Are you tired of spending a fortune on airfare? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting method to turn credit card welcome bonuses and other incentives into airline miles, which you can use to score discounted or cheap flights from your desired destinations. With a little imagination and some information, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of trading credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to buy cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards allow you to redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The secret to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and building out a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When it’s time to book a flight, evaluate the cost. If the cost is less than $300, it’s best to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. When the flights start getting over $500, you’ll need to check those frequent flyer accounts to see which airline can give you the best deal. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles you have in your travel bank for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets of travel hacking? The first step is to open an account with a sign-up bonus. There are many great credit cards that provide many advantages and features. It is all dependent on the airline, spending habits and what features are essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are great to use for hacking 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 limit of spending minimum in order to get the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be certain to verify the details. From there it’s all about building miles and using them to plan your dream trip!
Are you ready to set sail with your points?
After you’ve accrued your points balance, you’re ready to use them towards sweet getaway! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your rewards, here are some examples from a few of the companies I’ve had experience with:
Getaway with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have a Chase cards, you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through the portal, you’ll have access to nearly every airline. You can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can even book completely using points if you’ve got the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t have enough points to cover the full price, you can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for your flight tickets? Did you not know that when you book directly through United, you have the option of paying with either points or dollars? But, be careful that if you don’t have enough points, you aren’t able to combine dollars and points on the same flight. No worries though, if you’re just a few point short United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s which allows customers to book using either JetBlue dollar or points but not both. However, JetBlue offers a distinct feature where you can combine your points with your relatives to earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to 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 I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to hit the minimum amount required to earn credit card bonuses. Don’t worry, 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 big one! If you’re able to pay your rent using credit card, go for it! Just be prepared to be charged a fee, typically around 3 percent. It may be worth it in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another excellent way to meet the spending limit is to cover an medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses coming up then ask your family members to pay their medical bills and they’ll pay you back.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you have any loans you owe, think about repaying them using an credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card completely so that you don’t end up with more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Ask your family members to determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Make sure that you are able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they understand why you’re taking the initiative.
Give presents
If it’s the holiday season you should consider purchasing all your gifts using your credit card. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and be ready to give gifts. Be sure to avoid spending more than you were already contemplating to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most of the travel credit card. You can accumulate miles or points that you can use towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few additional ways to maximize the rewards you earn:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
When you’re planning your next trip, use you travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. Not only will you achieve the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles to cover those expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spend in order to accumulate points by making use of your credit card to pay for everyday expenses. This could be items like groceries, gas, and even your phone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Benefit from bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer bonus points or miles on certain kinds of purchases, such as eating out or traveling. Be sure to review your rewards program on your credit card and take advantage of 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, think about transferring that balance onto an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will enable you to pay off your 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 you use them in a responsible manner. Review the rewards program for your credit card and then compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance, using points to purchase a flight directly with the airline could give you a better return than using them for an gift card.
Another tip is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to get a wider selection of choices and more freedom when it comes to making use of your rewards. For example, you may be able to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or hotel rewards program. This gives the benefit of a wider variety of hotels, flights and other travel benefits which are not accessible through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to determine if your credit card offers some perks that could help you save money on travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection and other benefits that could be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
When you travel with a companion, both of you can get rewards on your credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card and make sure you keep track of the rewards you earn separately.
The key to maximizing your travel rewards is to know your credit card’s rewards program and ensure that you’re making use of it in the most effective method. Utilizing a combination of the strategies I’ve listed 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.