Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking is the answer to your travel-related problems. It’s an exciting way to convert credit card welcome bonuses and other incentives into miles which you can use to get discounted or even cheap flights from your ideal destinations. With a little bit of imagination and some information, you’ll fly for no cost in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. The miles can be used to pay for discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles for hotel stays and car rental offers.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When you are ready to book a flight take a look at the price. If the cost is under $300, it’s best 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 to find out which airline will give you the best price. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles in your travel bank for every airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets of travel hacking? Your first task is to open the credit card that comes that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer a variety of benefits and features. It is all dependent on the airline, spending habits and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards great to hack travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit or debit 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 the details. From there it’s all about building up miles and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your ideas?
After you’ve accrued the points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some nice vacation! Different credit card companies will have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are some examples from a few of the providers I’ve worked with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you have an Chase credit card, then you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. In the portal, you’ll have access to virtually every airline, and you can combine the points as well as cash in order to pay for your trip. You can book your flight entirely with points if you’ve enough balance! Sometimes, even if you don’t possess enough points for the entire cost, you still can purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with the credit card of your choice.
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 to pay with either points or dollars? Butbe aware that if you don’t have enough points you can’t combine dollars and points for the same flight. If you’re a few points away, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable flight experience , with more legroom and free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to that of United Airlines which allows you to book with either JetBlue dollar or points, but not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature where you can pool your points together with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Be sure to prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel companion Becca I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for a credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and are here to share some of our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able pay your rent with credit card, go for it! Make sure you pay a cost, which is usually at least 3%. It could be worthwhile in the long run when the bonus is large enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another way to reach the required spending is to pay for a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up Ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they’ll pay you back.
Repay the loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration repaying them using an credit card. Be sure to pay off the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accrue additional debt.
Ask your family members for help
Discuss your family with them and determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they are aware of the reason for doing this.
Buy gifts
If it’s the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts with your credit card. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and also be prepared to give gifts. Be sure to avoid paying more than you planning to.
There are many ways to make the most from using your credit or debit card for travel. You can accrue points or miles to use towards flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are a few additional suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. In addition, you’ll achieve the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card reward and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles on the costs.
Use your credit card for all your daily expenditures
Another way to meet the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points by using your credit card to pay everyday expenses. This can include things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Make sure you pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t pay interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide bonus points or miles on certain kinds of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and take advantage of any bonus categories that match with your spending habits.
Consider a balance transfer
If you have existing debt on a credit card, consider transferring the balance to an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off the debt without accruing interest, and also aid in achieving the minimum amount required to earn the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles prudently
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance you can use points to book a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater value than using them for a gift card.
Another option is to get rewards cards that allow you to transfer your reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to have a wider range of options and greater flexibility when you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your reward to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a reward program for hotels. This gives an access greater selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that aren’t offered through the rewards program on your credit card.
Also, discover if your credit card offers some perks that could save you money on travel-related costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance and 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 and make sure you keep track of the rewards you earn separately.
Overall, the key to making the most of your travel rewards is to understand your credit card’s rewards program and to ensure you’re using it in the most effective method possible. Through a combination of the strategies I’ve listed in this article, you’ll be able earn rewards fast, exchange rewards for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.