Simplicity is our guiding principle. While our travel hacking skills are continually evolving, we always adhere to the fundamentals. Our hope with this article is to give you direction on how to begin and also how to use the other posts on this blog. So, where to begin with travel hacking?
Step One: Email Lists
Subscribe to emails—the simplest step of them all. While this may not be a “hack” in the traditional credit card hacking fashion, it’s certainly a hack to getting more travel in your life. You can learn more about this step in our post How We Find Cheap Flights.
These email lists are extremely valuable, not just for the crazy flight deals, but also for deepening your understanding of flights, airlines, and pricing. Knowledge is power in the world of travel, and the more you absorb, the better off you’ll be. These cheap flights will fuel your wanderlust and instill a never-ending desire to travel. This basic knowledge and drive will certainly make the next steps easier. We started this way and it’s an incredible way to see more of the world.
Step Two: Credit Cards
If you’re like us, and you’ve been infected with the travel bug, you’re probably on the hunt for how to make travel more affordable. We certainly were. After having traveled with cheap flights, we learned about travel credit cards and started using our own to eliminate the most expensive parts of travel.
Don’t quite understand what travel credit cards are? No worries, we’ve got a post for that. Using Credit Cards to Fly for Free. In simple terms, travel credit cards are credit cards that earn miles and points instead of cash back through sign-up bonuses and regular spending. These miles and points can then be used for flights and hotels, eliminating the most expensive aspects of traveling. Don’t know what miles and points are worth? Good thing we’ve got a post on that one too. What are Credit Card Miles and Points worth?
We always recommend the Capital One Venture Card to anyone looking to get started with travel credit cards. It’s easy to use and easy to travel with. Instead of feeling overwhelmed with the dozens of options out there, start with one and get a feel for the game and the thrill of traveling. We knew very little about travel hacking when we first started and the Venture card got us going. It’s the first card we opened and we still use it and love it. Check out why we love the Venture and Venture X credit cards.
Opening a travel card is an important step because it not only helps you get an understanding of how the whole game works but also gets you hooked on the game of travel hacking. Don’t stress yourself out, and don’t get all worried about credit cards (unless you have a bad track record.) Start simple with a card that makes sense and as you earn and use miles you’ll become more familiar with miles and points and how to use them for travel.
An alternative to this approach is to open a specific credit card to meet your needs. Check out our recent post on Japan to better understand this.
Step Three: Taking it further
These first two steps are pretty simple, and that’s the point. Travel hacking can be very simple. It’s utilizing miles and points to travel the world for free or at extremely reduced rates.
An example is this is our trip to Mexico City. We used the Venture card as well as the Chase IHG hotel card and spent a long weekend in Mexico City, one of our new favorite destinations.
Additionally, we’ve used Delta Skymiles, from a credit card, to book tickets throughout the US and Costa Rica.
While it’s a simple process, there is a lot of potential depth and some really deep rabbit holes to dive down.
Taking it further, you can transfer your miles and points to other airlines in some creative and efficient ways. We did this on one of our trips to Hawaii. It took some work, but we were able to fly round-trip for essentially $150 worth of Capital One Miles. Using a mixture of miles and points, we made a similar booking for our upcoming trip to Japan.
To expand on this, we’ve started compiling a list of all the great ways you can use your miles and points: Where will your Miles Take You? There is nowhere in the world you can’t go with miles and points.
Another form of “hacking” is getting into airport lounges. One of the great perks of a good travel credit card is the ability to get you into lounges all over the world.
To get another feel for how we do what we do, check out our post on The Way We Wander.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this post has given you a little bit of an idea or where to begin with travel hacking, or at least pointed you in the right direction.
We got the travel bug after we found (opened our emails) a killer deal to Barcelona. This trip took us to Spain, Switzerland, and Italy and our desire to learn and travel more was quickly ignited. Ever since, we’ve done all we can to get more and more travel into our lives. This has led us to travel credit cards and travel hacking and it’s opening a future we never dreamed of.
It’s easy to dream, but now it’s time to start turning your dreams into reality
Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Additional
These steps are designed to initiate your progress. There is so much to learn and do but you’ve got to start small and simple. You’ll eventually learn how to open and utilize multiple cards. This is done to increase the miles you’re able to earn from spending. The travel perks you may see others using also come from these different and higher-tier cards.
You’ll also learn how to maximize your miles far beyond their standard value. We’ve been fortunate to book round-trip flights to Hawaii for just 15,000 miles and to New Zealand for 35,000 miles. Miles can be so valuable and delaying the start only limits your ability to explore distant and exotic destinations.
Start simple and keep on learning and growing. It’s amazing what you can do with travel hacking.
A great “hack” that involves points and no credit cards, is MyVegas. A reward system with all kinds of cool perks. Check out the Travel Hack You Didn’t Know you Needed.
*Before you ever open a credit card you must do your own research and understand how they work. Never carry a balance and never miss a payment. As amazing and beneficial as a credit card is, it can ruin your life if you aren’t smart and careful.