Are you fed up of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Well, good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to turn credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles that can then be used to score discounted or cheap flights from your ideal destinations. With a little creativity and some insider know-how, you’ll fly for no cost in no time.
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 later be used to purchase discounted or even free flights. Some credit cards also let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental offers.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and building out a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking, evaluate the cost. If the price is under $300, it’s generally better to pay in 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 look into your frequent flyer accounts to see which airline can give you the best price. It all comes down to the number of points or miles you have in your travel account for each airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets of travel hacking? First step opening a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer various features and benefits. It all depends on your preferred airline, your habits with spending and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are great for travel hacking:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
If you’ve been approved for a credit card, you’ll need to reach the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so be sure to look up this information. From there, it’s all about racking miles and then using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your ideas?
After you’ve accrued your points balance, you’re ready to cash them in for some sweet getaway! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your rewards, here are a few examples from some of the companies I have experience with:
Getaway with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of a Chase credit card, then you can redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll have access to almost every airline. You can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your travel. You can even book entirely with points if you’ve the balance for it! Sometimes even if you don’t have enough points to cover the entire cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you not know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? Be careful that if you do not have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars for the same flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re a few points away, United provides the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience with extra legroom as well as free snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing you to book with either JetBlue either dollars 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. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty thrifty and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for the credit card bonus. But don’t fret, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able to pay your rent using a credit card, do it! Be prepared to be charged a fee, typically at least 3 percent. It could be worthwhile in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another way to reach the spending limit is to cover a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up then ask your family members if you can pay their medical bills and they can pay you back.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you have any loans you owe, think about making payments on them with your credit card. Be sure to pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t accumulate additional debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and look into any large expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Just make sure you are able to trust the person and that they know why you’re doing it.
Purchase presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts using your credit card. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready to give gifts. Make sure that you’re not paying more than you contemplating to.
There are many ways to get the most from using your credit or debit card for travel. You can accrue points or miles to spend on flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing your rewards
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, make use of your travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight or rental car, as well as any other travel expenses. In addition, you’ll be able to meet the minimum spend to earn your credit card bonus as well, however, you’ll also earn points or miles on those expenditures.
Use your credit card for all your daily expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum spend to earn rewards is making use of your credit card to pay every day expenses. This could include things like food, gas, and even your phone bill. Just make sure to pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accumulate interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, including dining or travel. Check out your rewards program on your credit card and avail any bonus categories that match with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a credit card, think about transferring that balance onto a travel credit card with the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfer. This will allow you to pay off your debt without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching the minimum spending requirement for the credit card bonus.
Use your points or miles wisely
If you’ve amassed a large amount of miles or points Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card and compare the value of different redemption options. For example you can use your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater value than using them for an gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer your reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will let you have a wider range of options and greater flexibility in 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 hotel rewards program. This can give an access larger variety of hotels, flights and other travel benefits which are not offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should find out whether your credit card has any perks that can reduce your travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that could be invaluable when you travel.
If you’re traveling with a friend and both of you get rewards on your own credit card. Make sure you don’t divide the cost with the same card and make sure you keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
In the end, the most important thing to do to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know the rewards program on your credit card and ensure that you’re using it in the most efficient method possible. Utilizing an array of methods I’ve described, 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 variety of travel benefits.