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Leveraging credit card points has been a great tool for us to save money on traveling. We mostly use them for booking flights, but have recently started to use them for other perks such as booking rental cars and hotel rooms.
Let me be clear, though, I’m not a credit card guru. I do not know the very best card that will work for every different person in every different situation.
But what I can do is tell you what cards we use and why we like each of them.
Many of the cards listed below will have our referral links. If you end up being interesting in any of these cards, signing up through the links would help support me and the website.
Before signing up, I do encourage you to do your research beforehand for each card. Bonus offers change frequently and there may be a better sign on bonus out there that is not offered through my referral link.
Disclaimer: Before using credit cards to travel hack, please make sure you are able to use credit cards responsibly. At the least, this means you pay your bill in full each month and only purchase what you can afford.
Chase Freedom
Best card for starting off and for those who don’t want the annual fee
Bonus: $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee: $0
Why I love it:
- Unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases
- Earn 5% cash back on rotating categories
- Can transfer points to other Chase Premium Cards (see below)
- No annual fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred*
Best overall card for those starting off in the travel hacking game.
Bonus: 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee: $95
Why I love it:
- Earn 2X points on travel and dining. 1 point per a dollar for all other purchases
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel
- No foreign transaction fees
- Can transfer points to 12 hotel and airline partners including Southwest, United, Hyatt, and Marriot
Chase Sapphire Reserve*
Best premium travel card for those who travel frequently
Bonus: 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee: $550
Why I love it:
- $300 travel credit each year
- Earn 3X points on travel and dining. 1 point per a dollar for all other purchases
- Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® fee credit
- Free airport lounge access with Priority Pass
- Get 50% more value when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $750 toward travel
- Can transfer points to 12 hotel and airline partners including Southwest, United, Hyatt, and Marriot
*Note: You can not have both the Chase Sapphire Preferred AND Chase Sapphire Reserve at the same time.
These three cards are our staples.
I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Freedom Card while Mr. Taco uses the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The Chase Freedom card is used solely for the 5% bonus categories that rotate throughout the year while the other two cards are used for everything else.
In total, we pay $545 a year in annual credit card fees. The Chase Sapphire Reserve does have a $300 travel credit each year which essentially reduces this annual cost for our two cards to $245 a year.
As long as we travel a few times a year and utilize our points for airfare, rental cars, and hotels; we will be able to easily recoup the $245 a year fee each year. This is why having these cards and paying for the annual fees has been worth it to us.
Other cards we have utilized for their bonuses:
Capital One Venture
This is also a great overall travel card and you can find a detailed review at The Points Guy.
We applied for this card purely to get the Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® fee credit for Mr Taco since I already had it through my Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The Capital One Venture has an annual fee of $95, but it’s waived in the first year. This allowed us to get Mr. Taco Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® for free as long as we cancel the card before the year is up. Total win if you ask me.
INDIVIDUAL airline credit cards
Over the past few years, I have worked my way through many airline specific credit cards (Delta, American, United) to earn free flights.
Many of these cards have annual fees that are waived the first year so it’s easy to take advantage of the sign on bonus and then cancel the card before the fee hits.
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