Hey guys! I’m starting a new series on the absolute BEST budget hack (in my humble opinion) for cheap travel: credit card hacking for travel! These techniques have helped me save tens of thousands of dollars on travel so far. I know it can be an overwhelming process to learn, but it really isn’t that hard and I truly believe anyone can do it. Follow along and I’ll teach you exactly how I’ve been able to do it for five years and counting! Let’s start from the beginning and learn the basics of credit card hacking for travel.
The first order of business: the disclaimer.
I know, I know… boring. But it’s important to note these things:
Spending Habits: First of all, it should be pretty obvious that if you have issues controlling your spending, you should NOT be opening credit cards. I’ll leave it at that, but just remember your financial health comes first. If that isn’t in order to start you need to organize that before you learn this process.
Income: Second order of business – you should NOT be spending more money than you are making under any circumstance. Credit card hacking is designed to save you money, not cost you money. Don’t dig yourself into a hole!
Now for the fun stuff!
So, how does credit card hacking work?
The first step is to choose the credit card you want and apply for it (I’ll dive more into the different card options and how to choose which one is best a little later in the series). Let’s make up a scenario here: Chase Sapphire has a limited time offer of 100,000 bonus miles when someone applies, gets approved, and meets the requirements. That is a GREAT offer, so you decide to apply. Applicants normally hear back pretty quickly whether or not they got approved – let’s assume you do get approved.
This is where it’s important to note: you don’t automatically get the bonus just because you got approved for the card. Each credit card will have a “minimum spend” requirement that you have to meet within a designated amount of time in order to qualify for the bonus. In this scenario, let’s say the requirement is $3,000 in 90 days. This means that after you get approved for the card you have 90 days to put at least $3,000 worth of purchases on that credit card, and THEN the 100,000 mile sign-up bonus will be awarded.
Step Two:
The second step, then, is to meet your minimum spend requirement. This is actually very simple to do, but this is also where you have to be careful. In my experience, the best way to meet the requirement is to use the card for EVERY dollar that you spend. For me, if I put rent, car payment, insurance, groceries, gas, and all other bills on the card, I could very easily meet the spend in 60 days. Just make sure to track your spending just like you would with a debit card and don’t spend more money than you have!
In our example, let’s assume you start using your card for every day spend. Here is the key to doing this efficiently: you HAVE to pay your WHOLE balance at the end of each month. You should never hold a balance on your credit card – if your account has a balance you will end up having to pay interest. Even if it’s a menial amount, that is costing you money that you don’t need to be paying. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again – credit card hacking should be SAVING you money; not COSTING you money.
So, for example’s sake, let’s assume you meet the spend requirement in the allotted time while keeping your balance at zero. It usually takes some time to post to your account, but the miles will show up and then they’re yours to spend!
How much are these credit card miles really worth?
For me, I opened a card in late 2020 that had a 100,000 mile sign-up bonus. I met the requirement and got the miles. Those miles awarded me round-trip airfare to Europe and Jamaica, as well as three free domestic (within my country) trips. Comparatively, the cash rate on those trips combined would have been multiple thousands of dollars.
At the end of the day, I spent no extra money because the only charges I put on the card were my everyday necessities that I would have spent with or without the credit card. As a result, I took five trips that I otherwise would not have been able to take.
That’s it for the very basics of credit card hacking for travel. I know it probably sounds too good to be true, but I promise it’s worth it! The possibilities with points are endless. Make sure you subscribe to the blog and I’ll be diving further into the ins and outs of credit card hacking!
