Travel hacking has become a buzzword in recent years and there are plenty of articles out there about the best travel rewards cards, items that make traveling easier, and plenty of other travel hacking tips.
But with so much information at our disposal, where do we start? It’s a smart idea, before you start signing up for various rewards cards and buying items on Amazon, to start with a plan for travel hacking.
By doing a little planning and research before you get your full travel hack on, you’ll give yourself a much better idea of the strategies, rewards cards, and discipline on your end necessary to take full advantage of all the information out there.
1) Set Your Goal
Before you can decide where to aim your travel hacks you first need to set a goal.
What kind of goal? Well, simply deciding where you want to go is a great goal to start with. You need to decide this because where you’re going will determine what travel hacks are the most useful for you.
If you decide to get an air miles card, it’s good to know whether you’re aiming for 5,000 miles or 20,000 miles. For instance, if you’re taking a domestic vacation, rather than an international one, it will require far less spending on your card to reach the air miles you need for your flights.
Know what your travel goals are so you can start planning your rewards accordingly.
2) Decide Where to Use Your Rewards
Once you’ve decided on your goal-destination, you can then start researching the most efficient use of your travel rewards. The main thing you want to differentiate between is whether you’ll be targeting air miles or hotels when earning your rewards.
For some places you’re going to travel to, like many developing nations, the air fare will be your main expense, as your hotels and hostels will be relatively cheap. In that case, you’re going to want to target air miles so that your main expense is covered by rewards.
Conversely, for places like the United States the air fare can be fairly cheap or even substituted for a car rental, but there aren’t many cheap hostels like in Europe and Asia. In that case, hotel rewards would be what you’d want to target.
Know your goal then choose the rewards you want to target, because that will make choosing your rewards card much easier.
3) Track Your Monthly Income & Expenses
Before you set about choosing which rewards card you want, you need to have an accurate idea of how much of your fixed income you can put on your new credit card.
After all, it won’t do any good to have a rewards card if the minimum amount you have to spend to get your rewards is $2,000 but you can only spend $1,000 per month on that card.
By tracking your monthly income and expenses, you will get an accurate idea of what type of rewards card you should get and realistically how many points you’ll be earning each month. Catherine wrote a great post just a couple days ago that shared 6 options for tracking your expenses.
If you’re struggling to meet the minimum requirements to earn rewards, then try looking into putting more of your fixed income on your card. Things like rent, tithes, and even insurance are expenses you might not be paying for with your card but potentially could if you look into it.
4) Get Out of Credit Card Debit
Before signing up for another credit card, make sure to first get out of any existing credit card debt you might have. Travel hacking will not save you money long-term if you carry a debt balance.
Not sure where to start? Read this post about what to do if you are in credit card debt.
One option to attacking debt is increasing your income through a side hustle. We’ve written about it extensively here on YAM, because it works. Blogging or freelance writing, like I’m doing, is a great way to get started earning some money on the side, but the internet is full of ways for you to make money.
Here’s some of our top posts on side hustling and making more money to help you get out of debt:
- The Ultimate Guide to Side Hustling
- 7 Ways to Make More Money
- 5 Practical Ways to Improve Your Finances
But if this is something that you’re serious about, then look into DC’s new book, Hustle Away Debt, it’s got everything you’re going to need to know on the subject from someone who knows.
5) Choose Your Rewards Card
When deciding on your travel rewards card, you basically have three options: air miles, hotels or a generic travel rewards card. Which you choose will largely be determined by the goals you’ve set and the rewards you’ve decided to target.
If you decide you need to target air miles, then get a good air miles card that will reward every dollar you spend with a certain amount of air miles.
Be careful though because some airlines will only fly to major destinations. If you’re planning to go somewhere obscure using your air miles, then make sure your airline actually flies there first.
Some great cards for targeting air miles are:
If you decide to target hotels, then likewise get a card that rewards dollars you spend with dollars off of hotels. Again, be careful to make sure the hotel chain you use actually has hotels in the location you’re planning to travel to. Lots of rewards points but no hotels to stay in won’t help you!
Some good hotel rewards cards are:
- Marriott Rewards® Premier
A great generic travel rewards card is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®. This card offers a $400 credit to be used on travel-related expenses (flights, hotels, etc.) when you spend $3,000 within the first 90 days of having the card.
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Before you start pouring hours into seeking out the best deals and hacks to help your travels go smoother and cheaper, take a little bit of time to really consider your goals and which rewards you’re in most need of.
Planning your travel hacking is like that old saying, “it’s not about working harder, it’s about working smarter.” Be smart about your travel hacking, plan, set goals, and then reap the rewards.
What things do you do before travel hacking? What are some of your favorite travel rewards credit cards?
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I think flexibility is important when travel hacking. Therefore, I’m willing to change my destination for a great flight deal that in turn would use less credit card points.
I definitely agree getting out of debt is important prior to travel hacking and ensuring you’re only putting things on the CC that you can afford.
I’ve just started diving into the world of travel hacking. The Travel Miles 101 site is a GREAT resource for that – they have a free course and a forum and Facebook group to help people out. They’re a great group of folks and super helpful!
#3 was a huge disappointment when I was attempting to travel hack. I realized my spend per month was way less than what I would need to earn the points on the Chase Sapphire card. If only I could have put my student loan payments on the card (I checked, you can’t)!
I really wished that I got into travel hacking more before my wife and I had a baby. It was a lot easier to travel back then. With another on the way, I think I’m focusing on flexible awards and hotel points. Not sure I want to deal with flying. Although I can just continue to accumulate points for the future…hoping that the points don’t get further devalued. The credit cards that offer Chase Ultimate Rewards points are my favorite because of the flexibility to transfer to many partners.
I would highly recommend it! Stop back on Monday to see some other cards I would recommend.
Definitely looking to do this. Great post!