Want to travel the world at prices you can afford? We’ve been all around the world for (mostly) free. Here’s our list of strategies and deals that will help you travel the world for free too.
ONE: Earn Free Flights and Hotel Stays from Credit Card Companies
- Sign up for credit cards
- Get free miles and points as a bonus
- Cash those points and miles in for nearly-free travel
The credit card industry is competitive and they all want more customers. To encourage new customers to choose their cards, rewards cards throw in point and mile bonuses to new customers, often enough for free flights and hotel stays.
Some great bonuses available now?
50,000 points from Chase Sapphire Preferred
Sign up for this card, spend $4,000 on it in 3 months and you’ll get 50,000 free Chase Ultimate Rewards Points. Those points can be transferred to major airlines and hotel chains and redeemed for free flights and free hotel stays. They’re worth roughly $625 in travel when booking directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Related: How I’m Meeting a $10,000 Minimum Spending Requirement in Three Months
Ultimate Reward points are highly valued for their ease and flexibility of use. These points can be transferred over to over 10 major airlines and hotel chains and redeemed for free flights and chains. You earn more points the more you spend — 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards Point per $1 you spend on all purchases, and 2 of those points for money you spend on travel and dining purchases.
Related: Free Trips You Can Book With Chase’s Travel Portal
But these deals don’t always last for long. One of the big-headline new cards from the past year has been the Chase Sapphire Reserve card which offered 100,000 bonus points for new customers who signed up (and a $450 annual fee to pay for every year you use the card). Now it’s reduced by half to 50,000 points, which is the same point bonus you can get with The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which comes with a much less hefty $95 annual fee, waived the first year.
50,000 points from The Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
- This card also gives you 50,000 points, but for spending only $3,000 on the card in the first three months that you have it. The sign up bonus of 50,000 points is worth $500 when redeemed toward travel and the $89 annual fee is waived the first year.
- And it’s another great travel card that helps you earn free travel as you spend. This card effectively earns you 2% back on all purchases as long as you redeem your points for travel expenses.
These two cards are just a sample of the many credit cards that are available to help you travel the world for free.
TWO: Use Your Good Credit to Earn As Many Points As Possible
As long as you have a good credit score and are good at and comfortable managing many credit card accounts, you can apply for card after card to earn hundreds of thousands of points to fund your travels.
The effect a single application has on your credit score is pretty minimal. In the short term, you’ll probably see your score decrease by about 2-5 points. As long as you pay off your credit cards on time, never miss a payment, and keep your credit utilization in check your credit score will remain a valuable tool to help you travel for free. Check out our Rookie Guide to learn more.
THREE: Earn Points Every Time You Spend Money
Whether you’re spending money on groceries, gas, business expenses or travel, make sure you’re using a credit card that gives you the most points for your dollar. For example, the Hilton Honors Surpass card earns you 6X points at U.S. grocery stores and U.S. gas stations.
The average household spends around $6,000 dollars per year on food, which will give you another 36,000 free Hilton points (enough for up to seven free nights) just for using only this card to buy groceries and gas. Add that to the generous sign-up bonus, and that’s an additional 15 free nights (Hilton redemptions start at 5,000 points for category 1 hotels) — more than enough to keep the spending/earning cycle going to keep you in free hotel nights for quite a while.
Even better, does that grocery store then sell gift cards to some of your favorite merchants (e.g. Best Buy, Target, etc.)? Instead of earning 1X points using your credit card at those retail merchants, purchase gift cards for them at the supermarket instead and earn 3X or 5X. Use those gift cards for your shopping at other retailers. Gift cards are not excluded from bonus points!
In addition to using gift cards for in-store purchases, you can shift your online shopping habits by using shopping portals such as TopCashBack, BeFrugal, FatWallet, eBates, or BigCrumbs, where in addition to the points you’ll earn from your credit card spend, you’ll earn 1, 2, 5, or 10+ points per dollar spent, just by using a link through these sites! My favorite website to compare the earning from various shopping portals is CashBackMonitor.
FOUR: Get A Card With Flexible Rewards
Like the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express or the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express. They currently both offer 25,000 SPG points for the sign up bonus.
Not only can these points be used for Starwood hotels, but they can also be transferred at a 1:3 ratio to Marriott and used at Marriott hotels and transferred to a large number of airline partners.
SPG points transfer to most of their airline partners at a 1:1 ratio, but a 5,000 mile bonus is offered when you transfer in increments of 20,000 SPG points. This effectively means that SPG points transfer at a 1:1.25 ratio to a huge number of airlines.
