Two Requirements for Travel Hacking
*Note: This is an old IG post originally posted in June, 2021.
Though the thought of traveling for free with points and miles sounds glorious, there are two “prerequisites” I would encourage you to meet before wanting to get into the hobby.
The first is that you need to be financially responsible. This hobby involves both the money and credit side of your finances, both of which needless to say are important to your life.
Travel hacking involves opening credit cards and using them to earn reward points. The last thing you want to do is get into this and put yourself into credit card debt.
Being financially responsible is simple.
1) Spend below your means
2) Pay off your credit card(s) in full every month
This ensures you are not putting yourself into debt and is good behavior for your credit score.
That leads me to the second prerequisite which is that you will need and have to maintain great or excellent credit.
Whenever you apply for a credit card (as well as any loan, mortgage, etc) the issuer will do what is called “hard pull” (or “hard inquiry”) and look at your credit reports from the credit bureaus. This contains your credit score and credit history.
Exhibiting good behavior of being financially responsible (as stated above) will help you boost and then maintain a high credit score and a great credit report.
This is necessary because
1) The credit cards that offer better benefits and higher sign-up bonuses require a higher credit score to get approved
2) This is a long-term hobby.
Each credit card issuer has its own set of rules including time between credit card applications. So, unfortunately, you can't just be applying for credit cards every day and hope to rake in a lot of points.
On top of this, the order in which you apply for cards is important as well to stay within the rules of each bank.
So the takeaway - be organized and responsible with your finances!
If you meet both of these prerequisites, congratulations! You are at a point you can get into travel hacking
