Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to your travel-related problems. It’s an exciting way to convert credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, which can be used to get discounted or even free flights to your dream destinations. With a little bit of imagination and some information, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about exchanging credit card sign-up bonuses and rewards for airline miles. These miles can later be used to purchase discount or no-cost flights. Certain credit cards will also permit you to use miles towards hotel stays or rental car deals.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in travel hacking is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and building out a frequent flyer mile program for a specific group of airlines. When it comes time to book a flight take a look at the price. If the flight is under $300, it’s generally better to pay in cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If your flights begin to climb above $500, you’ll want to look into the frequent flyer account and see which airline can give you the most value. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles in your travel account for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? The first step is opening a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are many great credit cards that offer various features and benefits. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and what features are important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit card options that can be excellent to hack travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
If you’ve been approved for a credit card, you’ll need to hit the limit of spending minimum in order to receive the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so be sure to check for the details. Then it’s all about building miles and using them to plan your dream vacation!
Are you ready to set sail with your goals?
Now that you’ve built up the points balance, you’re ready to redeem them for some sweet getaway! Different credit card companies have different methods of redeeming your points, but here are a few examples from some of the companies I’ve worked with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you own an Chase card, you are able to redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll have access to almost every airline. You can combine points and cash to book your trip. You can even book entirely on points if you have enough balance! Sometimes even if you don’t have enough points to cover the total cost, you still can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance cash using every credit card.
United
Are you tired of paying full price for your flights? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? Be careful that if you don’t have enough points you can’t combine points and dollars on one flight. If you’re just a few point short United also offers the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable flight experience with extra legroom and free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is similar to United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue points or dollars, but not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature where you can join your points with your family members and earn points twice as quickly. Be sure to prove you’re really family before trying to hack into the system.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca, you’re probably pretty frugal and it can be challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for a credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried as we’ve done it and we’re here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay for your rent with a credit card, do it! Be prepared to pay a cost, which is usually around 3 percent. It could be worthwhile in the end if the bonus is high enough.
Pay for a medical bill
Another excellent way to meet the spending limit is to pay for the medical bills. If you do not have any medical expenses due, ask your family members to pay them for theirs, and they will repay you.
Repay a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan, consider repaying them using your credit card. Just make sure you pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Ask your family members to see if they have any large expenses coming up which you could help pay for. Make sure that you are able to are able to trust the person and that they know why you’re doing this.
Buy gifts
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season take into consideration buying all your gifts with your credit card. This way you can meet the minimum spending limit and be ready to give gifts. Make sure that you’re not paying more than you planning to.
There are plenty of ways to get the most of the travel credit card. accumulate miles or points that you can spend on the cost of flights or other expenses related to travel. Here are a few additional ways to maximize the rewards you earn:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a vacation, make use of the travel credit card for booking your hotel, flight, rental car, and other travel costs. In addition, you’ll achieve the minimum amount of spending required to earn your credit card bonus as well, but you’ll also earn points or miles for the expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay for all your daily expenses
Another way to meet the minimum spending requirement in order to accumulate points using your credit card to pay everyday expenditures. This could include items like groceries, gas, and even your phone bill. Just make sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accumulate interest.
Make the most of bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide bonus points or miles for certain types of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Make sure you review your credit card’s rewards program and take advantage of any bonus categories that match with your spending routines.
Take into consideration a balance transfer
If you have existing debt on a credit card, you might want to transfer the balance to an account with a travel credit card that has an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off your debts without accruing interest. It will also aid in achieving 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 miles or points Make sure to utilize them wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card and compare the value of different redemption options. For instance using points to purchase a flight directly through the airline may give you a better value than using them to purchase the purchase of a gift card.
Another tip is to use a rewards card that allows you to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. This allows you to enjoy a greater variety of options and greater flexibility in making use of your rewards. For instance, you might be able to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a Hotel rewards programme. This gives an access greater selection of hotels, flights and other travel benefits that may not be accessible through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, find out the card’s benefits. any perks that can reduce your travel costs. Some cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that could be invaluable when you travel.
If you’re traveling with someone else and both of you earn rewards using your own credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card, and be sure you keep track of your rewards separately.
The key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know the rewards program of your credit card and make sure you’re using it in the most effective method possible. Through all of the methods I’ve described in this article, you’ll be able earn rewards quickly, redeem rewards for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.