Are you fed up of spending thousands of dollars on travel? Well, good news! Travel hacking could be the solution to all your travel problems. It’s an exciting method to convert sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles, which can be used to score discounted or free flights to your desired destinations. With a little imagination and some knowledge, you can travel for free in no time.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is all about exchanging credit card sign-up bonuses as well as incentives to earn airline miles. The miles can be used to purchase cheap or free flight tickets. Certain credit cards will also allow you to redeem miles towards hotel stays or car rental discounts.
How Does it Work?
The key to success in hacking travel is taking advantage of the credit card sign-up bonus and establishing frequent flyer miles with a limited number of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking, evaluate the cost. If the flight is less than $300, it’s usually better to pay cash and use your miles to pay for a more expensive flight. When the flights start getting higher than $500, it’s best to review the frequent flyer account to find out which airline will give you the best price. All it boils down to is the number of points or miles you have in your travel account for every airline.
Start with Travel Hacking
Ready to learn the secrets to hacking travel? Your first task is to open a credit card with a sign-up bonus. There are a lot of fantastic credit cards that offer various features and benefits. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and the features that are most important to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit cards great for travel hacking:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
After you’ve been accepted for a credit or debit card, you’ll need to hit the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to get the bonus. Every card has different guidelines, so make certain to verify this information. Then you can begin to rack up miles, and using them to plan your dream vacation!
Ready to jet-set with your ideas?
Now that you’ve built up the points amount, it’s time to use them towards nice vacation! Different credit card providers will have different methods of redeeming your rewards, here are some examples from some of the ones I have experience with:
Escape through Chase Ultimate Reward
If you’re a holder of an Chase cards, you are able to redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Within this portal you’ll get access to virtually every airline. You can combine money and points to pay for your next trip. You can even book completely on points if you have enough balance! Sometimes even if you don’t be able to accumulate enough points in order to pay for full price, you can buy flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash using every credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flights? Did you not know that when you book directly through United, you have the option to pay with dollars or points? Butbe aware, if you do not have enough points you aren’t able to combine dollars and points for the same flight. No worries though, if you’re a few point short United also offers the possibility of purchasing additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? Look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue provides a comfortable and enjoyable flight experience , with more legroom and free snacks. Plus, their booking process is similar to United’s, allowing you to book with either JetBlue points or dollars, however, not both. However, JetBlue has a unique feature that lets you pool your points together with your family members and earn points twice as fast. Just make sure you can 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 buddy Becca I’m sure you’re pretty thrifty and it’s difficult to think of spending thousands of dollars to hit the required amount to qualify for the credit card bonus. However, don’t be worried because we’ve been there and are here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is a big one! If you’re able pay your rent using credit card, go for it! Make sure you be charged a fee, typically at least 3%. It may be worth it over the long term if the bonus is high enough.
Make a payment on a medical expense
Another great way to hit the required spending is to pay for the medical bills. If you don’t have any medical bills coming up Ask your family members if you can pay for theirs and they’ll reimburse you.
Make a payment to pay off a loan
If you’re in the middle of a loan you owe, think about paying them off with an credit card. Be sure to pay off the balance on your credit card in full so you don’t accumulate more debt.
Ask family members for assistance
Talk to your family and look into 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 understand why you’re doing this.
Give gifts
If it’s the holiday season you should consider purchasing all your gifts with the credit card you have. In this way, you’ll reach the minimum spending requirement and be ready for gift giving. Make sure that you’re not spending more than you already contemplating to.
There are many methods to get the most out of the travel credit card and accumulate miles or points that you can use towards flights or other travel-related expenses. Here are some additional ways to maximize your rewards:
Make travel reservations using your credit card
Whenever you’re planning a trip, make use of you travel credit card to book your flight, hotel or rental car, as well as any other travel expenses. In addition, you’ll be able to meet the minimum amount of spending required for your credit card reward, however, you’ll also earn points or miles for these expenses.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday costs
Another way to meet the minimum spend to earn rewards is utilising your credit cards to pay for daily expenses. This could include items like groceries, gas and even your telephone bill. Just make sure to pay the balance off in full each month so you don’t accumulate interest.
Benefit from bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer miles or bonus points for certain types of purchases, like dining or travel. Check out your rewards program on your credit card and make use of any bonus categories that align with your spending habits.
Consider the possibility of transferring your balance
If you’re in the middle of a debt on a high-interest credit card, you might want to transfer that balance onto a travel credit card with a 0% introductory APR for balance transfers. This will allow you to pay off the debt without accruing interest and simultaneously help you hit the minimum spending requirement for the credit card bonus.
Use your points or miles carefully
When you’ve earned a significant amount of points or miles Make sure to utilize the points or miles wisely. Check out the rewards program on your credit card, and evaluate the value of different redemption options. For example you can use your points to book a flight directly with the airline could provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase a gift card.
Another tip is to use an rewards card that permits you to transfer points to other loyalty programs. This will let you have a wider range of options and greater freedom when it comes to making use of your rewards. For example, you may be eligible to transfer your reward to an airline’s frequent flyer program or reward program for hotels. This gives the benefit of a greater selection of hotels, flights as well as other travel perks which are not offered through the rewards program of your credit card.
In addition, you should discover the card’s benefits. some perks that could help you save money on travel expenses. Many cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that are extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
If you’re traveling with a companion and both of you earn rewards using your own credit card. Make sure you don’t share the costs on the same card and make sure to keep track of your rewards separately.
The key to reaping the maximum benefits from your travel rewards is to know your credit card’s rewards program and make sure you’re making use of it in the most efficient method. Utilizing a combination of the strategies I’ve listed that you can get rewards in a short time, use them for valuable travel experiences and take advantage of a broad range of travel perks.