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Some love to travel, while others find it exhausting. Travel is not for everyone, but you can definitely improve the quality and comfort of your trip significantly. How? Through travel hacking.
Therefore, here is the full explanation on the topic of travel hacking and the 20 best tracks you absolutely need to know if you want to take your travel to the next level.
What is travel hacking?
What is travel hacking? Travel hacking is a modern term that describes increasing the quality of travel and, above all, reducing costs through clever and creative tricks. Those who practice travel hacking usually do not pay the full price for business or first class, get free upgrades in hotels, and sometimes eat breakfast for free in the airport lounge.
Travel hacking is an important element for many when it comes to travel, especially for permanent travelers and digital nomads. But even as an occasional traveler, you can benefit significantly from travel hacking.
TOP 20 Travel Hacks
Here are the 20 best travel hacks that will take traveling to the next level. Depending on your budget and preferences, some hacks are more appealing to you than others. It always depends on your own situation, and you can also combine hacks.
Credit card
The first and most important hack is definitely using the right credit card. In Europe, credit cards are still largely underestimated, while in America there are sometimes entire seminars and courses dedicated to them.
The reasons are quite varied, but once you’ve used the right credit card, you’ll find it impossible to do without its main benefits. Here’s an overview of the most important benefits of specialized travel credit cards:
Points
The first point, which some people already know, is points. Depending on the credit card, they are also called miles. You get these when you spend money. As a rule, 1 point per euro spent. These points can then be redeemed again for free upgrades to Business or First Class, hotel suite upgrades, and sometimes also tangible goods like a Smart car, headphones, and notebooks.
Example: You spend €3,500 a month on all sorts of things. By the end of the year, you’ll have automatically earned 42,000 points. That’s enough for a free upgrade to business class from Munich to Dubai! And you get that every year with no extra effort. Credit cards are the most effective way to earn miles.
Lounge Access Another important point is lounge access. Strong credit cards provide worldwide access to airport lounges. No more miserable waiting in crowded gates or bad food in overpriced restaurants. Lounges offer peace, comfort, and free food and drinks. A true blessing, especially during delayed flights or stopovers.
Insurances Everyone knows the annoying insurances you are offered when booking flights, hotels, or rental cars. These are not only annoying, but also very expensive. Sometimes you even need them. This is where credit cards come into play again. With the right card, you get free travel insurance included.
Hotel Status Another powerful perk offered by credit cards is automatic status upgrades at hotels. Hilton or Marriott Gold Members enjoy significant benefits with every booking, such as early check-in, late check-out, a free suite upgrade, a welcome gift, and keyless entry via smartphone.
Travel Credit Depending on your credit card, you may even receive free travel credits, such as hotel or flight vouchers. These typically amount to 200€ per year.
Gourmet Voucher In addition to the travel credit, you may also receive gourmet gift certificates for the same amount.
So, which credit card is the best? Explaining them all would go beyond the scope of this article, but here are the best credit cards for earning miles and travel.
*There's currently a free sign-up bonus of 30,000 points for Platinum members!
2. Hand luggage
Cabin baggage is often a miserable discussion with the flight crew. Basically, airlines have an international standard for hand luggage unless otherwise specified. However, there are major differences in hand luggage from manufacturers, and you often waste important space.
If carry-on luggage is the only luggage you travel with (which is the case for many digital nomads), making the right choice is all the more important.
Therefore, here are the best backpacks and suitcases in accordance with the international maximum carry-on guidelines.
3. eSIM Providers
Another essential consideration when traveling, especially outside the EU, is using an eSIM provider. An eSIM is a digital SIM card that you activate so you can continue to make calls and browse the internet in your destination country without incurring roaming charges in your home country.
Above all, the internet is extremely important for thinking in many countries and you save yourself exorbitant roaming fees.
Saily is a previously very good provider for worldwide e-SIMs. The company was founded by the largest VPN provider, NordVPN—more on that in a moment—and impresses with flexible tariffs, worldwide network coverage, and fair prices.
4. VPN
In addition to the eSIM, another useful—and in some cases necessary—tool is the VPN. Short for Virtual Private Network, a VPN allows users to freely choose their IP location on both laptops and smartphones.
This is generally necessary when foreign countries such as Russia, China, the UAE (e.g., Dubai), or Cuba block services like WhatsApp, Telegram, or YouTube. These apps and websites are taken for granted by us Europeans, but there are numerous countries that do not allow their use.
To still have access to it, one must activate a VPN. This changes the IP address location of the device to a desired country, such as Germany, even though one is already abroad.
