Travel Hacking Credit Cards [Best Rewards Stack to Fly Free]

Last Updated: September 15, 2024

I’ve been travel hacking credit cards, stacking up airline miles, and flying (practically) for free since 2016.

Tokyo, Chengdu, Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Washington DC — I’ve jet-setted to these world-class destinations for next to nothing.

And I kick my feet up in swanky airport lounges, enjoying free food and drinks before each and every flight.

I know a thing or two about traveling on the cheap, and I’m here to help you do the same.

In this article, I’ll tell you exactly which credit cards I’d sign up for if I had a blank slate and was just getting started in the travel hacking game.

Play your cards right, and you’ll be on the fast track to:

• Taking free flights all over the world
• Enjoying complimentary food and refreshments in swanky airport lounges
• Earning maximized travel rewards on every single purchase you make

Rewards You Can Earn by Using My Method

Now, this is where the fun begins.

If you follow the three rules in the section below, sign up for the four credit cards I recommend, and meet spending requirements to secure welcome bonuses, you’ll earn:

Bonuses, Benefits & Perks

• Minimum points with welcome bonuses: 306,000 ($3,060 in value)
• Travel credits: $300 (Venture X)
• Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership: $469 value (Venture X)
• Capital One Airport Lounge access: $65 per visit value (Venture X)
• (2) Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credits: $200 (Venture Rewards, Venture X)
• Uber Cash: $120 annually (Amex Gold)
• Dunkin’ Credit: $84 annually (Amex Gold)
• Resy Restaurants Credit: $100 annually (Amex Gold)
• Dining Credit: $120 annually (Amex Gold)

Note: There are more minor perks, benefits, and rewards, but I don’t find them significant enough to mention on this list.

Estimated value of bonuses, benefits, and perks: $4,878

What You Need to do to Earn these Rewards

• Sign up for these four credit cards over the course of 15 months
• Spend a minimum of $18,000 on those credit cards
• Pay $910 in annual fees

That’s it; earning nearly $5,000 in rewards is that simple.

So, What’s the Catch?

If you’re wondering how credit card companies can afford to give away so many free travel perks to folks like you and me, the answer is two-fold:

1. Americans love to get into credit card debt more than any other country on earth, and it’s not even close.

Banks use the money consumers pay on their high interest (about 25% APR on average) debt payments to help fund these alluring credit card bonuses.

(Finding yourself in credit card debt is not the desired outcome here.)

You can avoid this pitfall by simply paying off your credit card balance in full every month.

2. Every time you make a purchase with your credit card, the bank takes a cut from the vendor, usually between 1.5% and 3.5%.

While these processing fees don’t affect you, the bank pockets cash every time you make a credit card transaction.

These billions of micro-transactions more than cover the cost of the welcome bonuses offered by the credit card companies.

Three Simple Rules of Travel Hacking Credit Cards

Before diving in, we need to cover three very important ground rules.

Follow this advice, and you’ll crush this travel hacking thing, I promise.

The Best Travel Hacking Credit Card Stack of 2024

If I were starting from scratch, these are the four cards I’d sign up for to start stacking rewards miles and traveling the world for next to nothing.

Best Welcome Bonus for a Sub-$100 Annual Fee
Capital One Venture Rewards

There’s simply no better way to dip your toes into the travel rewards waters than signing up for the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card.

Users who sign up and meet minimum spending requirements receive 75,000 points, which is equal to around $750 in travel perks.

That’s, hands down, the best welcome bonus for a travel rewards card in the industry.

Not to mention, Capital One will reimburse your $100 fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, you won’t pay foreign transaction fees, and you’ll earn 2x rewards miles on every single purchase you make.

And this card’s entry cost is a meager $95 annual fee.

Whenever anyone asks me which travel rewards card I recommend for travel hacking beginners, I recommend the Capital One Venture Rewards above all others.

MORE ABOUT THE VENTURE REWARDS

Best for Restaurants & Groceries
American Express Gold

If you spend significant money at restaurants and on groceries at home or overseas, the American Express Gold Card will be one of the most valuable travel rewards cards in your wallet.

While its 60,000 rewards points welcome bonus isn’t as lucrative as the Venture Rewards’ or Venture X’s, Gold Card members earn a generous 4x points when they spend money at restaurants or grocery stores.

Between date nights, coffee shops, and grocery store trips, my wife and I spend about $1,000 a month on these two categories, earning us approximately 48,000 points in travel rewards per year.

The Gold Card also gives us $120 in Uber/UberEats cash, $120 in GrubHub credits, and $100 for restaurants that use Resy every single year.

(If we lived anywhere near a Dunkin’, we’d also get $84 a year to spend there.)

With a little simple math, it’s easy to see that the Gold Card and its $325 annual fee are a no-brainer for anyone trying to accumulate rewards points and elevate their travel hacking game.

