It’s no big secret around here that I LOVE to travel. In fact if I could have any job in the world, I’d love to be a writer for National Geographic Traveler Magazine or play the role of Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel for a year.
Sometimes I score super awesome last minute deals from Expedia on airline tickets, and other times I get them for free.
{Tower of London, Spring 2013}
Now before I start, I want to make it very clear the way I go about earning free tickets may not be for everyone. I use 2 specific credit cards to earn points and we charge practically everything we possibly can to rack up those points.
I know not everyone likes to use credit cards because they either have a hard time paying them off every month, or prefer to use the cash system and not charge anything, or they simple don’t own a credit card at all.
And that is fine. This is just how my family does it.
{Monkey Boy and the Girl in Paris 2006}
We started traveling heavily around 2006 when we earned out first set of free tickets to Europe. It took us 2 years to earn the points, and the whole time the Handsome Husband played the Debbie Downer role saying there was no way we’d be able to redeem 4 free {$1,200} tickets to Europe from our credit card company.
I grew up in a family that traveled. The Handsome Husband’s family did not. Basically I wanted my kids to see the world, have some adventures and get some travel experiences under their belts before they headed off to collage.
I didn’t want them to enter adulthood thinking traveling the globe was out of their reach, or that they couldn’t afford it. I also wanted to teach them to be spontaneous. To live in the moment, and if they found an awesome deal and were able to afford it, they should be like Nike and Just Do It.
The two credit cards I use are the Alaska Airlines Visa Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card I try and use the Starwood Preferred card as much as I can because for every 20,000 points I earn, I can redeem those 20,000 points for 25,000 Alaska Airlines mileage points.
It takes 20,000 points for a free domestic ticket and 40,000 free points for 1 ticket to Europe with the Alaska Airlines program. Plus, with the Alaska Airlines card, each card holder earns a $99 companion fare ticket every year as well.
{Boise Dirty Dash, Summer 2012}
The Alaska Airlines Signature card charges an annual fee of $75. After you sign up, you will receive 25,000 bonus points after your first purchase. Translation: You get 1 free airline ticket.
The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card has a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $65 thereafter.
After you sign up you can earn up to 25,000 bonus points: 10,000 after your first purchase and another 15,000 after you spend $5,000 within the first 6 months of Card membership.
{Mavis and her crappy British teeth}
Like I said, we charge everything from dental bills, utilities, groceries, gas, you name it, if we can use our credit card to rack up points, then we use the card. We’ve also been able to earn some extra points over the years because my husband travels occasionally for work and when he does he charges all his purchases. Which he gets reimbursed for of course, but the points are ours to keep.
I do understand this type of travel planning doesn’t work for everyone. This method only works if you pay off your credit card balance in full each month. No exceptions.
If you are not in the habit of paying off your credit cards each month, then don’t charge all your bills and purchases in hopes of earning yourself a free vacation. It makes no sense to pay interest on a credit card just to earn some free travel. It’s only free if you don’t have to pay for it.
Traveling is RAD, and I wish I could do it every week.
Have YOU ever cashed in your credit card miles for an airline ticket? If so, what is your favorite rewards credit card to use?
Mavis wants to know.
If you are unhappy with the credit card you have, check out creditcards.com. They’ve got every card under the moon over there and you can compare the cards you are interested in side by side.
Jennifer Jo says
Are you coming to see me?
(We met an older woman who was spending 6 weeks traveling through Guatemala and Belize BY HERSELF. She didn’t speak ANY Spanish. YOU CAN DO IT.)
(Bring your daughter.)
Mavis says
I’ve thought about bringing the girl. We’ll see. I’d have to bring my own box of band aids though because walking around town with a Kotex stuck to my arm would be more fun than I could handle! 😉
Jennifer Jo says
Honey, we have an ENTIRE box here that you can use. Band aids, not Kotex. COME.
Heidi says
Last month we used miles to travel to Palm Springs and San Diego. My mother in law said “I think I have some miles I haven’t used in a long long time. You can have them and come see me” Well I almost fell off of my chair when I signed her up online. She had 600,000 points. Yes 600,000! She had no idea. I let her know she could fly a few more friends down to Palm Springs to visit her this year and beyond. We have used miles for years and will be doing so again in August when we visit Hawaii.
A word of caution~ Although finding scamming good deals on discount travel sites is awesome it does have a downside that most people don’t realize. If something happens to the plane you are traveling on (think mechanical/delays of any kind) you will possibly lose your seat. I experienced this first hand. On the way back from a vacation all of the Expedia/Orbitz etc passengers lost their seats due to a plane size downgrade. They were booked eventually on later flights but it was days later. Total bummer. Our family capitalized on the deal and offered to be bumped. $500 cash per person (yes cash I’ve never heard of cash since) 5 round trip tickets, 2 hotel rooms plus food vouchers. So many that we had to hand them out at the airport to other travelers so they would be used up before they expired. Crazy but fun.
I love to travel that is why I own my own travel agency:)
Mavis says
If I had 600,000 miles I would fly first class to Australia. Wowza!!!
Leanna says
My mom uses her Alaska Airlines Visa card for everything like you do. She travels every year (sometimes twice) to see her cousin in Maui. Free ticket and free lodging. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lina says
Yes this is how most of my travel happens too (although I am a Marriott and United girl so I have their cards instead). I have a ton of Marriott points from traveling for work that I have taken my 2 sisters and another friend on a 3 tropical vacations where we work out a deal where I will cover their room expense with my points and they buy my plane ticket. Bartering with points is fun 🙂
Kendra says
I have the Delta card. This year I’m using my companion ticket for my hubby and I to go to NYC for a long weekend and I just booked my flight using miles to go to the BlogHer conference in Chicago. My hubby and I have a similar situation as you – he never went on vacation growing up (except to visit family which I say doesn’t count) and I went somewhere new every year.
