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This post is the whole reason this blog exists…….How the heck do I do this travel hacking thing??
I felt like I got curious about travel hacking and then had to work extremely hard to find answers to some of my most basic questions, this being one of them. Here is the step by step guide I would give anyone looking at this.
What is Travel hacking?
Simply put, travel hacking is utilizing credit card points and miles acquired from daily spending and credit card welcome offers to travel for less.
Download Our Free Beginners Guide to Travel Hacking HERE
Step 1: Evaluate your debt/spending
I absolutely would not recommend travel hacking if you are carrying any credit card debt. The only reason this works for us, is because we are cautious with our spending and our payoffs and do not carry debt on our credit cards. If you need resources to get out of credit card debt, I have linked some good resources here. (Credit Card Debt Help)
You also want to know what your monthly spending looks like, and where your credit score is sitting. As you are trying to meet minimum spend requirements on individual credit cards, it’s important to have this knowledge so you do not end up with a card that has an out of reach minimum spend. People find flexible ways around this, but just starting out, I would be sure of my budget and spending expectations.
Step 2: Get a card
I have gotten immense value out of Chase points and I would recommend this Chase Card for someone picking up their first card (Chase Sapphire). This card gives you a decent signup bonus, and lots of Chase points which are flexible and can be transferred to other airlines or hotels. Not all Chase credit cards, however, allow you to transfer to hotels and airlines. This card does that. It also will allow you (once you add more cards to your wallet) to transfer points from those non-transferable cards. The one caveat, is that it has a $95/year annual fee. This is a card that I think the annual fee is worth it because of the benefit of transferring points. I try really hard to shy away from annual fees, unless the benefit outweighs the cost. Here, it does. This allows us thousands of dollars of vacation/per year.
Step 3: Meet your minimum Spend
On the Sapphire Preferred I generally see a 3-month spending time-limit. This means, from the time you clicked submit on that card application, until 3 months later, you need to spend that amount of money on the card. We spend our regular monthly expenses here….Groceries, car insurance, gas, etc.
I use the Travel Freely App to track my cards and it is a lifesaver. It was not initially the most intuitive app for me as a beginning travel hacker, but I find the value incredible. The app is free and requires no credit card information, only your sign up dates. Then, it tracks your timeline for minimum spend for you and sends you notifications to assist you. It also has a Card Genie feature that shows the best available offers for all the credit cards out there, and allows you to filter by different requirements (i.e. No annual fee, chase cards, etc.)
We’ve got a post all about Travel Freely HERE if you want more info.
Step 4: Evaluate your travel goals and get another card
At this point, I would start thinking about where I wanted to go with my newfound points and miles freedom. I debated putting this at the top of the list, but I really do think you should start earning points from an easily transferrable source like Chase as soon as possible.
I generally have a list for future points and miles trips on my computer that looks something like this:
NYC
- Hyatt Points 50,000 for Andaz 5th Ave from Chase
- Marriott Points 158,000 for JW Marriott Essex House
- Virgin Atlantic 40,000 for RT flights from AMEX
- Use card with Uber credits for uber in city
This list allows me to recognize what I may need in my next credit card. On the same file as I keep this list, I also keep a running tally of my points.
The Next Card
As long as it has been 90 days since you opened that first card, you can look towards your next card. If you wanted to keep going with Chase points, and you have a business, you could get the Ink Business Cash or the Ink Business Unlimited – just a sidenote that these have a higher minimum spend requirement.
If you do not own a business (read here to double check, maybe you do!) and are looking for another personal Chase card, you could go with the Chase Freedom Flex. It has a lower signup bonus, but it does have some really nice flexible categories that give you 5x points and zero annual fee.
If you have a goal hotel or airline for your trip, you could look into their cards. This is another place where the Travel Freely App comes in handy. Their card genie feature can really help you narrow it down. We got the Marriott Card because my husband travels with Marriott for work. Marriott certainly won’t give you as much bang for your buck in the points and miles world, but since we are utilizing them through work travel, the credit card was advantageous to us. We also have the Southwest Card because we utilized it to gain a companion pass.
Ending Notes: Extremist or Trying to Offset Costs
I think this is so important. I heard someone the other day refer to travel hacking as the “Extreme Couponing” version of points and miles. And, it’s kind of true. I love chasing the deals and building the points, but maybe you just want to take your kids to Disneyland or go to Hawaii one time. You can totally do that too. This is what you make it, and nearly everyone I have seen get into the EXTREME side of this started slowly with that one goal for that one trip. And you can do it too. Bon Voyage!
Here are the Links to those cards I mentioned one more time:
And here are some next step links I would look towards as you dive into Travel Hacking
