Are you tired of paying an enormous amount on flights? Well, good news! Travel hacking can be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting method to convert sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles, that can then be used to get discounted or even cheap flights from your ideal destinations. With a little bit of creativity and some insider knowledge, you can 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 and incentives for airline miles. The miles can be used to pay for discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles for hotel stays and rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The secret to successful hacking travel is taking advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and to establish a frequent flyer mile program on a select group of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking, evaluate the cost. 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 higher than $500, it’s best to look into the frequent flyer account and see which airline can give you the best price. It all boils down to the number of miles or points you have in your travel savings account for each airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? First step to open an account with a sign-up bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards with many benefits and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, spending habits and the features that are most important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards excellent for travel hacking:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
If you’ve been approved for a credit or debit card, you’ll need to hit the limit of spending minimum in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so make sure to look up the details. Then you can begin to rack miles and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Once you’ve accumulated 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 points. Here are some examples from some of the providers I have experience with:
Take a trip with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have an Chase card, you can use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within it, you’ll have access to almost every airline. You can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can even book 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 full price, you can purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with any credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying with either points or dollars? Be careful, if you don’t have enough points, you can’t combine dollars and points on one flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re only a couple of points away, United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience with extra legroom as well as free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is like United’s that allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points but not both. The difference is that JetBlue has a unique feature that allows you to combine your points with your relatives to earn points twice as quickly. Make sure to verify that you are a family member before trying to hack the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars to hit the minimum amount required to earn a credit card bonus. But don’t fret, we’ve been through it 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 for your rent with credit card, go for it! Make sure you 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.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another great way to hit the minimum spend is to cover the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future Ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they can reimburse you.
Pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration paying them off with your credit card. Make sure to pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t end up with more debt.
Ask family for help
Ask your family members to look into any major expenses in the near future which you could help pay for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they understand why you’re taking the initiative.
Purchase gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts using your credit card. This way you can hit that minimum spend and also be prepared for giving gifts. Make sure that you’re not paying more than you contemplating to.
There are plenty of ways to make the most of using your credit or debit card for travel. accrue points or miles to spend on the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few additional ways to maximize your rewards:
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
When you’re planning your next trip, make use of you travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel, rental car, and other travel costs. In addition, you’ll achieve the minimum amount of spending required to earn your credit card and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles on the expenses.
Utilize your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday costs
Another method to reach the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points making use of your credit card to pay for daily expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Make sure you pay off the balance in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or points in exchange for specific types of purchases, including eating out or traveling. Be sure to review your rewards program on your credit card and avail any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Think about the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a credit card, consider transferring that balance onto a travel credit card with a 0% introductory APR for balance transfer. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also help you hit the minimum amount required to earn the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles wisely
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize them wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card and then compare the worth of various redemption options. For instance you can use points to book a ticket directly with the airline could provide you with a greater value than using them for a gift card.
Another suggestion is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer your rewards to different loyalty program. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of choices and more flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your reward to frequent flyer programs of airlines or Hotel rewards programme. This will give an access wider selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks which are not accessible through the rewards program on your credit card.
In addition, you should determine the card’s benefits. some perks that could save you money on travel-related expenses. Some cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection and other benefits that can be very beneficial when traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a companion and both of you earn rewards with your credit card. Just remember that you can’t share the costs on the same card. Also, make sure you keep track of your rewards separately.
Overall, the key to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program of your credit card and to ensure you’re using this program in the most effective method. Through a combination of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards quickly, redeem rewards for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.