This is a long game, so buckle up.
As someone who loves to shop and get a good deal, I quickly learned how to credit card hack to get free travel and insane travel deals over the years. Although I am not committed to one airline, I will stack up my credit card points as much as possible to cash in for different flight, hotel, and trip deals. Here is the full breakdown of the credit cards I’m using, that do not have annual fees, that you can use to your advantage too.
- BILT Rewards Card
I earn travel points directly from paying rent. Yes, you read that correctly! I earn travel points from paying rent and I do not pay additional processing fees because of this credit card. It is run through Wells Fargo, so you have to set up an account through them to pay off the card, but it is totally worth it.
The way it works is you connect your address to your BILT account and every month you pay your rent through the BILT app. You can earn FREE points to start your journey when you sign up, but this is the best credit card I have found for flight deals. As someone who lives in LA and flies out of LAX, this comes in clutch for me because the travel deals are insane.
As an example, I used this card to get a straight roundtrip flight from LAX to PARIS on AirFrance for $350 because I redeemed my BILT points during a special they were running: For every 1 BILT point you transferred to KLM, it resulted in 2 KLM points for your flight. KLM was also running discounts for their flights and I just so happened to get a roundtrip flight for 60,000 KLM points (only 30,000 BILT points) and a fee of $350. You can also redeem your points for discounts on rent, workout classes, and so many other rewards they offer at the beginning of each month.
I preach to everyone about this card for a reason. Get it. I promise you won’t regret it.
2. American Express Hilton Honors
Hilton Honors is a FREE program through Hilton affiliated Hotels that you can use to get travel points towards free hotel stays and many other rewards. I have only redeemed my travel points for hotel stays in the U.S. and abroad, because I believe this is their greatest benefit, however you can redeem points for gift cards, flights, and other deals.
When you are a member, Hilton also offers you annual Vacation Packages for insanely cheap prices. I once stayed at a Las Vegas resort for 4 days and 3 nights for a total of $250. I also earned 75,000 points for booking this trip during their promo deal period and attending an in-person seminar for their vacation time share. (I do not recommend the time share deals, but for free points I would sit through this presentation). Another example of the vacation deals available is a 6 day, 5 night stay at the Hilton Resort in Oahu for $750 total! If you’re looking for cheap vacation deals, it’s totally worth signing up.
They also offer FREE car renter’s insurance when you rent a vehicle through Enterprise using the credit card. I have used this benefit as well, so I definitely recommend this card.
3. Credit Union Travel Cards
Credit Unions are so underrated in my humble opinion. They may not have the fancy rewards like the other two cards, but they do have really low APRs (annual percentage rates) and service minorities or folks who would not have access to the bigger credit card conglomerates. You can use the low APRs to your advantage if you plan on charging your next vacation to a credit card and paying it off over time. Although I do not recommend this strategy and do not offer financial advice, this is an alternative if you cannot get another card.
Credit Union Travel cards usually do offer some discounted flight and/or vacation deals, but you can honestly get a better price and experience from a Travel Agent. However, you should take advantage of the low APR.
If you like this post, and want to see more like this, let me know in the comments and make sure you subscribe to my Youtube for more travel tips. Stay classy Kweens!