Travel Hacking And Why You Should Consider It For Your Next Trip

Do you like traveling? Let me answer that question for myself, yes, I love traveling however it is not cheap.
If you are constantly traveling, you will definitely have to dive deep into your pockets and this is why a number of people tend to restrict their travels for vacations or family emergencies which may happen once or twice a year. However, the concept of travel hacking may work in your favor if you are a travel fanatic like me.

Travel hacking is the art of signing up for travel credit cards and collecting credit card points, hotel points, and/or airline miles you can cash in for free flights, flight upgrades, hotel stays, transportation, and more.
Now that you have an understanding of travel hacking, I bet you find it attractive but if you are still on the fence about it, here are a couple of advantages to it.

• Helps you save big on travel – Going on a trip without spending your money to cater for it is definitely one of the best feelings, it literally feels like a gift and with travel hacking, you can keep up with this feeling.
• Requires minimal work to travel hack – When looking for travel offers, all you have to do is be on the lookout for offers and opportunities and sign up for them. It is not one big mystery to solve.
• Avails you the opportunity to travel often – If you love to travel however are always constrained because of the costs, with travel hacking, your travel schedule will not only be restricted to one or two vacation trips a year, since the costs of your travel are catered for and you get to travel out of your norm.
• You get to enjoy free benefits – Many credit cards do offer benefits such as lounge access, travel insurance and full board access among others. This is the icing on the top and will make you enjoy your trip.

Are you ready to enjoy such perks?

HOW TO GATHER CREDIT CARD POINTS

A recently sat down with, Keritan Shelby, and he shared how we  gets to enjoy them as he understands the art of gaining credit card points to enjoy the perks of travel hacking.

When asked about how one can earn more bonus points, Keritan replied saying “an individual should be on the lookout for different offers from hotels/airlines and sign up for them”.

He also noted that sites like the US Credit Card Guide offer a variety of credit card offers one can pick up for their next trips.

CONS OF TRAVEL HACKING

Although travel hacking does have a number of perks, there are cons as well.
​Two are are:
1. Negative impact on your credit – Due to the fact that one has to sign up for a number of credit cards, in case you fall short of your payment plan, this can affect your credit score and in the long run, lead to debt.

This is one of the major reasons people are afraid to sign up for travel hacks, however, Keritan highlighted that when used responsibly, credit card offers can be of value.

2. One can become a spendthrift. Travel is addictive and one can easily get caught up in signing up for credit card offers and to enjoy travel hacking and why you should consider it for your next trip hacking perks.

Granted you have a good credit card score, travel hacking and why you should consider it for your next trip hacking is for you. A good credit score is usually over 700 and with such a standing, when applying for credit cards, you are most likely to be accepted without any issues.

However, travel hacking isn’t for everyone especially if you fall under these 4 categories:

1. You don’t pay off your credit card bills each month – If you are having trouble keeping up with your existing credit card payments, then you should lay low on the concept of travel hacking

2. You spend more money when using credit rather than cash – Research has shown that there is a certain category of individuals who tend to spend more when using credit than cash and find themselves swiping their cards to zero. This is a spendthrift mentality and can lead to debt due to a lack of self-control.

3. If you are not an organized person  – You need to be organized to stay on top of the credit card payments because travel hacking means you will have to sign up for a number of credit card offers and be keen about when to settle the payments.
4. You have a poor credit score – Having a poor credit score will already limit the travel offers you can sign up for nonetheless if you find a way to get an offer despite having poor credit, this will increase the negative impact on your credit.

Supposing travel hacking applies to you, it is important that you understand the rules of the road that come with it so you can stay within your bounds and hack responsibly without falling into debt, To get a deeper outlook or to get acquainted with these tips, listen to Episode 103 of the Money Exchange here or watch it here. ​