No one would refuse to travel for free! But, is there such a thing as travelling without paying any money? Yes, provided you have the right credit card on which you can earn substantial reward points. You can use the reward points to finance your travel without paying anything extra. Surprised? Read on to find out how you can travel using the reward points you have earned.
How to Use Your Credit Card Points for Free Travel?
Here’s how a credit card can sponsor your annual trip or two:
- The first step is, of course, to apply for acredit card online or offline. Certain banks even offer special cards that earn you more points when you purchase a flight ticket or book a train seat using them.
- Swipe your card enough to earn the welcome bonus. These are bonus points various credit card issuers offer. To earn a welcome bonus, you usually have to spend up to a certain amount using your credit card within a few months of opening the account. When you use your card enough, you earn the usual reward points and get bonus points, which increase your total redeemable points.
- Shift all your payments, big or small, on to your credit card. If you are planning a trip towards the end of the year, try to not spend through net banking or other electronic modes. The more points you earn, the easier it is to finance your vacation using them.
- When the time comes, use your regular reward points along with the bonus points to travel. Remember, it is also a good idea to finance at least one trip with money. You can also book return flight tickets for the said trip using your credit card, earn miles and reward points on it. Once you have a corpus of points ready, use them to finance your next travel escapade.
By using your credit card routinely, you’ll keep churning more points for free travel. But remember, choosing the right card – one that offers higher money to point conversion rate is critical. So, do your research before zeroing in on the right card for you.
How to Find the Right Travel Credit Card?
As mentioned earlier, banks offer credit cards that do everything any other card does, except that they also provide unique benefits for travel. Here is how you can choose the right card that is extra helpful for financing your trips.
Scout a Bank Offering High Welcome Bonuses and Reward Points
This is simple enough! If a bank offers a highwelcome bonus, you will be able to finance your trip with points faster. This windfall of reward points can not only help you book your hotel and flights, but also meals and tickets for museums and other such attractions.
Get a Card that offers Travel-Related Perks for Free
While most things like flights, hotels, attractions, etc., will cost you points, certain cards offer benefits like rental car insurance coverage, misplaced luggage cover, accident insurance, emergency assistance for free. Ask your bank whether they have a card with special travel-related privileges. More often than not, they do. Why spend on these frills when a card can offer them for free?
In the End
Whether you apply for a credit card online or offline, make sure to take into account your foreign trips as well. Look for a card that works seamlessly across continents and allows you to redeem rewards on international flights and hotels.
If you already have a sound travel credit card, make sure you use it enough and earn a great deal of points. This way, you can quickly end up travelling for free at least once a year. Isn’t that worth using your card for every big or small expense?
Lastly, take your time researching for the right credit card – one that gives a great conversion rate along with other travel-related benefits like discounts on hotels and airline fares.
Krishna Murthy is the senior publisher at Trickyfinance. Krishna Murthy was one of the brilliant students during his college days. He completed his education in MBA (Master of Business Administration), and he is currently managing the all workload for sharing the best banking information over the internet. The main purpose of starting Tricky Finance is to provide all the precious information related to businesses and the banks to his readers.
