Are you tired of spending a fortune on airfare? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to convert sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles which can be used to score discounted or complimentary flights for your dream destinations. With a bit of creativity and some insider know-how, you’ll fly for no cost within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of swapping credit card sign-up bonus as well as incentives to earn airline miles. The miles can be used to pay for discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The secret to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and establishing frequent flyer miles on a select group of airlines. When it’s time to make a booking take a look at the price. If the price is under $300, it’s usually better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. If your flights begin to climb above $500, you’ll want to review the frequent flyer account to find out which airline will give you the best price. It all boils down to the amount of points or miles you have in your travel account for each airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is opening a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards with many features and benefits. It all depends on your preferred airline, your spending habits, and what features are essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are excellent to use for hacking travel:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit card you’ll need to reach the limit of spending minimum in order to qualify for the bonus. Each card has its own guidelines, 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 ideas?
Once you’ve accumulated your points amount, it’s time to use them towards sweet vacation! Different credit card companies will offer different ways to redeem your points. Here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve worked with:
Take a trip by using Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own a Chase credit card, then you are able to redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through the portal, you’ll have access to virtually every airline, and you can combine the points as well as cash in order to book your next trip. You can book your flight entirely with points if you’ve enough balance! Sometimes, even if you don’t have enough points to cover the entire price, you 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 flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United, you have the option of paying with dollars or points? Butbe aware in case you do not have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars on flights. No worries though, if you’re just a few points away, 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 passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra space and complimentary snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points but not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature where you can pool your points together with your family members and earn points twice as quickly. Just make sure you can verify that you are a family member before trying to hack into the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re anything like me and my travel buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty economical and it’s daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the minimum amount required to earn credit card bonuses. Don’t worry 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 your rent with credit card, go for it! Just be prepared to be charged a fee, typically at least 3 percent. It could be worthwhile in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another great way to hit the required spending is to cover a medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses coming up Ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they’ll repay you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan, consider repaying them using the credit card you have. Be sure to pay the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Discuss your family with them and look into any big expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they know why you’re doing this.
Buy presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all your gifts with cards from your credit account. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and be ready to give gifts. Be sure to avoid spending more than you were already planning to.
There are many ways to get the most from your travel credit card. You can accrue points or miles to spend on flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are a few additional ways to maximize your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
When you’re planning your next trip, use the travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. In addition, you’ll be able to hit the required amount to qualify for a credit card reward as well, but you’ll also earn points or miles to cover these expenditures.
Make use of your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday costs
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points utilising your credit cards for everyday expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide bonus points or miles on certain kinds of purchases, such as dining or travel. Check out the rewards program of your credit card and take advantage of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Think about the possibility of transferring your balance
If you have existing outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, think about transferring that balance onto an account with a travel credit card that has a 0% introductory APR for balance transfer. This will enable you to pay off your debt without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum amount required to earn the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles wisely
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and compare the worth of various redemption options. For instance you can use your points to book a ticket directly through the airline may give you a better return than using them for a gift card.
Another tip is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This allows you to have a wider range of options and greater freedom when it comes to you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a Hotel rewards programme. This can give the benefit of a greater selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that may not be available through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to determine whether your credit card has any perks that can save you money on travel-related costs. Many cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that could be invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with someone else each of you will be able to get rewards on your own credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card, and be sure to track your rewards separately.
The key to reaping the maximum benefits from your rewards for travel is to be aware of your credit card’s rewards program and make sure you’re making use of this program in the most effective way possible. By using an array of methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards quickly, redeem them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad assortment of travel-related perks.