10 ways to never pay for travel again

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Traveling for free doesn't have to involve couch surfing, dumpster diving, or stowing away in the wheel well of a 747. It doesn't even have to involve credit card fraud.

No, there's a kind of free travel where you enjoy business-class flights, luxury hotel suites, and champagne brunches, all without ever landing on Interpol's most-wanted list or awkwardly pretending to still be asleep while your German host makes toast.

But it isn't necessarily easy. The key lies in collecting points and miles in every possible (legal) way -- a practice known as "travel hacking" -- and it can be a lot of effing work. If you're willing to invest the time, though, you can pretty much go anywhere without ever spending a dime.

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1. Manufactured spending

Buy stuff with your credit card that you can sell or liquidate for little to no loss, and then pay your credit card with the proceeds. Right now, people buy Visa gift cards at supermarkets and office supply stores where they earn bonus points, and then load them onto prepaid cards like Amex Bluebird, which they use to pay their credit card bills.


2. Credit-card churning

Some banks actually let you sign up for the same credit card over and over again, collecting a new sign-up bonus each time. Any card that offers 50,000 points or miles is worth hundreds of dollars in free travel, and you can always cancel them when the annual fee comes due. For example, Brian Kelly of The Points Guy applied for three identical Citi cards with a 100,000-mile bonus. Will this hurt your credit score? No, most people find that their score actually rises when they build their credit history and lower their debt-to-credit ratio.

Flickr/Mike Mozart

3. Earn travel rewards for your regular spending

My head explodes when I see people pay for stuff with their debit cards, and get nothing back! Meanwhile, I'm earning one-to-five points per dollar on my reward credit cards; all while avoiding interest charges by paying the balance in full each month. For example, the Chase Ink card offers five points per dollar on TV, telephone, and Internet, so a $200 bills equals 1,000 points a month.


4. Stacking promotions

You know the guy who whips out a stack of coupons at the grocery store? Don't be that dude. But, when you or your company has to pay for travel, you can earn points and miles from your credit card, and the online travel agency, and a frequent-flier program, all at the same time. Not only that, but each one might offer a promotion for double or triple miles as well.

Flickr/Eric Mueller

5. Buy stuff for your company or your friends

Are you in a job where you plan meetings, buy office supplies, or expense the team lunch? Turn those tasks into free travel by putting them on your credit card, earning rewards, and then paying them off when your employer reimburses you. Or, just be that dude who collects cash from his friends and pays the bill with his miles-earning credit card, even though he claims it's just because he didn't have time to hit the ATM.


6. Buy points and miles

Ok, while not technically free, you can fly in business class for a fraction of the price of economy when you find an airline that's selling miles at a discount. US Airways does this a lot. As does South American carrier Avianca/TACA, which lets you book award travel on United and many other Star Alliance partners. During one recent promotion, you could buy their miles for 1.5 cents each; meaning a business-class ticket to Europe worked out to around $1,575, or about a quarter of the regular cost.

IHG hotels is currently selling points for about .58 cents each, enabling you to stay at a luxury property for less than half price. And every spring, American Express and the US Travel Association sell points and miles on the cheap with their Daily Getaways promotion.

United Artists

7. Hire a travel hacker

Ever want to throw your phone/mouse against the wall when the airline tells you that you can't use your miles? There are several services such as Points Pros and Book Your Award that know all the best hacks, but charge a fee to help. These guys bill up to $250 a person (less for larger groups), but can stretch your miles further than you ever thought possible.


8. Milk the award rules

Airlines have complicated rules for awards, most of which are designed to screw you; but sometimes, you can screw them back. In fact, it's an open secret that US Airways doesn't even teach its own employees the rules, so you may be able to book any award that sounds good to the person you happen to be talking to. Don't hesitate to get creative.

Another example: British Airways prices their tickets by the mile, so partner award flights like Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus or LA to Hawaii on American (which are just under 2,500 miles) are only 25,000 miles round trip in economy, and just 50,000 miles in business class.

Flickr/Sheila Sund

9. Buy stuff that earns miles worth more than the stuff costs

15 years ago, David Phillips (aka "The Pudding Guy") earned 1.2 million frequent flier miles by buying pudding when they were giving away tons of miles for the purchase (See the movie Punch Drunk Love, which is partly based on him). Deals like that don't come around every day, but there's usually something similar every year or two. Right now, many are raking in miles by purchasing the latest electronic gadgets through an airline's online shopping portals -- which can offer 10 miles per dollar or more -- and then unloading them on Ebay or Amazon Marketplace at an insignificant loss (or small profit).


10. Bitch

Finding airline service problems is like looking for bad acting in an, ummm, adult film; it's not difficult to spot. In fact, most airlines will throw some points or miles your way if you put up enough of a fuss. Be professional, though. While it's easy to go on a profanity-laced tirade after spending a night on the Newark airport floor, a brief, polite email to their customer service department will prove more successful at earning extra points than a long-winded rant.

Jason Steele is a Denver-based freelance journalist specializing in credit cards and travel rewards. Last year, he and his family redeemed their points and miles for over $100,000 worth of airline and hotel reservations.