Are you tired of paying a fortune on airfare? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking can be the solution to your travel-related problems. It’s a fun way to convert bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, that can then be used to get discounted or even complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a little bit of creativity and some insider know-how, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about swapping credit card sign-up bonus as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to buy discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards allow you to redeem miles for hotel stays and car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When you are ready to book a flight consider the cost. If the cost is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and save your miles for a more expensive flight. When the flights start getting above $500, you’ll want to review those frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the best deal. All it boils down to is the number of points or miles you have you have in your travel savings account for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you ready to discover the secrets to hacking travel? The first step is opening an account that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards with many advantages and features. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards great for travel hacking:
- 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 need to hit the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so be certain to verify the details. From there it’s all about building up miles, and using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to set sail with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up your points amount, it’s time to use them towards nice getaway! Different credit card companies have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are a few examples from some of the companies I’ve had experience with:
Getaway through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you own a Chase card, you can use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within the portal, you’ll get access to nearly every airline and you can use a combination of points and cash to book your next trip. You can even book entirely using points if you’ve got enough balance! Sometimes even if you do not have enough points to cover the full cost, you are able to book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option of paying using either points or dollars? Be careful, if you do not have enough points you aren’t able to combine points and dollars for one flight. If you’re just a few points away, United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience , with more legroom as well as free snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s which allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points but not both. However, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that lets you join your points with your family members and earn points twice as fast. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty thrifty and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars in order to meet the minimum spend for credit card bonuses. 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 to pay for your rent with a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a fee, usually at least 3%. It might be worth it over the long term when the bonus is large enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another excellent way to meet the spending limit is to pay for an medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses due, ask your family members to pay for theirs and they will reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration making payments on them with an credit card. Just make sure you pay off the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Talk to your family and look into any large expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Make sure that you are able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they know why you’re doing this.
Buy presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season you should consider purchasing all your gifts using cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not spending more than you were thinking of.
There are many ways to make the most from your travel credit card. You can accumulate miles or points that you can spend on the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few more suggestions for maximising your rewards
Book travel expenses with your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the minimum spend to earn your credit card, however, you’ll also earn points or miles on the expenditures.
Use your credit card for all your daily expenses
Another way to hit the minimum spend to earn rewards is making use of your credit card to pay for every day expenditures. This could be things like food, gas and even your telephone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accrue interest charges.
Make the most of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer bonus points or miles for certain types of purchases, such as eating out or traveling. 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 outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance to an account with a travel credit card that has a 0% introductory APR for balance transfers. This will let you pay off the debt without accruing interest. It will also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points prudently
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and then compare the worth of various redemption options. For instance using your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline might give you a better return than using them for the purchase of a gift card.
Another tip is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer your rewards to different loyalty program. This will allow you to get a wider selection of choices and more flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or reward program for hotels. This will give the benefit of a larger variety of hotels, flights and other travel benefits that may not be accessible through your credit card’s rewards program.
In addition, you should find out the card’s benefits. certain benefits that will save you money on travel-related expenses. Some cards offer travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that are invaluable when you travel.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a friend each of you will be able to earn rewards with your own credit card. Make sure you don’t split the cost on the same card and make sure to keep track of the rewards you earn separately.
The key to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of your credit card in the most efficient method. By using all of the methods I’ve described that you can get rewards in a short time, use rewards for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad range of travel perks.