Getting Started Traveling With Credit Card Points
This week Devan Sullivan joins us to talk about how to optimize your credit card points to travel for free! You're not going to want to miss these insightful tips!
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Devan Sullivan, one of the two “Point Sisters”, joins us this week to teach us all about travel hacking with credit card points.
Here are 10 tips to get started using credit card points to travel!
Don’t just go out and open a random credit card. Just because one credit card is right for you, doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone else! @pointsisters offers free credit card consultations to help you find the right one for you and your goals! All you have to do is DM them and ask to chat.
Find credit cards with large sign-up bonuses. The sign-up bonus is the number of points you can get for opening the credit card. You’ll want to find a sign-up bonus that is either its historically biggest bonus!
Especially when you’re first starting out, you’ll want to open transferable currency credit cards. This is a card that allows you to use your points either on the card’s portal, or you can transfer them to other airlines or hotels. This allows you to book via the hotel and airline websites directly, rather than through a third-party website.
5/24 is an unwritten Chase rule that you can only open 5 credit cards in the span of 24 months, to be approved for Chase cards. This is why you need to be strategic about when you open your cards so that you don’t go over this rule.
The number one golden rule from Devan is to always pay off your cards in full every month! The best way to do this is through auto-pay. Doing this helps keep your credit score up! You should also spend a little bit of money on each card every month or so to keep the account open. Tip: Devan has one little booklet where she keeps all over her credit cards so that none of them get lost. She also suggests using Credit Karma to stay organized!
Know how much you are willing to spend on a credit card each year, but also figure out what the perks are. Many luxury cards can be very expensive, but the pros often outweigh the cons! Make sure you consider all the perks and if they meet your travel needs.
Use your credit card for everything. If you pay for things in cash, you are essentially losing money since your points are cash at the end of the day. You need to know how to use these points strategically to maximize your benefits.
Don’t rule out business cards to open. Devan teaches us that more people have “businesses” than we realize. If you sell anything online or even rent out a room, these are businesses! Being a “business” allows you to open more credit cards.
If you are an active military member or a military spouse, almost every single credit card from City, Chase, and American Express is free to you. If this applies to you, you should definitely take advantage of this!
Take courses to learn more about how to use credit card points to travel. The tips from this podcast are a good starting point, but there is so much more to learn! @pointsisters offers a $20 class where they go more in-depth about helpful tips! Also, be willing to put in the effort to learn how to use credit cards before you start signing up for cards.
Check out @pointsisters on Instagram and pointsisters.com for more info!