One of the most intimidating expenses of travel to far-flung lands tends to be the overhead cost of just getting there.  A round-trip intercontinental flight can easily cost over $1,000 for an economy ticket, and sometimes even get close to $2,000 depending on the destination.  If first-class is more your style, the cost can be mind-bogglingly prohibitive; you could live like a king in Thailand for three months and not spend as much as you would on a round-trip first-class ticket from New York.  While you can (and should) monitor prices and jump on limited-time deals and price drops, there’s an even better way to get around the world – airline miles.

Pretty much every airline has their own frequent flyer rewards program, aimed at building loyalty to their airline and rewarding you with free flights or upgrades, as well as access to their airport lounges, a vastly more comfortable area to wait for your flight than the plebeian terminal.  The most straightforward way to earn these miles is to, as the name suggests, fly frequently with that airline.  This can be a great way to build up rewards if you already fly often personally, and an even better option if you travel for work; many times companies will purchase work-related flights for you but permit you to use your own frequent flyer account, allowing you to accrue miles on the company dime.  But getting one free flight for every five you purchase yourself isn’t exactly free, and not everyone travels for work, so how can the average Joe take advantage of these programs to earn free flights for himself?  The answer: credit cards.

Many airlines have partnered with credit card companies to offer alternate ways to accrue miles.  Often, this takes the form of X points per Y dollars spent, for example, you might earn one mile for every dollar spent on your credit card, which will be automatically added to your frequent flyer account.  While this can be a good way to earn a few extra miles, flights can often cost anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 frequent flyer miles and above, depending on the destination, time of year, time of day, and alignment of the stars, so earning them one dollar at a time can be prohibitively slow.  The best way to earn enough miles to fulfill your jet-setting dreams is to take advantage of the sign-up bonuses that many cards offer.

Every bank wants you to have their card so they can make money off of you.  To that end, they attempt to lure you in with extra-special bonus offers, hoping that once they have you as a customer, you’ll continue to utilize their services for years to come.  These offers will generally look like Earn X miles after spending Y dollars in Z months.  To get a general idea, depending on the offer, you’ll probably earn between 30,000 and 60,000 frequent flyer miles for spending between $1,000 and $3,000 in the first 2 to 3 months you have the card.  Usually, you’ll earn approximately the amount you’d need for one round-trip domestic flight; airlines like to be able to advertise a free flight for signing up.

There are a few important notes to consider.  For one, these cards will frequently have an annual fee of around $95, but it is usually waived for the first year.  While I usually hang on to one or two cards that have particularly good ongoing bonuses, for the most part I cancel each card just before this annual fee hits.  Also, you can often find different pages for the same card offering different sign-up bonuses.  Sometimes companies will have numerous offers out there, hoping to catch more people with the smaller bonuses, and gradually offering the larger bonuses to pique interest even further.  To avoid playing their games, you can usually find the best offer with a quick Google search, going directly to the page with the best offer.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you should not be spending more than you usually would.  If you’re going on shopping sprees just to earn more points, you’re going to end up spending more than you would have on the flights in the first place.  What you should be doing is funneling any of your usual expenses through your new credit card that you can, allowing you to earn points on money you’re already spending.  Utilities, groceries, gas, restaurants, shopping, and in some cases even rent can be put on the credit card, allowing you to get closer to the spending threshold and earn points on eacch dollar in the meantime as well.  Don’t spend extra, and be sure to pay off your credit card in full every month; if you’re carrying a balance, you’re giving the company money in interest, negating any benefit you’re getting from the rewards program.

There is an exception to the “don’t spend extra” rule, and that is when you’re trying to hit the sign-up bonus threshold.  Say you’re working on a card that will give you 50,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first three months, and you’re two weeks away from that deadline with only $2,500 spent.  If you don’t hit that bonus, you’re essentially throwing away those potential points, which could be a couple round-trip domestic flights or one round-trip international flight.  In this case, it is in your best interest to be sure you spend that extra $500, even if it wouldn’t have naturally occurred with your usual spending behavior.  Even still, it’s a good idea to be smart about what you do to hit the spend; getting those new tires you’ve been putting off or stocking up on non-perishables at Costco are probably a better idea than buying a $500 pair of shoes.

