Get Rewarded for Spending
Travel Hacking with reward points for hotels and/or plane tickets is a great way to significantly lower your travel costs. These days I almost never pay for my plane tickets, I ‘buy’ them with credit card 💳 reward systems. But be warned ⚠️ Juggling Credit Cards for the travel rewards is not for the inexperienced, or unorganized! If you are up to the challenge of keeping track of your cards and their deadlines (and know how to set up an excel or numbers chart) there are some great credit rewards deals out there! Essentially there are two ways to earn credit card points; when you open a new account and with purchases you make on the card. The biggest bang for your buck is when opening a new line of credit - cards offer bonus sign up rewards to new members with either a percentage of cash back or points and miles in the tens of thousands (each card uses a different metric for keeping track of rewards but they all boil down to the same thing; discounts on the specific services partnered with the card) ‘Earning’ these bonuses is contingent on making a certain $ amount of purchases in a limited time frame, 3 months, 6 months etc. If you hit the target you get the points and the bigger the reward the higher the $ requirement. After the initial bonus you can continue to earn points with the purchases on the card, and depending on which card you use they will reward you with greater points for specific things. A travel focused card usually rewards travel purchases the highest (through their partner site) while a hotel card would reward hotel stays, eg. Sometime up to 5 times the regular reward rate! But the only way this saves you money is if you follow the Golden Rule...
Golden Rule of Travel Hacking - Never spend 💰 to reach a credit goal that you wouldn't be spending anyway.
What to Look for when Comparing Cards...
The first thing to considering is timing...
Obviously the sooner you start the process the better. Rewards on good cards won’t expire but if you sign up for too many credit cards all at once your credit score will take a temporary hit and you need a good score to get a good card. But if you get a head start you can plan to open new cards around your upcoming life purchases to take advantage of the rewards without spending a dime you wouldn’t already spend.
Second you want to pick a card that rewards your normal lifestyle...
Do you eat out a lot? Stay in hotels frequently? Drive & buy gas constantly? Does most of your money go to rent? Utilities? (Yes, there are cards that reward those!) You'll need to do some research based on your specific life style and credit score to see what your card options are.
If you'll be traveling a lot, a travel specific card is probably best, it both rewards what you are already spending on and gives you those rewards in the form of travel discounts. I use a Chase Sapphire & a Capitol One Venture as my personal cards as well as an IHG Business Travel for Unmoored. I also find a Venmo card useful, it allows you to choose your own reward categories. I put all my utilities on this, which brings us to the next travel hacking rule:
Need to increase your points in a short amount of time to reach your travel goal?
Volunteering to put everyone's diner bill on your card, or buy the movie tickets as a group online is a great way to increase the card total. This doesn’t mean you pay for other people's stuff but if you’re going out for drinks with friends put the whole tab on your card and have your friends pay you back in cash or through a cash app. (But only use this method with responsible trust worthy friends!)
Annual Fees
Many of the higher rewards cards also have yearly fees. Some will waive the fee for the first year as part of the incentive others won’t. I usually only do the fee waived cards and then cancel them before the year renews so I never pay the fee.
If you are thinking of keeping an annual fee card DO THE MATH - if it doesn't waive the fee, will you save more than the fee amount with the bonus? What about with just regular spending in year two?
No Interest for a Year Offers
These can be a great way to spread out the cost of large purchases but they must be handled with care...
Both annual fees & no interest cards are ticking time bombs ⚠️ so you need to keep track of when you opened each card so your can take appropriate action before the timer runs out at the end of the year!
Pick up the Tab for Friends & Family- Tell them you're trying to earn points and see if they have any big purchases coming up that you can put on your card (& have them reimburse you for.)
Be intentional about which card you use - It takes effort, but know your cards rewards and use the card that rewards groceries the highest for groceries, and the one that rewards gas the most for gas etc.
Be Cautious ⚠️ with 'No Interest for a Year' Cards - On day 366 when the year is up, the full years worth of back interest kicks in - so make sure you are paying it off throughout the year, not just the minumum monthly amount.
Where do you spend money? - Find a card that rewards what you are already spending money on
When is your trip? - How long do you have before you want use your rewards?
Award Wallet is a great resource for finding current credit card offers and also keeping tracking of all your rewards in one place.
You can Cancel 🛑 Annual Fee Credit Cards after the initial 'waived fee' Year is Up, but check the rules,
many cards make you forfeit any unused rewards when you cancel.