Travel Hacking

01 / How this works

This guide is meant to give you an intro to travel hacking and help you get started.

Overview

The quick overview of travel hacking is that you open credit cards to get the one-time big sign-up bonus. You then use those points to book airfare, hotels, or even rental cars. That's it.

1. Open a cardfor the one-time big sign-up bonus
2. Hit the minimum spendand you get your points
3. Book your tripairfare, hotels, or even rental cars

If you're a credit card user already, you can look at it like rather than earning 1 point per dollar spent and getting 3,000 points for $3,000 spending on your card, you can get up to 100,000 points for that same $3,000 spending by taking advantage of a single sign up bonus.

02 / Will this hurt my credit?

Opening a new credit card will ding your credit score by a few points initially, but that usually fades within a few months. As long as you are always paying your card off on time, and only open one card every three months, your credit score should be just fine. Showing you're a responsible credit card user actually HELPS your credit score.

Since you can open one card every three months, that means you and your spouse could open 8 cards a year between the two of you.

03 / Before you apply

I highly recommend that anyone starting out start with Chase credit cards due to their 5/24 rule.

What is the 5/24 rule?

The 5/24 rule means you can only open 5 credit cards within 24 months. If you try to open a 6th card in 24 months, Chase will deny you. Their 5 slots include ANY credit card, it doesn't have to just be a Chase card.

So say you applied for a Kohls credit card, an Amazon credit card, and a Chase freedom card in the last two years, (moving forward do not apply for any store credit cards, they are not worth it compared to the other offers out there) you've now used three of your five slots.

Three of your five slots used

Before you start applying for cards, think about any cards you or your spouse have applied for in the past two years. Again, this could have been something as simple as an Old Navy card. They all count. You want to know where you stand with the 5/24 rule going into this.

The one caveat is that business credit cards do not count towards these spots, BUT, if you have filled all 5 spots, you won't be able to get a business card.

So start with Chase, and down the road move to Amex, Capital One or another credit card company.

Track everything

Here's the link to the sheet I use to track all of our cards, minimum spend date, and other info. KEEP TRACK! You will regret this down the road if you don't. All info on this sheet is just an example.

1. 1

   Make a copy of this document and erase my examples.

2. 2

   Every time you apply for a card, fill in all the info.

3. 3

   Set reminders for when your minimum spend is due so you don't forget.

Open my tracking sheet

The Travel Freely app is also a great app to keep track of your cards and you can see all of the benefits that come with each card.

04 / Which card to get first

I highly recommend starting with either the Sapphire Preferred or the Ink Business Unlimited.

You may have reasons to go a different route or there might be a good promo on another card worth taking advantage of, do your research, but this is typically what I'd recommend.

When you're looking for a card to open, you want to look at the requirements to get the bonus. For instance, "spend $3,000 in 3 months". Some are higher like $5,000 in 3 months. Just make sure you will be able to spend that much money in that amount of time. (Remember, you can put all your bills on this credit card and pay it off right away)

The cards at a glance

Here are my recommendations. The apply buttons below are my referral links, which means I earn a bonus if you're approved through them. It doesn't cost you anything to use a referral link, and I never give one if you can get a better deal without it. Thank you so much for using them!

What counts as a business

Business cards can get you SO far in the points and miles world. And the cool part is, anyone can get approved for them. There are tons of things that can count as a business in the credit card world, and the business card does not have to be exclusively for business purchases.

If you have an actual business, you can use that info. If you don't think you have a business, you might be wrong. All of these count as a business in the bank's eyes:

• Selling things on facebook or ebay
• Making money on the side
• Running a blog or monetizing social media in any way
• Babysitting, tutoring, or anything like that

You can also apply for a business you're just getting started, as long as everything you put on the application is true. All that to say, it's pretty much as simple as getting a personal card. If you don't have an LLC you would be considered a sole proprietor and can use your personal info for the business.

05 / Hitting your minimum spend

Once you get your card in the mail, put ALL your spending on that card.

1. 1

   Move your recurring donations to that card, utilities, groceries, business expenses, etc.

2. 2

   Then when you hit the minimum spend, congrats! You get your points!

3. 3

   Usually the points will post soon after your current statement closes and then you're free to use them.

4. 4

   You can apply for your next card under your spouse's name and repeat the process.

06 / Referrals

Chase rewards you for referring people to the credit cards.

You must have a credit card in that "family" of cards to refer someone. For example, there are the Freedom cards, Sapphire cards, Ink cards, etc. So if you have a card in that "family" of cards, you can refer to it.

Say you have a Sapphire card and now your spouse is ready to apply for it. You would send them the referral link, and now you not only get their big sign up bonus, but you get a generous referral bonus too!

My links are in the card list above and I'd be so grateful if you'd use them. But again, once you have a card in each "family" of cards, use your link to refer your spouse (or friends and family!).

A simple first year

Here's an example of what you could do the next year to keep it simple:

1. SeptYouSapphire Preferred
2. DecSpouseInk Business Unlimited
3. MarchYouInk Business Unlimited
4. JuneSpouseSapphire Preferred

Or mix it up, add in additional cards if you can hit the minimum spend! This is just one example of how easy you can make it.

07 / Using your points

Banks and travel partners

Your points live with the bank that gave you the card. You can book travel through the bank, or you can transfer your points to one of their travel partners, which are the airlines and hotels they work with.

Each bank has its own list of partners. Here are a few examples:

So if you want to fly Delta, you'd need Amex points. If you want to stay at a Hyatt, you'd need Chase points. That's why it helps to think about where you want to go before you pick a card, and then research which banks partner with those airlines and hotels.

To transfer Chase points, you'll need a card like the Sapphire Preferred. We keep ours and just pay the $95 annual fee each year so that we can transfer our points.

Travel vs. cash

You can absolutely redeem points for cash if you want. It's usually 1 point = 1 cent. If you want to travel though, you will get so much more for your money.

08 / Keeping or closing cards

Do NOT close cards unless you have to.

This actually hurts your credit score. I know some people don't like to have a ton of cards open, I get it. But after you've hit the minimum spend and have received your bonus, just stick the cards in a wallet in your closet or something and forget about them.

The only reason you should close a card is if it has an annual fee that you don't want to pay, or if you want to re-apply and get the sign-up bonus again. But even then, you could see if you could downgrade it rather than closing it. The Sapphire sign-up bonus is now once per lifetime. For other Chase cards the rules vary, so always read the offer terms before you re-apply.

If you're going to close a card

• Wait until you've had it for at least one year. If you close prior to 12 months, you risk having your points clawed back.
• If it has an annual fee, actually wait until the annual fee posts, and then call them within 30 days to close the card. They will refund you the fee.
• You can also downgrade a card to a no annual fee card. Ask about this when you call.

09 / If you get denied

Don't give up if you get denied.

Down the road as you get more cards, you might have an application get denied. You can always call them to dispute it and they often just need a little more info and will then approve you. There are tons of articles out there about what you can do if this happens.

10 / Where to learn more

Websites and Instagram accounts I like:

• thepointsguy.com
• frequentmiler.com
• pointstalksquad.com
• @traveldreamersfamily
• @katiestraveltricks