Are you tired of paying thousands of dollars on travel? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel woes. It’s an exciting method to convert bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, which you can use to get discounted or even free flights to your dream destinations. With a little bit of creativity and some insider information, you’ll travel for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the art of swapping credit card sign-up bonus and rewards for airline miles. These miles can later be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Some credit cards also permit you to use miles for hotel stays and rental car offers.
How Does it Work?
The key to successful travel hacking is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking take a look at the price. If the price is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and save your miles to take a more costly flight. When the flights start getting above $500, you’ll want to review your frequent flyer accounts and determine which airline offers you the best price. It all comes down to the number of points or miles you have you have in your travel savings account for each airline.
Get Started with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? The first step is opening a credit card with a sign-up bonus. There are many great credit cards that offer many benefits and features. It is all dependent on the airline, spending habits and what features are essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit card options that can be 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 be certain to verify this information. Then you can begin to rack miles and using them to book your dream trip!
Ready to jet-set with your points?
Once you’ve accumulated your points amount, it’s time to cash them in for some delicious getaway! Different credit card companies offer different ways to redeem your points, but here are some examples from some of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own an Chase card, you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within it, you’ll have access to nearly every airline. You can make use of a combination of money and points to pay for your trip. You can even book completely with points if you’ve enough balance! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for total cost, you are able to buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using the credit card of your choice.
United
Are you fed up of paying full price for flights? Did you know that when you book directly through United, you have the option to pay with dollars or points? Be careful that if you do not have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars on one flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re only a couple of point short United also offers the possibility of purchasing additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers a comfortable and enjoyable travel experience that includes extra space and complimentary snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to that of United Airlines which allows passengers to book flights using JetBlue either dollars or points, however, not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature where you can pool your points together with your family members and earn points twice as fast. Be sure to verify that you are a family member before trying to hack the system.
Reach that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me and my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty thrifty and it’s challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to hit the required amount to qualify for a credit card bonus. 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 big one! If you’re able to pay your rent with credit card, then do it! Make sure you pay a cost, which is usually about 3%. It might be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another excellent way to meet the required spending is to pay for the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses in the near future, ask your family members to pay for theirs and they can repay you.
Make a payment to pay off the loan
If you’re a borrower take into consideration repaying them using the credit card you have. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t accrue additional debt.
Ask family for help
Ask your family members to see if they have any major expenses in the near future that you can help pay for. Just make sure you have confidence in the person you are talking to and they know why you’re doing this.
Give gifts
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts using your credit card. In this way, you’ll hit that minimum spend and also be ready for giving gifts. Be sure to avoid spending more than you were contemplating to.
There are a lot of ways to get the most from using your credit or debit card for travel. accumulate miles or points that you can use towards airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few additional suggestions for maximising your rewards
Book travel expenses with your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, use you travel credit card to book your hotel, flight or rental car, as well as any other travel expenses. Not only will you be able to meet the required amount to earn your credit card as well, but you’ll also earn points or miles for the costs.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily expenditures
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn rewards is by utilising your credit cards to pay every day expenditures. This can include things like food, gas and even your telephone bill. Just make sure to pay off the balance in full each month so you don’t accrue interest charges.
Benefit from bonus categories
Many travel credit cards offer miles or points in exchange on certain kinds of purchases, such as dining or travel. Be sure to review your credit card’s rewards program and make use of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Take into consideration the possibility of transferring your balance
If you have existing debt on a high-interest credit card, consider transferring that balance to the travel credit card which has the introductory APR of 0% for balance transfer. This will enable you to pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum spend for the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points wisely
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize them wisely. Review the rewards program for your credit card and then compare the worth of various redemption options. For example using points to book a flight directly through the airline may provide you with a greater value than using them for the purchase of a gift card.
Another option is to get a rewards card that allows you to transfer your reward points into other loyalty programmes. This will let you get a wider selection of choices and more freedom when it comes to redeeming your rewards. For instance, you might be capable of transferring your rewards to an airline’s frequent flyer program or a reward program for hotels. This can give the benefit of a greater selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks which are not available through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should determine whether your credit card has some perks that could help you save money on travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance and rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that can be invaluable when you travel.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a companion each of you will be able to earn rewards with your credit card. Be aware that you cannot split the cost on the same card, and be sure you keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
Overall, the key to maximizing your rewards for travel is to be aware of your credit card’s rewards program and ensure that you’re using this program in the most effective method. Utilizing a combination of the strategies I’ve listed in this article, you’ll be able get rewards in a short time, use them for travel experiences that are worth it, and enjoy a wide variety of travel benefits.