Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to your travel-related problems. It’s an exciting way to turn credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles which you can use to score discounted or cheap flights from your desired destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider information, you’ll fly for no cost within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of trading credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives for airline miles. The miles can be used to pay for 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 secret to successful hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of credit card sign-up bonuses and establishing a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When it’s time to book a flight, evaluate the cost. If the price is less than $300, it’s usually better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to review your frequent flyer accounts and see which airline can give you the best deal. It all comes down to the amount of miles or points in your travel bank for every airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? First step to open a credit card with a sign-up offer. There are plenty of great credit cards that provide a variety of advantages and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards perfect 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 have to meet the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to qualify for the bonus. Each card has its own guidelines, so make sure to check for the details. Then it’s all about building up miles, and then using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your points?
Now that you’ve built up the points balance, it’s time to cash them in for some nice travel! Different credit card providers will offer different ways to redeem your points, but here are some examples from some of the ones I have experience with:
Getaway with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of an Chase cards, you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through the portal, you’ll have access to virtually every airline, and you can combine points and cash to book your next trip. You can book your flight entirely on points if you have the balance for it! Sometimes even if you do not be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using any credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option to pay with either points or dollars? But, be careful, if you don’t have enough points you aren’t able to combine points and dollars on one flight. No worries though, if you’re a few points short, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable travel experience that includes extra legroom and free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is similar to that of United Airlines, allowing you to book with either JetBlue dollar or points however, not both. But, JetBlue offers a distinct feature that lets you pool your points together with your family members and earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to establish that you’re a real family member prior to trying to hack into the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty frugal and it can be difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for the credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and are 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 a credit card, do it! Make sure you pay a fee, usually about 3%. It could be worthwhile in the long run when the bonus is large enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to pay for a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills in the near future Ask your family members if you can pay their medical bills and they’ll repay you.
Pay off a loan
If you have any loans take into consideration repaying them using an credit card. Just make sure you pay off the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Ask your family members to look into any large expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to are able to trust the person and that they are aware of the reason for taking the initiative.
Purchase gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays, consider buying all your gifts with your credit card. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not spending more than you already contemplating to.
There are a lot of ways to make the most of using your credit or debit card for travel. accrue points or miles to use towards airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few more ways to maximize your rewards
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, make use of your travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel expenses. You’ll not only achieve the minimum amount of spending required to earn your credit card reward and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles for the costs.
Utilize your credit card to pay for all your daily expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points using your credit card for every day expenses. This could be things like gas, groceries and even your telephone bill. Make sure you pay off the balance each month in full so you don’t accrue interest charges.
Benefit from bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or bonus points for certain types of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and avail any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you have existing outstanding debt due to a high-interest credit card, consider transferring that balance onto a travel credit card with an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will enable you to pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card’s bonus.
Utilize your miles and points prudently
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles, be sure to use them wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and then compare the value of different redemption options. For example using your points to book a flight directly through the airline may give you a better value than using them for a gift card.
Another suggestion is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer your reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will allow you to have a wider range of choices and more freedom when it comes to making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or reward program for hotels. This gives the benefit of a greater selection of hotels, flights and other travel benefits that may not be available through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to find out the card’s benefits. any perks that can help you save money on travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a companion, both of you can earn rewards using your credit card. Be aware that you cannot divide the cost with 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 make sure you’re making use of your credit card in the most efficient method. By using all of the strategies I’ve outlined 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.