AARP Hearing Center
Think you’re a savvy promo code user or low-fare finder? You may be, but how well are you working your rewards points programs to travel for free around the world?
Yeah, it’s not so simple, but it can be done. You just need to have focus, discipline, and possibly a wise aunt to show you the tricks of the trade.
That’s what Kara Greene does for her nieces and nephews — as well as the 61,000 followers on her Instagram account. Going by the handle Aunt Kara, the 51-year-old IT professional and mother of two has taken leveraging loyalty points to an art form.
Since 2012, Aunt Kara, who plans to retire in four years and lives 100 percent debt-free, including free of a mortgage, has traveled alone and with her family on 55 trips worth $96,000 — using points and miles from various travel loyalty programs and credit card offers.
Despite her successes, Aunt Kara doesn’t advise travel hacking for everyone. You should do it only if you are paying off each and every credit card every single month — and never, ever carrying a balance from one month to the next.
Can’t live up to her no-debt standards? Stop reading right now.
Ready to hear her secrets to success? She shared her top tips with us.
1. Start small and work backwards
Don’t start with which credit cards or loyalty programs you should sign up for. Instead, start researching one specific trip first to pinpoint your destination and the accommodations. If you’ll need to fly to the destination, search on Google Flights to see which airlines offer the best routes.
“You can do all of this without signing up for a credit card,” Kara points out. “Once you have this information, then you start looking at what card you should get because with travel hacking, one card does not fit everyone’s needs.”
Kara owns roughly 10 credit cards, with each one catering to her different spending habits, travel preferences and ability to earn and redeem points in various ways.