Starting From Zero: How to Turn Everyday Spending Into Nearly Free Travel
For most people, the idea of traveling on points seems out of reach. Maybe you see people online posting about their nearly free trips using credit card points and travel miles, and think, “I’ll never be able to rack up enough points to get a free flight myself”. But the reality is, if you start now, you very realistically could take a free or nearly free trip in 2027. Maybe it won’t be a giant bucket list trip completely covered by points (or maybe it will!), but the likelihood of you being able to get nearly free flights and hotel stays in 2027 by starting your points journey now is 100% doable!!! And it’s honestly probably quite a bit easier than you think.
Today I’m going to give you 3 simple steps you can take right now to set yourself up to be able to take more trips for nearly free in 2027, and the third one might come as a bit of a surprise to you.
#1 Open a Credit Card that Earns Transferable Points
Airline and hotel specific credit cards are great, and if you continue on in the Points and Miles journey will most likely find a place in your wallet at some point. But to start from scratch, I recommend you start with a travel rewards credit card that earns transferable points!
Transferable points are points that you can transfer (hence the name), to that cards airline and hotel partners, which gives you FAR more options to use your points, than if you have one airline or hotel specific card.
#2: Put ALL of your everyday spending on that one card until you hit the sign-up bonus
One of the fastest and most efficient ways to rack up points is through a welcome offer, as known as a sign-up bonus. This is where credit card companies offer a chunk of points when you spend a certain amount of money within a specific timeframe. For instance, maybe they’ll offer 75,000 points once you spend $5000 in the first 3 months after opening their card.
Since 75,000 points is at minimum worth $7,500, you’re essentially making “travel money” by opening a card and hitting the required spending for the sign-up bonus, on purchases you were already making anyways.
And right now is the PERFECT time to open an new card because the majority of us will have even more “everyday spending” than we normally might thanks to the upcoming holiday shopping we’ll be doing.
Just make sure you can pay your balance in full every month, and you’re only spending what you normally would be in order to hit the welcome bonus.
#3 Learn from others who teach points and miles travel
Now, this one might seem obvious. Of course, learning from people who already know how to travel on points and miles is a great idea. But what I'm about to say next might surprise you a little!
Of course, I'd LOVE for you to follow me on social media, subscribe to my newsletter, and read my blog for credit card rewards and travel tips. But I also strongly encourage you to follow several other points and miles educators, too!
And this is why. You're going to learn different things from different people, and that's a GOOD thing!
When I first started learning about points and miles, I followed several travel creators on Instagram and signed up for a handful of newsletters. And you know what? I learned something different from every single one of them! In fact, I still follow many of those same creators today. Sure, some of the information was repetitive, but honestly, that repetition helped reinforce what I was learning and made it easier to understand the sometimes confusing world of points and miles.
I also quickly realized that not everyone specializes in the same type of points travel. One person might be an expert at booking business class flights, while another focuses on budget-friendly travel. Someone else might know absolutely everything about a particular hotel loyalty program. And that's exactly why it's so valuable to learn from multiple people.
The more perspectives, tips, and strategies you're exposed to, the better you'll understand how to make points and miles work for YOU and the way YOU want to travel.
So put your feelers out there, follow a variety of educators, and soak up as much knowledge as you can. And then, the exciting part. . . turn that knowledge into actual travel!
If you’re excited to get started but still have questions or want some suggestions on what cards would be best to start with, I’ve created a more in depth FREE Beginner’s Guide to Points & Miles!
Traveling on points in 2027 is totally achievable, and by starting NOW you’ll be well on your way to (nearly) free travel before the new year even begins!
Not following on my socials yet? Make sure to follow along for points and miles tips, travel suggestions and destination guides! 🧡
