Are you fed up of spending a fortune on airfare? Good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting way to turn credit card welcome bonuses and other incentives into airline miles that can then be used to score discounted or free flights to your dream destinations. With a bit of imagination and some know-how, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
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 purchase discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem 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 credit card sign-up bonuses and to establish frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When it comes time to book a flight take a look at the price. If the cost is under $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If your flights begin to climb over $500, you’ll need to review the frequent flyer account to determine which airline offers you the best price. It all boils down to the number of points or miles you have in your travel bank for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is to open a credit card with a sign-up bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards with many benefits and features. It depends on the type of airline, your habits with spending and what features are crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit card options that can be 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 minimum spend limit in order to get the bonus. Every card has different guidelines, so make sure to check for the details. From there, it’s all about racking up miles, and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your goals?
Now that you’ve built up the points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious getaway! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your rewards, here are some examples from a few of the companies I have experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of an Chase card, you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll have access to almost every airline. You can make use of a combination of money and points to pay for your trip. You can even book completely using points if you’ve got the balance for it! Sometimes, even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for entire price, you can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using any credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you realize that when booking directly through United, you have the option to pay with dollars or points? Butbe aware that if you do not have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars for one flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re just a few point short United gives you the possibility of purchasing additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience , with more space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue points or dollars but not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature where you can pool your points together with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Be sure to prove you’re really family before trying to hack into the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the minimum spend for credit card bonuses. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and we’re here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able to pay for your rent using credit card, then do it! Make sure you pay a cost, which is usually around 3%. It might be worth it over the long term when the bonus is large enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to pay for an medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future, ask your family members if you can pay them for theirs, and they’ll pay you back.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan, consider making payments on them with the credit card you have. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Talk to your family and determine if they’ve got any major expenses in the near future that you can contribute for. Just make sure you have confidence in the person you are talking to and they understand why you’re doing it.
Purchase presents
If it’s the holiday season you should consider purchasing all of your gifts with your credit card. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and also be prepared for gift giving. Make sure that you’re not spending more than you contemplating to.
There are plenty of methods to get the most of using your credit or debit card for travel and earn miles or points to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few more suggestions for maximising the rewards you earn:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, make use of the travel credit card to pay for your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the minimum amount of spending required to earn your credit card as well, however, you’ll also earn points or miles for those expenditures.
Use your credit card for all your daily expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spend in order to accumulate points using your credit card to pay daily expenditures. This could be things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Be sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange for certain types of purchases, like dining or travel. Check out the rewards program of your credit card and make use of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance onto an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off your debt without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching 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 make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and compare the benefits of different redemption options. For example using points to book a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase an gift card.
Another suggestion is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will let you get a wider selection of options and greater flexibility in redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your reward to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a reward program for hotels. This gives the benefit of a greater variety of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks which are not available through the rewards program on your credit card.
Also, find out whether your credit card has any perks that can save you money on travel-related costs. Some cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that could be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
If you’re traveling with a friend, both of you can get rewards on your own credit card. Be aware that you cannot split the cost on the same card, and be sure to track the rewards you earn separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to making the most of your travel rewards is to understand your credit card’s rewards program and to ensure you’re using this program in the most effective method. Utilizing an array of strategies I’ve listed in this article, you’ll be able get rewards in a short time, use rewards for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad variety of travel benefits.