Are you tired of paying thousands of dollars on travel? Well, good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to convert bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, which you can use to score discounted or complimentary flights for your ideal destinations. With a bit of creativity and some insider information, you’ll fly for no cost within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. These miles can later be used to pay for cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The key to successful hacking travel is taking advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking consider the cost. If the price is under $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and save your miles to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise higher than $500, it’s best to look into the frequent flyer account to find out which airline will give you the best price. All it boils down to is the amount of points or miles in your travel account for each airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to travel hacking? The first step is to open an account with a sign-up offer. There are many great credit cards with many advantages and features. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are perfect 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 have to meet the limit of spending minimum in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so make sure to look up the details. From there you can begin to rack up miles, and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up the points amount, it’s time to redeem them for some nice vacation! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your rewards, here are some examples from some of the providers I have experience with:
Take a trip through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you’re a holder of a Chase card, you are able to redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In this portal you’ll get access to almost every airline and you can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your travel. You can even book entirely on points if you have the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t possess enough points for the total cost, you still can buy flights with 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 not know that when you book directly through United, you have the option to pay with either points or dollars? Be careful in case you do not have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars on flights. No worries though, if you’re just a few point short United gives you the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience with extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s which allows customers to book using either JetBlue dollar or points but not both. But, JetBlue offers a distinct feature that lets you combine your points with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Just make sure you can prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca You’re probably quite frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for the credit card bonus. Don’t worry, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay your rent using credit card, then do it! Be prepared to be charged a fee, typically around 3 percent. It may be worth it in the end in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another great way to hit the required spending is to pay for a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills in the near future, ask your family members to pay for theirs and they will reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re a borrower, consider paying them off with your credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t end up with additional debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Just make sure you trust the person and they know why you’re doing it.
Buy presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all your gifts using your credit card. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready for giving gifts. Make sure that you’re not paying more than you already thinking of.
There are many ways to make the most from your travel credit card and accumulate miles or points that you can spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are some additional ways to maximize your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, make use of you travel credit card to pay for your flight, hotel or rental car, as well as other travel costs. You’ll not only be able to hit the required amount for your credit card and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover those expenses.
Utilize your credit card to pay for everyday expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spend in order to accumulate points utilising your credit cards to pay everyday expenditures. This could be things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, such as dining or travel. Check out your rewards program on your credit card and take advantage of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you are currently in debt on a credit card, think about transferring the 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 simultaneously assist you in reaching the minimum spend for the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points prudently
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card and compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance you can use points to book a ticket directly through the airline may give you a better return than using them for a gift card.
Another option is to get rewards cards that allow you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will let you enjoy a greater variety of choices and more freedom when it comes to redeeming your rewards. For example, you may be eligible to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or hotel rewards program. This will give an access greater selection of hotels, flights, and other travel perks that aren’t accessible through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should find out the card’s benefits. some perks that could help you save money on travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that are extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a companion and both of you earn rewards using your credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card and make sure to track the rewards you earn separately.
Overall, the key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know the rewards program of your credit card and ensure that you’re using it in the most effective way possible. Utilizing all of the strategies I’ve listed that you can get rewards in a short time, use them for valuable travel experiences, and enjoy a wide range of travel perks.