MORE ABOUT THE GOLD CARD

Best Travel Perks Credit Card
Capital One Venture X

So, why do I consider the Venture X the best travel rewards card in the industry?

For starters, Venture X cardholders get 75,000 rewards miles, $300 in travel credits, and another $100 credit towards a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership (which can be used on a travel buddy) after meeting minimum spend requirements.

Venture X users also receive a Priority Pass Select membership, which gives them access to a worldwide network of over 1,200 airport lounges, where they can eat and drink for free before flights (and bring a guest or two along for the ride).

Cardholders also get access to any Capital One Airport Lounge in the US, which, as I can attest, are right up there in quality with the Amex high-end Centurion Lounges.

And, as an additional perk that nobody ever talks about, if you pay your cell phone bill on your Venture X, Capital One will fully insure your smartphone against loss, theft, and damage.

While its $395 annual fee is significantly steeper than the Venture Rewards card I recommend above, the Venture X will quickly pay for itself with its generous welcome bonus, travel credits, and extensive lounge access.

Note: The only reason I don’t recommend applying for the Venture X directly after the Venture Rewards card is that (in some cases) Capital One only allows customers to apply for one of their cards every six months.

MORE ABOUT THE VENTURE X

Best for Travel & Gas
Citi Strata Premier

Though the Citi Strata Premier isn’t in my wallet quite yet (I have the US Bank Altitude Connect, which just devalued its rewards), it’s next up on my travel hacking queue.

Why?

Because I’ll receive a lucrative 70,000 rewards point welcome bonus and earn 3x rewards points every time I spend at a gas station, grocery store, restaurant, or pay for flights and hotels.

And while I won’t use the Strata Premier at grocery stores or restaurants much (I have the Amex Gold for those categories), it’ll help me maximize my spending when I fill up on gas or book a hotel.

While it doesn’t offer any lounge access, TSA PreCheck/Global entry credits, or many other exciting perks, the Strata Premier’s $95 annual fee and 70,000 point welcome bonus make it hard to pass up.

MORE ABOUT THE STRATA PREMIER

Tips for Maximizing Rewards & Hitting Minimum Spends

I’ve been stacking rewards miles and budget traveling for almost ten years.

Here are a few additional pointers to ensure you play this game correctly:

Label expense categories on each card

My dad, the nerd he is, uses his handy label maker to designate each of his credit cards into different spending categories.

• Red card = Joint expenses
• Blue card = Personal expenses
• White card = Emergency fund

While he’s not a rewards mile hustler like me, labeling his cards like this ensures he charges the correct accounts with their corresponding expenses every time.

Do as he does to help yourself maximize your purchases while earning travel rewards miles:

• Venture Rewards = Everyday spending
• Venture X = Travel in the Capital One Portal
• Gold Card = Restaurants and grocery stores
• Strata Premier = Travel and gas

Trust me, it’s easy to accidentally charge the wrong card for certain expenses and miss out on valuable rewards points.

Add authorized users to cards

If you’re worried you’ll have trouble hitting your minimum spend bonuses, add someone you trust — and I emphasize the word ‘trust’ — as an authorized user to your account (with their permission, of course).

They’ll receive a credit card linked to your account and can make purchases to help you hit your minimum spend to ensure you don’t miss out on your welcome bonus.

Additionally, authorized users of the Venture X card (who cost nothing to add) will also get access to Capital One Airport Lounges, even if the primary account holder isn’t present.

Consider paying rent on your credit card

If you need help hitting your minimum spend or simply want to speed up the process, consider charging your rent payments to your credit card.

While paying rent on a credit card isn’t possible for everyone, it’s an option that’s becoming increasingly available.

Just remember that charging rent to your credit card means you’ll likely have to pay your property management company a service fee, usually around 2.5% or 3% of your total rent payment.

While I’d advise against putting rent payments on your credit card regularly — the tradeoff for fees to points usually isn’t worth it — the option to do so can help you hit those juicy welcome bonuses a month or two earlier than planned.

Don’t change your spending habits

Once you receive your new card in the mail and the clock starts ticking to receive your bonus, don’t panic and start making out-of-character purchases to hit your minimum spend.

I promise you, now is not the time to buy that $900 electric pizza oven you’ve had your eye on.

Take a deep breath, relax, and spend as you normally would.

And if you have trouble hitting your minimum spend, here’s my advice:

• Buy gift cards to your favorite grocery store
• Buy Amazon gift cards
• Buy prepaid debit cards

By stocking up on gift cards and prepaid debit cards, you can spend money now to fund future purchases.

Ready to Stack Miles & Fly for Free?

Thank you for sticking around to learn how to travel hack credit cards, stack rewards points, and travel on the cheap.

The tips I’ve given you in this guide have helped me take dozens of flights for next to nothing.

And you better believe I’ll keep repeating the process for as long as the banks allow me.

If you have any questions about how to stack rewards miles (or travel in general), please comment below or contact me directly.

Happy travel hacking!

Frequently Asked Questions