Disclosure: The Globetrotting Teacher may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the The Globetrotting Teacher are from advertisers & may impact how & where cards appear on the site. The Globetrotting Teacher does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Travel hacking can seem overwhelming to someone not in the know about how to earn and burn miles and points for award travel. There certainly are many complexities involved in the hobby, but getting started is not as difficult as it may seem.
You can begin to travel hack in 5 simple steps. Just start slowly and stay within your comfort zone.
1. Set a Travel Goal
This is an important first step because it’ll guide all of your next steps. Ask yourself where you’d like to go. You can fly all over the globe on award flights, so don’t limit yourself.
What type of traveler are you? Are you fine flying in economy class or do you only fly in business or first class? Are you traveling solo, as a couple, or with a family?
Knowing your travel style and who you’re traveling with, if anyone, helps you know how many miles it’ll take to reach your destination.
2. Sign Up for Loyalty Programs
Airline and hotel loyalty programs are free to join. You’ll need to be a member in order to have an account you can transfer your flexible points into and to hold your point balances.
Sign up for all U.S airlines, like American, United, Southwest, Jet Blue, Delta, etc. You also need to join the loyalty programs for important airline alliance members, like British Airways, Singapore, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, ANA, and Aeroplan, etc, to allow you to maximize all the possible ways to redeem your miles and points for free and nearly free travel.
3. Apply for a Travel Rewards Credit Card
Travel rewards credit cards offer lucrative welcome offers, which help you build your points balances quickly.
All miles and points are not created equally, though. When you’re starting out, it’s better to apply for credit cards within travel rewards programs that earn flexible points and have airline and hotel transfer partners, like Chase’s Ultimate Rewards or American Express’ Membership Rewards.
The points these programs earn are super flexible and can be used for award travel with a variety of airlines and hotels.
Compare this with co-branded cards, like a Delta credit card or Hilton Hilton card, which only let you use your miles on Delta and its airline partners or stay at a Hilton hotel.
If you’re just getting started, good first cards tend to be the Chase Sapphire Preferred and other Ultimate Rewards earning cards like the Ink Preferred, Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited, and Freedom cards.
4. Meet the Minimum Spend
Once you have been approved for a travel rewards credit card, you’ll need to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the sign-up bonus. This might worry you at first, but once you realize how many ways there are to get this done with your everyday spending, you’ll see how the money you already spend can work for you.
It’s incredibly important to be organized and keep track of the date when the minimum spend requirement needs to be met, as well as any other important information about earning points with your new credit card.
5. Maximize Your Points Earnings
Travel rewards credit cards typically offer bonus spending categories. These categories may be fixed or could rotate quarterly.
Learning which card to use in different situations is critical to maximizing your points-earning potential.
When making online purchases or dining out, be sure to also use shopping portals and dining programs to increase the number of miles and points you earn for every $1 spent.
You can easily begin to travel hack in 5 simple steps! In just a short amount of time, you’ll be well on your way to reaching your travel goals!
Have you started to earn miles and points?
Like this post? Please share it on social media using the share buttons below.
