Are you tired of spending a fortune on airfare? Good news! Travel hacking is the answer to all your travel problems. It’s a fun way to turn credit card sign-up bonuses and incentives into airline miles which you can use to obtain discounted or complimentary flights for your desired destinations. With a little imagination and a little bit of insider information, you’ll be jet-setting for free within a matter of minutes.
The Basics of Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is about swapping credit card sign-up bonus and rewards for airline miles. These miles can then be used to buy discounted or even free flights. Certain credit cards let you redeem miles towards hotel stays or rental car discounts.
How Does it Work?
The most effective method for successful hacking your travel plans is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses for credit cards and establishing frequent flyer miles for a specific group of airlines. When you are ready to make a booking consider the cost. If the price is less than $300, it’s generally better to pay cash and use your miles to pay to book a higher-priced flight. If the prices start to rise over $500, you’ll need to review those frequent flyer accounts to find out which airline will give you the best deal. It all boils down to the amount 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 of travel hacking? First step to open the credit card that comes with a sign-up offer. There are many great credit cards that offer many advantages and features. It depends on the type of airline, your spending habits, and what features are essential to you.
Top Credit Card Picks
Here are some credit card options that can be great for travel hacking:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase United Explorer
- JetBlue Mastercard
- Capital One Venture X
If you’ve been approved for a credit card you’ll have to meet the spending limit for minimum expenditure in order to qualify for the bonus. Each card has its own rules, so be sure to check for the details. From there you can begin to rack miles and using them to book your dream trip!
Are you ready to go on a jet-setting with your goals?
Once you’ve accumulated the points balance, it’s time to redeem them for some sweet getaway! Different credit card companies will have different methods for redeeming your points, but here are some examples from a few of the ones I have experience with:
Escape with Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you have an Chase credit card, then you are able to use your points to redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Through this portal you’ll get access to almost every airline and you can use a combination of the points as well as cash in order to book your trip. You can even book completely using points if you’ve got enough balance! Sometimes even if you do not have enough points to cover the full cost, you still can book flights using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and pay the balance in cash with every credit card.
United
Are you fed up of paying the full cost for your flight tickets? Did you realize that when booking directly through United you can choose the option of paying with dollars or points? But, be careful in case you don’t have enough points you cannot combine points and dollars for flights. If you’re only a couple of points away, United also offers the option to purchase additional miles.
JetBlue
Are you looking for a domestic flight? You should look no further than JetBlue! JetBlue offers an enjoyable and comfortable travel experience that includes extra legroom as well as free snacks. In addition, their booking procedure is like United’s, allowing customers to book using either JetBlue either dollars or points, but not both. But, JetBlue is unique in that they offer a feature where you can pool your points together with your relatives to earn points twice as quickly. Just make sure you can prove you’re really family before trying to hack the system.
Hit that Minimum Spend
If you’re like me or my travel buddy Becca You’re probably quite frugal and it can be challenging to attempt to spend thousands of dollars to reach the required amount to qualify for the credit card bonus. But don’t fret, we’ve been through it and are here to share our tricks and tips.
Pay your rent (if you can)
This is an important one! If you’re able to pay your rent using credit card, then do it! Just be prepared to pay a cost, which is usually about 3%. It could be worthwhile in the long run when the bonus is large enough.
Pay a medical bill
Another way to reach the minimum spend is to pay for a medical bill. If you do not have any medical expenses due Ask your family members if you can pay their medical bills and they will pay you back.
Repay a loan
If you have any loans take into consideration paying them off with your credit card. Make sure to pay off the credit card balance in full , so that you don’t accrue more debt.
Ask your family members for help
Talk to your family and determine if they’ve got any large expenses coming up that you can help pay for. Be sure to be sure that you’re able to trust the person and they know why you’re doing it.
Buy presents
If you’re celebrating the holidays you should consider purchasing all of your gifts with the credit card you have. In this way, you’ll hit that minimum spend and also be ready for gift giving. Be sure to avoid paying more than you already planning to.
There are a lot of ways to get the most of the travel credit card and earn miles or points to spend on airfares or other travel-related costs. Here are a few more ideas for maximizing your rewards:
Pay for travel expenses using your credit card
If you’re planning a vacation, make use of you travel credit card to pay for your hotel, flight, rental car, and other travel costs. Not only will you be able to meet the minimum spend to qualify for a credit card and earn points, however, you’ll also earn points or miles on the costs.
Use your credit card to pay for your everyday costs
Another method to reach the minimum spending requirement to earn rewards is by using your credit card for every day costs. This can include items like groceries, gas and even your telephone bill. Be sure to pay the balance off each month in full so you don’t accumulate interest.
Take advantage of bonus categories
Some travel credit cards will offer miles or points in exchange for certain types of purchases, such as eating out or travelling. Make sure you review the rewards program of your credit card and take advantage of any bonus categories that align with your spending routines.
Think about the possibility of transferring your balance
If you are currently in debt on a high-interest 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 transfer. This will allow you to pay off your debts without accruing interest, and also assist you in reaching 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, be sure to use them wisely. Examine the rewards program of your credit card and then compare the benefits of different redemption options. For instance, using points to book a flight directly with the airline might provide you with a greater value than using them to purchase an gift card.
Another option is to get rewards cards that allow you to transfer rewards to different loyalty program. This allows you to have a wider range of options and greater flexibility when you want to redeem your rewards. For instance, you might be able to transfer your rewards to frequent flyer programs of airlines or Hotel rewards programme. This will give the benefit of a greater variety of hotels, flights, and other travel perks that aren’t accessible through your credit card’s rewards program.
Additionally, try to discover the card’s benefits. certain benefits that will reduce your travel expenses. Many cards offer travel insurance, rental car insurance, baggage protection and other benefits that can be extremely valuable when you’re traveling.
Finally, when you’re traveling with a friend each of you will be able to earn rewards using your own credit card. Just remember that you can’t split the cost on the same card and make sure you keep track of your rewards in a separate manner.
In the end, the most important thing to do to reaping the maximum benefits from your rewards for travel is to be aware of the rewards program of your credit card and to ensure you’re making use of your credit card in the most effective method possible. By using all of the strategies I’ve outlined, you’ll be able to earn rewards quickly, redeem them for travel experiences that are worth it, and enjoy a wide variety of travel benefits.