Weird tricks are one of my favorite ways to earn a few extra points and miles. This article should only serve as an inspiration, as your mind is pretty much the limit in these scenarios. If you missed the Travel Tips Tuesday video on weird tricks, you can see it HERE.
Personally, I believe that weird tricks are just a mindset. Whenever I’m making a larger purchase of any kind, I truly sit down and think, what is the best card for me in this situation? Do I have a trip coming up I could use some extra AA or Southwest miles for? Do I want to pad my Chase UR account?
Card Strategies
If you have the luxury, and you know you have a large purchase coming up such as this, it might be an excellent time to open a new card or two ahead of time. Just make sure to plan well ahead to receive the cards and make sure you have the ample time to hit the minimum spend requirements.
At this point, you know you can easily hit the minimum spend stress free. Of course this is situation dependent, based on your personal card strategy. In this situation, I would have loved to hit a new card bonus, but since I am trying to get back under 5/24, I opted not to open a new card.
How I Did It
If you have the luxury, and you know you have a large purchase coming up such as this, it might be an excellent time to open a new card or two ahead of time. Just make sure to plan well ahead to receive the cards and make sure you have the ample time to hit the minimum spend requirements.
At this point, you know you can easily hit the minimum spend stress free. Of course this is situation dependent, based on your personal card strategy. In this situation, I would have loved to hit a new card bonus, but since I am trying to get back under 5/24, I opted not to open a new card.
I had been on a one-year long world trip and decided to just purge most of my belongings on the way out of the country. I am not sure all the way what I was thinking, but when I came back, I had no car and not furniture to my name and being transportation dependent on other people was not exactly my definition of a fun time! As you can imagine, it got old pretty fast!
As I entered the car dealership, I discussed using a credit card to use for my down payment. I actually had to call Chase to make sure they did not decline the transaction, even thought I had plenty of available credit to cover it. (Funny thing is I actually forgot the card, but they let me show them a photo and key it in) In the past, this is something I would have just use a cashiers check with, as I either wasn’t thinking about it, or didn’t have the available credit to pull it off.
$8,000 later and a new car in hand (actually it was used in all fairness, as I never purchase “new” vehicles) I was also the proud owner of 8,000 UR points, which with the Chase Sapphire Reserve will net me $120 of free travel. Most cash back credit cards also offer something in the neighborhood of 1.5% cash back, so it would be exactly the same return if i used a card to earn cash back. With so many Chase promotions like “Pay Yourself Back” I essentially have that option later if I want it as well.
Other Examples of Weird Basic Travel Tricks
The Basic Travel Team loves weird money saving tips! Check out some of our other outside the box accomplishments below!
A while back, I used points to help me move across town for free
In Thailand, I was able to eat essentially free for two months
Dave & Lisa used a tree falling in their yard to earn a TON of free Hyatt nights.
Sometimes, life just happens! When it does, it doesn’t have to be all bad. You are certainly going to catch some bad breaks and pay for things you didn’t want to. Maybe you have to pay a pesky deductible on a claim, or pay for a foundation repair on a house. Your car might need some work or you might have to buy a bunch of textbooks for your classes. There are literally infinite examples of “life happening” and while you can’t stop it from doing so, you can at least get some free travel out of it!
Basic Breakdown
We have a large Facebook group with all sorts of great members and readers in it, so I can’t wait to hear what weird hacks YOU have pulled off!
