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Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking: Getting Started

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Are you traveling again?! How can you afford to travel so much?! 

I’m asked these questions all the time and you can make it so people start asking you these same questions, too!

The truth is I’m not rich (thus the blog title The Globetrotting Teacher). I haven’t done anything that someone else couldn’t do and I’m certainly not breaking any rules. Simply put. I make my money work for me by earning miles and points for travel, a.k.a. travel hacking.

But, scratch the surface just a bit and you begin to see just how much there is to learn. So, let’s get started.

Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking: Getting Started

Travel hacking or award travel is the skill of using miles and points to earn free or nearly free travel. 

There are a few main components that you’ll need to understand to effectively earn and use points and miles to redeem for award flights and hotel nights.

  • Understanding Credit Scores, Credit Cards, & the Different Types of Points and Miles
  • How to Set Up and Use Your Bills and Everyday Spending to Earn Points and Miles
  • Learning to Redeem your Points and Miles for Maximum Value

There’s a lot to unpack within each of these bullets, which is why I’ve put together my FREE Travel Hacking Basics Course.

You’re going to need to dedicate time and effort to learn as much as you can about points and miles. So, why have this process take any longer than it needs to take?

This work will pay off because once feel the thrill of booking a flight with miles, paying only a few dollars for taxes, you’ll be hooked.

The key, though, is getting started.

Enroll now in my FREE Travel Hacking Basics course by clicking the button below.

I’ve put everything you need to get started in one place and sequenced each lesson logically to help you build a solid points and miles foundation…without making the classic beginner mistakes.

Getting started with travel hacking feels overwhelming. 

It involves complicated and important things like credit cards, money, and credit scores. You work hard for these things and don’t want anything to harm them. Skepticism and even feeling as if you’re breaking the rules also get in the way and create yet another psychological obstacle to getting started.

It’s easy to think it’s not worth it.

What will you learn in Travel Hacking Basics?

There are 5 sections to this beginner points and miles course.

  • Welcome – Get access to the Facebook Group, Travel Hacking Study Hall + downloadable cheat sheets to help you begin.
  • Understanding Credit Scores – Detailed lessons to help you understand the factors used to calculate your credit score, dispel myths about credit cards, and improve your credit score.
  • Credit Cards, Points, and Miles – Dive into the different types of travel reward points and miles and the cards that earn them. We’ll go over important bank rules, which credit cards to start with, and how to keep it all organized.
  • Earning Points and Miles – Learn how to meet credit card minimum spends and maximize every dollar you spend on your bills and expenses to earn the most travel rewards points and miles possible.
  • Using Points and Miles – Find out must-know redemption rules and principles, as well as see how to search and redeem your points and miles for the best value through guided lessons and video tutorials.

At the end of the course, I go over how to put all of what you learned into action and what your next steps should be.

Think of Destination on your Bucket List…

Complete this sentence.

I want to travel hack because I want to go to [enter destination] for [enter reason] in [enter date and year]. Without travel hacking, it would cost me [enter cost].

For example, you might say:

I want to travel hack because I want to go to Paris and Rome for my 10th wedding anniversary next June. Without travel hacking, it would cost me over $5,000.

The beauty of points and miles is you don’t have to save forever to take that BIG trip.

Miles and points can make even the dreamiest destinations possible, seated in premium class seats, no teacher like me could ever afford without points and miles.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who is this course for?

Travel Hacking Basics is for anyone living in the United States who has the ability to apply for travel rewards credit cards and use them responsibly.

If you’re in another country, like Canada or the U.K, some of the lessons in the “Use Your Points and Miles” section will be the same or similar. However, the credit card offers and perks vary by country.

  • Do I need a good credit score to get started with points and miles?

Most travel rewards credit cards require a good to excellent credit score. To get started, you should have a credit score >700. 

  • Is it really worth it to earn points and miles?

Clearly, I’m biased. But, not for any other reason than I have successfully used points and miles to travel around the world from Europe to Asia, Africa, and South America

I never would have imagined years ago that I would have the ability to travel wherever I wanted just by unleashing the power of my everyday bills and spending.

Enroll now for Free in Travel Hacking Basics! 

Free Travel Hacking Basics Course Sign Up Form

Where do you want points and miles to take you?

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