Credit Card Hacking for travel, where to start?

[RUStash]

I am not even sure if I titled this thread correctly. I am interested in learning more about credit card hacking or churning to earn my wife and I some miles.

I am in a wedding in September 2015 and I really do not want to pay for airfare from DC to New Orleans. My wife and I aren't the happiest about going as this wedding occurs smack on our 10 year wedding anniversary and we had already discussed getting the grandparents to watch the kids for 3 nights for a quick get away for us. We were thinking 3 nights on a beach somewhere without any kids for the first time in 6 years, not being on someone else's schedule for a wedding. So the last thing I want to do is shell out 800 to 1000 bucks to pay to go to a destination that I would rather not go to.

I have been good friends with this guy for a long time and not going to the wedding really isn't an option. I am more bummed about the timing of his wedding than anything. But I don't expect him to change anything for me that's fore sure. 
 
Can the MMM community point me in the right direction on signing up for some cards that may provide us with enough miles to get us from DC to NO and back? Any other insight or tips would be appreciated! Thank you!

[NotJen]

You should probably poke around on the FlyerTalk forums if you want to learn more about travel hacking.

This is how I would approach it:

First, since you have dates in mind, search for "Award Miles" flights on various airlines to see how many miles your trip will cost you.

Each airline has their own rewards cards - look up the current offers for bonus miles and find one that will cover the miles needed for your trip.  If you're lucky, one card's bonus will be enough for both tickets, otherwise you and your wife will each have to sign up for a card.  Also, pay attention to whether or not the annual fee is waived for the first year, as that could be an additional cost.

How much spending do you normally put on credit cards each month?  Only sign up for one card at a time if you don't have enough to meet the minimum spending necessary to get the bonus.

Also research what hotel options you have, and you could either go for hotel points to cover it (with a hotel-specific card), or something like the Barclaycard Arrival+ which will give you a $400 bonus to redeem against travel purchases.

[lise]

http://personalprofitability.com/complete-beginner-guide-travel-hacking/

the URL says it all.

[lise]

also check out www.thepointsguy.com.  He doesn't say anything new, but if you sign up for his email you'll find out when cards are offering better sign up bonuses than normal.    (e.g., 50000 points sign up instead of 40000 on a particular card)

[misschedda]

Look at the sidebar of reddit.com/r/churning

They have some good beginner guides on if churning is right for you and what cards are good for beginners. Personally, I'd recommend looking into the Southwest cards through Chase, but you'll have to move on them in the next two days or so if you go that route because I think the 50k point bonuses are expiring soon. Good luck!

[RUStash]

Thanks for the info everyone, looks like I got some homework to do.

[lise]

One big tip, don't sign up for an airlines card unless the airline has routes that you are likely to fly.  For example, I don't bother with the Southwest card as they don't fly much from where I live. 

[user43423]

I too like the Points Guy. You can spend hours every day scouring the flyer talk forums to optimize travel and points, but I don't get much joy out of that and would rather be doing other things. I go to the Points Guy once or twice a week, find out which cards have good sign up bonuses, and churn 2-4 cards every year, netting me around 100k-200k miles (usually around $2k worth of travel). All for only a few hours of effort every year

[TravelStache]

As you have a particular itinerary in mind, you should look at cards that will help lower your expenses for this trip.  You'll need free flights and a free hotel stay.  Below are just two suggestions off the top of my head.  There may be better options out there if you do the research, but here is what I am thinking:

If you don't mind a stop over, it looks like Southwest can get you from DC to New Orleans.  If you open one card and get 50,000 points, that will likely be enough to cover your flights.  I believe the minimum spend is $2,000 in the first 3 months.  If you travel frequently in the US and to destinations that they fly, look into getting two cards and earning a companion pass.  Both my wife and I have done this and have saved $1,000s on flights.  I believe it is one of the best deals going.

Hyatt has a card that gives you 2 free nights when you spend $1,000 in the first three months.  If both you and your wife were to get this card, you would then have 4 free nights at the Hyatt in New Orleans.  I will say that most people try to use their Hyatt free stays to stay at the higher end hotels, so you would not be getting as much bang for your buck as if you had used them to stay at a $1,000 a night property like the Park Hyatt Maldives. 

[kpd905]

Here is a great list with all the best cards, and it is constantly updated with new offers: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1177334-special-credit-card-offers-master-thread-subscription.html

[justjenn]

I would recommend getting a British Airways card. Their award chart is based on distance, not "zones" as most award programs are. So since you want to fly from DC to New Orleans, it would only cost you 15k miles round trip per person, and you would fly on American, their partner airline. You can get their card through Chase, and the sign up bonus would cover you and your wife.

[RUStash]

Thanks for all the responses! I am going to nail this down prior to April 1.

[Greenroller]

Subbing!

[arebelspy]

I would recommend getting a British Airways card. Their award chart is based on distance, not "zones" as most award programs are. So since you want to fly from DC to New Orleans, it would only cost you 15k miles round trip per person, and you would fly on American, their partner airline. You can get their card through Chase, and the sign up bonus would cover you and your wife.

+1.  And Amex points and Chase Ultimate rewards both transfer to British Airways ("Avios" points) as well.  So there's several different cards you could get that give those rewards.  But I agree that BA is probably the best deal to go DC->NO.