New to Points and Miles?

The Basics

Credit card welcome offers…you’ve received them in the mail, through email and seen pop-ups visiting different sites. They’re everywhere, yes. But they’re not all the same! I want to break down the basics of points and miles for you to help you maximize those points and get you traveling to those longed-for destinations.

Traveling on points and redeeming your points for free travel is as simple as opening up a new credit card, spend the minimum amount required for the bonus, receive the points, redeem your points for free travel and repeat.

If your credit card welcome offer is 75,000 points for spending $5,000 on that card within 3 months, that $5,000 is the minimum spend. And you have 3 months to do that! Once you spend that minimum, the points are deposited into your account and you’re free to use them however you’d like. Those points would be worth a minimum of $750, but most of the time, it’s way more!

Minimum Spending

Meeting the minimum spend on a credit card is all about strategic planning—especially if you want to hit that sign-up bonus without overspending. There are loads of ways to meet the minimum spend by treating your credit card like a debit card and get 1.5-5% cash back. Here are some ways:

Everyday expenses:

• Groceries
• Gas
• Utilities – Many allow credit card payments.
• Phone/internet bills
• Streaming services
• Subscriptions (apps, memberships)

One time/occasional expenses:

• Car or home insurance – Consider paying 6–12 months upfront if possible.
• Medical bills – Hospitals/doctors often accept cards.
• School tuition or daycare – If applicable.
• Travel bookings – Flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.
• Gifts or donations – Charities often accept cards and it’s tax-deductible too!

Creative (but responsible) ways:

• Prepay bills – Load up utility accounts if allowed.
• Buy gift cards – For places you shop anyway (Target, Amazon, grocery stores).
• Venmo/PayPal friends – For shared expenses (just check if it counts as a purchase and not a cash advance).
• Pay taxes – You can use your card, but there’s a small fee, so do the math.

Always make sure that you aren’t spending money you don’t have just to hit a bonus. Going into debt or getting charged a late fee offsets the benefits of using points and miles for free travel.

Types of Credit Cards

There are a couple types of credit cards that will allow you to travel for free. There are personal credit cards and business cards. Both personal cards and business cards will include cashback cards, flexible points cards and travel rewards cards.

Cards like the Capital One Venture X or the Capital One Venture Rewards are flexible points cards because you can use the points within the bank portal or transfer them to a specific partner hotel or airline. They are flexible. Cashback cards like the Chase Ink Business Premier offers statement credits, essentially using your points to pay yourself back. Travel rewards cards like the Chase World of Hyatt will give you perks with that particular brand.

What About Annual Fees?

You’ll see that a lot of cards come with annual fees. Most of the time those fees are waived the first year and only begin charging at the 1 year mark. For annual fees, you can expect to pay between $0-$695 depending on the type of card it is and the perks that it has. It may seem like a lot, but do your research! Each card comes with it’s own unique set of benefits and perks, which offset the cost of that annual fee most times. The expensive annual fee cards can come with really great benefits such as free hotel nights, airport lounge access, travel credits, rental car protection and so much more. So don’t write them off when deciding which card to apply for, but think about what you would use for your own personal situation to decide what is worth it.

When the 1 year mark rolls around, you have a few options:

1. Keep the card open, pay the annual fee and continue using the benefits of the card.
2. Downgrade the card to a no-annual-fee card within the same bank.
3. Cancel the card completely. You should keep your card open for at least 1 year. Most credit card companies don’t like it when you cancel within the first year after receiving your points. And you don’t want to hurt your chances of being able to apply for a new card in the future.

Chase 5/24 Rule

The Chase 5/24 Rule is super important when diving into the world of credit cards and travel hacking. It is an unofficial but well-known policy from Chase. If you’ve opened 5 or more credit cards from any bank (not just Chase) in the last 24 months, you’ll likely be denied for most Chase credit cards. Personal credit cards and authorized user accounts count towards the rule.

Most business cards from Chase, Amex, Citi, and others do not count toward 5/24, which makes them useful in managing your count.

Tips to Help With the Chase 5/24 Rule

1. Apply for Chase cards first if you’re getting into points and miles.
2. Check your 5/24 status using a free tool like Travel Freely.
3. Remove authorized user accounts if they’re pushing you over the limit (and you didn’t use them for spend).
4. Focus on business cards to keep your 5/24 count low while still earning bonuses.

Two-Player Mode

Two-player mode is like leveling up in the credit card rewards game—especially awesome for couples or trusted partners. It’s a strategy where two people (usually spouses or partners) work together to maximize credit card sign-up bonuses, points, and benefits by coordinating applications, referrals, and spending.

How Does It Work?

1. One player applies for a card and earns the sign-up bonus.
2. They refer the second player using the card’s referral link (extra bonus points!).
3. Second player applies, meets the minimum spend, and earns their own bonus.
4. Now you both have points… AND referral bonuses.
5. You can combine points or redeem separately, depending on the program.

Strategies

• Stagger applications so you can focus on meeting one minimum spend at a time.

