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 a fun way to turn credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into miles which can be used to get discounted or even complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a little bit of imagination and some information, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives for airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for success in travel hacking is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking consider the cost. If the price is under $300, it’s best to pay in 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 look into the frequent flyer account and determine which airline offers you the best deal. All it boils down to is the number of points or miles in your travel bank for every airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to travel hacking? First step to open an account with a sign-up bonus. There are many great credit cards with a variety of advantages and features. It depends on the type of airline, spending habits and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are great to hack travel
- 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 have to meet the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to get the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so make sure to look up this information. Then, it’s all about racking up miles and using them to plan your dream vacation!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your points?
Once you’ve accumulated the points balance, you’re ready to use them towards nice vacation! Different credit card companies will have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are some examples from a few of the providers I’ve had experience with:
Getaway through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you own an Chase cards, you can redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through it, you’ll have access to almost every airline, and you can make use of a combination of money and points to book your next trip. You can even book completely on points if you have the balance for it! Sometimes even if you don’t possess enough points for the full cost, you still can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for your flights? Did you know that when you book directly through United, you have the option of paying using either points or dollars? Butbe aware, if you do not have enough points you aren’t able to combine dollars and points on one flight. If you’re only a couple of point short United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience with extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points however, not both. The difference is that JetBlue offers a distinct feature that lets you join your points with family members to accrue points twice as quickly. Just make sure you can prove you’re really family before trying to hack 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 minimum spend for credit card bonuses. Don’t worry, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share our tips and tricks.
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! Make sure you pay a cost, which is usually around 3%. It could be worthwhile in the long run when the bonus is large enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the spending limit is to pay for the medical bills. If you don’t have any medical bills in the near future, ask your family members to pay their medical bills and they’ll repay you.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you’re a borrower, consider repaying them using the credit card you have. Make sure to pay off the balance on your credit card in full , so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Discuss your family with them and look into any big expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Make sure that you are able to trust the person and they know why you’re taking the initiative.
Give gifts
If it’s the holiday season you should consider purchasing all your gifts using the credit card you have. This way you can reach the minimum spending requirement and be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not paying more than you planning to.
There are a lot of ways to get the most from the travel credit card. You can accrue points or miles to spend on the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few additional suggestions for maximising the rewards you earn:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of your travel credit card to book your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. You’ll not only be able to meet the required amount to earn your credit card bonus, however, you’ll also earn points or miles for the costs.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points by making use of your credit card to pay for daily costs. This could be items like groceries, gas and even your telephone bill. Be sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Benefit from bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Be sure to review the rewards program of your credit card and avail any bonus categories that match with your spending routines.
Think about a balance transfer
If you have existing debt on a credit card, consider transferring the balance to the travel credit card which has the introductory APR of 0% 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 bonus.
Make use of your miles or points carefully
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points Make sure to utilize them in a responsible manner. Check out the rewards program on 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 give you a better return than using them for a gift card.
Another option is to get a rewards card that allows you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of options and greater flexibility when you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a Hotel rewards programme. This will give the benefit of a larger selection of hotels, flights and other travel benefits which are not accessible through your credit card’s rewards program.
In addition, you should find out whether your credit card has certain benefits that will save you money on travel-related expenses. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection and other benefits that can be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
If you’re traveling with a companion each of you will be able to get rewards on your own credit card. Make sure you don’t split the cost on the same card. Also, make sure to keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
The key to maximizing your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program of your credit card and make sure you’re making use of it in the most effective method possible. Utilizing an array of strategies I’ve outlined in this article, you’ll be able get rewards in a short time, use rewards for valuable travel experiences, and enjoy a wide variety of travel benefits.