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Starting Travel and Points Hacking

Off We Go!
This summer I was introduced to the concept of Travel Hacking! And it's fascinating! 

What is Travel Hacking? So, you open a (for example) Chase United card and they'll give you a 65,000 points bonus after reaching the "minimum spend." Meaning, you have to put (eg) $4,000 on the card in the first 3 months. (They very.) To reach that minimum spend, travel/points hackers use these credit cards for all their usual household expenses and pay off the balance at the end of each month (carrying a balance would defeat the purpose!). And they open multiple cards a year to gather more points/miles. 

In case you don't know, 65k points is two round trip economy flights in the US. And 1 round-trip to Europe. So, just that alone is a pretty sweet deal.  

I'm so intrigued by this. Travel is my favorite thing. And making it cheaper for us to do more often, in any way, is exciting. 

Just think, in five years we're going to be empty nesters. I'll have kids to visit in far off places (probably). Plus, my sisters and husband will be more available to travel with me. 

So, this seems like a hobby that could help me get to all my dream destinations and be closer to my family. I love traveling and planning travel, so why not do something to make it easier.  

They call it a "hobby" which is good name. "It's a marathon, not a sprint." It's not a "rich quick" scheme. Point/miles accumulate over years. So I'm getting into the "game" now and hoping in a few years I'll be traveling all over the place.  

But I've also found it's a good way to manage credit cards, build good credit and get into positive spend habits. For me especially, after my 20s when I abused credit cards and didn't know any better. 

Also, the cards carry perks! Airport lounges, upgrades, free luggage check-ins, access to deals, and some even include Audible subscriptions, DoorDash deals and more. Also, no foreign transaction fees for international travel. YAY!

So I started. I opened up two new credit cards at the beginning of the summer and use them at the grocery store, shopping for school clothes, while on vacation last month, at the farmer's market, hiding my bank card in the back of my wallet. And paying them off every few weeks to be sure I don't carry a balance -- because their APRs % are REDICULOUS. The nerve of charging 30%! 

I'm hoping to use some of my new points for our travel plans next summer. In the meantime, I'm listening to travel hacking podcasts, reading e-newsletters and trying to figure out this whole world of travel I didn't really think was possible. 


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