I was approved for every single application, I received more than 300,000 points and miles that I used to travel the world for the next six months, and a year later when most of the cards were cancelled, my credit score was higher than before I attempted the challenge.
airline tickets cheap last minute Banks, other card issuers, and travel companies partner up in a search for new customers. Over the past few years, it s become an arms race, with each company trying to attract more customers. A good sign-up bonus used to be 25,000 points or miles. Now, there are numerous cards that offer 40,000, 50,000, and sometimes even more miles for a single signup.
As I ve done for more than five years, you can apply for multiple cards and earn multiple bonuses. Card companies are happy for you to do this, and they are well aware that many people get their products simply for the bonuses. (Essentially, they are betting that enough people will stick around that it will be worth it for them, and they often bet correctly. There are several cards that I initially received only for the bonus, but decided that I liked them enough to pay the annual fee when it came due.)
Of course, having a lot of miles at hand is only good if you re going to use them—and you ll want to make sure to use them well. The basic rule is to use the miles for flights that would otherwise be expensive and for trips that would otherwise be once-in-a-lifetime.
My current goal is to earn 250,000 new miles in the next 30 days . This should cost less than $300 in annual fees and about two hours of my time. (It s worth the time and expense: I ll use 250,000 miles for international plane tickets worth at least $15,000.)
Important: If you haven t done this before, airline tickets cheap last minute you can likely exceed this figure by quite a bit. I ve already had some of the best cards on the market, airline tickets cheap last minute which typically (but not always) only allow one lifetime bonus.
The list below is a current run-down on the best credit card bonuses that I m aware of. Things change quickly in the world of travel hacking, but lately we ve been experiencing airline tickets cheap last minute a good run of strong offers.
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest . An all around great American Express and longstanding favorite currently offering a 30,000 point reward (5,000 airline tickets cheap last minute points more than usual) until September 4. Great value for cash and point redemptions at Starwood hotels or transfer airline tickets cheap last minute for airline miles to a wide selection of carriers with 20% bonuses for more than 20,000 airline tickets cheap last minute points. The annual fee is waived for the first year, and after the year you may choose to keep it around. ( Read more / Apply here )
American Express Starwood Business . Double your Starwood AmEx sign up bonus and get another 30,000 points by also applying for the business version of the card (also 5,000 points more than usual until September 4). No tax ID number? Use your name and your social security number instead. The $65 annual fee is waived for the first year. ( Read more / Apply here )
Chase Sapphire airline tickets cheap last minute . The go-to card at the moment, especially for travelers. Get 40,000 Ultimate Reward points after a minimum spend and keep the rewards balance growing with 2 bonus points airline tickets cheap last minute per dollar spent on any travel or dining transactions. Points are transferrable 1:1 to United, Hyatt and many other hotel and airline partners. No annual fee for the first year and no foreign transaction airline tickets cheap last minute fees. ( Read more / Apply here )
Chase Ink Bold Chase Ink Plus . The two business versions of the Chase Sapphire each offer a reward up to 50,000 points airline tickets cheap last minute (25,000 with first purchase and additional 25,000 points with a minimum spend) and no foreign transaction fees. The primary difference between the two Ink business cards is that Ink Plus allows you to carry over a balance while the Bold card does not. Chase will allow you to carry both of these cards together to give you a combined bonus of up to 100,000 Ultimate Reward points airline tickets cheap last minute that transfer 1:1 to United, Hyatt and other partners. (Bold: Read more / Apply here . Ink Plus: Read more / Apply here )
American Express Platinum . This pricey card is the active travelers best friend. Though it comes with a steep annual fee of $450, it is worth it if you take advantage of the annual $200 airline credit and flash it for access to hundreds of airline lounges, which would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars a year for a single membership. ( Read more / Apply here )
Citi AAdvantage . Citi frequently offers several American Airlines cards that let you rack up AAdvantage airline tickets cheap last minute miles. This current card offers an initial signup bonus of 30,000 miles. AAdvantage airline tickets cheap last minute miles are best redeemed on longhaul and premium awards with One World partner airlines including Cathay Pacific. ( Read more / Apply here )
Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card . This Visa earns you two weekend nights at any Hilton property and automatic Hilton Gold status. The annual fee of $95 is not waived the first year, but easily pays for itself if you cash in your free nights at pricy properties like the Conrad or Waldorf Astoria. ( Read more / Apply here )
