How to Travel for Free

...or at a serious discount.

If you take a moment and Google “travel hacking,” you will see countless posts on how to earn free flights, trips, and hotels in less time than it takes to brew your morning coffee.

I don’t really buy it. Some of these strategies are not feasible or comfortable for everyone. Plus, most of them involve churning credit cards or manufacturing spending, which can be risky business. Plus, it takes time for the points to post to your statement anyway (so no, I’m not here to talk about how to get a free flight in 60 seconds).

I do, however, want to talk about slow and calculated strategies to help you turn everyday activities into points. These more organic methods may get you a free flight each year or help offset the costs of an upcoming trip.

Keep reading for 5 strategies that will get you well on your way to earning free travel!

Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus

This is honestly the easiest and quickest way to earn free flights (or hotel stays). Credit card companies will offer you a large bonus in the form of points (which can be used to book travel or transfer to airline or hotel partners) for opening a new account with their company. The caveat is that you usually have to spend a large amount of money in a short period of time in order to be eligible for the bonus. For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 50,000 bonus points for opening an account and spending $4,000 in the first three months. The bonus is worth anywhere from $625-$1000 in travel!

Spending $4,000 in three months may seem almost impossible. I would never suggest fabricating spending or purchasing more than you normally would just to earn points. There is no sense in digging yourself into a financial hole just to earn a free flight or two. However, there are some very simple ways to meet that spending requirement. Charging all of your regular monthly expenses to the new card and paying it off by the monthly due date is usually enough to satisfy the spending requirement. $4,000 in three months is approximately $1333.33 per month. For many individuals and families (especially in high cost areas like Los Angeles), this can be rent, groceries, tuition, daycare, car expenses, etc.

I personally wouldn’t suggest opening a ton of credit cards to earn massive amounts of points or miles. Having multiple yearly fees usually negates the value of the points. Also, carrying a balance on the card from month to month also diminishes the value of the points, as what you pay in interest will usually cost more than the points themselves!

Here are some of the top credit card offers (at the time of publishing):

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card - 100,000 points ($125 yearly fee)

Capital One Venture - 50,000 points ($95 yearly fee)

Chase Sapphire Preferred  - 50,000 points ($95 yearly fee)

Again, please be sure you have a good grasp on your credit before attempting to earn points or miles through credit card bonuses. Click below to learn more about how credit works!

Credit Basics

Everyday Spending

This goes hand in hand with the sign-up bonus strategy. Charging all of your monthly expenses to your travel card and paying them off by the due date (so you are not charged interest) is a great, simple way to earn points or miles. Many companies offer 1-2 points per dollar spent. Also, there are often bonus categories that offer additional or bonus points per dollar (varies by card).

Rewards Debit Cards and Charge Cards

This tip is a little lesser known, as it is not as flashy as all of the large credit card sign-up bonuses. However, if you are not comfortable with or unable to use credit, there are still options for you! I first learned about charge cards that reward you with miles while on a longhaul flight with United. I had nothing better to do than read the entire magazine in the seat back pocket. One of the ads was for MileagePlus Go, a prepaid card that rewards you 1 mile per dollar spent. It comes with an $85 annual fee, however, you can earn up to 2,500 miles per month.

There are several other charge cards and debit cards that earn similar rewards systems (check out Delta Skymiles World Debit Card).

Shopping Portals

Many credit cards and rewards programs offer online shopping portals. This allows you to “double dip” rewards for your spending. For example, I often use the United MileagePlus X app, which I downloaded to my iPhone. I have seen United offer anywhere from 1-10 miles per dollar spent through their app. Before I purchase anything, I check to see if they offer rewards with that store. Most of the time, you have to purchase a gift card to the store or shop online, however there seems to be some in-store capability as well. I often use this trick for my Starbucks trips. I simply purchase a Starbucks gift card through their app and it downloads immediately to my iPhone. Since I purchased through their app, I am earning an additional mile per dollar on top of the mile I was already earning by using my credit card. This can double, triple, or even quadruple your earnings. Some of the stores I frequent with their app include: Marshalls, CVS, Target, Vitamin Shoppe and Starbucks.

Be sure to check with your credit card or favorite airline to see if they offer an online shopping portal (I have seen them with United, Jetblue, Delta, Chase, Hilton, Marriott, etc.)

Loyalty Memberships

This should seriously be your first strategy! Create accounts with every single airline and hotel you frequent. It is one of the easiest ways to earn miles. Simply enter your frequent flyer number each time you fly/stay with them and earn points for each trip.

Never take a trip without earning some sort of rewards!

One last note...did you know that you can regularly “triple dip” your rewards earnings? I’ll tell you how in a later post!

Drop a comment below if you have any other tips, tricks, or suggestions! I'm always looking for more!