Meanwhile, there is a large number of providers for VPN services. One of the best-known of these is NordVPN.
5. Airline Programs
If you want to fly Business or First Class but don't feel like paying, you can try various ways to do so.
The direct way, besides payment, is the upgrade to First or Business Class using frequent flyer miles or points. These are accumulated, as previously described, with the corresponding credit cards.
Frequent flyers can also consider booking regularly through the airline portal, as this grants status, much like with Emirates. The higher the status, the greater the likelihood of an upgrade. In addition, airline status provides other benefits such as discounted rates, lounge access, etc.
The simplest, but most unlikely, possibility is simply to ask for a free upgrade. That really happens rarely, but it also costs nothing except a brief moment of mustering the courage to approach the airport staff at check-in.
6. Hotel Programs
Hotels are preferable to Airbnb because they offer loyalty programs. If you book 100 times through Airbnb, you get nothing. However, if you book regularly with certain hotel chains, you’ll earn status, just like with airlines.
These statuses are extremely interesting and provide the following advantages:
- Free room upgrade
- Early check-in 12:00 PM
- Late Checkout 4:00 PM
- Free breakfast
- uvm.
The 4 main programs that everyone should know include Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG. All 4 hotel groups offer a multi-tier loyalty program with an increasing number of benefits. When you look at all 4 groups and all the hotel chains that belong to them, you realize that this includes hundreds of hotels. Examples of these are Park Hyatt, Hilton, W Hotels, St. Regis, DoubleTree, and Ritz-Carlton.
Here is an example of the benefits of Marriott Bonvoy depending on status.
Anyone who is really smart gets the aforementioned American Express Platinum card right away and immediately gets Gold status at Hilton and Marriott. If you want to go one better, you get the respective credit cards from the hotel chains and immediately get Platinum or Diamond status. The annual costs pay off after just a few nights and within a few days thanks to the vouchers.
7. Booking platform
The right booking platform is also a crucial factor if you want to save a lot of money when traveling. Basically, well-known platforms like Booking.com or Trip.com are worthless because they do not have relevant loyalty programs. Doesn't matter in the short term, but in the long term, as described above, it makes a huge difference.
Anyone who owns an Amex Platinum generally has access to its Fine Hotels and Resorts booking portal.
Day 8 of travel
In fact, there are also days when travel (flights, hotels, rental cars, etc.) is significantly cheaper. Many people start their trip on the weekend because they have plenty of time and don't have to work anyway. However, everyone thinks that, and accordingly expensive it becomes.
Accordingly, the cheap travel days are in the middle of the week, namely Wednesday and Thursday. Those who start their trip on these days often pay significantly less. This is especially worthwhile for flights and hotels.
9. Booking device
Even though it sounds unfair, the device you use to make the booking also affects the prices for both flights and hotels. Those who book from an older smartphone often get cheaper deals than those who book using the newest iPhone. However, the difference is usually in the single-digit percentage range.
10. Booking location
However, the location from which you book has a much greater impact on prices. If you book from New York, London, or another major Western city, for example, you will definitely pay more than if you book from India, Pakistan, or the Philippines.
Here people often talk about the biggest lever when it comes to cheap booking. To influence the location, all you need is a VPN such as NordVPN or Proton VPN. With a single click, you can change the location of your smartphone or laptop and often get better prices.
11. Socket adapter
Another essential travel accessory, especially outside of Europe, is the plug adapter. One is already accustomed to the standard in the EU, but worldwide there are various types of sockets that are not compatible with EU plugs.
The TESSAN plug adapter is one of the best currently available. It has multiple outputs, including USB-A and USB-C. The adapter can be plugged into outlets in England, the USA, Thailand, Japan, and many other countries.
12. Power Bank
Most people already know it, but it should still be mentioned: the good old power bank. Anyone who travels a lot and for a long time knows the problem—the battery runs out. Especially in remote regions, it can take a while until you have access to electricity. A power bank is the solution here. When buying one, you should make sure that it meets certain criteria. The most important ones are listed below:
- High capacity: At least 20,000 mAh
- Fast-charging capability: 100 watt input and 100 watt output.
- Multiple USB-C and USB outputs
- Compact design
Summary
Travel hacking is an exciting topic, and the more you deal with it, the more you realize how big the world is and what possibilities exist. As an advanced travel hacker, you enjoy a completely different level of travel comfort.
The most important tool for travel hackers is definitely the credit card, or the combination of multiple credit cards to collect miles, receive free upgrades, and gain access to airport lounges.
Other important aspects are the choice of hand luggage, power bank and use of a VPN, as well as global e-SIM providers.
