Travel Hacks with Zach
Hello Farm Fam!!
We have been so excited to tell you all about how we travel completely FREE. Our most recent trip to Hawaii, traveling to 3 different islands I might add, really made us want to share exactly how we did it, and all the details.
We began traveling for free back in 2019 when we went to New York City. Since then, we have acquired a lot more knowledge on the subject and we have also gained insight on how to get more free nights, and a longer stay in general. As soon as you figure out how, you won’t want to stop either. As I mentioned above, our trip to Hawaii was completely free. The only time we had to spend money was for food, gifts, and activities. Now, since I am not the expert, I’m going to give it over to Zach to explain in detail how we make this possible. Take it away, Zach!
Getting Started
First and foremost, thank you for your interest in traveling for free. It’s one of my favorite hobbies and sharing it with others is so fun. I have done hours upon hours of research to figure out which cards are the best for us and the best for travel.
Disclaimer #1
A lot of people think you must have a business in order to have these cards, or to earn points and miles, and that is not the case. Of course, if you do have your own business, points will add up quicker, but you can still benefit from these cards not owning a business at all.
Disclaimer #2
DO NOT get any of these credit cards if you are not going to pay the statement balance on or before every due date. Also do not get a credit card if you are going to spend more than you normally would because it doesn’t hurt as bad as spending cash. A lot of people get in trouble with credit cards. These trips, benefits, etc. are of no value if you accumulate any interest at all or overspend. We realize a lot of people follow Dave Ramsey and he is anti-credit. If you are not disciplined, do not attempt the following. This is not financial advice.
Let’s jump into it: Sign up bonuses
Sign up bonuses are how most people will accumulate points the quickest. These sign up bonuses and card information are super easy to find on the internet or through our links at the bottom of this blog. I will list the basics about each card but there are more benefits to them that I have not listed here.
One thing about sign up bonuses is that once you earn the bonus, you can technically use the points for some type of travel, and then cancel the card before the 2nd annual fee is due. This will have a temporary impact on your credit score but as far as the value goes it's easily worth it.
50,000 point bonus after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.
Companion Pass at 135,000 points (this used to be much more achievable but they keep increasing the point requirements). A normal person with average spending with likely not achieve this but a business owner could. There is also a business card with an 80,000 point sign up.
A-List Preferred Status – also unlikely most will earn this but it’s not necessary, just a nice benefit since this was my first card so I use it for a fair amount of business purchases and can earn this.
$95 annual fee
60,000 point bonus after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
Ultimate Rewards Points are the most valuable type of points because they’re transferrable to “travel partners” such as hotel chains and airlines. They are also worth 25% more when booking travel through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Free DashPass with DoorDash
Travel Insurance, Rental Car Insurance – we never buy insurance at rental places!
$95 annual fee
20,000 point bonus after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months.
Free nights at Category 1-4 hotel on cardmember anniversary and also after spending $15,000 in a calendar year. Lots of other benefits like room upgrades, Globalist status (hard to earn!), access to club lounges, free breakfast at hotels (not just continental breakfast either).
One thing I like about this program is how they occasionally have incentives or rewards to give you back points with easy requirements (like our 30,000-point bonus from our recent Hawaii trip).
$95 annual fee
75,000 bonus points/miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
$300 statement credits every year for booking travel through Capital One Travel.
10,000 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (worth $100) – This card is under Kyndle’s name. I actually got an email while writing this blog that she got her 10,000 bonus points today since it has been 1 year since we opened this card for her.
Priority Pass at airport lounges
Global Entry or TSA Precheck benefit
$395 annual fee – this is a higher fee card, but the statement credits, bonus points pay for this every year. People always get hung up on the annual fees. If you don’t travel at least once per year to earn the statement credit, this card is not for you.
10x points on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel Portal – this is how I actually earned money on our rental cars in Hawaii.
Cover Travel Expenses – This is how you pay yourself back for travel purchases on the card. You essentially delete the transactions on your credit card app. It literally takes 30 seconds.
