It’s true, I’ve flown to over a hundred countries, nearly all for free.  I haven’t paid for an international flight in a decade.   How is this possible?  Easy.  I have gone through 130 credit cards between my wife and I and our businesses over the last eight years.  I once held 32 cards at once a couple years ago.  That’s 32 cards that each gave me big flyer-mile sign-up bonuses.  That’s how to fly for free all over the world.  Including epic flights like from Hawaii to Africa, four times in the last four years.

My friends ask me how I do it.  When I tell them, I see their eyes glaze over.  They are thinking “Oh, that sounds like some kind of scam I better not get involved in.  I don’t want to destroy my credit.”  I try to convince them that’s not at all the case, but sometimes people are just gonna believe whatever they want to believe.  This blog post is written to convince you to see the light!  This post explains, in a complete, excruciatingly-detailed plan, exactly how to fly for free.

There are no drawbacks to this plan, no hidden catch.  If you follow this nine-step plan, you will know how to fly for free.  The only reason more people don’t follow the plan is that it requires:

DISCIPLINE to pay off your cards in full, on time, every month.

ORGANIZATION to keep track of which credit cards you have, when they are due, etc.

COURAGE to trust that the plan works and will not affect your credit score in the long term.

 How to Fly for Free Worldwide; in Nine Easy Steps:

 How to Fly for Free – Step One: Sign up for frequent flyer programs.  

You should sign up for every airline that serves your home airport.   All these programs are free to join, and you will earn points/miles towards free flights with each paid flight that you take.  You should also sign up for the hotel programs of any hotel chain you ever stay with. There are dozens of loyalty programs all over the world, but here are most of the major American programs:  

Airlines

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Delta Sky Miles
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

• Accor Hotels Le Club
• Best Western Rewards
• Club Carlson
• Choice Hotels
• Fairmont President’s Club
• Hilton HHonors
• Hyatt Gold Passport
• IHG Rewards Club
• La Quinta Returns
• Loews YouFirst
• Marriott Rewards
• Omni
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards
• Starwood Preferred Guest
• Stash Hotel Rewards
• Voila
• Wyndham Rewards

Rental Cars

• Avis Preferred
• Enterprise Plus
• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
• National Emerald Club
• Thrifty Blue Chip

Keep track of your miles

Once you start earning miles and points, you’ll want to have a spreadsheet listing:

• The name of the loyalty program
• Your loyalty account membership number
• Your logon information (user id/password)
• How many points/miles you have
• The expiration date of those points

I do this via an excel spreadsheet, but there are websites that will keep track of it all for you such as Points.com.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Two: Set a Goal.  Where do you want to go?  

Decide on your dream destination.  Then log into your frequent flyer accounts, plug in the dates you want to go, and find out when seats are available, and how many miles you need.  Perhaps you find it takes 80,000 miles on United, 120,000 on Delta, 100,000 on American, and Southwest doesn’t fly there.  Now you know that your goal is to earn 80,000 United miles.

Be flexible

If you are dead set on going somewhere the week between Christmas and New Year, you are going to be very limited in your options.  Revenue-earning ticket purchasers all want to travel that week too, making free flights hard to get.  Award availability is limited, so the flexible flyer benefits the most from travel hacking.

Consider different airports  

Consider flying into one city and back from another.  If you are planning a month-long trip around Europe, does it really matter which city you start and finish in? Find the best free flights first, and then make your itinerary fit those flights.  Maybe you want to see Tokyo, but flights to Osaka are half the miles, so it is worthwhile to fly to Osaka and take a bullet train to Tokyo.  There are many ways to be flexible and get value out of your miles.

Plan ahead

You also want to book flyer miles tickets as far out as possible.  If you know you want to go to Paris in July, start looking for seats the previous August.  Most airlines make tickets available 330 days out.  The longer you wait, the fewer free flights worldwide will be available.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Three: Calculate how much you spend every month.

Include every single thing that can be paid for with a credit card.  Gas, groceries, movies, cable bill, phone bill, restaurants, etc.  If you spend at least $1000 a month, that allows you to qualify for some pretty fantastic credit card sign up bonuses.  Many cards offer an excellent bonus for a spend of $3000 over the first three months.  A spend of less than $1000 a month will limit the card bonuses you can afford to get.  In that case, perhaps you can delay some spending, and squeeze a bunch of spending into one three month period.  Most cards give a bonus for a minimum amount of spending in the first three months.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Four: Check your credit score.

There are multiple websites which will do this for free.  My favorite is CreditKarma.com  You’ll want to be above 600 to get entry level cards, and above 700 to qualify for the best travel rewards cards.  If you are not currently above 600, put the rest of this plan on hold, and look into how you can raise your credit score first.  It might take 6 months or more, and then you can try for the best cards.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Five: Create a Business.

To really excel at getting free flights in the card churning game, you MUST be able to apply for business credit cards as well as personal credit cards.  This is much easier than you might think.  You do NOT have to have a licensed, state-registered business to get business credit cards.  Simply come up with a business name and use your own social security number as the “Business EIN” when you complete the application.

