Traveling all over the world was put on hold during the pandemic. Though traveling by air was halted, almost zero commercial flights were available. However, soon after things got better, flight operations began to return to their normal pace.
But the availability of flights and airfare are still struggling to keep up with the growing demand. The good thing about air travel is that airlines offer and introduce several schemes or campaigns to get more travelers. They are not only limited to the airlines; many banks also collaborate with airlines to introduce different offers.
Credit card points and miles are one of the offers that most travelers use and get benefits from, but still, for some travelers, credit card points and miles are confusing; they get frustrated when they don't get the reward. It's hard for them to keep track of different credit cards. Let us help you understand all the information in a step-by-step process.
Understanding Travel Points Credit Cards:
Basics:
You can avail and get flight miles on your credit card by taking flights, staying in selected hotels, and doing shopping through online portals, but it's confusing for many people to measure or know how much miles they earn by travel only; it's better to have a separate travel rewards credit card for this purpose.
The bonuses or offers are huge on these credit travel rewards cards; you may have seen big numbers of bonus points like 60,000 to 150000 miles or points, but these numbers are hard to beat by using your simple credit card. All the travel reward credit cards have different requirements to earn those big numbers depending on the spending.
Usually, the average spending requirements are between 2000 to 5000 dollars in the first three months to get the bonuses after you get the card. Following are some suggestions for good credit cards to get started with your flight or travel bonus:
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $4000.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit can get you 75000 miles after spending $4000 in the first three months.
- The American Express Gold Card gets you 60000 miles after spending $4000 for six months.
Don't Spend Too Much:
Managing credit cards is tricky; it allows you to spend without getting worried about the payments; they are addictive and encourage you to spend more and more without knowing the difference between needs and wants; it's better to make a habit of managing and planning your spending.
However, with travel reward credit cards, you need to spend a certain amount of dollars to unlock the bonus miles; you can plan to unlock those points by shopping intelligently; for example, you can use your travel reward credit card to pay for your fiancé ring and unlock your bonus travel miles, with that you not only spend the required amount but also a arrange a trip without spending any extra.
Similarly, you can use travel credit cards to shop, pay bills, and get bonus miles. It can help you a lot if you are a frequent traveler or your work requires traveling. But the most important thing is to plan and manage to pay your credit card debt on time to avoid paying interest.
Plan and Decide:
After getting your travel credit reward card, the first thing to do is to plan and decide whether you need that many miles or you just being skeptical about having them. Thinking this way helps you spend within limits to unlock your extra miles and pave the way to pay or maintain your credit card balance.
You also have to know about your traveling plans, and how many miles you could travel in the coming days; this way, you can divide the minimum spending requirement to get the reward points and manage your credit card payments and bills well.
Choose The Right Card For You:
If you have just started exploring the world and don't know much about credit cards, how they will benefit you with your traveling, and don't know which one to pick out of the plenty of options, there are two basic categories of credit cards:
- Credit cards specifically linked or partnered with an airline like American, Delta, and United, and also linked to hotel chains such as Hilton or Marriot, are commonly called co-branded credit cards.
- Credit cards directly issued from a bank include Chase, Citi, American Express, and capital one; these cards earn flexible points in currencies.
The miles or bonuses you earn using a co-branded credit card are specifically tied or stuck to a specific company or chain; for example, 70,000 miles earned on your delta credit card are only used to get delta miles.
Whereas in credit cards directly issued from a bank, you can use your earned points or bonuses on different things, it does not restrict you to a specific brand or service. You can use the bonus point to do shopping, unlock airline miles or even transfer them to your partner.
Keep Learning and Practicing:
Managing your credit card involves practicing good habits; you can't get the maximum out of your bonus points if your credit card management is poor; you need to smartly plan and spend on things that can leverage and don't burden you.
Bonus points are there to provide ease and opportunity to the customer. Still, most people avail of the opportunity, but in the end, they miss their credit card balance payment dates which eventually makes them pay higher interest, and the whole point of availing of the bonus point is not met.
Other than credit cards, not all airlines follow the same set of procedures regarding rewards; you have to check them all by traveling, know their pros and cons, and decide by yourself which suits you the best and which has the best to offer.
Don't Stick To Your Points:
The purpose of travel points is to provide the maximum opportunity for travelers to travel and see the world. Still, in some cases, people stick to their points, they get the points paralysis, and they hoard them, don't do that; spend them, travel as much as you can, and the points will accumulate again.
Final Thoughts:
Travel points credit cards are a great way to earn bonus points that can convert into miles, allowing you to travel to destinations and stay in partnered hotels. However, to achieve and fulfill the traveling thirst, you must manage and plan your credit cards correctly. Otherwise, you can end up paying a large amount of interest. You can manage your credit card by practicing smaller habits, picking the right card, and planning your spending.