There are several more cards that I carry in my wallet that I won’t mention here but just know that this is only the tip of the iceberg. If you love to travel, some of these can be great options for you. If you don’t travel very often, getting a cash back credit card such as the Citi Double Cash Card for everyday 2% cash back makes a lot of sense.
Southwest Card
The first card I’ll be talking about in detail is the Southwest card. This is the first card that introduced me to miles and points. Growing up, my parents had a Southwest card allowing my whole family to always fly free. Around 2016 I really started diving more into the details of this card. Our very first free flight was November 2016, which happened to be Kyndle’s very first flight ever. Since then, her entire family has also gotten this card, and they fly free now too. In 2017, we earned what’s called the “companion pass” for the 2017 year. This means that anyone who flies with me, flies for free, no need to even use points. I would argue that this benefit is one of the best values from any card we have.
Since then, we have earned the companion pass every year. Kyndle ALWAYS flies free. No money. No points. Free. Other than the 9/11 $5.60 security fee…
Another great benefit of this card is earning “A List Preferred”. This gives us free Wifi on all flights, and the greatest benefit of all is that A List Preferred also checks us in automatically. No more fighting for the front spot in line, you can find us there. This benefit really would have helped us back in 2018 on our way back from our honeymoon. We were relaxing on our last full day, when we realized we missed the check in time. This ending in us being in the last group for boarding, and Kyndle even sat in the middle of a married couple. Sounds like they need another honeymoon.
Unfortunately, the point bonus is not as high as it used to be, but points accumulate fast. This card saves us thousands each year.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Next up is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Early on in our marriage, this card allowed us tons of free travel! It used to be my go-to card. Overall, this card is the most valuable starter card for most people.
With this card, you earn what’s called “ultimate rewards” points that can be used through their travel portal. You can also use these points to book hotels, flights, rental cars, and experiences. For example, I booked a helicopter ride in Hawaii using points from this specific card. These points are in my opinion the most valuable, because they can be transferred to “travel partners”. Travel partners essentially means different hotel chains or airlines.
Hyatt Card
Moving on to our Hyatt card. This card isn’t necessarily the most valuable, but the Hyatt program is our program of choice, and is the highest redemption value for points. We have stayed in countless Hyatt owned properties, and we have achieved what’s known as “Globalist Status” through earning points with this card. As an example of Globalist status, we earn free breakfast at all the resorts we stay at, and if there is a nicer room available than the one we booked, we automatically get upgraded just because of that status. 9 times out of 10 we have received an upgrade.
Referral Links
Learn more about these cards by following the links below. If you happen to sign up for any of these cards through the links, it will give us a referral bonus!
Feel free to get a referral from a friend or family member, or us if you’d like.
How to Travel Cheaper Without a Credit Card
Another way to get cheaper travel without having to get a credit card:
This works for most hotel chains, but I have especially noticed it for Hyatt since we travel often and I keep up with it. Although I have never purchased points, you can for considerably less than paying a full cash rate at a hotel. Here is how:
Go to Hyatt.com and try to book a stay at any hotel.
Check the rates, members rates, and points rates.
9 times out of 10 you can purchase points for ½ to ¾ the price it would cost at regular cash rate.
Here is a quick example for a place we have stayed in the past:
I looked up March 5th – March 12th at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in Colorado. This is a ski resort that was super nice and had a ski lift about 100 feet from the door of the hotel. This is a higher end resort so this is just a simple example of how easy it can be to not pay full price.
Firstly, check the standard room rate. Member rate is $1316 per night! This is also at primetime and right around spring break so keep that in mind. Standard rooms cost 35,000 points per night.