Chase Hyatt Visa . Get two free nights at any Hyatt property with first purchase and automatic Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status. Existing Platinum and Diamond airline tickets cheap last minute members applying for new card membership receive bonus benefits including suite upgrades. The $75 annual fee is not waived for the initial year, but a certificate for an additional free night on your membership anniversary makes up for it. ( Read more / Apply here )
Marriott Rewards Premier . Get a free night stay certificate with account approval and an additional 50,000 Marriott bonus points after your first purchase. Card members receive automatic Silver Elite status and the annual airline tickets cheap last minute fee is waived the first year. ( Read more / Apply here )
Gold Delta SkyMiles American Express airline tickets cheap last minute . A low minimum spend of $500 will get you 30,000 SkyMiles you can use for any Sky Team redemption. Additional bonuses include airline tickets cheap last minute free checked bags, priority boarding and in-flight discounts when you fly Delta. Annual fee is waived the first year. ( Read more / Apply here )
Hawaiian Airlines Visa Signature Card . Get an easy 35,000 miles with a low minimum spend. Redeem for a trip to the islands or with partners including Delta, Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic and others. airline tickets cheap last minute This Bank of America Visa has a $79 annual fee that isn't waived airline tickets cheap last minute the first year, but in return offers a bonus 2,000 miles every year on your card member anniversary airline tickets cheap last minute and a one time 25% travel discount for two between North America and Hawaii. ( Read more / Apply here )
I may then try to get another AAadvantage card from Citi. I ve had at least a dozen of them in the past few years for more than 500,000 total miles, airline tickets cheap last minute but they don t seem to mind as long as the applications are reasonably spaced out.
The cards listed above all require U.S. residency or citizenship (basically, you need a social security number to successfully apply). If you live elsewhere, as much of our readership does, your options are fewer.
Canadians, there are an increasing number of cards that are available to you. We recommend the AmEx Gold Card and the Canadian version of Starwood Preferred Guest . Both cards are available in personal and business versions, and you can apply for both simultaneously.
Elsewhere, there is still a lot of travel hacking you can take part in, but you re not eligible for most of these bonuses. (Sorry!) You re still eligible for Round-the-World tickets, regular purchases of discounted miles from U.S. Airways and other airlines, and all the regular Deal Alerts we publish to subscribers of the Travel Hacking Cartel .
It s very important to maintain good credit. Bad credit doesn t come from getting credit cards, airline tickets cheap last minute it comes from not paying them. For those who have credit issues or think credit cards are evil, well, this plan isn t for you.
If applying for multiple cards, it s best to do so on a single day, every 3-6 months. This will ensure that all credit inquiries are posted at roughly the same time. In the long-term your credit score will increase (not decline) through the careful use of new cards, but you may see a slight drop when applying for a new group of cards.
Lastly, if you sign up for some of these cards through one of these links, I ll receive a referral bonus. Though I appreciate you doing so, you certainly don t have to. Generic links can be found on the card issuers pages (Citibank, Chase, AmEx, etc.).
My wife and I want to take our 4 kids (none under the age of 2, rats!) from the US to England to visit my aging father. Will going through this process of applying for card and getting the miles enable me to purchase multiple tickets to get the whole family over there for cheap? Thanks.
I m somewhat credit averse and fine print averse, as well. Are you cancelling most of the cards after you use the bonus or are you keeping most of them open and using them? I have good credit and only use my debit card (one credit card from Best Buy for the 0% interest!), but, I would love to take advantage of something like this.
My question, do you have any hacks for meeting the minimum spending requirements, if you apply for multiple cards at once? For example, lets say someone s burn is around $1500-$2000 / month, are there other ways (like ordering coins from the US Mint seems like they re not doing it anymore) to meet the minimum requirements? Thanks!
I used Frequent Flyer miles for a two round the world tickets for my daughter and myself. We were making a film about people on six continents who were making a positive difference in the world one person at a time.
@Sachit One way I ve read a lot about is to buy a Vanilla Prepaid Visa with the card. Also if you have the Ink Bold you would get 5x the points at office supply stores. And guess where they sell the prepaid card? At office supply stores.
You can guy gift cards if for a store if you know you ll have a big spend in the future. Some people pay their rent or mortgage with credit airline tickets cheap last minute cards but there is a fee. But to them it s worth the small fee to get those points.
I jus
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