As you read this I am packing my bags to head off tomorrow to Scotland!  I surprised my husband and “gave” him a trip to Scotland for Christmas (and his birthday, our anniversary, my birthday…).  I say it was a gift, but in reality the gift was from grandmothers being willing to watch our kids!  We are traveling on points for every aspect of our trip!  So while it sounds like we are living the high life, in reality for a 8 night trip we’ve paid less than $500 total for the flights, a week long car rental, and all our hotel rooms!  Here’s how you can go anywhere in the world and travel on points.

Before I breakdown all our tips, let me share that we’ve been saving up points for a while.  This doesn’t happen in one month, it’s at least a 3 month process to get the airline miles but more realistically will take 6-12 months.

First let’s talk points.

How to Earn More Points

Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses

You may be anti-credit card, but you won’t be flying anywhere for free without one.  There are some great sign up bonuses for credit cards right now that offer enough points for a round trip ticket anywhere in the world!  Search out the best ones for you based on the airlines that serve your normal airport and current bonus offers.  Two cards I would recommend are the Chase Sapphire and the United Airlines cards.  Together those two would give you 90,000 points/miles!

Note: You don’t want to get two new cards at the same time.  The bonus offers are usually based on you making a certain purchase requirement in the first 3 months.  Having to hit that amount across two cards would be tricky!

What to Look For In A Card:

1.  Bonus offer for signing up.
2.  Does it have an annual fee?  Not all are bad, some give great perks that are well above the cost of the fee.  In general though look for one without a fee.
3.  How many points do you earn for everyday purchases.  Typically it’s higher for certain categories so aim for one that gives higher points on things you regularly buy!
4.  How easy is it to use the points?  Can they be transferred to multiple airlines, hotels etc., or are they only good with one program?

Be Loyal to One Rewards Program

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