Your Next Moves: After First Travel Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus

Danielle Jul 09, 2024

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What to do after you reach your first travel reward credit card sign-up bonus?

1. Picking your next travel rewards credit card

You may be wondering what to do after you reach your first sign-up bonus. What is next on your travel hacking journey? Now the fun begins... continue the whole process over again. Pick one of the many travel reward credit cards out there. You can pick a co-branded hotel or airline card (such as American Express Hilton, Chase Marriott, American Express Delta, etc.). Or you can pick a reward card that is not linked to a specific travel brand, such as the American Express Gold card, or Chase Ink series, Capital One Venture. If you are having trouble picking a card, think of what your next vacation goal is, and find a hotel near your travel goal. My first goal was to go to Lake Placid, which led me to the American Express Hilton Honors card as my first card. To read more on how to pick your first travel rewards credit card check out our post "Start Smart: Picking Your First Travel Rewards Credit Card."

Our travel hacked trip to Switzerland

Where would you like to go? A great way to narrow down the credit cards out there is to see what hotels are in your target location and see what airlines fly from your hometown to your target location. The hotel or airline may have a co-branded card. If they don’t a credit card with more flexible rewards may be a better option. Make sure to review the welcome offer and that you will be able to meet the minimum spending requirement. If you do not meet the minimum spending threshold, you will not receive the sign-up bonus points. Once you select a type of card to start with, make sure to select the lowest level of that card possible. This allows you to open higher-level cards later and still get additional sign-up bonuses. Learn more about why to always start with the lowest level first here.

Be sure to read the fine print before signing up for a card, and be aware of the annual fee and any bonus requirements. Many cards offer the first year free and will have an annual fee starting in the second year.

2. Utilize your Person 2 to Maximize Sign Up Bonuses

Remember never to add an authorized user to your account. This may disqualify the authorized user from getting their own sign-up bonus when they open their own Person 2 account. Always open a new account for your person 2. For your person 2 to qualify for their sign-up bonus offer, they should have a new credit card account. Most welcome offers with bonus points are only available to new cardholders, if someone is added as an authorized user they may not be considered new customers. Credit card issuers will vary on these rules, so be sure to check with the financial institution.

Disney World travel hacked vacation

3. How to Manage Multiple Travel Reward Credit Cards

After you have your new travel reward credit card, make sure you meet the minimum spend to receive the signup bonus. Especially for your first travel hacking credit card, move ALL of your regular monthly expenses to the new card (an exception would be if you have some larger purchases that you are sure will be the minimum spend.) To learn more about managing multiple cards check out our post "Credit Card Chess: Strategy for Maximized Travel Rewards."

Once you have the sign-up bonus, move on to person 2. Have them apply for a travel reward credit card. Once Person 2 has their travel reward credit card, there are a few options for what to do with your regular monthly spending, depending on the minimum spend amount and your monthly budget.

Jamaica travel hacked vacation

Option 1- My personal favorite- if your first credit card has extra reward categories (many have groceries, gas, and/or restaurants), then keep those charges on your first card. Move all other expenses to Person 2’s card. Make sure your other expenses will meet the minimum spend on Person 2’s new card.

Option 2- Move all expenses to Person 2’s new travel reward credit card until they meet the minimum spend.

Option 3- if you have a large purchase that will meet Person 2’s minimum spend then you can just charge those to Person 2’s card and leave the rest on your first travel rewards credit card. It is a good idea to sign up for a new card ahead of any known large purchases, so you can earn a sign-up bonus quickly and move on to the next card.

An easy way to earn a bonus amount of points is to buy gift cards at a reward category store, for your monthly purchases at a store that does not offer a bonus category. For example, if your card has grocery stores as a bonus category, buy gift cards are the supermarket for other stores that you frequent (Amazon, Home Depot, Etc.). I buy gift cards for Amazon every week based on the expenses I expect to have that week for myself or my family members. This can help you reach your long-term goals for a trip as well. For example, my family and I have been planning a trip to Disney World. So every week I buy a Disney gift card at the supermarket. This allows me to earn bonus points on a supermarket purchase on my Hilton Amex Surpass and helps me save for spending money at Disney World over a longer period of time. Each credit card's rewards program is different, each with different types of rewards programs and each has a varying type of rewards.

Lake Placid

Keep repeating this process of alternating new travel reward credit cards between you and your Person 2. You can do this as often as you are comfortable with. The next credit card you would apply for, again is based on your own travel goals. For me, when I was first starting, I stayed within Hilton credit cards for a long time. Between me and my husband, we each have 3 American Express Hilton cards (Hilton Honors, Surpass, and Aspire). We alternated signing up for our own separate accounts, starting with the lowest level first and working our way up to Aspire. After that, we moved on to different groups of travel reward cards. Check out our guide to managing your travel reward credit cards. Perhaps you have a loyalty to a different hotel chain or would prefer to earn bonus miles first, then those would be the best credit cards for your situation. It is a good long-term hacking strategy to keep track of each account opening, credit card welcome bonuses, statement credits, and various offerings from each card you open. Each travel rewards card has a wide range of offers and added bonuses, keep a list or spreadsheet of the cards you have, and their own perks. It is always a perfect time to learn more about our travel hacking strategies at "Travel Hacking 101: Ultimate Guide to Getting Started. "