Start Here: Intro to Traveling With Points and Miles
Traveling around the world using points and miles, whether flying first class and staying in luxury hotels or more modest trips sounds too good to be true, but it is completely real. We have been doing it for over 5 years.
The curious thing is that the key to efficiently accumulating hundreds of thousands of points and miles is not in traveling frequently or being loyal to an airline or hotel chain, but in how we use credit cards.
Traveling with credit card points has been a common practice for decades in the United States, especially among the English-speaking population, but despite the fact that we are millions of Hispanics living in this country or with access to the US credit system without even living there, it is still a very little-known concept for Hispanics, leaving thousands of travel opportunities on the table.
But to fully take advantage of this system, it is necessary to have the right knowledge, implement proven strategies, and not be swayed by myths.
In this guide, we will teach you the basics and first steps so you too can start traveling almost for free using credit cards and rewards programs.
The Basics
The process of accumulating points and starting to travel with points can be summed up quite simply:
1️⃣ Apply for a credit card that earns travel rewards
2️⃣ Meet the minimum spending requirement to obtain the welcome bonus
3️⃣ Use the earned rewards to travel
Done! Quite simple, right?
The thing is that there is a lot to unpack here because there are countless details in the process that can be confusing at first, but once we understand the basics, everything starts to take shape.
Earning Points: Welcome Bonuses
Welcome bonuses are the spotlight of this hobby. They offer the easiest, most direct, and economical way to generate hundreds of thousands of points for travel, although it is not the only way. Here’s how they work:
Frequently, credit cards offer a welcome bonus upon approval and after spending a certain amount of money within a specific timeframe. It is usually something like: “60,000 points after spending $4,000 in 3 months from account opening.”
Depending on the type of points we are earning, these 60,000 points can have a value of $600 in cash or for travel, although at times they can be worth much more, perhaps $1,200 or $1,800, for example. It all depends on the type of points generated and how they are redeemed. There are many ways to do this and not all points are the same.
The spending of $4,000 that you need to make is what is known as the minimum spending requirement. Once you have spent that amount within the required timeframe, you receive the bonus, and then you can redeem them for flights and/or hotel stays, and voila! You are traveling without spending from your own pocket.
Keep in mind that many cards occasionally offer "elevated offers" on their welcome bonuses. For example, instead of offering 60,000 points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, the offer might be for 70,000 points. On the blog, you will find the best cards for travel with their respective current offers, and we also publish elevated offers from other cards that are worth mentioning.
Is It Really Free Travel?
Now, you might be thinking… I’m not spending money for my trip, but I had to spend $4,000 in 3 months to get those points, so I am spending money!
And yes, you are absolutely right. It is necessary to spend money in order to earn points on credit cards. The detail here is that we all have expenses in our daily lives (unless it's a child reading this, in which case, show this to your parents!), so the idea is to use credit cards for our daily expenses without spending more than we had already budgeted, then pay off the card in full to avoid interest, and benefit from the earned points.
If a credit card requires spending $4,000 in 3 months to earn a bonus of 60,000 points, this equates to an average monthly spend of $1,333.
🛒 Groceries
⛽️ Gas
🏥 Insurance
😷 Medical expenses
💊 Drugstores
📖 Education
🧴 Personal care
🍷 Restaurants
🍿 Entertainment
✈️ Travel
And much more!
The average person spends much more than $1,333 a month, and we could even plan to pay a large expense all at once and thus earn a welcome bonus along the way.
So, if we are spending what we would normally do regardless of whether we pay with one card or another, or even in cash, we could say that the trips we take with credit card points are practically free.
How Can I Earn More Points?
Beyond welcome bonuses, credit cards earn points for the daily purchases we make with them, but the amount of points we earn can vary by card and by category.
There are cards that have "multipliers," which would be extra points in certain categories. So instead of earning 1 point per dollar in a specific category like restaurants, it could earn 3 points per dollar (3x).