You probably already have a business

There are many things you may already do that qualify as a business.  Do you ever sell things on Ebay or Craigslist or Etsy or even yard sales?  That is a business.  Do you have a side gig like driving for Uber or Lyft, or AirBnB-ing out a room, or renting out your car on Turo?  That is a business.  Anything you do that generates money (legally) outside of your 9-5 job is a business. Give that business a name, and voila! you have a sole proprietorship business which you can use to apply for cards.  For example, my mother has sold a few quilts she makes on Etsy.  Her ‘business” has brought in just a few hundred dollars.  But she has applied for and received over a dozen business credit cards for that business, and collected over a half million flyer miles.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Six: Pick the right credit card and apply. 

Picking the right credit card for you depends on your immediate travel goal and your long term travel goals.  If you are just dipping a toe into the waters of credit card bonuses; go ahead and pick whichever airline card offer a bonus toward your goal flight.  But, if you really want to maximize your haul of points and miles, you do need to prioritize getting certain cards in a certain order.  Specifically, you need to apply for Chase cards first.  Chase Bank offers some of the most valuable spending bonuses in the game.

Understand the Chase 5/24 rule

Chase also has the strictest standards of qualification for their cards.  Chase will only approve your application for most of their cards if you have been approved for less than 5 personal credit cards over the last 24 months.  This is widely known in the credit card churning game as the “5/24 rule”.  So, if you go about getting a Citibank AAdvantage card, and then a Delta AMEX card, and maybe a Bank of America Alaska VISA, and a couple others, when you start looking at getting a United Explorer VISA you will be out of luck due to the 5/24 rule.  Strategically, your first few applications should be only for Chase business cards, as they do NOT count against the 5/24 rule, and then your first five personal card applications should be for Chase personal cards.

Only once you have “used up” your “under 5/24 status” should you then move on to other bank’s cards.  The only exception to this would be if you live somewhere where you never fly United or Southwest, which are the two domestic airlines partnered with Chase.  Since United is represented in every major airport in the US, that seems unlikely.

Annual Fees are often worth it

You must be prepared to apply for cards with an annual fee.  You need to be willing to make a small investment to get a big return.  It may seem like a risk to have to spend $95 the first month for an annual fee on a card, but if the miles bonus is worth $700, it is well worth it.

The Worldwide Wilbur Card List

Chase Business cards first, Chase Personal cards second

If you are going to get big returns; following are a list of the cards you should apply for in strategic order of most valuable to least valuable.  Chase business cards are listed first as they DO NOT count against your 5/24 limit, but you DO have to be within the 5/24 limit to get them.  Chase personal cards are listed second as you will want to fill up your 5/24 limit before moving on to other bank’s cards.

Most valuable cards first

I have listed cards in the order I would recommend to folks who are new to the travel hacking game.  I have ranked airline cards higher than hotel cards intentionally.  You can always scrimp on lodging costs when you travel, but you can’t negotiate airfares.  I consider air miles to be much more important to achieving worldwide budget travel.

Feel free to skip

If a particular card has a minimum spend that is too much for your budget, just skip on to the next card.  If you have no interest in earning points with a particular airline or hotel chain, just skip to the next card.  For some cards, you can click on the card name to go directly to its application page.  I may receive a referral bonus if you apply through these links. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wondering how I came up with the valuations of the cards?  First off, you must understand All points and miles ARE NOT EQUAL!  You can click on the “calculated value” column title to see all valuations on the phenomenal website “The Points Guy”.

Card Name / Bonus / Three month spend / Annual Fee / Minimum Credit Score Needed* / Calculated value

CHASE BUSINESS CARDS

Chase Ink Business Preferred VISA  / 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points / $5000 spend / $95 / 750* / $1505

(YOU MUST WAIT 30 DAYS BETWEEN CHASE BUSINESS CARD APPLICATIONS)

United MileagePlus Explorer Business VISA / 50,000 United Miles / $3000 spend / $0 / 650* / $700

(YOU MUST WAIT 30 DAYS BETWEEN CHASE BUSINESS CARD APPLICATIONS)

Southwest Premier Rapid Rewards Business VISA / 60,000 Southwest Miles / $3000 spend / $99 / 670* / $801

(YOU MUST WAIT 30 DAYS BETWEEN CHASE BUSINESS CARD APPLICATIONS)

Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Business VISA / 75,000 Marriott Points / $3000 spend/ $99 / 650* /  $576

CHASE PERSONAL CARDS

Chase Sapphire Preferred VISA / 50,000 Ultimate Rewards Points / $4000 spend / $0 / 700* / $1000

United Quest MileagePlus VISA  / 40,000 United Miles / $2000 spend / $0 / 650* /  $560

United MileagePlus Explorer VISA  / 40,000 United Miles / $2000 spend / $0 / 650* /  $560

United Club MileagePlus VISA  / 40,000 United Miles / $2000 spend / $0 / 650* /  $560

