Are you tired of paying a fortune on airfare? Well, good news! Travel hacking is the answer to your travel-related problems. It’s an exciting way to turn credit card welcome bonuses and other incentives into airline miles, which can be used to score discounted or complimentary flights for your dream destinations. With a little imagination and some know-how, you’ll travel for free 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. The miles can be used to purchase discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also let you redeem miles for hotel stays and rental car offers.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and to establish frequent flyer miles on a select group of airlines. When it comes time to make a booking consider the cost. If the cost is under $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and save your miles to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to review the frequent flyer account and determine which airline offers you the best deal. All it boils down to is the number of miles or points in your travel account for every airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Are you ready to discover the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is to open an account with a sign-up bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that provide various benefits and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, spending habits and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are perfect to hack 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 hit the limit of spending minimum in order to qualify for the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be sure to look up this information. From there it’s all about building miles and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up the points balance, you’re ready to use them towards delicious getaway! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are some examples from a few of the providers I have experience with:
Take a trip through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you have a Chase credit card, then you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through this portal you’ll get 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 with points if you’ve the balance for it! Sometimes even if you do not be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full cost, you still can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using every credit card.
United
Are you fed up 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 to pay with dollars or points? Be careful, if you do not have enough points you aren’t able to combine points and dollars for flights. No worries though, if you’re only a couple of points away, United provides the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience , with more legroom as well as free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s which allows you to book with either JetBlue either dollars or points, however, not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that allows you to pool your points together with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Just make sure you can prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to hit the minimum spend for the credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share some of our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with credit card, then do it! Be prepared to pay a fee, usually about 3%. It may be worth it in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another great way to hit the spending limit is to pay for the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future Ask your relatives if you could pay them for theirs, and they will reimburse you.
Pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration repaying them using the credit card you have. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full , so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Ask your family members to look into any big expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they understand why you’re taking the initiative.
Purchase gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all your gifts using your credit card. In this way, you’ll meet the minimum spending limit and be ready to give gifts. Be sure to avoid paying more than you already planning to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most from using your credit or debit card for travel and earn miles or points to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are some additional ideas for maximizing your rewards
Make travel reservations using your credit card
When you’re planning your next trip, use the travel credit card to pay for your flight, hotel or rental car, as well as other travel costs. You’ll not only achieve the minimum spend for your credit card bonus and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover the costs.
Utilize your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday costs
Another way to hit the minimum spending requirement to earn rewards is by utilising your credit cards for everyday expenditures. This could be things like gas, groceries or even your phone bill. Make sure you pay the balance off in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Benefit from bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer miles or bonus points on certain kinds of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Check out your credit card’s rewards program and make use of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Think about the possibility of transferring your balance
If you have existing debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer the balance to an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfer. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also aid in achieving the minimum spending requirement for the credit card’s bonus.
Make use of your miles or points carefully
If you’ve amassed a large amount of points or miles, be sure to use the points or miles 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 flight directly with the airline could give you a better value than using them for an gift card.
Another suggestion is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer points to other loyalty programs. This allows you to enjoy a greater variety of options and greater freedom when it comes to redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or a reward program for hotels. This can give the benefit of a larger selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks which are not accessible through your credit card’s rewards program.
Additionally, try to determine whether your credit card has any perks that can reduce your travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with someone else, both of you can earn rewards using your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card and make sure to track the rewards you earn separately.
Overall, the key to maximizing your travel rewards is to know the rewards program of your credit card and ensure that you’re making use of your credit card in the most efficient method possible. By using a combination of the methods I’ve described in this article, you’ll be able earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide range of travel perks.