Travel Hacking 101: best credit cards to get started

I’ve been travel hacking for almost a decade now. I use the points and miles that I earn on my everyday spending (things like groceries, gas, and dining) and intentionally maximize my earnings to score free hotel rooms and flights every year. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Not when you’re using travel hacking best credit cards!

But I promise you with the right knowledge, a little dedication, the right card foundation, and some organization anyone can be a travel hacker. Basically, use the right cards, pay them off in time and you can be rewarded with free travel. And, to help you get started I’ve created a guide to the best travel credit cards:

>> If you want to really grow your skills get my Beginner’s Guide to Budget Travel Hacking for just $2.99!

Just a quick note: This page might include affiliate links. If you click and purchase anything from the links I receive a tiny commission to support this website. The good news? I only recommend products I actually use and believe in. So you're getting the best products at a super good price.

What Is Travel Hacking?

Travel hacking is basically utilizing and leveraging card, airline, and hotel loyalty points to drastically reduce the cost of traveling the world. By redeeming your points and miles you strategically earn free and almost free airfare and hotel nights. But, you can oftentimes use your card points for things like car rentals and even experiences, too.

Travel hacking allows you to travel on a budget that you can afford while giving you the opportunity to travel in luxury. Stay in nicer hotels, fly business class, and even take more vacations if you want to!

>> You can learn more about travel hacking in my beginner’s guide.

But first! There is no perfect credit card, just one that works best for you

When I spend time with my coaching clients they tend to ask me what the perfect travel rewards card is. And the answer is… there isn’t one single best card. But, there are cards that are best for you: your lifestyle, your travel goals.

Keep these three things in mind when deciding on a travel rewards card strategy:

• What spending categories do I spend the most money in (gas, groceries, dining)?
• What transferable rewards programs (Chase, Capital One, etc.) have the best benefits and transfer partners for my travel goals?
• What cards have the right sign-up bonus to help me reach my travel goals?
• Can you meet the minimum spend in the first three months of having the card to earn the sign-up bonus?

Once you can answer those questions you’ll be ready to start your card foundational strategy. 

These are the cards that I like to call, “wallet keepers.” They are the cards that will help you maximize your rewards earnings when you’re not working on a sign-up bonus. 

These are transferable points that will help you have the flexibility to find the best rewards for you, and ensure you’re earning the most on all your everyday purchases. They also give you a high welcome bonus you can use to take a free trip pretty quickly after you get started, too.

What I value in a travel rewards card

When you’re just starting out it’s hard to know what’s important in your travel rewards card strategy. Oftentimes, before you get your first card you don’t even know what a transfer partner even is. 

But there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to what you should look for in the best travel credit cards.

I value 3 main categories: cost, earnings, and savings. 

Cost

You should be getting way more value back in your card annually than you pay in your annual fee. Though you should always get a travel rewards card for the first year since the sign-up bonus outweighs the annual fee, it’s important to check your benefits and ensure you’re earning more than you’re paying.

For example, the Venture X has a hefty $395 annual fee but you receive a $300 travel credit and 10,000 points (valued at $100) that already pay the $395 annual fee.

Earnings

Your travel rewards cards should be earning you more than 1x points on every purchase you make with your most common spending categories earning you at least 1.5x (if not 2x+ points). 

This is largely achieved by utilizing 2-3 credit cards for your daily expenses that ensure you’re maximizing your earning potential. It’s the credit card spending (like a debit card) with the highest earning card that rewards you the most.

Savings

Your day-to-day travel cards should be offering you savings you can actually use. This means getting cards with transfer partners, like the Citi Premier, Sapphire Preferred, Venture X, American Express Gold, etc. 

But you need to choose a card with transfer partners that are most helpful for you. Oftentimes when you’re starting out Chase is the best option.

Earning a welcome bonus

The most important component of travel hacking is earning welcome bonuses. Some people believe you should be earning them every three months but don’t listen to them. If you are travel hacking correctly you can earn over a hundred thousand points every year without another credit card.

>> Learn all the ways to earn points outside of welcome bonuses in Stacking Academy!

But welcome bonuses are still important because they give you tens or even hundreds of thousands of points you can use at once for a pretty small spending requirement.

It works like this: you get approved for a new credit card and if you spend $3,000 on the card the company gives you 100,000 bonus points. Those points are now yours to spend anyway you want.

Personally, I get a welcome bonus 1-2 times a year. This combined with my daily spend on my credit card strategy earns me more than half a million points and miles every year I use to travel cheaper and more frequently than I could otherwise.

What if I don’t want to keep the card? You need to keep your new card open and active at least a year. Afterwards you can cancel, downgrade, or keep the card when your annual fee comes up for renewal.

Travel Hacking 101: Why you should have more than one travel rewards card

Consider the best travel credit cards as more of a set than a singular unit. 

If you have just one you’re maximizing your earning potential with that singular card but if you have 2-3 in a duo or trifecta you’re able to earn 50 to a whopping 500% more on specific spending categories. 

For example, the Chase Trifecta utilizes the Chase Freedom Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and Chase Sapphire Preferred. With three cards all in a singular program, you’ll earn more free hotel nights and airfare because you’re earning (at times) 5 times what you would have with just the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

If you’re buying groceries anyway, this is as simple as reaching for the card that has a 5x points promo this month to pay rather than the card with 1x cash back. We talk a lot about how to do this in Stacking Academy, which teaches you how to use less cards to earn the same amount of free travel annually.

What about my credit score?

When you start travel hacking your first concern (and rightly so) is your credit score. Keep in mind your credit score has a lot of factors:

30% Accounts Owned
35% Payment History
15% Length of Credit
10% New Credit
10% Credit Mix

As long as you pay your balance in full on time every time, you’ll likely see your credit score increase over time. This is due to having more accounts to lower your credit utilization. 

