The Basics: Where Do I Start If I want to Travel for FREE

 

We are jumping for joy in a field looking at the Andes Mountains in Chile because it's beautiful, we trekked to get here and our trip was almost FREE. I'm not bragging. Instead, I'm hoping to inspire you that you can travel for FREE too. 

Before I share the basics with you. I want to share some of the questions I have received recently which sparked the need for this post. 

• A friend called me last week and asked me if I could help her family of four travel to Italy this summer for FREE. The answer is no. Next summer, yes. 
• Another friend asked if she could get her hotels for FREE for an upcoming trip. Then she shared that she had opened at least 5 credit cards in the past year including a Williams Sonoma credit card. The answer is maybe. But she may have to wait another year to start and review all of her credit cards. 

So where do you start? 

You have heard the saying that you need to start at the beginning and do a review of where you are now and where you are going. 

Let's look at the steps:

1. Where do you want to go - What are your travel goals? Who will be going with you?

2. What credit cards do you have currently? I would create a spreadsheet with all the cards, the dates you opened them, the credit limit, perks, the annual fee and the card anniversary. Then review them and ask if you are getting benefit out of them. Never cancel your oldest card or cards with high credit limits. But the rest are fair game. 

3. Depending on what type of travel you want to do, domestic or international will determine which card you open first.

• If you are looking at domestic travel, I recommend the Southwest credit card and if you travel with another person, then go for the Southwest companion pass. 
• If you are looking at international travel, I recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card or the Capital One Venture X credit card. These cards offer the most flexibility and ease of use. 

Once you are approved for your credit card, use that card for all of your daily purchases like gas and groceries. I call it leveraged spending. It's making your daily purchases work harder for you.

And if you go out for dinner with friends, pick up the check and ask them to give you cash or venmo you. 

If you have an event coming up, pay for it with that credit card. 

Home repair project, see if you can pay with a credit card. 

College tuition due, pay with the credit card, but watch out for fees. 

Insurance premium, medical bills, yep, put it all on the same credit card. 

Now you MUST pay off the credit card entirely! I put all of my credit cards on auto pay as soon as I get them. If you pay interest, then it defeats the point of the game. 

Once the bonus is triggered, you can move onto the next credit card. In the next blog post, we will talk about some more advanced methods of earning points and of course, the best part, how to spend the points. 

If you apply for any credit cards, please use the referral links in this post. You get the same deal you would anywhere else and I get a reward for referring you.