Are you fed up of spending a fortune on airfare? Good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s a fun way to turn credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, which you can use to obtain discounted or free flights to your dream destinations. With a little bit of imagination and a little bit of insider know-how, you’ll fly for no cost within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of trading credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can later be used to purchase discount or no-cost flights. Some credit cards also permit you to use miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to successful hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and building out frequent flyer miles on a select group of airlines. When it comes time to book a flight consider the cost. If the flight is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. When the flights start getting over $500, you’ll need to review your frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the best price. It all boils down to the amount of points or miles you have in your travel bank for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to travel hacking? Your first task is to open the credit card that comes with a sign-up bonus. There are many great credit cards with various benefits and features. It is all dependent on the airline, your spending habits, and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards 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 spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to get the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be certain to verify the details. Then it’s all about building up miles, and using them to plan your dream trip!
Are you ready to set sail with your goals?
After you’ve accrued your points balance, it’s time to cash them in for some nice vacation! Different credit card providers will have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are a few examples from some of the providers I’ve had experience with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you have a Chase credit card, then you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within it, you’ll get access to almost every airline and you can make use of a combination of money and points to pay for your next trip. You can book your flight entirely on points if you have the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United You have the option to pay with either points or dollars? But, be careful in case you do not have enough points you can’t combine dollars and points for flights. No worries though, if you’re just a few point short United gives you the possibility of purchasing additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra space and complimentary snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to that of United Airlines that allows customers to book using either JetBlue dollar or points, however, not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature where you can join your points 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 anything like me and my travel buddy Becca, you’re probably pretty thrifty and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to hit the minimum amount required to earn the credit card bonus. But don’t fret, we’ve been through it and are here to share some of our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able pay your rent with credit card, then do it! Just be prepared to pay a fee, usually at least 3 percent. It might be worth it in the long run in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another great way to hit the spending limit is to pay for the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future Ask your family members if you can pay them for theirs, and they will reimburse you.
Repay the loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration paying them off with the credit card you have. Be sure to pay off the credit card balance in full so you don’t accrue additional debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Talk to your family and look into any large 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 presents
If it’s the holiday season take into consideration buying all of your gifts with cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to hit that minimum spend and also be prepared for gift giving. Be sure to avoid paying more than you already contemplating to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most out of the travel credit card and accrue points or miles to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are some additional suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, use the travel credit card to book your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only achieve the required amount for your credit card bonus as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles for the costs.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spend and earn points is by utilising your credit cards to pay for daily expenses. This could be things like food, gas or even your phone bill. Be sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Take advantage of bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer bonus points or miles for specific types of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Check out your credit card’s rewards program and take advantage of any bonus categories that align with your spending habits.
Take into consideration a balance transfer
If you are currently in debt on a credit card, you might want to transfer that balance onto a travel credit card with an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfer. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and then compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance you can use points to purchase a flight directly with the airline could give you a better value than using them for a gift card.
Another suggestion is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This allows you to enjoy a greater variety of choices and more flexibility in making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be able to transfer your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or reward program for hotels. This can give an access greater selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that aren’t accessible through your credit card’s rewards program.
Additionally, try to discover whether your credit card has certain benefits that will reduce your travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that could be 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. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card and make sure to keep track of your rewards separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to making the most of your rewards for travel is to be aware of your credit card’s rewards program and ensure that you’re making use of your credit card in the most effective method. Through all of the strategies I’ve listed, you’ll be able to get rewards in a short time, use them for travel experiences that are worth it and benefit from a wide range of travel perks.