Are you fed up of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting way to convert bonus and sign-up incentives into miles that can then be used to obtain discounted or cheap flights from your desired destinations. With a bit of imagination and a little bit of insider information, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about exchanging credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Some credit cards also let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental deals.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and to establish a frequent flyer mile program on a select group of airlines. When it comes time to make a booking take a look at the price. If the cost is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay for a more expensive flight. If your flights begin to climb above $500, you’ll want to look into those frequent flyer accounts to see which airline can give you the best price. All it boils down to is the number of points or miles you have in your travel savings account for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to travel hacking? Your first task is opening a credit card with a sign-up offer. There are many great credit cards with a variety of features and benefits. It is all dependent on the airline, your spending habits, and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards perfect 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 need to reach the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to receive the bonus. Every card has different rules, so make sure to check for this information. From there, it’s all about racking up miles, and using them to plan your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up your points balance, it’s time to redeem them for some sweet travel! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your points, but here are some examples from some of the providers I’ve worked with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have a Chase cards, you can use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through it, you’ll have access to virtually every airline, and you can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your trip. You can even book entirely on points if you have the funds to pay for it! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total cost, you still can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for your flights? Did you not know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying with either points or dollars? But, be careful, if you don’t have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars on the same flight. If you’re just a few point short United provides the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides passengers a relaxing and pleasant travel experience that includes extra legroom and free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s which allows you to book with either JetBlue points or dollars, but not both. However, JetBlue offers a distinct feature that lets you join your points with family members to accrue points twice as quickly. Make sure to verify that you are a family member before trying to hack into the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca You’re probably quite frugal and it can be difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars to hit the minimum spend for the credit card bonus. But don’t fret as we’ve done it and we’re here to share some of our tricks and tips.
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 cost, which is usually around 3 percent. It may be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another great way to hit the required spending is to pay for a medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses due Ask your family members to pay their medical bills and they will reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you have any loans, consider making payments on them with the credit card you have. Be sure to pay off the credit card balance in full so you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Discuss your family with them and determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up that you can contribute for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they know why you’re taking the initiative.
Buy gifts
If you’re celebrating the holidays take into consideration buying all your gifts using cards from your credit account. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and also be ready for giving gifts. Just make sure you’re not spending more than you already planning to.
There are many ways to make the most of your travel credit card and accrue points or miles to use towards the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are some additional ideas for maximizing the rewards you earn:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of the travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight, rental car, and any other travel-related expenses. You’ll not only be able to hit the required amount to earn your credit card as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles for the expenditures.
Use your credit card for all your daily costs
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points by using your credit card to pay for daily costs. This could include things like gas, groceries, and even your phone bill. Just make sure to pay the balance off in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, such as dining or travel. Make sure you review your credit card’s rewards program and avail the bonus categories that are in line with your spending routines.
Consider a balance transfer
If you are currently in debt on a credit card, think about transferring the balance to the travel credit card which has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfers. This will let you pay off the debt without accruing interest and simultaneously assist you in reaching the minimum spending requirement for the credit card bonus.
Make use of your miles or points carefully
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles, be sure to use them in a responsible manner. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance using points to book a ticket directly through the airline may give you a better value than using them for a gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer points to other loyalty programs. This will allow you to enjoy a greater variety of choices and more flexibility when redeeming your rewards. For example, you may be eligible to transfer your reward to the frequent flyer program of an airline or reward program for hotels. This can give the benefit of a wider variety of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks that may not be offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should discover the card’s benefits. any perks that can reduce your travel costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that can be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
When you travel with a friend, both of you can get rewards on your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t divide the cost with the same card, and be sure to keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
Overall, the key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know your credit card’s rewards program and to ensure you’re using your credit card in the most effective way possible. Through a combination of the strategies I’ve outlined that you can earn rewards fast, exchange them for travel experiences that are worth it, and enjoy a wide range of travel perks.