Ok, so if you Google “Purchase Points Hyatt” you will be led to a page that allows you to buy points. If you take 2 minutes and sign up for a Hyatt Account (it’s free) and select how many bonus points you’d like to purchase. Currently 35,000-point costs $840. Still absurd for a single night in a hotel, right? But do you see where I’m going with this? You’ve already saved $476 per night, or $3,332 for a 7-night vacation by doing a simple search. Hyatt also does specials on purchased points all the time, so you could easily save another $300-$400 per night on top of that.
All I’m trying to show is this is one example. There are dozens of ways to do this for flights, hotels, and even rental cars. Just takes a little upfront research!
Where We’ve Been the Last Four Years Using Points
Here are places or cities we have either stayed for completely free or a very reduced rate by using points and miles:
The Cape in Cabo San Lucas
Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas
Hyatt Regency Clearwater, Florida
Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Colorado
Hyatt Centric Denver, Colorado
Swan Reserve Hotel in Disney World
Knoxville, TN Airbnb
New York City
Marco Island, Florida
Hyatt Zilara Cancun, Mexico
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa x 2
Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Oahu
Andaz Maui at Wailea in Maui x 2
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa
Lahaina, Maui
San Francisco (February 2023)
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa (Los Angeles, CA – February 2023)
BREAKDOWN - Hawaii 2023
FLIGHTS
I booked these in July 2022. I definitely recommend booking early if you can, especially if traveling around the holidays.
Nashville, Tennessee -> Lihue Kauai (2 flights, connected through Las Vegas) = 20,503 Points + 11.20 9/11 security fee
Lihue, Kauai -> Honolulu, Oahu = 3,706 Points + 11.20 9/11 security fee
Honolulu, Oahu -> Kahului, Maui = 3,706 Points + 11.20 9/11 security fee
Kahului, Maui - > Nashville, Tennessee (2 flights, connected through Phoenix) = 22,513 Points + 11.20 9/11 security fee
TOTAL COST - $44.80
This would have been around $2,000 in flights at the regular cash rate.
We have the Companion Pass with Southwest which allows Kyndle to fly for free everywhere I go. I would argue that this is top 3 best values of the cards we carry. We have not paid for a single flight since I got the Southwest Credit Card in 2016.
HOTELS
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa – 4 nights
Original Price of room, taxes, fees: $6129.05
Price of valet, resort fees for 4 nights: $320
25,000 Hyatt Points per night
Upgraded to Oceanfront King Room with Balcony due to Globalist Status
Hyatt Centric Waikiki – 1 night
Original Price of room, taxes, fees: $508.69
Price of valet, resort fees for 1 night: $70
30,000 Hyatt Points per night
I booked a nicer room at this place because Honolulu is more crowded and I heard this place books up faster. I could have booked a cheaper room but I found a travel hack… Hyatt offered a bonus of 20% back of all points redeemed from January 1st-March 1st 2023, up to 30,000 points. Because of this trip we earned all 30,000 points back. We ALSO earned an extra 1,000 points at this hotel because they do not offer a club anymore since Covid. So we actually EARNED 1,000 Hyatt Points by staying here. That made me happy.
Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort – 2 nights
Original Price of room, taxes, fees: $7414.25
Price of valet, resort fees, and the best breakfast for 2 nights: $600
25,000 Hyatt Points per night
Upgraded to Nicest Suite in the Hotel due to Globalist Status
We were not planning to stay here at all because it has been booked out 8+ months at a time for point redemptions. I looked a few weeks before our trip and noticed an opening during our stay. So I took 2 nights off our other place in Maui and booked this one. We literally booked it for the breakfast because they have a killer breakfast and we get it for free with our Globalist status. So I just booked a queen bed room and I found out a day before our arrival that we got upgraded to the Deluxe Ocean Suite 850 square foot room with 2 balconies, an incredible rain shower and freestanding tub. This is the 2nd nicest room we’ve ever stayed in to this point. I have no idea who would actually pay this but the cash rate for this room is $2955 per night. In addition to the Free $150 breakfast, $50 valet parking per day, and $50 resort fees, we got a free stay that would have cost someone paying out of pocket $6410. That is .1282 cents per point redemption rate which is REALLY good.
