I began travel hacking at the beginning of 2020. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I obviously did not travel much during the beginning of that year. But in the second half of 2020 when cities and states began re-opening, I began reaping the rewards of travel hacking. The last trip I took not involving the use of credit card points to fund the trip was a July 2020 trip to Las Vegas and Southern Utah. Since then, every trip I have taken has been funded primarily through credit card points.
Before we talk about travel hacking, I want to give some disclaimers. First, I am not a financial professional, and this is not financial advice. I am providing my experiences and opinions of methods of funding travel and perks I have received from various credit cards, which have benefited me over the last few years. My recommendations are based on my previous experiences and may not necessarily be the best choice for your specific financial situation or travel goals. Travel hacking can be very location dependent, and various redemptions may only be available or make sense if you are located in a certain city or have a desire to travel to certain places.
Second, if you struggle to pay your bills on time or your finances are not in order, this hobby is not right for you at this time. Take the steps necessary to improve your personal finance situation before you begin travel hacking. Credit card companies charge outrageous interest rates, and even paying one month of interest can massively cut into any benefit you receive. Credit card companies are hoping to lure you in with lucrative sign up bonus offers and then earn interest from you after you fail to pay off your entire statement balance by the due date. Some companies even have terms stating you will not receive any points earned during a statement period if the entire balance is not paid by the statement due date!
Last, this hobby is simple, but it is not easy. It requires a great deal of research and organization. It requires spending time learning about which credit cards will offer the benefits you desire and how to maximize those benefits. Also, you may be juggling trying to earn a sign up bonus for multiple credit cards at the same time. If you miss the minimum spending requirement to earn the sign up bonus by even $1.00, you will not get the sign up bonus. Your credit cards will also have different payment due dates, and as previously stated, missing that due dates and paying interest on your charges can be detrimental to the value of any benefits you may receive.
Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, we will talk about travel hacking. It may be easier to first talk about what travel hacking is not. Travel hacking is not traveling the world for free. The famous saying in economics, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” applies to travel hacking as well. While many people who participate in this hobby may seem like they are traveling the world without spending a dime, there are costs involved (and sometimes those costs are substantial). Those costs can include credit card fees, interest if you fail to pay off your entire statement balance before the due date, airline taxes/fees, hotel taxes/fees, and other expenses incurred from traveling that you may not otherwise incur. There are also opportunity costs involved. Spending points and miles is not different than spending actual money. If you use your points and miles for one redemption, they will no longer be available for other redemptions you may want. You need to plan your redemptions carefully to ensure you are getting what you want. That being said, it is possible to pay pennies on the dollar for everything from budget travel to outrageous luxury travel and travel more than you ever thought possible.
In the most basic form, travel hacking is using credit card points and miles to help fund travel (again, notice I did not say the points and miles are used to travel for free). Going forward, I will use the term “points” to refer to both points or miles. You earn points by using credit cards for your daily spend, earning sign up bonuses offered by credit card companies, and earning referral bonuses by referring other people to sign up for various credit cards. You are then able to redeem these points for things such as airline tickets, hotel rooms, and even other redemptions, such as dining or cash! Many hotels and airlines have award charts for redemptions using points. These award charts allow for redeeming points and miles for outsized value for airline tickets and hotel rooms that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars!
Using these points and miles to help fund travel can greatly increase the amount you are able to travel. Before I started this hobby, my goal was to take at least one week long vacation per year (and ideally it would be an international vacation). Now my goal is to take at least two international vacations each year and at least one weekend getaway within the United States each month!
The quality of travel can also increase. Points and miles can be redeemed for airline tickets ranging from domestic basic economy to the most luxurious first class seats available on international flights. Some of these first class products can include being served unlimited Dom Perignon and caviar for the duration of the flight or having an entire suite in the sky to yourself for long haul international flights. Points can also be redeemed for hotel rooms that can cost thousands of dollars per night at some of the most exclusive resorts in the most picturesque travel destinations on the planet.
Before I started travel hacking, I always flew economy, and I booked hotels costing around $200 per night. These products were what I could afford based on my salary. Now, I still fly basic economy when flying domestically, but I only fly in premium cabins if flying long haul international flights, and I stay in some of the most expensive and luxurious hotels at any destination I go to. Earning points and miles has allowed me access to these exclusive products and completely changed my expectations of travel.
Throughout this website, I will provide methods of earning points that have been successful for me over the last few years, and I will give examples of various experiences I have had by using those points. Those experiences will range from budget travel to luxurious experiences most people only dream of experiencing. If you have additional questions not answered in the articles, I encourage you to contact me, and I will try my best to answer them. Otherwise, enjoy following along with my travel journeys.