Are you fed up of spending a fortune on airfare? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to turn credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, that can then be used to score discounted or complimentary flights for your dream destinations. With a bit of imagination and some knowledge, you can fly for no cost in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is about swapping credit card sign-up bonus as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to buy discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The key to successful travel hacking is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing frequent flyer miles for a specific group of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking take a look at the price. If the flight is under $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to check your frequent flyer accounts to determine which airline offers you the most value. All it boils down to is the number of points or miles you have in your travel account for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? First step to open an account that comes with a welcome bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards that offer a variety of benefits and features. It depends on the type of airline, your habits with spending and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some 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 card, you’ll need to reach the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so make 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 goals?
Now that you’ve built up your points balance, it’s time to use them towards sweet travel! Different credit card companies will offer different ways to redeem your rewards, here are some examples from a few of the companies I’ve worked with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you’re a holder of an Chase card, you can redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through this portal you’ll have access to almost every airline, and you can use a combination of money and points to book your travel. You can even book entirely on points if you have enough balance! Sometimes even if you don’t have enough points to cover the entire cost, you still can purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option of paying using either points or dollars? But, be careful, if you don’t have enough points, you aren’t able to combine dollars and points for flights. No worries though, if you’re just a few points short, United provides the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience with extra space and complimentary snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s that allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue points or dollars, however, not both. But, JetBlue has a unique feature where you can combine your points with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Make sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel buddy Becca, you’re probably pretty economical and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the minimum spend for 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 a huge one! If you’re able pay your rent with a credit card, do it! Just be prepared to pay a fee, usually about 3%. It might be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the required spending is to pay for an medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses coming up Ask your family members if you can pay them for theirs, and they can repay you.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan you owe, think about repaying them using an credit card. Be sure to pay off the balance on your credit card in full , so that you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Ask your family members to see if they have any big expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to are able to trust the person and that they know why you’re doing it.
Give gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts using cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to hit that minimum spend and also be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not spending more than you already contemplating to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most of the travel credit card. accumulate miles or points that you can spend on flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are some additional suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, use the travel credit card to book your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only achieve the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card bonus and earn points, however, you’ll also earn points or miles for those expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily expenditures
Another way to hit the minimum amount of spending and earn points is using your credit card to pay for every day expenses. This could be things like food, gas and even your telephone bill. Make sure you pay off the balance each month in full so you don’t accumulate interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, such as eating out or travelling. Make sure you review your rewards program on your credit card and take advantage of any bonus categories that match with your spending habits.
Take into consideration a balance transfer
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer the balance to the travel credit card which has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will enable you to pay off your debt without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching the minimum spend for the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example using your points to book a flight directly with the airline could give you a better value than using them to purchase an gift card.
Another option is to get rewards cards that allow you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This allows you to get a wider selection of choices and more flexibility in making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be able to transfer your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or a hotel rewards program. This will give you access to a greater range of flights, hotels, and other travel perks which are not available through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, determine whether your credit card has some perks that could reduce your travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that are invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with a friend each of you will be able to get rewards on your credit card. Just remember that you can’t share the costs on the same card and make sure you keep track of your rewards separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to understand your credit card’s rewards program and to ensure you’re making use of it in the most effective way possible. Utilizing a combination of the strategies I’ve listed that you can earn rewards fast, exchange them for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.