• Share spending—put all household expenses on the card you’re working on.

• Use referral bonuses wherever possible (Chase and Amex are great for this).

• Pool points (Chase lets spouses transfer points to each other for free).

• Pick complementary cards—like one gets a premium travel card, the other gets a cashback or no-fee one.

Example Combo

1. Player 1 gets Chase Sapphire Preferred card (bonus of 60,000 miles)
2. Refers Player 2 (earns 10,000 points)
3. Player 2 gets Chase Sapphire Preferred card
4. Together: up to 130,000+ points if both hit their bonuses + referral.
5. Pool points for a free trip via Chase Travel or transfer to Hyatt, United, etc.

What Card Should You Start With?

There are many options when choosing what credit card to start with. For a personal card, I would recommed to start with is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. This card earns flexible points that can be transferred to 14 different travel partners or redeemed in the Chase Travel Portal. For a business card, I would recommend the Chase Ink Business Preferred card. The Ink Cash is marketed as a cash back card, but it actually earns Chase Ultimate Reward points, making this a flexible points card.

Business Credit Cards

Yes, you can apply for a business credit card! This trips up a lot of people, but it’s actually way more flexible than most folks realize. You don’t need an LLC or brick-and-mortar store to qualify for a business credit card.

A business is basically any activity where you’re making money (or trying to). That includes:

Examples of legit small or side businesses:

• Freelancing or consulting
• Selling on eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Facebook Marketplace
• Tutoring or coaching
• Babysitting, dog walking, lawn care
• Driving for Uber/Lyft or delivering for DoorDash
• Renting out on Airbnb
• Creating digital content (YouTube, Substack, Instagram, etc.)
• Travel hacking blog or helping others book trips with points

Even if you don’t make a profit yet, as long as you intend to earn income, you can qualify. When applying, you’ll choose between applying as a sole proprietor or using a business entity (LLC, S Corp, etc.). For many people just starting out:

Sole Proprietor (most common for beginners)

• Legal business name: Use your full name.
• Business type: Sole Proprietor
• EIN: You can leave this blank or put your Social Security Number (SSN).
• Industry: Pick something related to what you’re doing (Online Sales or Consulting).
• Business revenue: You can enter $0 if you’re just starting out, but $500–$2,000 is often accepted.
• Years in business: Just be honest—even 0 years is fine.

Make sure you separate your expenses. A business card helps keep business vs. personal clean, which is great for taxes and tracking. Many business cards don’t appear on your personal credit report, so they won’t affect your Chase 5/24 status (another big win). Also, you’re still personally responsible for the debt, even if the card says “business.”

Stay Organized

​It’s actually pretty easy to stay organized!

The Travel Freely app is a free tool designed to help users maximize credit card rewards for travel. It offers features like personalized credit card recommendations through its CardGenie™ tool, tracking of sign-up bonuses and annual fees, and monitoring of Chase 5/24 status. The app also allows users to set and track travel goals, aiming to make earning free travel more accessible and organized.

Also, once you get your credit card, put it on autopay so that you don’t forget to pay it. Paying late fees is no fun and it can offset the efforts you’ve put into earning your free travel.

Can This Affect My Credit Score?

This is one of the biggest concerns people have when getting into travel hacking. The short answer is: yes, travel hacking can affect your credit score—but usually in a good way if done responsibly.

Travel Hacking might affect your credit score. You’ll get a a small short-term dip (temporary). Each new credit card application causes a hard inquiry (about 2–5 points). A new account can slightly lower your average age of credit. This dip is usually minor and bounces back quickly if you manage your cards well.

Travel Hacking can improve your credit score over time. More credit cards = higher total credit limit. If your spending stays the same, your credit utilization drops, which helps your score. Paying off multiple cards in full every month builds a perfect payment history (35% of your score!). A mix of accounts and a longer credit history over time improves your score.

Travel Hacking can hurt your score (if you’re not careful). Missing payments-even one late payment can hurt. High utilization of your credit tanks your score and cancels out rewards with interest. Opening too many cards too fast can be a red flag to lenders and lower your average account age.

Pro Tips

• Pay in full every month – No interest = free travel.
• Track your cards – Use tools like Travel Freely to stay organized.
• Know your 5/24 status – Especially for Chase cards.
• Avoid unnecessary closures – Keep older cards open to maintain account age (move to no-annual-fee versions if needed).

Most travel hackers with strong credit see their score go up over time—even with 10+ cards. If you’re responsible and strategic, your credit score will likely stay excellent (often 750+).

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives. Of course, I’m not a financial advisor and these are just tips for helping your credit score and being able to travel for free.

Bottom Line

Utilizing credit card welcome offers to earn points and miles and travel the world can be easy and well worth it. It’s allowed us to travel to places like El Salvador, Costa Rica, Spain, Portugal, St. Thomas, London and many more. Traveling has been a game changer for my family and has sparked a worldly curiosity that I don’t take for granted.

If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer. Just comment below!

The world is waiting-go explore it ✈️

Lauren