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier VISA  / 40,000 Southwest Miles / $1000 spend / $99 / 670* / $501

World of Hyatt VISA / 40,000 Hyatt Points / $3000 spend / $95 / 700* / $585

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless VISA / 3 Free Nights up to 35,000 Marriott Points each / $3000 spend / $95 / 650* / $580

IHG Rewards Club Premier Mastercard / 80,000 IHG points / $2000 spend / $89 / 670* / $391

NON – CHASE CARDS

Citi ThankYou Premier / 60,000 ThankYou points / $4000 spend / $0 / $1020

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select / 70,000 American miles / $2500 spend / $0 / $980

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite / 50,000 American miles / $2500 spend / $0 / $700

Hilton Honors American Express Business  / 125,000 Hilton Points / $3000 spend / $95 / $655

Hilton Honors American Express / 85,000 Hilton Points / $1000 spend / $0 / $510

Alaska Airlines Business VISA Signature / 40,000 Alaska Miles / $1000 spend / $75 / $465

Alaska Airlines VISA Signature / 30,000 Alaska Miles / $1000 spend / $75 / $465

 How to Fly for Free – Step Seven: Meet the minimum spend and get the signup bonus.

Put ALL your spending on the new card  

I don’t care if you have some other card that gives 3x cash back on gas or whatever, your new card is giving you much more than that per dollar when you calculate the signup bonus value.  Only use cash and write checks where credit cards are not accepted.

But don’t spend MORE

You may be hesitant to use your card for all purchases because you worry about racking up debt. Remember, no one is encouraging you to spend MORE than you usually do, or can afford to do.  You just need to put your NORMAL EXPENDITURES on your new card. All of them.  Until you meet the minimum spend.  You also need to pay off that card in full every month.  If you are carrying a balance, the massive interest payments will wipe out any benefit from the frequent flyer bonus.

You must create a spreadsheet of your credit cards.

It should list all of this information:

• The card name: “Bank of Wherever, Air Antarctica Super Miles Premier Card”
• Credit Limit: $5000
• When you applied for it: January 12, 2019.
• The date you must complete the minimum spend: April 12, 2019.
• The signup bonus: “50,000 Air Antarctica miles”
• The annual fee: $95
• And once you cancel it, that date must be recorded: Cancelled on January 4, 2020.

I use an excel spreadsheet for this.  It has 53 cards listed on it.  That’s how many I’ve gone through over the last 4 years!  You will need this information.  Some day you will want to get a card, and have to check to see if you already had it, and if so, how long ago, and do you qualify to get the bonus again?

 How to Fly for Free – Step Eight : Watch for the bonus to appear and then cease using the card.

It may take up to a month for the signup bonus to show up in your loyalty account.  Once you have it, you are all done using that card.  You should tuck it away in your sock drawer.  Do NOT cancel it yet. You want to keep it for at least a year, because cancelling a card after you have only had it for three months will anger the banking gods.  You must keep it at least until the next annual fee is due.  Keep checking your bill each month.  When the annual fee pops up on your bill, it’s time to decide if the card is worth keeping for another year.

Cancel when the next Annual Fee is due

Some cards offer card anniversary benefits that offset the annual fee.  Southwest, IHG and Marriott cards all have annual bonuses like this.  It may be worth keeping these cards. If not, call the number on the back of the card and tell them you want to cancel the card.  They may offer you inducements to keep the card.   The inducements may or may not be worthwhile.  Often they will effectively offset the annual fee.  If the card service agent asks why you are cancelling the card, you can simply and truthfully say “The annual fee is due, and I have other cards I have been using more frequently.”  Eventually the agent will agree to close the card and they will remove the annual fee from your bill.  At this point you can cut up the card.  You should mark on your spreadsheet the date you cancelled the card.

 How to Fly for Free – Step Nine: Go back to step six and repeat INDEFINITELY.

Keep getting new cards, meeting the minimum spend, then discontinuing their use.  Cancel them when the annual fee comes due.  A diligent card churner can accumulate a massive amount of miles this way.  Now you know everything about how to fly for free.  You may never have to buy a plane ticket ever again!

When you are ready to book your trip, be sure to use the best booking sites:

Book Your Flight:

Find your flight using Momondo.com. It is the best airfare search engine, as it finds the cheapest flights, and will find ALL the flights. (Here’s the proof.)

Book Your Accommodation:

Choose your lodging using Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates. (Here’s the proof.)

Get Travel Insurance:

You can’t afford to travel without travel insurance.  Car accidents, illnesses, and theft do happen. It could save your life. I never travel without it. I use World Nomads.

Need Some Gear?

Check out my Worldwide Travel Packing List for the best travel gear for your adventures.  I’ve already read all the online reviews, and tested it all out, so you can just click and buy the best stuff.

THANKS FOR READING

Full Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.  This means that if you buy anything, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only link to stuff I use, love, and recommend.  I don’t accept bribes to endorse garbage. Your clicks help keep this site alive.

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

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