If you own a small business, you have even more options, as some very strong offers can come from business credit cards, and they can often be earned in parallel with personal cards, effectively doubling your potential miles.  You don’t have to operate a local shop to be considered a small business though.  Do you occasionally do freelance web development or photography?  That’s a small business.  Do you go to garage sales and resell things on Ebay?  That’s a small business.  Do you shovel snow or rake leaves around the neighborhood?  Also a small business.  You don’t need to have an LLC or a business tax ID to apply for these cards, and they can greatly increase your miles earnings potential.

Also, if you’re a couple hoping to earn points together, keep in mind that you can each apply for every card and get the bonuses individually.  This allows you to double your earnings over time, although unless you have a large amount of monthly spending, it’s usually still better to work on one card at a time.

So what exactly do you do?

1. Sign up for a card, using the best bonus offer you can find.  I’ve mentioned a few of my favorite cards below.  Also make a note somewhere of the date you signed up for the card.
2. Take note of the terms of the sign-up bonus; this is far more important than the daily spending bonus rate.  Ensure that you can reach the threshold in the specified amount of time.
3. When you get your card in the mail, change every online payment you make to use this new card.  Utility bills, Netflix subscription, Amazon orders… basically anywhere you type in your credit card info online.
4. Use this card for everything you possibly can in real life as well.  Gasoline, movies, restaurants, groceries, even that $0.99 pack of gum.  Every little bit towards your spending bonus helps.
5. Once you hit the spending threshold to earn your bonus, apply for a new card and go back to step 1.  If you’re not earning towards a sign-up bonus, you’re not getting the most out of your daily spending.
6. Keep an eye on your frequent flyer accounts to ensure that your bonus gets posted.  This can often take up to a month after your last billing cycle, so don’t worry if you don’t see it right away.
7. Be sure to cancel your card before the annual fee hits after your introductory 12 months.  Sometimes, the company will even offer to waive the fee for another year or give you some other incentive to keep the card.  In those cases, it’s up to you and how much you like the card as to whether you hang onto it or not.

Using this strategy, Bridgette and I were able to accrue over 500,000 frequent flyer miles across a variety of airlines over the course of about two years.  This has enabled us to obtain free flights around the world, including a 30-hour first-class flight from Uruguay to Japan that we’re looking forward to taking in March.  My credit score has risen from about 680 to about 750 over that time, and I haven’t paid a dime in interest or fees, except in the case of one card I have that I like enough to absorb the annual fee.  While many people might not need to go quite as hard into it, anyone can benefit from a few free flights a year, whether to take a family vacation, an exotic getaway, or just fly home for the holidays.

Here’s a few of my favorite cards and their current offers.  I’ll do my best to keep this page up-to-date as the offers change over time.

Note:  Points earned on Chase cards can either be redeemed directly through the Chase rewards page or transferred to any of 6 airline programs: United, Southwest, British Airways, Korean Air, Singapore, or Virgin Atlantic.  I generally move mine into the United MileagePlus program, as it has some of the better international redemption values, but if you’re flying domestically, Southwest or Virgin might work better for you.

Chase Sapphire Reserve – 100,000 miles after $4,000 spend in 3 months.  This is a brand new card that Chase just came out with; the huge 100,000 mile offer is a limited-time introductory offer.  The catch is that there is a $450 annual fee that is not waived for the first year.  100,000 points will easily get you over $450 worth of flights, however, so you still come out ahead in this deal.

Chase Sapphire Preferred – 50,000 miles after $4,000 spend in 3 months.  You also get double points on daily spending related to travel or dining, and there are no foreign transaction fees, making this a good card to take with you on vacation.  No annual fee the first year, $95 after that.

Citi AAdvantage – 50,000 miles after $3,000 spend in 3 months.  Citi cards apply to the American Airlines rewards program.  No foreign transaction fees, no annual fee the first year, $95 after that.  Important note: There are two versions of this card, the Visa and the American Express.  You can apply for both of them and get a bonus on each, netting you 100,000 points in a short time.

British Airways Visa – 50,000 miles after $3,000 spend in 3 months.  This gives you Avios points, which apply to British Airways, mostly useful for travel to, from, or around Europe.  $95 annual fee, not waived the first year.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa – 50,000 miles after $2,000 spend in 3 months.  Mostly useful for domestic American travel.  The low spend threshold is offset by the fact that the $95 annual fee is not waived for the first year.