buddy Becca, you’re probably pretty economical and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars in order to meet the minimum amount required to earn the credit card bonus. But don’t fret as we’ve done it and we’re here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with credit card, go for it! Make sure you pay a fee, usually around 3%. It may be worth it in the long run in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another excellent way to meet the spending limit is to cover a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills due then ask your family members if you can pay their medical bills and they will reimburse you.
Pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan you owe, think about making payments on them with the credit card you have. Be sure to pay the credit card balance completely so that you don’t end up with more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Talk to your family and look into any big expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they are aware of the reason for taking the initiative.
Buy gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts using the credit card you have. In this way, you’ll hit that minimum spend and also be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not paying more than you planning to.
There are plenty of methods to get the most out of the travel credit card. You can accrue points or miles to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are some additional ideas for maximizing the rewards you earn:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight, rental car, and other travel costs. In addition, you’ll be able to meet the required amount for your credit card bonus and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles for these expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points by making use of your credit card to pay daily costs. This could be things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Just make sure to pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Take advantage of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, such as eating out or traveling. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and take advantage of the bonus categories that are in line 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, you might want to transfer that balance to a travel credit card with the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will let you pay off your debt without accruing interest, and also aid in achieving the minimum spending requirement for the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points prudently
When you’ve earned a significant amount of miles or points, be sure to use the points or miles wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card, and evaluate the worth of various redemption options. For example using points to book a ticket directly with the airline might give you a better value than using them for an gift card.
Another suggestion is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer rewards to different loyalty program. This will let you enjoy a greater variety of options and greater flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For example, you may be eligible 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, and other travel perks that aren’t accessible through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, determine whether your credit card has any perks that can help you save money on travel expenses. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that could be invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with a friend each of you will be able to earn rewards using your credit card. Be aware that you cannot share the costs on the same card and make sure to keep track of the rewards you earn separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to maximizing your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program of your credit card and ensure that you’re using your credit card in the most effective method. By using a combination of the methods I’ve described, you’ll be able to get rewards in a short time, use them for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide range of travel perks.