FIVE: Book Cheap Flights
Airfare continues to get more reasonable, and if you are flexible in your travel dates and/or where you want to travel, you should consider keeping your eye out for cheap fares. The Flight Deal and Fare Deal Alert are two of the best websites for U.S.-based travelers.
You can still pair booking cheap flights with credit card based free travel strategies. The Barclaycard Arrival World Select MasterCard, mentioned above, could be used to cover the cost of an inexpensive flight you have booked.
SIX: Make Sure You Use All of Your Card’s Perks
The Platinum Card from American Express is a great card. It has a pretty hefty $550 annual fee, but currently offers a 60,000 Membership Reward Point sign up bonus.
Beyond the sign up bonus, the ongoing perks of this card might make it worth keeping if you’re a frequent traveler. It earns 5 points per dollar spent on airfare purchases, offers American Express Centurion Lounge Access in addition to a Priority Pass Select Membership which provides access to a network of over 1,000 lounges worldwide.
You also have free access to global wifi hotspots through Boingo, $200 per year in statement credits for airline incidental (checked bag fees, seat selection fees, etc), and a $100 statement credit for Global Entry (which includes TSA PreCheck).
Still have questions? Check out our Rookie Guide or let us know in the comments!
May 28, 2012 at 9:58 pm, Jenny said:
Looking for a good deal to Orlando from Phil.Taking my special needs child on a trip.The fare is more than the disney tickets and all other perks.
June 03, 2012 at 7:19 am, Bob said:
The Delta Platinum Card would have been a better deal.
June 03, 2012 at 1:45 pm, Frugal Travel Guy said:
Why do you say that? The Gold offers the largest signup bonus.
June 03, 2012 at 2:02 pm, Bob said:
I received 40K RDMs and 15 MQMs for signing up for the Platinum card in April 2012. Plus the Platinum card earns MQMs – the Gold card does not.
June 13, 2012 at 9:37 am, Frugal Travel Guy said:
identify if the card makes sense for you to keep. If not ask for a reduced or waived fee. Next you could try asking for something in exchange for spending/using the card to get some additional value. Or, try to see if you can convert the card to one without an annual fee. The benefits are likely to be less but at least you’ll keep the card. Last thing to do is to outright cancel it.
June 14, 2012 at 6:47 am, Kathy said:
I tried to negotiate but they wouldn’t. It just didn’t make sense for me to keep the card because I am getting so much more from my Chase cards. I recently used my US air miles for two tickets for an upcoming trip. After their award ticketing fees and other fees, I am not a real loyal US air fan. Also, we have to pay for our checked bags on this upcoming trip. UGH! I would take the card again for a big sign up bonus but I don’t think it hurt me to dump it. Not worth the annual fee.
June 14, 2012 at 6:47 am, Kathy said:
I tried to negotiate but they wouldn’t. It just didn’t make sense for me to keep the card because I am getting so much more from my Chase cards. I recently used my US air miles for two tickets for an upcoming trip. After their award ticketing fees and other fees, I am not a real loyal US air fan. Also, we have to pay for our checked bags on this upcoming trip. UGH! I would take the card again for a big sign up bonus but I don’t think it hurt me to dump it. Not worth the annual fee.
July 11, 2012 at 12:24 am, Blom said:
Any ideas for someone not living in the US? 🙂
July 17, 2012 at 5:34 am, Jan said:
What is your thought about the United Mileage Plus Explorer card?
July 21, 2012 at 11:50 am, Surendra said:
Rick,
We applied and recd our United Plus Club card with the codes from link u provided. Is there a 50k bonus and/or waiver of annual fee with this card? I thought there was a bonus of 50k or may be not. Can you clarify. Thx.
Surendra
July 22, 2012 at 6:15 am, Paul_excite said:
I got two free nights at a fantastic HYATT vendome in Paris on a HYATT card from citi. Best reward deal I ever had.
January 10, 2013 at 6:38 am, Imelda Rodriguez-Trinidad said:
I recommended it to a friend since he has good credit. He too got 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Vendome after he made his first purchase. Great card! We’re looking forward to staying at this hotel (min. of Euro 600/night) on Valentine’s Day.
July 31, 2012 at 7:10 pm, Firesale1 said:
Hi Rick,
New to this, thanks for all the info. How would you suggest to find the lowest fare from MIA to TXL 3 week in May flexible dates? Got some points from new cc only about 40k on US and 20K on Starwood. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
September 05, 2012 at 8:17 pm, detroitwhat said:
Rick,
Why don’t you recommend the CapitalOne Venture card? Putting aside the sign-up bonuses, for someone looking to rack up as many points as possible to use for domestic air travel (in coach) on any airline in the US, is there any other card that beats it? I’ve read a lot of about the Sapphire Preferred, SPG Amex, Citi ThankYou Premier, etc., however, I don’t see how these cards compare long-term since CapitalOne Venture gives you 2 points per $1 spent (so long as the points are used for air travel in coach). Please let me know if you disagree; curious to read what you think. Thank you.
