My first credit card was a United Airlines co-branded Chase card. I do not have a recollection of why I applied for it, possibly because I received a “pre-approved” offer in the mail. I was in graduate school and heard it’s important to have “credit.” As an international student, I didn’t have parents who could have had me as an Authorized User on their credit cards when I was a child to have a credit score. I did not even have a Social Security Number until I was 21.
I was always frugal and the United Airlines card served me well for the next dozen-plus years. With everyday spending, I collected miles on United, and flew to Alaska, Hawai’i twice, and to Arizona for almost free. At that time, I was not trying to “get in the game” of travel hacking at all, since I did not even realize how far I can do with the “points and miles game.”
In late 2021, someone mentioned how I should apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and how that’s a gateway (and the foundational) card for traveling for free. So, I did. In mid-2022, I read a few articles and started following social media on how to ramp up the miles game. I made some “mistakes” on the way by opening a couple of cards that were not strategic, but I learned and moved on.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I take my Spring Breaks as actual breaks to travel. In 2023, I stayed in the U.S. instead of international travel and decided to visit Charleston, South Carolina. I had visited there once before about a decade ago but wanted to explore more of it.
I have been to all 50-states in the U.S. and in almost all my travels, I stay at budget motels. I am usually “on the go” while traveling and rarely stay in one location for more than two-nights. I am up early for hikes or for long drives so my accommodation serves as a place to sleep for the night, and not a destination itself. This has served me well as it allowed me to travel extensively over the years. It was rare for me to spend more than $80 a night, even in 2022.
After I started spending time learning how to optimize travel budgets, I realized, it’s not that difficult to stay for free or very little at decent hotels. For example, the Hyatt brand offers very good redemptions (possibly the best in hotel chains). What’s amazing about several “points ecosystems” is that the points I collect are transferable to many airlines and hotels. For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred card is in the “Chase Ultimate Rewards” ecosystem. When I first applied for the card, I received a “Sign Up Bonus (SUB)” of 60,000 points when I spent $4000 on the card within 3-months. I live frugally but I could spend this amount organically and pay off the card at the end of every month. So I did just that. My account was then credited with 60,000 points (and additional points for all the transactions I made).
Now (!) I can move these points around to “transfer partners” which includes Hyatt, Southwest Airlines, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines etc. I simply enrolled to be a World Of Hyatt member, linked it to my Chase Ultimate Rewards account, and transferred the points needed 1:1, meaning one point in Chase transfers as one point to Hyatt. I decided to spend the entire Spring Break week in Charleston, and one of the Hyatt hotels in town required 5,000 points per night. 5,000 points equal roughly $50, but the actual cost for the room if I paid in cash was above $150. You see how paying with points has much more value.
So, for 6-nights at the Hyatt, I paid 30,000 points and zero dollars. Since I took my pooch with me, there was a pet fee of $75 for the entire week. A nice, hot breakfast was included in the price. Earlier in 2023, I had stayed at a Hyatt in Oregon while I was at a conference (paid by my University) so by March 2023 I had stayed more than 10-nights at Hyatt which made me have Discoverist status with the hotel chain. It’s quite amusing to me since I’m the “budget motel type” but with a little effort in improving my knowledge, I made my travel experiences significantly more affordable and comfortable.
Chase Sapphire Preferred is the foundational card for this “game.” Some call the game as “travel hacking” or “credit card churning.” Points are earned through periodically and strategically opening cards that have high Sign Up Bonuses. The game is played via bonuses and not by paying too much attention to category spending (get 3X on a specific card for restaurants, 5X for gas etc.)
It is VERY important that we pay off the cards every month. Otherwise, it’s not a game we should play because we lose before we even begin. I am glad I am spending time learning how to optimize my travel spending as it helps me tremendously in my goal of FIRE.
*The credit card link above takes you to my referral link. Please use it if you decide to get into the game.
Photo: Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona.
