Running the Points and Miles
Regularly traveling to a running destination for free or low cost is possible! Learn how the best credit card for travel can earn you enough points for a round trip ticket and hotel stay to attend the marathon of your choice!
We travel for free or very low cost to runs around the world through “travel-hacking.” We’ll share our tips and tricks so that you can do the same!
To get started, you need to accumulate credit card “points” (or “miles”). There are many ways to do this, but the quickest way is to earn them through credit card sign-up bonuses or a “SUB”. What does this mean? Many credit card companies offer a large bonus of “points” or “miles” for signing up for their credit card when you charge a certain amount on the card in a set period of time. Depending on the type of points you accumulate, these can be used to purchase flights and/or hotels. This means that your flight and hotel stay for your next destination race could be free!
Travel-Hacking and Credit Scores
People who are serious “travel hackers” (those who leverage points and miles for free travel) constantly sign up for new credit cards. Many people worry that it will negatively impact their credit score. There is a lot of strategy involved in this: paying off your bill each month, applying for business cards that don’t affect your credit score, downgrading (instead of closing) cards, and waiting 30-90 days between card applications. But no, it DOES NOT hurt your credit score long-term! In fact, for many people it can increase your credit score! This is because you have a lower credit utilization with many open cards.
Runners Who Shouldn’t Do This
Before you start, there are some requirements to get into travel-hacking, and some behavioral patterns to consider. You should not begin travel-hacking if:
- Your credit score is under 700
- You already have credit card debt
- You don’t spend at least $1500/month on expenses outside of a mortgage/rent
- You are bad about paying off your credit card bills each month
- You are disorganized and can’t manage a budget
- You routinely spend more than you can afford
Credit Card Annual Fees
You’ll want to weigh the cost of annual fees for credit cards, but those of us who play this game regularly are not phased by annual fees. All of the best travel credit cards have them. The card’s value usually outweighs the fees. Generally speaking, a card with an annual fee under $100 does not require over-analysis – you will probably get back much more than $100 in value.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred: The Best Credit Card for Traveling to Your Dream Running Destination
There are many credit cards that offer sign up bonuses for travel, but the best card for almost anyone who is starting out is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. We start with Chase cards because Chase Bank has a rule called the 5/24 rule. This states that you cannot open more than 5 credit cards in 24 months to be approved for one of their cards. Other banks have different rules, but we start with Chase so that we don’t “fill up” our 5/24 slots with cards from other banks.
We specifically start with the Sapphire Preferred Card because this will get you into the Chase points ecosystem. The points you earn there are called “Chase Ultimate Rewards” or CUR. CUR are really valuable points because they can be transferred to many different travel partners for flights and hotels, some at very high redemption rates. Another reason we call this card the best credit card for traveling is because it comes with many travel protections, allowing you to forego trip insurance most of the time.
The current offer for this card is 60,000 points if you spend $4,000 in 3 months with a $95 annual fee. This is enough to get you a round trip plane ticket to the Berlin or London Marathons!
Click here to use our referral link to sign up!
Travel-Hacking to a Marathon: Example
So what might this look like for a runner? Let’s say you want to run the New York City Marathon in November. Here is one example of how you can get there and stay there for virtually free.
Get a Sign-Up Bonus
Start by signing up for the best credit card for traveling, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and spend $4,000 in three months. If $4,000 sounds daunting, think about all of the expenses you could put on a credit card that you currently don’t: utility bills, cell phone bills, insurance . . . The only things that are not easily put on a credit card are rent/mortgage and payments to individuals (friends, family, etc.) Pay off your credit card bill (statement balance) right before the due date (not weekly or as soon as you’ve made a purchase – the credit card companies don’t like that). As long as you have paid your statement balance by the due date, you will not incur any interest. After you have spent $4,000, the 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points will show up in your account after the statement closes on that third month.
Book Your Flight
Now it’s time to think about flights! Let’s say you live in Lincoln, Nebraska. A quick search of United Airlines shows that they have “award” flights for about 15k points one-way to NYC airports in November. You would log into your Chase Ultimate Rewards online and transfer 30k points to United Airlines. Then book your flight (two one-ways.) The only cost would be taxes and fees (about $25).
Book Your Hotel
Hotels in NYC are always expensive, but prices skyrocket when there is a special event. Most travel-hackers find that Hyatt offers the best redemptions for points. You can search Hyatt hotels in NYC by clicking the “points” button. On marathon weekend it looks like you can stay at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick (away from the Marathon chaos) for as low as 6.5K points/night or stay near the airport for 15K points/night. Alternatively, you can stay in luxury right in the middle of the city at The Thompson Central Park Hotel for 25k points/night, a hotel that would cost you $700/night if you paid in cash! To book your hotel, log into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account and transfer points to Hyatt. Then log into Hyatt and book the hotel of your choice using those points.
Trip Summary:
- Flight: 30K points
- Hotel: 6.5k points/night x 3 nights = 19.5k points
- Total Points Used: 49.5K
Now the only thing left to pay for is the race entry fee, meals, and transportation, but you’ve got the most expensive pieces of your trip covered with the points earned from just one credit card bonus from the best travel credit credit card!