September 06, 2012 at 5:26 am, Frugal Travel Guy said:
The signup bonus is a significant part of the benefits of the card … especially if you’re doing 4-6 cards a year. While you get 2 points / dollar with capone it is effectively a 2% cashback card. Some points such as SPG points I value at 2.5 cents/point, others not as much, but in general can do much better with Starwood Preferred Guest Points, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and American Express Membership Rewards.
While capone points have “no blackout dates”, the purchase price is based on the dollar value of the ticket and at times it can be quite disadvantageous
September 12, 2012 at 3:09 pm, Frugal Travel Guy said:
the capone bonus was a great one. we got it 2 years ago. Past that bonus other bonuses in general are better.
An example of a great redemption is with the BA card using Avios on AA. boston to new york for 9000 avios round trip! each programs point value is different to the holder.
October 19, 2012 at 5:02 pm, mary said:
I can’t get the US Airways card without Chairman status. any help for me?
October 19, 2012 at 5:18 pm, Frugal Travel Guy said:
yes, you can indeed.
October 21, 2012 at 8:42 am, Frugal Travel Guy said:
Take a look at http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/credit-card-review and send me an email. I’ll make some recommendations on the best options I can
October 30, 2012 at 9:36 am, Adnan said:
I am not sure how this works? My friend know that I churn Credit Card, so he gave me a offer he got on his mail for his biz, amex gold for Biz with $75K bonus and min spending of $5000. Now the Paper application has an RSVP code in order to bring up the offer to apply online, is it possible for me apply for the biz card, does does it have to be the company it was targeted for?
November 18, 2012 at 5:55 pm, Phil said:
How do I transfer 7900 INK rewards to my Delta AMEX account? I also want to get a Bluebird account to pay my mortgage.
November 19, 2012 at 3:02 pm, Denise Sporn said:
Any advice about finding great airfare deals to Rome? Want to book sometime between Feb-April. Maybe able to upgrade to biz with miles; not sure. Grazie!!
November 20, 2012 at 6:26 am, Frugal Travel Guy said:
Check out travelzoo’s top 20; deals pop up there all the time.
November 20, 2012 at 10:05 pm, Danny said:
i use Southwest mostly from the Northeast, what’s the best card to use for miles ?? any deals going on now ?
November 21, 2012 at 6:09 am, Frugal Travel Guy said:
Take a look at the chase southwest premier card: http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/credit-cards/airline-cards#swpremier
November 30, 2012 at 7:53 am, Laura Merritt said:
I’m struggling to find a decent priced flght at spring break from SWF to MCO right now I can go out of albany on Southwest for $400 RT but my spoiled husband won’t go there. Should I wait to see if things loosen up at SWF? I use a Jet Blue AMEX to get free flights and have about 75K points right now.
December 04, 2012 at 11:58 am, Emily Archer said:
I’m new to this whole travel deal thing. I’m looking to backpack Europe next fall. Any tips on air, train, hotels…
January 01, 2013 at 1:48 pm, Mary Weaver Holmberg said:
My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in May. Should we hold off buying tickets or get them now?
January 04, 2013 at 12:46 pm, Sheila Nottage Keitel said:
Rick, I signed up for the US AIrways Premier World card with the 40,000 miles- thought I was getting the annual fee of $89 waived and turns out that’s not the case- I’m on the phone with them now requesting a waiver but if I don’t get it is it still worth the $89 fee? [email protected]
January 04, 2013 at 12:47 pm, Sheila Nottage Keitel said:
OK they waived the fee but it was 45 minutes on the phone politely insisting… it worked
January 12, 2013 at 4:53 pm, Carla said:
Just started following your blog. What do you think of citi hilton reserve card as compared to the chase sapphire prefered? I fly frontier and southwest typically, but like staying in hilton properties.
January 13, 2013 at 8:25 pm, Frugal Travel Guy said:
Chase Sapphire Preferred is one I carry for every day use. The Citi Hilton Reserve is great for the free nights and gold status with Hilton. I have them both 🙂
January 19, 2013 at 5:23 am, Kathy Swope Beebe said:
Best way to use two unused airline tickets with United. The change fee is $150 and the original ticket for two was a total of $433. I guess there is no way to get around the change fees?
