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What is Travel Hacking?

Let’s face it, Travel can be very expensive – especially if you have a family – but if you’re willing to be flexible and know about a few little tricks known as “travel hacking” then you can find yourself on the other side of the world in less time, for less money than you think.

What Exactly Is Travel Hacking?

I’m not the best writer so you’ll have to bear with me as I go through all of these points, but as time goes on, I will get better at laying things out and explaining things more clearly. That being said, here goes.

The term “Travel Hacking” was originally coin’d by the world traveler Chris Guillebeau who has traveled to almost every country in the world – JEALOUS! –  and written books such as “the Art of Non-Conformity” (which is worth reading). Most travel hacking is about using Airline miles and rewards to get free flights, accommodations, deals and even car rentals. In my opinion it is about a lot more than that. It’s about opening up your mind to some less than traditional experiences so as to greatly reduce or even eliminate certain costs. If you’re interested in learning more about Chris and what he stands for, then be sure to follow @ChrisGuillebeau on Twitter.
Chris, among many other world travelers has perfected the art of carefully using Airline credit card miles and rewards points to travel the globe at a extremely discounted rate and sometimes for FREE. A few years back, he established a website known as the Travel Hacking Cartel where he discloses many of his practices and methods with anyone who is willing to pay a small monthly fee of $15 up to $39. It’s becoming easier and easier to gain access to this information for free as more and more people do it and write posts – like this one – about how to do it. Check out the link below to learn more about the Travel Hacking Cartel.

For a lot of people, travel hacking is more than just getting a free flight here and there. It’s about bringing costs as close to zero as possible without sacrificing any of the comfort of your journey.

Some people have been so successful as to fly to several countries on several continents for as little as a few hundred dollars. These results aren’t typical unless you’re willing to put in a lot of leg work planning your itinerary but none the less here’s one of those stories that will get you thinking.

I’m going to take you through some of these travel hacks from start to finish. Ok, so where does most travel start? Unless you know something that I don’t, most travel starts with the most basic movement on 1 of 3 mediums: Sea, Air & Land. I prefer to fly to most international destinations because I’m still in my 20’s which is why I’ll to endure 6-20 hours of being stuffed into a metal tube with a bunch of strangers and little to no sleep. I like to get there quick though so I’m not as interested in a cruise – yet –  and cars can’t drive across oceans but I do love a good road trip here and there. Denver to Costa Rica by car would be quite an epic journey but I don’t have 10 days to spend to get to my destination.

The first thing you are going to need to get started travel hacking is a CREDIT CARD. I’m not just talking about any credit card. I’m talking about a credit card with rewards. The best kind of rewards are ones with BONUS miles – cards that give you 10,000 – 50,000 miles after you charge $X purchases or even after your first purchase. There are lots of cards out there all offering something different so you’ll have to shop around for the one that’s right for you.
The @FrugalTravelGuy has an entire list of credit card resources that will help get you started. He has everything here from the cards themselves to several FREE ways to check your credit score.
The Frugal Travel Guy has some awesome pointers on how to “churn” credit cards –  to open new accounts while closing old accounts several times a year – without hurting your credit score.
Once you find the rewards card that fits your needs, you’ll need to spend money on it in order to be eligible for the travel points. You might be saying “Wait, I thought this post was about traveling without spending money?” and that is true but there is no such thing as free in today’s society. This is where you charge money that you already spend on a daily basis. I’m talking about necessities like food, water, gas/transportation, shelter – an apartment complex that allows you to charge your rent on a credit card is a HUGE benefit when racking up those credit card miles – and as many of your monthly bills/expenses that you possibly can. (NOTE: It is VERY IMPORTANT that you don’t charge things that you can’t pay for. Debt is what I like to call the anti-travel or the anti-freedom. You need to be wise with what you charge which is why I only recommend charging stuff that you already buy on a monthly basis.) I do not condone charging any entertainment on this card unless you have lots of money in savings or make far more money than you spend every month. Another great way to get those rewards points faster is to pay for other people’s stuff if they are willing to PAY YOU CASH ON THE SPOT – do not become a private lending firm for your buddies! This is financial suicide. – so you have money to pay your credit card bill and/or buy foreign currency for your travels (more on that later in this post). Once you get into a routine of putting all of your expenses onto a rewards card, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you rack up those points. CreditCards.com and BoardingArea.com both have some great resources on travel credit cards.
Flyer Talk is also a great online resource for Frequent Flyer Miles. This is more of a community so you can get advice from people who have perfected the art of travel hacking and utilizing frequent flyer programs.
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