Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s a fun way to convert welcome bonuses and other incentives into airline miles which can be used to get discounted or even free flights to your ideal destinations. With a little 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 exchanging credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards allow you to redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing frequent flyer miles on a select group of airlines. When it comes time to book a flight take a look at the price. If the price is less than $300, it’s best to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to review your frequent flyer accounts and see which airline can give 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 ready to discover the secrets to travel hacking? Your first task is to open the credit card that comes with a sign-up bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards with many benefits and features. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards that are perfect for travel hacking:
- 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 card has different rules, so be sure to look up this information. From there you can begin to rack up miles and then using them to book your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
After you’ve accrued the points balance, it’s time to redeem them for some sweet travel! Different credit card companies offer different ways to redeem your points. Here are some examples from some of the providers I’ve worked with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own an Chase card, you can redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In it, you’ll have access to nearly every airline. You can make use of a combination of the points as well as cash in order to pay for your travel. You can book your flight entirely with points if you’ve the balance 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 purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for flights? Did you know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option to pay with either points or dollars? But, be careful, if you don’t have enough points, you can’t combine dollars and points for flights. Don’t worry, though, if you’re only a couple of point short United provides the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience with extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points but not both. The difference is that JetBlue offers a distinct feature that allows you to pool your points together with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Be sure to 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 companion Becca You’re probably quite economical and it’s challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for a credit card bonus. Don’t worry as we’ve done it and we’re 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 for your rent using a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a fee, usually about 3 percent. It may be worth it over the long term in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to pay for an medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up then ask your relatives if you could pay their medical bills and they’ll reimburse you.
Repay a loan
If you have any loans, consider making payments on them with an credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full , so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and determine if they’ve got any big expenses coming up that you can 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.
Purchase gifts
If it’s the holiday season take into consideration buying all of your gifts with cards from your credit account. This way you can reach the minimum spending requirement and be ready for gift giving. Just make sure you’re not spending more than you already contemplating to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most from using your credit or debit card for travel. accrue points or miles to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few additional suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, use you travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight, rental car, and other travel costs. Not only will you be able to meet the minimum spend to earn your credit card bonus and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover these expenses.
Utilize your credit card to pay for all your daily expenses
Another method to reach the minimum amount of spending to earn rewards is by using your credit card to pay for every day expenses. This could include things like food, gas, and even your phone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, like dining or travel. Check out the rewards program of 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’re in the middle of a debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance onto a travel credit card with a 0% introductory APR for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off the debt without accruing interest. It will also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
If you’ve amassed a large amount of miles or points make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and then compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance you can use your points to book a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase the purchase of a gift card.
Another option is to get an rewards card that permits you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to have a wider range of choices and more flexibility in making use of your rewards. For example, you may be eligible to transfer your reward to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a reward program for hotels. This will give you access to a wider variety of hotels, flights, and other travel perks which are not offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, discover if your credit card offers certain benefits that will reduce your travel expenses. Many cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection and other benefits that are very beneficial when traveling.
If you’re traveling with a friend, both of you can get rewards on your credit card. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card, and be sure to track your rewards in a separate manner.
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 making use of this program in the most effective way possible. By using all of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards quickly, redeem rewards for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad assortment of travel-related perks.