Are you tired of paying a fortune on airfare? Good news! Travel hacking could be the solution 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 get discounted or even cheap flights from your ideal destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider know-how, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of swapping credit card sign-up bonus as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards permit you to use miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and building out a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking consider the cost. If the flight is under $300, it’s best to pay cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to review those frequent flyer accounts and see which airline can give you the most value. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles you have in your travel account for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is to open a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards that provide many features and benefits. It is all dependent on the airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards that are great to use for hacking travel:
- 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 reach the limit of spending minimum in order to get the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so make sure to check for the details. Then you can begin to rack miles and using them to book your dream vacation!
Are you ready to set sail with your goals?
After you’ve accrued the points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious getaway! Different credit card companies have different methods for redeeming your points, but here are some examples from some of the companies I’ve worked with:
Take a trip with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of an Chase credit card, then you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within it, you’ll get access to nearly every airline, and you can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can even book completely with points if you’ve the funds to pay for it! Sometimes, even if you don’t possess enough points for the total cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United, you have the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful in case you don’t have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars on flights. Don’t worry, though, if you’re just a few point short United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s that allows customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points, but not both. The difference is that JetBlue offers a distinct feature where you can pool your points together with your family members and earn points twice as quickly. Make sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty thrifty and it’s difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars to reach the minimum amount required to earn the credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried because we’ve been there and we’re here to share some of our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is an important one! If you’re able to pay your rent with a credit card, do it! Just be prepared to be charged a fee, typically about 3%. It might be worth it in the long run when the bonus is large enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another excellent way to meet the required spending is to cover the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future, ask your relatives if you could pay their medical bills and they will repay you.
Repay a loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration repaying them using the credit card you have. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t end up with more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Ask your family members to look into any large expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Just make sure you trust the person and they understand why you’re doing it.
Purchase presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays, consider buying all your gifts using cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to reach the minimum spending requirement and be ready to give gifts. Be sure to avoid spending more than you were thinking of.
There are many ways to get the most of using your credit or debit card for travel. accrue points or miles to be used towards flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are a few additional suggestions for maximising your rewards
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, make use of you travel credit card to book your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. Not only will you be able to meet the minimum spend to earn your credit card as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles to cover these costs.
Use your credit card for everyday expenditures
Another way to meet the minimum amount of spending to earn rewards is by using your credit card to pay for everyday expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Just make sure to pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, like dining or travel. Make sure you review your rewards program on your credit card and take advantage of any bonus categories that match with your spending habits.
Consider a balance transfer
If you are currently in outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer the balance to the travel credit card which has a 0% introductory APR for balance transfers. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching the minimum amount required to earn 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 them wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and then compare the value of different redemption options. For example, using points to book a ticket directly through the airline may provide you with a greater return than using them for an gift card.
Another tip is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of options and greater flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or hotel rewards program. This will give you access to a greater range of flights, hotels as well as other travel perks that aren’t offered through your credit card’s rewards program.
In addition, you should discover whether your credit card has any perks that can help you save money on travel costs. Many cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that could be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with someone else, both of you can earn rewards using your own credit card. Be aware that you cannot share the costs on the same card. Also, make sure to track your rewards separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to making the most of your travel rewards is to know the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of your credit card in the most efficient method. Utilizing an array of strategies I’ve listed in this article, you’ll be able earn rewards quickly, redeem rewards for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad assortment of travel-related perks.