With rising prices and less disposable income, travelers are looking for every way imaginable to stretch their dollars and travel on a budget. Sometimes, credit card rewards and airline miles can turn an ordinary trip into a dream trip.
Renowned financial optimizer and host of the All the Hacks Podcast, Chris Hutchins, sat down with TravelPulse to talk about using credit points for travel, the best airline miles programs, the cheapest way to find flights and more.
Here’s the full Q&A session with Hutchins:
TravelPulse (TP): As the “Man with 10 million airline miles,” how do you accumulate credit card points and use them for free travel?
Chris Hutchins (CH): It really comes down to two main things. First, I look at how I spend my money and make sure I always have a card that offers bonus points at the places I spend the most. Since I know I spend a lot on travel, dining and groceries, I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve to earn 3x on Travel and the Amex Gold to earn 4x on Dining and Groceries. Another great way to earn points is to take advantage of the big bonuses to unlock new cards every time they happen. I don’t take it to extremes to open multiple cards a year, but when I see an amazing bonus worth over $1,000 in points, I usually take advantage of it. I recently released Episode 65 of my podcast and shared a card that increased their sign up bonus to something worth almost $1500 in points! Beyond that, there are a ton of little hacks that I like to use to get more points. For example, I don’t have a card that gives bonus points at home improvement stores, but I was able to buy a Home Depot gift card at the grocery store using the card that earns 4 points at the grocery store.
As for how they use free travel, or points with another airline or hotel group, I just book directly through their websites. But if I’m earning points in a flexible program like Chase’s Ultimate Rewards or Amex’s Membership Rewards, I want to use those points to transfer to other airline partners and book through those partners’ mileage programs. In Episode 49, I walked through how I did this to get a $20,000+ trip to Bora Bora for only $1,500 + points.
TP: With record-setting inflation and the cost of travel on the rise, what are some tips for flying first class without opening your wallet?
CH: A secret to know when it comes to flying first class is that while it often costs as much as 5-10x the cost of an economy ticket to fly first class, it usually only costs 2x as many miles to get first. – class ticket. So, when I’m traveling on a long trip and want to relax on the amazing lie-flat beds that many airlines offer in business/first class, I always use my miles to book those seats for free.
While you didn’t really talk about hotels, I will share a promotion method that has worked for 100s of my audience (and I explain in detail in Part 1). You want to book directly with the hotel you’re staying at and send them an email after you book so they know you booked a room with them, when you’re coming, that you’re happy staying with them and whatever you can do. celebrate. I like to follow up again ~2-3 days before I arrive just to make sure you are still coming. I’ve seen audiences get everything from free promotions to bottles of wine – and one audience member and her husband even got to see their initials embroidered on their pillows. Definitely try that and please share your success stories with me.
TP: Airline prices have increased by around 40% in recent months. What are the best miles programs and credit cards to save money and stretch your dollar?
CH: With all the changes in airline prices, I try to accumulate as many of my points/miles as possible in flexible programs that allow you to transfer points to different airlines and hotel groups. That way you get the most flexibility and you don’t get stuck with one airline that might have crazy prices right now. These include:
-American Express Membership Rewards
-Marriott Bonvoy (you can transfer Bonvoy points to many flights)
I try to keep this spreadsheet up to date with all the transfer partners of a major card issuer.
TP: As the host of the All the Hacks podcast, how do you find the best deals and smart flight search?
CH: My favorite tool when it comes to saving on airfare is Google Flights. You can search without a destination in mind to find cheap places to fly (and even search for those with filters, like “nostop” or “under $700”). You can also search for multiple to/from airports at once to see if you can save more by driving less. Finally, you can check the calendar view by clicking on the dates to quickly see how much it would cost to fly on any given day. The only thing to remember is that Southwest doesn’t show up on Google Flights (or many other flight search sites), so you’ll want to check their site separately if they fly to any of your destinations.
Another great trick worth sharing is the one Scott Keyes, from Scott’s Cheap Flights, shared on Episode 5. He calls it the Greek Island Trick and it works by connecting more on a long international trip to the continent/region you want. traveling by cheap regional flight (or train or bus) to get to your destination. For example, if you were trying to fly to Greek Island from San Francisco, even though there are many airlines that fly to each destination, only two airlines fly between the two. So, if you search all the way, you will only find a few options, but if you search from San Francisco to Athens, there will be many flights showing and you can buy a cheap flight or ferry from Athens. to the island.
TP: What are some of your secrets to getting the most value out of airline miles?
CH: The biggest secret to getting value from your points and miles is to have some flexibility. While most people think that means being flexible on dates, it can also mean being flexible with where you go, how last minute you book or how many stops you want to take to get there. At one point my wife and I had a specific window to take a trip, but we knew we only had a day or two of flexibility. We also knew that we wanted to go somewhere in Europe. However, we were prepared to wait until the last minute to claim (when most of the availability of award miles open up) and we were open to many different places. In the end, we ended up booking a trip to Budapest, Prague and Vienna a week before departure and not only did we get an amazing deal, but we had one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever taken.
If you want more secrets, hacks and techniques to get the most value from your travel, points and miles, check out these special episodes of All Hacks that will really help you get hooked and save money on your next trip.
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