Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Then, there’s a good news! Travel hacking is the answer to your travel-related problems. It’s a fun way to turn credit card bonus and sign-up incentives into airline miles, that can then be used to get discounted or even cheap flights from your dream destinations. With a little imagination and some information, you’ll travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about trading credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives for airline miles. These miles can then be used to purchase discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles to pay for hotel stays or rental car deals.
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 it’s time to make a booking take a look at the price. If the flight is under $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to take a more costly flight. When the flights start getting higher than $500, it’s best to look into your frequent flyer accounts and find out which airline will give you the best deal. It all comes down to the amount of points or miles in your travel bank for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Are you interested in learning the secrets to travel hacking? Your first task is opening a credit card that comes with a welcome bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that provide various benefits and features. It is all dependent on the airline, spending habits and the features that are most crucial to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are a few credit card options that can be excellent to use for hacking 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 hit the minimum spend limit in order to get the bonus. Every card has different rules, so be sure to check for this information. Then it’s all about building miles and using them to book your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Once you’ve accumulated your points balance, it’s time to use them towards sweet travel! Different credit card providers will have different methods for redeeming your points. Here are a few examples from some of the ones I’ve had experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you own an Chase credit card, then you can redeem your points via the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within the portal, you’ll get access to almost every airline. You can combine points and cash to pay for your travel. You can even book entirely using points if you’ve got the funds to pay for it! 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 fed up of paying full price for your flight tickets? Did you not know that when you book directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful that if you don’t have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars on the same flight. Don’t worry, though, if you’re just a few points away, United gives you the option of buying additional miles.
JetBlue
Looking for a flight within the United States? Take a look at JetBlue! JetBlue provides an enjoyable and comfortable flight experience , with more legroom and free snacks. Additionally, their booking process is like United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points but not both. The difference is that JetBlue has a unique feature that lets you join your points with your family members and 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.
Make sure you spend that minimum amount
If you’re like me or my travel companion Becca You’re probably quite frugal and it can be daunting to try to spend thousands of dollars to reach the minimum spend for credit card bonuses. However, don’t be worried, we’ve been through it and are here to share our tips and tricks.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a huge one! If you’re able to pay your rent using a credit card, do it! Be prepared to be charged a fee, typically around 3%. It may be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another way to reach the spending limit is to pay for an medical bill. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up then ask your family members to pay for theirs and they will reimburse you.
Repay the loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan take into consideration paying them off with an credit card. Be sure to 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 look into any major expenses in the near future that you can contribute for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to have confidence in the person you are talking to and they know why you’re doing this.
Purchase gifts
If you’re in the middle of the holiday season, consider buying all your gifts with cards from your credit account. So you’ll be able to meet the minimum spending limit and be ready for gift giving. Make sure that you’re not paying more than you already contemplating to.
There are a lot of ways to get the most from the travel credit card. accrue points or miles to be used towards flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are a few more suggestions for maximising your rewards:
Book travel expenses with your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, make use of the travel credit card to book your flight, hotel, rental car, and any other travel expenses. You’ll not only be able to meet the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card reward as well, but you’ll also be earning points or miles for those expenses.
Make use of your credit card to pay to pay for your everyday expenses
Another method to reach the minimum amount of spending in order to accumulate points making use of your credit card for daily costs. This can include things like food, gas or even your phone bill. Just make sure to pay off the balance in full every month to ensure you don’t accrue interest charges.
Benefit from bonus categories
A lot of travel credit cards provide bonus points or miles for certain types of purchases, including eating out or travelling. Be sure to review the rewards program of your credit card and make use of the bonus categories that are in line with your spending habits.
Take into consideration a balance transfer
If you are currently in debt on a high-interest credit card, think about transferring that balance onto a travel credit card with an introductory rate of 0% for balance transfer. This will enable you to pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also help you hit the minimum spending requirement for the credit card bonus.
Utilize your miles and points wisely
Once you’ve accumulated a substantial amount of miles or points make sure you use them in a responsible manner. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and then compare the worth of various redemption options. For example you can use points to book a flight directly through the airline may give you a better value than using them to purchase a gift card.
Another option is to get an rewards card that permits you to transfer rewards to different loyalty program. This will allow you to have a wider range of options and greater freedom when it comes to redeeming your rewards. For example, you may be able to transfer your rewards to the frequent flyer program of an airline or a Hotel rewards programme. This will give the benefit of a wider range of flights, hotels and other travel benefits that aren’t accessible through the rewards program of your credit card.
Also, discover if your credit card offers some perks that could reduce your travel expenses. Some cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection, and other benefits that are invaluable when you travel.
When you travel with a friend each of you will be able to earn rewards using your own credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card. Also, make sure to track your rewards separately.
Overall, the key to maximizing your travel rewards is to understand the rewards program on your credit card and ensure that you’re using your credit card in the most efficient way possible. Through a combination of the methods I’ve described that you can earn rewards fast, exchange rewards for valuable travel experiences and benefit from a wide variety of travel benefits.