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa – 3 nights
Original Price of room, taxes, fees: $6307.46
Price of valet, resort fees for 3 nights: $255
25,000 Hyatt Points per night
Upgraded to Deluxe Oceanfront Suite 1100 square foot room & we stayed here the last 3 nights in Maui.
Like I said, we like moving around a lot in Hawaii to see as much as possible. We stayed in the same area as this hotel on our honeymoon in Maui and liked it a lot so we decided to stay on that side again. We honestly didn’t stay at the hotel much because we were trying to fit as much in as possible on the island before we had to head back home. The room and resort was super nice and way more than we needed (we could’ve slept at least 4 in our room), so the upgrade was unnecessary but of course very nice!
TOTAL COST FOR US - $0.00
TOTAL COST WITHOUT POINTS - $21,606.45
Total Points for all stays (10 nights): 224,000 points
RENTAL CARS
Kauai – 4 days
Hertz $211.51 - travel purchase covered by Venture X Card
I booked the cheapest Hertz rental I could find which ended up being a Kia Compact. When we arrived we were upgraded to a Full Size SUV because of the Venture X Card I used which also give us free insurance.
Oahu – 1.5 days
Turo $169.08 - travel purchase covered by Venture X Card
I booked this one last minute and the time we were in Oahu was a little over a day so we were charged for 2 full days. I could’ve done better on this but points still covered it.
Maui – 5 days
Dollar $412.53 - travel purchase covered by Venture X Card
We got our favorite Jeep Wrangler which is a must in Hawaii but especially Maui. I highly recommend it if you ever do the Road to Hana or any off-roading at all!
TOTAL COST FOR US - $0.00
TOTAL RENTAL CAR COST WITHOUT POINTS - $793.12
All of these travel purchases were “deleted” as I always say to Kyndle with our Venture X Credit Card from Capital One. It took 79,312 points which happens to be almost exactly how many points you would get from the signup bonus alone plus the 4,000 points you would earn by spending the sign-up bonus requirement. I love this card because it’s so simple. All you do is use it for any travel purchase, or any purchase for that matter and just cover the travel expense with points within the app to erase the transaction. It’s basically just a cash back card. I also should mention that I used the Capital One App to book these rental cars so in addition to canceling out the transactions I earned an additional 7931 points on the card since I used it to book the cars and they give you 10x points when you book through their portal. So I technically earned $79.31 to book our cars for the entire 10 day trip.
Have I lost you yet?!
Here is where I want to add up all the points, total spend of the hotels, flights, cars using cash rate, and show how much we actually spent.
TOTAL COST of 10 night Hawaii Vacation with 6 flights, 3 rental cars, 4 resorts, valet, breakfast, club access:
Flights: $2,000
+
Rental Cars: $793.12
+
Hotels: $21,604.45
= $24,397.57
What we actually paid for 10 days in Hawaii: -$34.51
Yes, that’s right. We GOT PAID to go on this trip. We saved $24,397.57 and actually earned $34.51. This is because of the 10x Venture X Credit Card we used to book the rental cars with. I got $79.31 back for those transactions. We did have to pay for the 9/11 Security Fee for our flights totaling $44.80. So $79.31 - $44.80 = $34.51
All that we paid for on this entire trip were things that we decided to do or pay for while there. This included: a sunset boat tour along the Napali Coast, mopeds in Maui for 4 hours, a Pineapple tour in Maui, and food/gifts for family.
To be honest, it would not have been hard to book the mopeds, pineapple tour, or the boat tour with points. We just decided these things last minute while on the islands so we just paid (with a rewards credit card of course) for them. I have booked several experiences in the past with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve Cards. Easy Peasy.
Thank you so much for making it this far! If you have made it this far, you are ready to start accumulating points. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. I am in no way encouraging anyone to do anything that I haven’t done myself! Kyndle and I have been very blessed to travel like we have, and Lord willing, we are only just beginning!