Are you fed up of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to convert welcome bonuses and other incentives into airline miles, which you can use to score discounted or cheap flights from your dream destinations. With a bit of creativity and some insider information, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles for hotel stays and rental car discounts.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for successful hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and establishing a frequent flyer mile program with a limited number of airlines. When it comes time to book a flight, evaluate the cost. If the price is less than $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and save your miles to take a more costly flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to look into the frequent flyer account and find out which airline will give you the best deal. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles you have in your travel account for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is to open a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that provide many advantages and features. It all depends on your preferred airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards that are great to hack travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit card, you’ll have to meet the minimum spend limit in order to receive the bonus. Every credit card has its own set of guidelines, so make sure to look up this information. From there, it’s all about racking up miles and using them to book your dream vacation!
Are you ready to set sail with your points?
Now that you’ve built up your points amount, it’s time to redeem them for some sweet vacation! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are some examples from a few of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Escape by using Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have a Chase cards, you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In this portal you’ll get access to almost every airline and you can use a combination of points and cash to pay for your next trip. You can book your flight entirely on points if you have the balance for it! Sometimes even if you do not possess enough points for the entire price, you can purchase flights through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with any credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you not know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying using either points or dollars? Be careful, if you don’t have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars on one flight. If you’re only a couple of points away, United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a domestic flight? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience , with more legroom as well as free snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points, but not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature that lets you join your points with your relatives to earn points twice as fast. Just make sure you can 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 buddy Becca, you’re probably pretty economical and it’s challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to hit the required amount to qualify for credit card bonuses. However, don’t be worried, we’ve been through it and we’re here to share some of our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able pay your rent using credit card, then do it! Just be prepared to be charged a fee, typically about 3%. It may be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another way to reach the spending limit is to cover a medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills due, ask your family members to pay their medical bills and they’ll reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you have any loans take into consideration paying them off with the credit card you have. Be sure to pay off the credit card balance completely so that you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask family for help
Discuss your family with them and look into any big expenses coming up that you can 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 doing this.
Buy presents
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season you should consider purchasing all of your gifts with your credit card. In this way, you’ll reach the minimum spending requirement and also be prepared to give gifts. Be sure to avoid spending more than you already thinking of.
There are many methods to get the most of using your credit or debit card for travel. accumulate miles or points that you can spend on flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are some additional ways to maximize your rewards
Book travel expenses with your credit card
If you’re planning a trip, use your travel credit card to pay for your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel expenses. In addition, you’ll achieve the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card reward, but you’ll also earn points or miles on those expenses.
Utilize your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenditures
Another method to reach the minimum spending requirement to earn rewards is by using your credit card to pay for daily costs. This can include things like food, gas, and even your phone bill. Make sure you pay off the balance in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, like eating out or traveling. Check out your credit card’s rewards program and avail any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Think about a balance transfer
If you have existing debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance onto a travel credit card with the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfer. This will let you pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum amount required to earn the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points carefully
If you’ve amassed a large amount of points or miles make sure you use them wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example you can use your points to purchase a flight directly with the airline might give you a better value than using them for the purchase of a gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer your rewards to different loyalty program. This will allow you to get a wider selection of options and greater flexibility when making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be able to transfer your reward to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a Hotel rewards programme. This gives the benefit of a greater range of flights, hotels, and other travel perks that may not be offered through the rewards program on your credit card.
Additionally, try to discover whether your credit card has some perks that could save you money on travel-related costs. A lot of credit cards provide travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with a friend, both of you can earn rewards using your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t share the costs on the same card and make sure to track your rewards separately.
In the end, the most important thing to do to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know the rewards program on your credit card and make sure you’re making use of this program in the most efficient method. Utilizing an array of strategies I’ve outlined that you can earn rewards fast, exchange rewards for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad variety of travel benefits.