Are you fed up of spending an enormous amount on flights? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking can be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting method to turn credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, which you can use to score discounted or cheap flights from your ideal destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider know-how, you’ll fly for no cost within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can later be used to purchase discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The secret to success in hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and to establish a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking, evaluate the cost. If the price is under $300, it’s usually better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay for a more expensive flight. If your flights begin to climb higher than $500, it’s best to look into the frequent flyer account to determine which airline offers you the best deal. All it boils down to is the amount of miles or points you have in your travel savings account for every airline.
Begin by Getting Started with Travel Hacking
Are you ready to discover the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is opening an account with a sign-up bonus. There are plenty of great credit cards that provide many features and benefits. It is all dependent on the airline, spending habits and the features that are most essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit cards that are excellent to hack 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 limit of spending minimum in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of rules, so make certain to verify the details. From there you can begin to rack up miles and then using them to book your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your goals?
Once you’ve accumulated your points balance, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious vacation! Different credit card companies have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Getaway with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you’re a holder of an Chase credit card, then you are able to redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within the portal, you’ll have access to virtually every airline. You can use a combination of money and points to pay for your 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 full cost, you still can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using any credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flights? Did you know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying using dollars or points? Butbe aware that if you don’t have enough points, you cannot combine points and dollars for the same flight. No worries though, if you’re only a couple of points away, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra legroom and free snacks. Plus, their booking process is like United’s that allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue points or dollars however, not both. However, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that lets you pool your points together with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Make sure to prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re anything like me and my travel companion Becca I’m sure you’re pretty frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars in order to meet the minimum spend for a credit card bonus. Don’t worry, we’ve been through 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 your rent with a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a cost, which is usually at least 3 percent. It might be worth it in the long run if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to cover a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills in the near future, ask your relatives if you could pay their medical bills and they will reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration making payments on them with the credit card you have. Be sure to pay off the balance on your credit card in full , so that you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family for help
Talk to your family and look into any big expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Make sure that you are able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they know why you’re doing it.
Buy presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts with cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to hit that minimum spend and be ready to give gifts. Be sure to avoid paying more than you thinking of.
There are a lot of ways to get the most from your travel credit card and accumulate miles or points that you can use towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing the rewards you earn:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
If you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight or rental car, as well as any other travel expenses. You’ll not only achieve the required amount for your credit card reward and earn points, but you’ll also earn points or miles on these expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily expenditures
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points by utilising your credit cards to pay for daily costs. This could include things like food, gas and even your telephone 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 for specific types of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and avail any bonus categories that align 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, consider transferring the balance to the travel credit card which has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfer. This will enable you to pay off your debt without accruing interest and simultaneously aid in achieving the minimum spending requirement for the credit card’s bonus.
Use your points or miles wisely
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points make sure you use them in a responsible manner. Review the rewards program for your credit card, and evaluate the benefits of different redemption options. For instance you can use your points to book a flight directly with the airline might give you a better value than using them to purchase a gift card.
Another tip is to use rewards cards that allow you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to have a wider range of choices and more flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be eligible to transfer your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a reward program for hotels. This will give you access to a greater range of flights, hotels, and other travel perks that may not be accessible through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should discover the card’s benefits. some perks that could save you money on travel-related costs. Many cards offer travel insurance as well as rental car insurance baggage protection, and other benefits that are extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
If you’re traveling with a companion each of you will be able to earn rewards with your credit card. Make sure you don’t split the cost on the same card and make sure to keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
Overall, the key to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of this program in the most effective method possible. Utilizing an array of strategies I’ve listed that you can get rewards in a short time, use them for travel experiences that are worth it and benefit from a wide range of travel perks.