Hear stories about people traveling to Athens without spending a dime or seeing Europe for only $1,000 and they sound too good to be true. And it’s only natural to ask the question: “OK, but can the average person actually do that?”
The short answer? Absoultely.
Free (and very cheap) travel on credit card rewards is easier to pull off than most people imagine. Once you know the tips and tricks that make it easy to save on travel and enjoy gratis upgrades, the next question you’ll ask is “why wasn’t I doing this all along?”
But while everyone can travel for free on credit card rewards, there are a two qualifications you need to meet before starting your journey:
Credit Score
Most travel credit cards with great rewards require Good (690 to 719) or Excellent (720 and up) credit scores for you to qualify.
If you don’t know your credit score, finding it out is simple with one of these free credit monitoring services. Simply find your score and compare it to the range of acceptable scores on the card you’d like to sign up for.
If you discover that your credit score is lower than you’d like (or on the verge of acceptable) you have two options. One is to apply for a card with less benefits while you wait for your score to rise. Another is to wait a while and try these tools to raise your credit score quickly and start earning the points you need for free travel.
Whatever you do, take care when you apply. Applying for multiple credit cards can hurt your credit score. Lower an already borderline credit score and you’re that much further away from your travel goals.
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
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$0 intro first year
$95 annual fee |
Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Read Review » |
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Your Activity in the Past Two Years
Several of the best travel credit cards have a 5/24 rule. That means that if you’ve applied for more than 5 credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months, you will not be approved. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Chase Ink Plus Business Card or some of the other premium cards that follow this guideline very strictly.
What if you’ve already passed the limit on new applications? No worries. These cards don’t have a 5/24 rule. You can start earning the points you need to travel with these great cards while you take time to plan your next move. Really eager to get started? While you wait, you can check to see if you can get pre-approval for major rewards cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card online.
Once your credit score is up to par, it’s time to move on to the next step: finding out which credit cards are right for you.