Are you tired of paying thousands of dollars on travel? Well, good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s a fun way to convert credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles which you can use to get discounted or even complimentary flights for your ideal destinations. With a little creativity and some insider know-how, you’ll travel for free 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. The miles can be used to pay for cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards will also permit you to use miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and building out a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When it comes time to make a booking consider the cost. If the cost is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and save your miles to book a higher-priced flight. If your flights begin to climb above $500, you’ll want to look into your frequent flyer accounts to see which airline can give you the most value. It all boils down to the amount of miles or points you have in your travel savings account for each airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to travel hacking? The first step is opening the credit card that comes with a sign-up offer. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards with a variety of features and benefits. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards excellent to use for hacking travel:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
Once you’ve been approved for a credit card, you’ll have to meet the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be sure to look up the details. From there you can begin to rack up miles and using them to book your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your goals?
After you’ve accrued the points balance, it’s time to use them towards sweet getaway! Different credit card companies will have different methods of redeeming your points. Here are a few examples from some of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own an Chase cards, you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. In the portal, you’ll have access to almost every airline and you can combine the points as well as cash in order to pay for your next trip. You can book your flight entirely on points if you have the balance for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total price, you can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using any credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United, you have the option of paying using either points or dollars? But, be careful that if you don’t have enough points, you can’t combine dollars and points on flights. If you’re only a couple of points away, United gives you the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. Plus, their booking process is like United’s which allows customers to book using either JetBlue points or dollars but not both. But, JetBlue has a unique feature that lets you 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.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty thrifty and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars in order to meet the required amount to qualify for credit card bonuses. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and are here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a fee, usually at least 3%. It may be worth it in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another great way to hit the minimum spend is to cover an medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses due Ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they’ll reimburse you.
Pay off a loan
If you’re a borrower you owe, think about making payments on them with your credit card. Just make sure you pay the credit card balance in full so you don’t end up with additional debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and look into any major expenses in the near future that you can help pay for. Just make sure you are able to trust the person and that they understand why you’re doing it.
Give gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all your gifts with your credit card. In this way, you’ll reach the minimum spending requirement and also be ready to give gifts. Just make sure you’re not paying more than you already thinking of.
There are a lot of ways to make the most from the travel credit card. earn miles or points to use towards airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are some additional suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
When you’re planning your next trip, use your travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel expenses. Not only will you be able to hit the required amount for your credit card reward, but you’ll also be earning points or miles to cover those expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily costs
Another method to reach the minimum spend to earn rewards is by making use of your credit card to pay every day costs. This can include things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Make sure you pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accrue interest charges.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Check out your rewards program on your credit card and take advantage of any bonus categories that match with your spending habits.
Think about a balance transfer
If you are currently in outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, consider transferring the balance to a travel credit card with the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum spending requirement for the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles prudently
If you’ve amassed a large amount of points or miles, be sure to use the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card, and evaluate the worth of various redemption options. For instance, using your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline could provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase an gift card.
Another option is to get a rewards card that allows you to transfer rewards to different loyalty program. This allows you to get a wider selection of options and greater freedom when it comes to you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your reward to frequent flyer programs of airlines or hotel rewards program. This will give an access larger range of flights, hotels and other travel benefits that may not be available through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to discover if your credit card offers certain benefits that will save you money on travel-related costs. 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.
When you travel with someone else and both of you earn rewards using your credit card. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card and make sure you keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
The key to making the most of your travel rewards is to know your credit card’s rewards program and ensure that you’re using this program in the most effective way possible. Through all of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards fast, exchange them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad range of travel perks.