How Do I Travel for Free? Award Hacking 101

You may have heard of travel hacking or award hacking, and it’s always sounded stupid or over-complicated. But I’m about to share how easy it actually can be, and the secrets of how some people basically travel for free.

Let me share with you a few examples before I start.

• I booked a roundtrip flight to Vancouver for $14 that would have costed me $400. That’s 97% OFF!!
• I booked a roundtrip ticket to Italy on BUSINESS CLASS for $56 that originally costed $3000! We don’t even have to do the math on this one..
• I booked a Hilton hotel for $36 that would have costed $700.

**What you need**

I’ll break it down with you how this is possible.

You’ll only need two things. One of them is an AMEX Gold card. I know a lot of people might not like the idea of having another credit card, especially one that has a $250 annual fee! But DO NOT BE SCARED. Let me explain why and you’ll understand.

Firstly, the card offers you $120 off a year on Ubereats, and another $120 off a year on other dining options like Grubhub, Shake Shack, etc. You immediately get back $240 of the $250. You basically pay $10, to be able to book flights and hotels basically for free. Trust me, as someone who likes to save money, it’s extremely worth it.

The second thing you need is Rakuten. Rakuten is a reputable website with millions of users that gives you up to 10–20% cash back on popular stores like Nike, Petsmart, Target, etc. It also gives you cash back on a ton of local dining options. You can choose to redeem your cash back either with a check, Paypal, or AMEX membership points.

**Now to the fun stuff.**

The other day, I needed to buy some new shoes(I do this about once a year), and some pet food for my dog. Rakuten had a deal for 20% cash back on Petsmart, and 20% cash back on Nike. Amex Gold was also offering a deal for an additional 5% cash back from both of these stores. (Amex will give out offers every week for popular stores you shop at, that you can combine with Rakuten).

I spent about $700 total and Petsmart and Nike. About $500 on pet supplies, which I stocked a for few months, and $200 on shoes, socks, and a t-shirt.

With 25% cash back, you get 25 AMEX points. With $700, you get 17500 AMEX points.

AMEX allows you to transfer your points to many airlines and hotels. Air Canada often times has great deals for flights booked with points. I had already planned to go to Vancouver and found a great flight for 17000 AMEX points. The original cost of the ticket would have been $400.

If I had normal cash back card that gave me 2% cash back. I would have gotten 2% of $700, which is $14. THAT $14 WAS USED TO BUY A $400 PLANE TICKET!!!

**Final words**

This was just one example of many that can be used to get deals like this. Rakuten and Amex both give out new offers every week that are very easy to use, and are at stores that you normally would go to. AMEX Gold also offers 4X points for Dining and Groceries, which you also can sometimes stack with Rakuten dining deals.

Air Canada is just one of the airlines that AMEX allows you to transfer to. If you want to go to Europe, Air France has a lot of great deals. If you want to go to Asia, Singapore Airlines has a lot of great deals. If you want to book a hotel, Hilton has a lot of great deals. There are many more examples that I can give.

Some transfer partners often aren’t as good of a deal as others, like Delta for example.

I’ve been travel hacking for a few years now, and let me just say. It’s really nice being able to travel without worrying about how much the trip will cost!

**If you found any of this helpful, please consider using a referral link. You get additional sign up and welcome bonuses. Signing up and using Rakuten for cash back is free!**

Rakuten: www.rakuten.com/r/QIANTE3?eeid=44971

Amex Gold: https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/PARRYC8P8N?XLINK=MYCP

**Additional Tips**

You can also substitute the Amex Gold with the Capital One Venture X. AMEX Gold gives you 4X points for dining and groceries, but 1X points of other categories. Venture X gives you 2X points on all purchases, which can be used to get more points on retail, cell phone bill, and other purchases.

Capital One Venture X: https://i.capitalone.com/J8Jn8yE0u

If you want to travel with more luxury, the Amex Plat lets you gives you access to great travel benefits like AMEX Centurion and Delta Skyclub airport lounge access, and other perks like elite status at hotels, which make you eligible for complimentary room upgrades.

Amex Plat: https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/HUIQITJbcu?XLINK=MYCP