Travel Hacking 101: How to use Credit Cards to earn free flights and hotel stays

Before every vacation you look for deals or offers. If you are trying to book a flight or hotel then having a credit card that is travel-centric can be a right step to move forward.

 

Variety of travel-related expenses are catered by the specific credit card like booking a ticket or any hotel. If you want to earn a free ticket or stay in then you can do it with the earned reward points or air miles. In the form of complimentary membership or travel portals some of the credit cards offer direct offers or discounts to airlines and hotel loyalty programmes.

 

Let’s understand a few ways to wonder whether a travel credit card would be helpful as a travel credit card and how you can save through it.

 

With co-branded credit cards maximise savings

In collaboration with popular airlines or portals for travel a number of credit cards are offered that are loyal and beneficial for loyal customers of the brand associated with it. For better value you can redeem and accelerate reward with the travel credit card. With a complimentary membership most of these credit cards are provided to the associated brand as the loyalty programme that provide benefits like check-in baggage allowance, priority check-in, high reward earning, etc.

 

With leading issuers popular airlines like Air India, Etihad, SpiceJet, Indigo, Vistara offer credit cards that are co-branded. For frequent travellers who are dedicated to an airline and loyal to it provided with the co-branded cards that hold great values.

For example: You can opt for Axis bank Vistara platinum, signature or infinite if you prefer Vistara among other airlines. These cards are provided according to the class preference like Business, Economy, Premium Economy.

 

You can get up to four flight tickets with these cards by spending milestones in a year. You can even get a membership card to hotel loyalty programmes such as Trident Privileges, Taj Epicure, Bonvoy. You can get a direct discount and a complimentary stay at the hotels. With popular travel portals also you can grab these credit cards if you are not loyal to any specific airlines portals like EaseMyTrip, Yatra, MakeMyTrip.

For getting travel centric benefits you can redeem rewards

You can help while many users find it difficult to find reward points so in that case you can tell them about travel cards with which a significant amount can be saved through air miles or rewards.  You can find the number of points earned on each transaction low but those with high redemption ratio their value proposition can be greater across travel categories. Travel credit cards allow the transfer of reward points to hotel loyalty or air miles that can provide regular credit cards and provide better value.

 

With additional perks you can save more

The additional privileges can be appreciated by the individuals who travel.  These additional privileges include VIP meet-and-greet services, airport lounge access, travel insurance, and loyalty programme providing membership. Long layovers can be a hassle with free lounge access for instance. In a hotel loyalty programme the membership could provide free-breakfast, early check-in, free room upgrades, and more. It is quite helpful when one has travel insurance if any mishap happens such as loss of important travel documents, loss of check-in baggage etc.

 

To reach milestone spend and start strong with benefits

With valuable welcome bonuses travel credit cards such as complimentary flight tickets, discount vouchers, and flight tickets from a travel brand. From reaching a milestone cardholders can hold substantial value. For example: The signature credit card axis vistara offers premium economy ticket and one premium  economy ticket as a welcome bonus and each on reaching annual spending milestones of Rs 9 lakh, Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, Rs 4.5 lakh.

 

In a year a user who spends Rs 9 lakh in a year will receive five free tickets of card membership in the first year, which can save on flight tickets. For frequent travellers while being extremely beneficial travel credit cards if you chose that fits your needs then it yields the highest value. In various forms as benefits on credit cards, getting maximum value out of the travel card requires careful planning. The understanding features and benefits to maximising the value of your travel card and using them in the right way. Take a note of important conditions and terms such as blackout dates, expiry reward points, to customise your travel card.

 

How to travel for free with a travel credit card?

• First you should apply for the travel credit card to make sure you’ll be able to use the points that you earn from the travel that you want.
• You should spend enough money so that you can earn sign-up bonuses.
• Then use that bonus to spend for your travel.
• As much of your usual spending to continue your earning points on your credit.

If you continuously use your card you will keep earning points for more travel opportunities. If you want to sign-up for more such credit cards you can by looking towards the top credit cards. You need to check that these credit cards provide you with the sign-up bonuses that you want.

 

Conclusion

You can redeem your points that will depend on the travel reward card. There are two types of cards: Airline and hotel credit cards that will go into your account in the loyalty programme of the company. Second is the travel cards in the credit card reward programme will go to the loyalty programme of the company. You should make sure that you know how to redeem the points and compare the options.

 

If you want to spend enough and enjoy your travel credit card you can eliminate or cut off travel spending. You should take your quality time to make sure the best options among the various travel credit cards.