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 way to convert sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles which can be used to get discounted or even cheap flights from your dream destinations. With a little creativity and some insider knowledge, you can travel for free within a matter of minutes.
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 pay for cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards permit you to use miles towards hotel stays or rental car discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in travel hacking is to take advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and to establish frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking take a look at the price. If the cost is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. When the flights start getting above $500, you’ll want to review your frequent flyer accounts to determine which airline offers 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 to hacking travel? First step opening a credit card that comes with a welcome 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 the features that are most important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards great to hack travel
- 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 hit the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so be sure to check for this information. Then you can begin to rack up miles and using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up your points amount, it’s time to use them towards nice vacation! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your points. Here are a few examples from some of the providers I’ve worked with:
Take a trip through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you have an Chase cards, you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In it, you’ll get access to almost every airline, and you can make use of a combination of points and cash to book your trip. You can even book entirely using points if you’ve got the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full cost, you are able to book flights using the 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 flights? Did you know that when you book directly through United, you have the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful that if you don’t have enough points you cannot combine dollars and points on flights. If you’re just a few point short United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant flight experience with extra legroom as well as free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing you to book with either JetBlue either dollars or points, but not both. But, JetBlue offers a distinct feature where you can join your points with family members to accrue points twice as fast. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me or my travel buddy Becca You’re probably quite economical and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to hit the required amount to qualify for credit card bonuses. But don’t fret as we’ve done it and are here to share some of our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge 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 percent. It might be worth it in the long run in the event that the bonus is substantial enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to cover the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses coming up then ask your relatives if you could pay their medical bills and they will pay you back.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan you owe, think about making payments on them with your credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t end up with more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Talk to your family and see if they have any big expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they understand why you’re doing this.
Give gifts
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season, consider buying all your gifts using cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to reach the minimum spending requirement and also be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not paying more than you planning to.
There are a lot of methods to get the most from the travel credit card. You can accumulate miles or points that you can be used towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing the rewards you earn:
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
When you’re planning your next vacation, make use of you travel credit card for booking your flight, hotel or rental car, as well as any other travel expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the minimum spend to earn your credit card as well, but you’ll also earn points or miles on the expenditures.
Utilize your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points using your credit card to pay daily expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries or even your phone bill. Make sure you pay the balance off in full every month to ensure you don’t accumulate interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or bonus points 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.
Take into consideration a balance transfer
If you’re in the middle of a outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, think about transferring that balance onto the travel credit card which has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will enable you to pay off the debt without accruing interest and simultaneously aid in achieving the minimum amount required to earn the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points prudently
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points make sure you use the points or miles wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and compare the worth of various redemption options. For instance using your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater return than using them for an gift card.
Another option is to get an rewards card that permits you to transfer reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to have a wider range of choices and more flexibility when making use of your rewards. For example, you may be capable of transferring your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or Hotel rewards programme. This can give you access to a larger selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that aren’t offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should determine if your credit card offers certain benefits that will reduce your travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection, and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a friend, both of you can earn rewards using your credit card. Make sure you don’t divide the cost with the same card, and be sure to track the rewards you earn separately.
The key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of this program in the most efficient method possible. Utilizing all of the strategies I’ve outlined, you’ll be able to earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad range of travel perks.