6 Fantastic ways you can get free travel or save on your trips

Traveling is no doubt expensive when you have so many bills to manage. Planning a trip can be next to impossible thing if you have a family with kids. Well, this is not my word, the stats are agreeing to it.

Well, if the family of five plans a week-long trip in a year, then the cost will double or it’ll be more than $10,000, which is not a joke for an average income family.

However, planning a family trip is not so scary as you think. If you plan it wisely, you can plan trips staying within budget.

Your credit cards can help you to get discounted or free travel. How? Read the article to know the tricks:

1 Don't miss your credit card payments

If you always pay your credit card balance in full and on time, then you can qualify for better credit card offers. Having financial charges on your cards can negate the rewards you are supposed to receive from your card. To get the reward from your credit cards, you have to make credit card bill payments on time so that you can avoid interest.

2 Don't go for balance transfer and cash advance

You have to pay a certain fee for transferring balances and cash advance. The balance transfer fee depends on the amount of the balance you transfer.

Moreover, if your credit card has a 0% promotional rate on balance transfer and you don't make the payment within the introductory period, then you have to pay more including the penalty charges.

Taking out a cash advance or transferring balance feature you as an irresponsible credit card user. Thus, you may not be able to win rewards. In addition to this, you may be offered less credit limit.

3 Try to get signup bonus

Some travel credit cards offer free flight as a signup bonus. Well, to get the offer, you have to spend a certain amount on your card within a specific time (90-120 days).

4 Try to become an authorized user

If you become an authorized user on a credit card account, you can get an added bonus. Being an authorized user, you don't need to make any purchase to win a bonus. You can get bonus or reward points for any purchase you make. Make sure you pay off the balance within time.

5 Get the right credit card

Choosing the right credit card is important to get the bonus points.

Don't go for a card which has a big spending threshold. Get a card with minimum or low spending threshold so that you can easily pay your balance in full within the billing cycle. Also, you need to meet the spending threshold, as quickly as possible, to get a good bonus.

6 Sign up for the hotel and airline loyalty programs

In most cases, hotel and airlines have loyalty programs which provide rewards for stays and flight bookings. You can sign up for this loyalty program to get discounts on your stay or flight.

Use the loyalty number while booking the flight and hotel. However, you need to stick to the same hotel and the airline brand to get the offer. They will offer you the discounts based on your frequent usage. The more you book their service, the more points you will earn.

Lastly, don't forget to redeem your points. There are two ways you can redeem your points.

If you go for statement credit redeem process, you need to fund the travel cost using your credit card, and then you can use the reward points to credit the account for the amount. If you don’t want to pay using the credit card, then go for the online redeem process. Remember, getting free or discounted travel is a bit tough but not impossible. Use your card responsibly to get the benefit. You will be surprised how easily you can save money on your trips.