Beginner’s Guide: 7 Steps to Free Travel with Miles and Points

Do you want to travel more with your family? Do you think that traveling is just too expensive?

Miles and points award travel can help you achieve your travel dreams at a significantly reduced cost. You don’t have to be a frequent business traveler to earn a ton of miles and points. There’s another way! The easiest way to earn miles and points is through credit card welcome bonuses.

My family has traveled to Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, New York City, Florida, California, Colorado and more places over the past few years. This year, I’m flying to Hong Kong in business class seats! Some people assume my family is rich or heavily in debt. Nope! We’ve used a combination of miles and points from credit card bonuses to make these trips happen for almost free or for cheap.

This post is geared toward miles and points newbies. If you’re an experienced points collector, share this with your friends or family members who want to learn the secrets for award travel.

STEP 1: SET TRAVEL GOAL(S)

Before you start going after miles and points, it’s helpful to know where you want to travel. Are you a fan of road trips around the U.S.A.? If so, then focus on earning hotel points. Or, do you dream of flying to Europe? Perhaps an airline credit card or a card with flexible points will be more valuable. Knowing what your goals are will help you pick the right type of credit card to earn miles and points for your trip.

STEP 2: SIGN UP FOR FREQUENT FLYER/LOYALTY ACCOUNTS WITH HOTELS AND AIRLINES

Most hotel brands and airlines have frequent flyer or loyalty accounts that enable you to earn and use points for free or discounted stays. For example, Southwest Airlines has Rapid Rewards and Hyatt has World of Hyatt. It’s free to sign up for these accounts. I recommend you sign up for these before signing up for new credit cards.

STEP 3: APPLY FOR A NEW CREDIT CARD WITH AN ATTRACTIVE WELCOME BONUS

The fastest way to accumulate miles and points is through lucrative sign-up bonuses on new cards, not through every day spending on a card you’ve had for years. Banks entice new customers with a big lump of miles for opening a new card and spending a few thousand dollars on it within the first few months. A great welcome bonus is usually 50,000-100,000 miles or points. Two cards that I frequently recommendfor beginners are the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Capital One Venture Rewards card. Check out the hottest credit card offers here, or explore all credit cards here. Not sure which card is right for you? Ask me at nancy@milesforfamily.com. (Full disclosure–my blog earns a commission from some of those credit card links).

STEP 4: BEGIN USING NEW CREDIT CARD AND MEET MINIMUM SPENDING TO GET BONUS

Once your new card arrives, start using it to charge your expenses. I put almost everything on my credit cards (groceries, gas, restaurants, etc.) and pay off my balance in full every month. If you have an existing credit card, move your bills from that card to your new card until you fulfill the minimum spending requirement.

STEP 5: ACTIVATE 2-PLAYER MODE

If you have a spouse, partner or parent who lives and travels with you, have them apply for cards in their name separately. Most banks allow you to use household income on the application. You can both get signup bonuses and have double the miles and points to use for travel!

STEP 6: APPLY FOR SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARDS

Do you sell products on Etsy or through Facebook Marketplace? Do you babysit, petsit or have another side gig? You may qualify for a small business credit card that will earn you even more miles and points. (My favorite is the Chase Ink Business Preferred card).

STEP 7: SPEND YOUR MILES AND POINTS!

This is the fun part! After your welcome bonuses hit your account, start planning your trip! Use your frequent flyer and loyalty accounts to redeem your miles and points. Then, repeat steps 3-7 with new credit cards.

FAQs on Earning and Using Miles and Points for Award Travel

Is this process really free? No. Award flights come with taxes ranging from $5.60 to several hundred dollars per person depending on the airline and destination. Plus, even if you use miles and points for hotel and flights, you will still incur other expenses (food, tours, pet sitting, airport parking, etc.). BUT, using miles and points for the big expenses certainly makes each trip a lot less expensive.

Will I be approved for a new credit card? Different banks have different rules and guidelines for approving new customers. See this post for more information.

How will opening new credit cards affect my credit score? The reality is that opening a few new credit cards a year has minimal impact on your credit score. I’ve discovered that my credit score usually dips slightly right after opening a new card, but it recovers within a few months. Since I started getting miles and points credit cards, my credit score has consistently stayed in the low 800s.

What about the interest rates on these credit cards? The interest rates on these cards are irrelevant because you should not charge more than you can pay off every month. Don’t go into debt to collect miles and points!

How do I learn more? Subscribe to Miles for Family, follow us on Facebook and read our posts to learn more about this fun travel hobby.