11 Travel Hacking Mistakes To Avoid At All Cost in 2023
You must have heard about travel hacking, and some of you must have followed it every time you travel. However, some people don’t know what exactly travel hacking is and how these travel hacks work and benefit you as an individual traveller.
Those who have been doing it for a while now know that it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are several travel hacking mistakes that you might make and ruin the entire thing.
To ensure that doesn’t happen, I will share some valuable tips to avoid travel hacking mistakes. Remember these tips and become the best travel hacker among all your traveller friends. So let’s start.
Not Having No Fee Travel Credit Cards
Do you know how vital these no-fee travel credit cards are? Do you know how beneficial they are and how much money you can save and change how you travel forever, even if you are not a regular traveller?
If you don’t have these cards, I am sure you are unaware of their uses.
For starters, let me tell you that the best part about these no-fee travel credit cards is that they don’t require you to pay an annual fee to use them.
You can have these cards even when you are not a regular traveller and earn travel points. So what happens is that these points are helpful because they can do wonders for you. It often upgrades your flight seats and hotel bookings. You also get free flights, hotel stays, flight upgrades and lounge access.
Besides, these credit cards are easier to get than traditional credit cards. So don’t wait anymore. Get yourself a no-fee travel credit card, and avoid the travel hacking mistake of not having one.
Not Starting On Time
The biggest mistake of travel hacking is not starting on time or not starting at all.
Most people think that travel hacks and travel hacking are not for them, and it doesn’t make a difference. You could not be more wrong about it because once you start with your travel hacking, it will open the world to you and change how you travel.
Most people think it’s like a scam and don’t try it, and that is the biggest mistake they can make. It’s like saying no to discounts or free stuff. It usually happens due to a lack of awareness, but worry no more, for I will provide you with all the information you need about travel hacking and how you can make the most of it and have a budget trip as well.
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Not Having A Goal Or A Plan
There is a saying that goes, “As tough as wanting something can be, the ones who suffer the most are the ones who don’t know what they want.”
Thus not having a goal is one travel hacking mistake you should not avoid because not having a plan is not only limited to travelling but also to real life. Well, that is an entirely different story so what you can do first is to make a plan what you are going to do with your travel points. Then only you can proceed further.
Just write it down when you are planning to travel and how many people will be travelling with you and how you can utilise your points and you are good to go.
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Not Using Miles Points
Some people hoard miles points and not use them, which is probably the biggest mistake one can make because why would you do that. It doesn’t make sense too. It happens when people don’t know how to use them or you are waiting for a good time to use them, which by the way never happens because you keep on waiting and eventually the points expire, so you should avoid making this travel hacking mistake.
Points are not something you can take for granted because they open a doorway for free flights, accessible hotels and numerous other benefits that you cannot imagine. So stop hoarding and start utilising your points. Once you start using these points, you will regret not starting it sooner.
Not Utilising It To The Fullest
The one travel hacking mistake you can make is not utilising your travel points. Travel hacking is not just limited to collecting points but also taking full advantage of your travel points because that’s why they are there.
The benefits include no foreign transaction fees, free flights, free hotel stays and access to lounges, and why would you not go for that? So make full use of your cards because there is no point in just keeping them and not using them to your full advantage.
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Not Getting Transferable Points
Transferable Points as the name suggests can be transferred and used for great values on travel, you just have to know how to use them.
Most people don’t redeem these points and instead choose to get a cash back, which is not very useful because, these points are so important that you don’t actually have an idea how beneficial they are and you can use them for so many things that you wouldn’t need cash to do all that, your travel points will be enough to get you top-notch stuff.
These travel points cannot be transferred to each other but they can be used with their associated airlines and hotel partners and since they are transferable, they can be used for booking their stay and flights.
Transferable points are better than earning airlines specific points because airline specific points can only be used in particular airlines so this is what clever travel hacking is all about.
Not Paying Your Credit Card Bills
The most important thing that you should follow is to pay off your credit card bills every month and not put yourself under too much debt that it becomes difficult for you to pay the charges. It is not only limited to travelling but also in general.
The interest rate of these credit cards can be soaring up in the sky and you would be left with nothing so its best to pay it off monthly and avoid the trouble.
If you are paying interest, then your points will no longer be free and all of it will go to waste, so this is also one travel hacking mistake that you should avoid at any cost.
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Not Using Signup Bonuses
Many travel credit cards company offers sign-up bonuses while joining. These welcome offers can boost your points to the extent where you can get very close to getting an entire flight free. Isn’t that exciting?
One of the biggest travel hacking mistakes you can make is by not using these welcome offers because they are unbelievably helpful and will leave you wondering.
It’s like someone has served you food and you just have to eat it. How wonderful is that?
Letting Points Expire
Travel Hacking is not easy and I, of all the people, know that in my heart but now when you earned your points by using all the tricks that I have mentioned and you have good points balance which is enough to make your next flight free, then you should not let these points expire.
All your hard work will be a waste if you didn’t utilize them. The points you earn have a limited time when you can utilize them, ensure that you don’t let them expire.
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5/24 Rule
What exactly is the 5/24 rule now?
Well, it’s a rule in some companies that do not let you apply for more credit cards if you already applied for 5 credit cards in the last 24 months, which is basically 2 years.
You need to keep that in mind, and it is essential to know the nitty gritty of travel hacking so that you don’t make mistakes.
Not Using Lounges
There are so many things I don’t understand, but there is one thing in particular that bugs me a little too much is that why most people don’t use airport lounges when they very well can do it.
There is a high possibility that your travel credit card gives you access to the airport lounges, it could be as minimum as just visiting the lounge or as good as giving you unlimited lounge access across the world. You have no idea how blessed you are if you have lounge access across the world.
Free drinks, free snacks, and everything you can consume is free. Waiting at the airport is the most tedious part of taking a trip but it could be fun if you can make full use of the airport lounge and master the art of travel hacking.
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Conclusion
Travel Hacking is an art and not everyone’s cup of tea, probably because they don’t want to go out of their comfort zone and try something new or maybe they have some good amount of money in banks which they have inherited from their ancestors or earned all by themselves. Still, you don’t have to be one of those people. Don’t get me wrong; you can be rich and still save money.
Try these travel hacking tips and see how it changes the way you travel and saves tons of money.