If you were told that you could fly in the best flight airlines could offer, lounging in the best hotels with over-the-top amenities, you would probably dismiss it as a pipe dream. Fortunately, it is quite easy to make this a reality with travel hacking.

Shawn Sharma, an investor, and a certified travel hacking expert who has secured 6-7 figures in credit lines have shared his secrets that anyone can do to successfully hack your way to five-figure flights.

1. Familiarize Yourself

Travel hacking mainly revolves around learning. Sure, anyone can try and succeed in racking up points from different airlines, but maintaining it is not as easy as it sounds. The risk of falling into the credit card debt pit is high.

Shawn offers a step-by-step course to travel hacking by subscription on his website, but if your budget is tight, or you’re just starting off to follow your curiosity, the internet has plenty of reading materials that can get you started.

2. Learn Credit Card Churning

Credit card churning is basically opening credit cards to get welcome bonuses. It is a high-risk, high-rewards game. You can hurt your credit score and incur fees and debt if you do it wrong.

Additionally, applying for a lot of credit cards in a short span of time also affects your credit score, since lending companies associate high credit necessity to having financial troubles.

Credit hacking involves a lot of basic principles that are easy to follow, given that you are well aware of them:

Don’t Spend More Than What You Have

As mentioned above, the most basic principle in credit hacking is not spending more than what you can pay off within the month when the balance is due. This is because credit card companies have set a debt trap that would deplete your savings if you fall for it.

An example is their sign-up bonuses that require a minimum amount spent on the credit card to be availed. If you spend more than you can pay, your balance will accumulate, incurring larger interest as time passes by. You might not even notice that you’re already paying twice your credit card balance through your monthly installments.

As a beginner, your credit card spending must be done with reservations. Begin with earning a free flight or two while making sure that the extra responsibility of your added credit cards would not be a burden to pay.

Once you get the hang of the process, you can step up your game and make your way availing yourself of better benefits.

Find Creative Ways to Meet the Minimum Spend Requirements to Earn the Points

Usually, after signing up for a credit card, you will be entitled to avail yourself of a huge amount of points provided that you meet the minimum credit card spending requirement for the given time limit.

Instead of straightforwardly spending with your card, endangering yourself to unnecessary purchases, allocate your regular expenses through credit card transactions. An example is your grocery shopping. Instead of paying cash, you can use your credit card. This way, you are not spending extra dollars just to meet the spending requirement.

Avoid Credit Card With Annual Fees

Annual fees affect the value of what you take home from travel hacking. Unfortunately, the best credit cards come with an annual fee. Just be mindful of the perks and the fees. If the card’s benefits are still worth clinging onto, you can keep your card open.

However, if you aren’t interested in keeping the card after you get the sign-up bonus points, it is advised to have your card closed before the annual fee is due. The bad thing about this is it will hurt your credit score.

3. Follow Travel Blogs for Deals

Travel blogs and vlogs have started to dominate the internet. This is a great opportunity for you to learn more about travel hacking. Subscribing to these pages will help you understand the application of travel hacking more through other people’s experiences with it.

4. Keep Yourself Up-to-date With the Latest Promos

Keeping yourself updated about airlines and hotel promos and programs will be of great advantage to rack up more bonus points. For example, David Philipps, the guy who accumulated 1.2 million worth of travel miles just for buying 12,000 puddings, has taken advantage of Healthy Choice’s promo back in 1999, earning a whopping 1.2 million airline miles.

The rules of travel hacking constantly change, but the fundamental principles that will kick start your journey remain the same. The simple secret to scoring first-class flights and hotel accommodations for free? It is starting the journey. As the Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Shawn Sharma offers online mentorship available on his website, which provides everything you have to know about travel hacking. Once you practice this as a hobby, you would be able to adapt to changes and maximize mileage and rewards points’ earning potential. All you have to do is start hustling now.

Looking for that luxury hotel? Read ”What is the Best Luxury Hotels Booking Site?” to learn more.