However, also keep in mind that you need at least a score of 700 to get most of the travel rewards cards we’re talking about below.

Types of travel rewards credit cards

Travel rewards cards break up into three basic categories:

• Co-branded credit cards are partnerships with banks to give you points earned for the specific hotel or airline when you spend on it. These sometimes come with benefits like free checked bags or hotel nights but the earnings outside of your airfare are pretty low. (ex. American Airlines and Hyatt)
• Bank travel rewards credit cards are credit cards that give you options to use your points within their own travel portal or transfer points to various travel partners. They usually come with no foreign transaction fees and high earnings on travel categories, like hotel stays and airfare. (ex. Chase Sapphire and Capital One Venture)
• Other bank travel cards can sometimes work with travel rewards cards to earn you more points on categories and then use them as points instead of cash back. Basically, you can use Chase Freedom Unlimited 1.5% back as 1.5 points instead with a Chase Sapphire but only if you have the travel card.

If you’re just getting started you’ll need to get a travel rewards credit card because this will give you the most flexibility to build a strategy that works for you.

How do I use my travel points?

If you’ve never earned travel points you might not even know where to start. Like, what do these numbers even mean?!

Think about it this way travel points are basically different currencies. They are worth a different amount and it’s up to you to find the best value ones and use them the best possible ways.

You want most of your points in transferrable programs, like bank cards. This gives you the most options on how to use your points for the best value. That way you can transfer your points to travel partners to get more value.

For example, you can use your Chase points in either the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal or you can transfer them to their travel partners, like United or Hyatt. Transferring your points is usually the best way to use them. You can learn the best transfer partners for airfare using Point.Me, which compares you travel points to the best transfer partners for your route and travel dates.

Best Travel Hacking Credit Cards (My Top Picks)

Keep in mind that these are a starting point. You’ll need to build a foundational strategy that will help you see higher returns in the long run but if you’re just getting started these are my top picks!

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the go-to starter card for so many reasons. First, it has a low annual fee but still earns you 3x on many of your everyday spending categories.

But more importantly, the points are very valuable with some incredible and beginner-friendly transfer partners. You can transfer to World of Hyatt for easy free nights or some of the best airline partners that offer free flights with low taxes, too.

>> Check out how I used the Chase Sapphire during my Europe for Free trip!

Pros: A lot of easy spending categories that earn 3x the points, great transfer partners for free hotel nights and flights, and $50 hotel credit annually.
Cons: You want to be sure you can make up for the $45 annual fee after $50 credit through point earnings.

Capital One Venture X

The Venture X has a higher annual fee ($395) but more than makes up for it in travel perks. The card earns a simple 2x on all purchases, which makes it super easy to keep track of. This is a great piece to a long-term strategy when combined with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Flex but also a perfect stand-alone card.

Pros: $300 travel credit and 10,000 points annually more than pay the annual fee, lounge access.
Cons: Must use $300 travel credit in the portal which can sometimes have higher prices on rental cars and hotels.

American Express Gold

If you like to fly business class, American Express points are one of the best ways to find a variety of award availability, which makes it a fan-favorite of travel hackers. The American Express Gold is also a great earning card with 4x on dining and groceries.

Pros: Fantastic earnings on dining and groceries, transfer partners that are great for business class travelers, $120 annual Uber Cash credit
Cons: Only offers good earnings on dining and grocery categories.

Citi Premier

Don’t sleep on the Citi Premier, when combined with the Citi Custom Cash you can easily earn yourself amazing trips with the combo. With 3x earnings on dining, groceries, and gas many travelers find this card maximizes most of their everyday expenses. 

Pros: 3x earnings on the top spending categories of most households.
Cons: Not as many transfer partners that are useful.

Some other things to keep in mind…

Use all your credits and perks

It’s important to familiarize yourself with your credit card perks, as they offset your annual fee. 

Things like free Uber Eats with your American Express Gold or your $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit are perks you want to use. In addition, many cards offer things like TSA/Global Entry credits and lounge access that help offset your annual fee, too.

Don’t cancel your card in the first year

If you decide that a travel rewards card just isn’t for you, (or perhaps you got the card only for the sign-up bonus), keep the card at least a year before you cancel it. If you cancel before a year you’ll hurt your credit score and the chances of being approved for another card within the bank’s program.

But don’t worry, Travel Freely’s app will help you keep track with automatic emails!

Not all points and miles are created equal

Points and miles all have different values depending on the programs. Think about it this way: each of the programs is like comparing different countries’ currencies.

It’s general practice that most of the time transferring your points to partners will reward you with a better return on your investment. You can use sites like Point.Me to help you determine how (and if) you should transfer your points.

Utilize flexible points for your primary earning methods

Programs, like the cards discussed earlier, help you earn points that can be transferred. Which means you have options. 

If you just earn Delta Skymiles you’re trapped into what Delta is charging you for that flight. 

However, flexible points mean that you have options to book that same flight cheaper with the help of transfer partners. You can use Point.Me to help you better understand how and what is the best redemption for your points and miles for flights.

Only get into travel hacking if you can Treat your credit card like a debit card

If you can’t pay your credit card off every month in full you shouldn’t be using a credit card. This is a hobby made for people who can transition their debit card expenses to a credit card, treating the card interchangeably.

Credit cards offer a lot of perks and benefits but only for those who are financially responsible.

More travel hacking tips + Inspiration

• If you want to learn more about travel hacking to get started this is the best place to start
• You don’t have to use credit cards to travel hack (but they do make it easier)
• Learn more ways to earn a free hotel night