April 08, 2013 at 5:57 pm, stansso said:
What at the restrictions on getting multiple Chase Sapphire Preferred new card bonuses (I already had the MasterCard one, and I have the no fee non-Preferred MasterCard)?
April 13, 2013 at 2:17 am, Flook said:
Hi I live in Denmark
I’ve been searching a lot but It seems that Europeans aren’t able to enjoy the benefits of card churning?
Do you know of a card which is good for racking up miles, for Europeans?
April 16, 2013 at 11:35 am, Melissa Walker said:
I have 150,000 rewards points with American Express. I am trying to find the most beneficial way to use those points for a family (of 4) beach vacation for this summer. We used to get good deals when they were partnered with United, but points don’t go as far anymore. Any suggestions?
January 29, 2014 at 6:05 pm, notme said:
Get Starwood Preferred Guest account. Transfer the Amex points to Starwood. From there, transfer to American Airlines, which would give you 150,000 miles good for at least 4 airline tickets.
April 25, 2013 at 1:51 pm, John said:
Why is a RT from Sydney to LAX the same price as a one-way ticket?
June 30, 2013 at 5:56 pm, Joel Castillo said:
Don Cafe Restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida has the best cuban food and cafe con leche in South Florida. http://www.doncaferestaurant.com
August 14, 2013 at 11:03 pm, Kayla Grigsby said:
bad day my guys brother was found dead in kalamazoo mi, we cant both go but thats ok short notice flight so much $$ any help advice pleez would be helpful
September 13, 2013 at 10:09 am, P T said:
Hi Rick, Is the AMEX Platinum $200 airline incidental fee credit good for fees incurred prior to approval? I am looking at a $300 change and redeposit fee, but it is too early for me to apply. Thanks!
November 14, 2013 at 11:20 pm, Aafke J. Volbeda said:
Hi
Is there a way to avoid layovers? Layovers often are delayed, because of the connection. There you go, what a headache that is!!!
I’ve taken direct flights. That helps, but often the direct flights cost more $$, and hard to come by. What happened to the pleasure of flying?
On my last two trips, I arrived home 10+ hours later than planned.
It almost spoiled the memories of the good times at the wedding and seeing my new granddaugher.
Thank you so much!!!
Aafke V.
December 13, 2013 at 10:06 am, Linda said:
Just wondered about United’s credit card, only 30K miles offered. Am I greedy,or should I wait for a better bonus ?
December 13, 2013 at 11:56 am, Ariana said:
Not at all. There’s actually a 55k offer here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1330475-ua-mileageplus-explorer-card-up-55k-miles-50-statement-credit.html
January 09, 2014 at 7:14 am, gum_guy said:
How do you deal with the yearly fees in year 2 of your card? Do you cancel the cards and have that on your record (benefit of business cardsa re that they aren’t on your personal credit score) or do you call to ask for more bonuses to pay the fee or do you call to have the fee waived?
January 12, 2014 at 10:25 pm, Lisa Simmons-Dekker said:
where should I stay at Disney Orlando with 4 kids who are performing at Epcot in March?
February 15, 2014 at 9:28 pm, Priya Xavier said:
has anyone heard anything about 100,000 miles offer from capitalone for existing venture customers?
March 24, 2014 at 10:08 pm, katy said:
Hi Rick! Thank you for all this information. I went ahead and applied for the chase sapphire. I’m new to the travel awards stuff. =) In order for me to get miles, does this card limit me to fly certain airlines? Thank you
April 25, 2014 at 5:45 am, Elizabeth Reynolds said:
I had the Continental Card and got the 50,000 sign up bonus but now I can’t find the miles. I though they would merge to United but they didn’t. Was I supposed to do a step to transfer them?
Anyone else have this issue?
April 25, 2014 at 6:44 am, Howie said:
I would reach out directly to United and provide them your Continental # (and/or United #) and I bet they should find them for you. They accounts were indeed merged at some point unless account information was different. -Howie
January 12, 2017 at 7:44 am, Laura Byrd said:
I have two dozen cards most of which had sign up bonuses initially. I use my Delta Gold, Hilton Honors and Marriott Rewards cards the most for business travel due to the automatic status benefit and Delta’s spending requirement for status. A lot of my cards aren’t used – the points just sit because I don’t fly American or stay at Hyatts or IHG properties. Is there a way to move unused points to another, more frequently used program? Also, if you’re getting 2-5 new cards a year, those little dings on a credit report can add up – some of us try to keep that score as close to 800 as possible. How do you consistently maintain a high score with THAT many inquiries? I understand it’s a small part of a report, but five new cards a year, every year, is a LOT.