Onilee says
My husband and I take a scuba diving trip every year using miles we earn on our Capital One card. Last year St. Thomas, USVI and this year Roatan, Honduras. We leave next Saturday – YooHoo can’t wait. Love your site – keep us smiling!!
Mavis says
Oh my word that is totally awesome! What are you going to do in Honduras?
Sakura says
I use 2 cards, I use the Amex Delta Card and the Chase Southwest Airlines card. I travel once or twice a month for business, so I try to fly SW first then Delta depending on the cost of the flights. I use the cards to pay for a lot of items and pay them off at the end of the month. I have 3 kids 9 to 20 yo’s and we like to take a family vacation or 2 each year. Last October we used points for 5 round trip tickets to Orlando which saved about $2500, and in December we took a trip to Nashville to watch football over a 3 day weekend. The year before that we used our miles to head to Miami and take a cruise to the Bahamas.
The other suggestion I would make is if you are inconvenienced by an airlines don’t be afraid to ask for some kind of freebie. I went to New Jersey last week and the plan coming in from Portland had a bird hit the windshield. It was over an hour and a half late coming to the SLC airport which made me miss my connection in Denver. Because I had to rearrange my entire day and instead of arriving at 6 pm I would get in at 1 am they were kind enough to give me a $400 voucher for future flights. It never hurts to ask, the worst they can say is no.
Mavis says
WOW!
debbie says
I also have the alaska airlines card — which is helpful since I live in Juneau, Alaska, which is only accessible by water or air – so I fly a lot. I do the same thing that you do, Mavis — I charge all of my monthly expenses on my card and pay it off each month. Not only has this allowed me to travel, it is allowing me to fly my mom and sister up to Juneau for my wedding this summer. And the companion fare is awesome — though it was even more awesome when it was $50! 🙂 Pretty much everyone here in Juneau has an Alaska Airlines card and uses it for everything.
Angie Ruby says
We also have an Alaska Airlines card and use it for almost all our expenses. My husband is a residential contractor and includes material in his bids so we rack up more miles that way. We’ve used them for Hawaii, Mexico, Australia(which was the best trip ever!) and even domestic flights too! In fact, we leave at the end of the month for Cabo- got each ticket for 35,000 miles. Of course you also earn miles for how many miles you fly on your trip and if you get a seperate mileage plan number for each member of the fam you can start racking up miles for each member. Our daughter is 7 but is on her way to receiving her first free ticket herself:)
Mavis says
Love it! I love the Alaska Airlines card too. 🙂
Sherry says
First, I love the expression on your son in that 2006 photo. I’ve seen the same expression on you a time or two!
My sister and I used our (Chase) United Airlines miles last summer to go to Europe: England, Switzerland and Italy. Unfortunately, they charged us 100,000 miles for each ticket, I guess because we flew into London and out of Rome. And that was not the first time we had to cough up more miles for a ticket. We’re getting kind of tired of United. I think I’ll check out that Starwood Preferred American Express card you mentioned.
I love keeping up with your garden and am looking forward to seeing it progress this summer.
dropofrain says
I thought you cannot use your points to buy a ticket for someone else. My husband has lots of points on his Delta miles credit card but he doesn’t fly much. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind to fly to California to see my grandbabies. He said that he couldn’t purchase a airplane ticket for me with his points….. Is he wrong??????
Kendra says
I used miles from my Delta credit card to buy a ticket for my friend last year and it worked just fine.
Mavis says
The Girl and I steal the HH’s points all the time. 🙂
Elaine says
Yes, he is wrong. He can get a ticket for you using his points.
Martha says
Because I’m in Canada, we use Air Canada’s Aeroplan Visa card. Besides trips to Florida which include transportation and lodging, we’ve also taken our whole family to Paraguay to visit my sister. Next goal: Indonesia to visit my brother and his family!
Pre-marriage/family days, I used to purposefully book on overbooked flights and then immediately offer to bump my seat when I checked in. I can’t tell you how many times I flew for free from Arizona to Ohio on FREE tickets – sometimes even getting bumped to first class! WooHoo!
Mavis says
WooHoo is right! I’m happy to get bumped too!
Ross says
One question. Do you find you spend more at the store if you use your credit card versus debit/cash? I’ve heard some folks typically spend 25% more if they go this way. That 25% could go towards a travel budget.
P.S. Love your blog! Keep it up!
Mavis says
Nope. 🙂
CathyB says
I have a couple of questions about the Starwood American Express card. 1) Can you use this card at Costco, or do they only take their own American Express card? 2) Do your miles automatically transfer to Alaska Air or do you manually transfer them? Is it pretty easy?
We use the Alaska Air Visa to build up miles, which makes the most sense for us in Alaska. Last year and this year we have been able to get one ticket free and use our companion fare for one ticket, which leaves two regular priced tickets for our family of four. But anything helps when you are flying from Alaska, as a flight to anywhere is expensive!
Mavis says
Costco takes ANY American Express card and I use my Starwood card there. Once you earn 20,000 Starwood points YOU log into your account and transfer them to your Alaska Airlines account. It takes about 30 seconds. 🙂 Easy peasy.
Stephanie says
I do this too! I use the Chase Southwest Visa. I got 2 RT flights after spending $2000 in the first 3 months. It has an annual fee of $99. I just booked a flight this morning for my sister’s graduation 🙂 I figure if I keep doing this plan, I’ll get about 4-5 RT flights/year. Totally better than getting nothing. I’ll have to look into getting one where I can do international trips.
Kathy Gervasio says
I use the Chase Continental(now United )card as you get your first bag for no fee. For a family of 5 that racks up a $125 savings each way, per trip. It more than covers the annual fee.