To accumulate the maximum amount of points, we want to focus on using the card that gives us the most points in our main spend categories. Instead of paying $500 a month in groceries with a card that earns 1 point per dollar (500 points), we can consider one that earns 4 points per dollar (2,500 points). The difference in a year would be 24,000 points, enough for 2 to 3 nights in a nice hotel or a roundtrip flight in economy class. You did this without modifying your budget at all!
As a minimum, we should be earning 2 points per dollar on any transaction, unless we are using a card specifically to reach a welcome bonus.
Doesn't This Hurt My Credit?
The million-dollar question… Is it bad for my credit to frequently get new credit cards? I don’t want to lower my score. 🙁
We don’t want to lower our credit scores either. In fact, we take great care of it. That’s why our score has consistently stayed above 800 points for the past 5 years, even while applying for multiple credit cards each year.
How is this possible? Simple: Having many credit cards is not a negative factor in your credit history; in fact, it can benefit you in the long run due to credit availability and low utilization of total credit.
The important thing here is not to apply for multiple credit cards in a short period of time, both for your credit score and because banks often have speed limits, and there will come a point where they will stop approving you new cards for going too fast.
If we are strategic with applications and focus on the factors that truly affect credit (such as payment history and utilization), we can apply for several cards over time without negatively affecting our score.
So, What’s The Catch?
It's not all sunshine and rainbows… There is a very clear reason why credit card issuers (i.e., banks) are so generous with the points and miles they offer: they make much more money through interest, interchange fees (which the consumer does not pay directly), commissions, and late payment fees than what they provide in rewards.
By paying interest, we eliminate any benefit we can get from credit cards. The only way to truly get a benefit is to pay off the full balance of your credit cards each month.
That’s why the golden rule of this hobby is not to spend more than you can pay every month to avoid paying interest on your purchases.
If you are someone who is not responsible with their credit cards, spends more than they can afford each month, and is prone to falling into debt, we do not recommend using credit cards until you change your financial habits. That is the very first step.
So, How Do Points And Miles Work?
Airlines and hotels have their own loyalty programs that reward you with points when you fly or stay with them.
At the same time, banks have partnerships with many of these airlines and hotels, making it possible to earn points and miles through their credit cards.
These points can be redeemed for flights, hotel stays, upgrades, and much more.
Some cards earn points and miles directly from the hotel or airline, while others earn flexible points, which are points we can transfer to the loyalty programs of hotels and airlines.
💡 Pro Tip: Cards that earn flexible points are the priority.
Using Points
Once you have accumulated a considerable amount of points, it’s time to use them. Ideally in the most strategic way possible.
As we mentioned, there are different ways to redeem our points, and some may be better than others. It is not always obvious which redemptions offer the best value and it can be confusing at first, making it important to familiarize yourself with the main reward programs, the different currencies, and understand the differences between cashback, flexible points, non-flexible points, and miles. You already know that you’ll want to primarily focus on flexible points.
There is a learning curve to understand what constitutes good value and what doesn’t, but once you learn it, it’s a game-changer in how you view credit card rewards.
You will quickly realize that a flight in economy class for 50,000 miles is not usually a good redemption if it costs $500 in cash, while 60,000 miles for a business class or first class flight that would cost more than $4,000 in cash can be considered an excellent value for our points.
Is Traveling With Points And Miles For You?
This hobby is incredible. It has allowed us to take trips we never thought were possible, but as we said it has a golden rule: never spend more than you can pay in full each month.
If you can follow this rule, are organized with your finances, and love to travel (who doesn’t?), this hobby is for you!
Getting Started
Define Your Travel Goal
Remember that this requires knowledge and strategy. Before you start applying for cards, think about:
✔︎ Where do you want to travel?
✔︎ Do you prefer specific airlines?
✔︎ Do you want a luxury experience or are you looking for budget options?
If you have a clear destination, you can choose specific cards that maximize your benefits according to your plans, such as cards linked to a specific airline or a hotel brand, although the priority should always be flexible points for greater flexibility, as these can be transferred to different airlines and hotels, so you're not committing to a single airline or just one hotel chain. You have many more options to choose from and better plan your trips.
If you don’t have a defined plan and prefer to “go with the flow” and implement what you learn as you accumulate points, it’s best to start with cards that earn flexible points.
Some of the best cards for beginners that offer flexible points are:
💳 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The best card to start in Chase's Ultimate Rewards points ecosystem.
💳 Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Earns Capital One Miles and offers straightforward rewards with a very competitive welcome bonus.
💳 Citi Strata Premier℠
Offers one of the best reward structures for cards in this category, and is a must for the ThankYou® Rewards ecosystem.
💳 Bilt Mastercard®
Has no annual fee and allows you to earn points on your rent or HOA payments without incurring additional costs. It is the only card within the Bilt Rewards ecosystem so far.
But I Don’t Like Cards With Annual Fees…
Many of the cards with the best benefits that will allow us to earn hundreds of thousands of points or miles have an annual fee. These fees usually range from $95 to $250, and for the more premium cards, they typically range between $325 and $695.
It may seem contradictory to pay for a credit card to save money on travel; however, many of these cards offer benefits that can justify the fee for many people. These benefits include travel credits, free stays, access to VIP lounges at airports, complimentary status with certain hotels, and much more.
The important thing here is 1) not to overpay in unnecessary annual fees, and 2) to analyze whether it truly benefits us to use the credit card to pay that cost year after year.
If not, there is always the possibility of doing a downgrade or, in the worst case, canceling the card.
Once You Master The Basics
Once you master the basics, you will notice that there are many details that go beyond credit cards but are part of this hobby, such as strategies to earn even more points beyond credit card spend, status levels with hotels and airlines, alliances between airlines, “sweet spots,” and much, much more.
We always say that this can be the most profitable and entertaining hobby where you learn and enjoy the most, and if you want to learn how to make it a reality, we are sure that the content of this blog and our other resources will help you along the way.
To Wrap Up
Earning and using credit card points and miles effectively may seem overwhelming and confusing at first, and we won't lie to you. It is!
We spent months, literally, trying to figure out how the whole dynamic worked because everything seemed too advanced and we didn’t understand many things until we gradually caught on, implemented, and learned from our own experiences.
Our goal is to help everyone who wants to start traveling more in the way they want, without having to go through the months of intense work that we did.
Now that you have the basics, we want to teach you how to travel almost for free with points and miles so that you can visit all the destinations you’ve always wanted, without burning your savings along the way or having to settle with only cheap options.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t live in the United States, can I travel with points?
Living in the United States provides a great advantage for this hobby, but it is not necessary. What is necessary is to have access to the banking and credit system of the country, and this can be achieved by obtaining an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for foreign nationals).
You can click here for more information on how to obtain an ITIN and access the banking system in the USA without living in the United States.
Do I need good credit?
To qualify for 90% of the credit cards that are useful for earning points and miles, good credit is needed. We recommend having at least a 670 score, and start with basic cards that have a higher likelihood of approval for people who are starting their credit journey or do not have a score that is considered excellent.
How can I get business credit cards?
You can see our guide on this here.
Can I do this with my partner?
Not only can you pursue this hobby with your partner, but we recommend it 100%. It is one of the best ways to accumulate double points and miles and alternate between strategies.
Do I need to spend a lot of money to earn points?
No, but it is a reality that the more you spend, the more points you can earn.
An average of $1,500 in monthly expenses is enough to take advantage of this hobby.
If your monthly expenses are $3,000 or more, you have the advantage of being able to accumulate many more points.
If you have a business, especially one that involves buying inventory, you have a huge opportunity to benefit from credit card points.
Is this legal? It sounds too good to be true
Completely legal and widely accepted. There are rules that must be followed if we want to make this hobby something sustainable over time, as banks are not in the business of gifting rewards.
What is the best card for earning points and miles?
There is no single best card for everyone because we all have different situations; however, there are some that we consider the best cards overall for traveling with points and miles. You can find them here.
Do points expire?
The expiration of points varies from program to program. Usually, credit card points never expire as long as the account remains open (there are always exceptions). Hotel points and airline miles have very different rules among themselves; some never expire, while others expire after a certain period of inactivity in the account. You need to familiarize yourself with each program so that you are not caught off guard and end up losing your points due to inactivity.
