HOW TO BOOK YOUR FIRST FREE FLIGHT WITH MILES AND POINTS
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HOW TO EARN POINTS AND REDEEM THEM FOR A (NEARLY) FREE FLIGHT WITH MILES AND POINTS IN FOUR EASY STEPS.
Every time I board a flight that I paid for with miles I wonder “why isn’t everyone doing this?” Seriously. Just by putting all my purchases and monthly bills (that I was going to make anyway) on a credit card I can earn enough points to travel for almost free. And I do it again and again (I’m on track for four trips to Europe this year already). Now that you’ve read my Beginner’s Guide to Miles and Points, let’s book that first flight.
1: PICK A DESTINATION
First things first. Pick a goal trip. When you are first starting out in points travel, it’s important to have a strategy when you're applying for cards. As you advance and start earning more points, this is less important. I have enough points in almost every program that now I apply for cards based on my 5/24 status or if an increased bonus has come out.
Our first trip on miles and points was to Europe. All six flights paid for with points and under $200!
My first goal trip was Europe with our four kids. Just picking this destination eliminated several cards for me, like the Southwest credit card. After researching I learned that the average cost of a round trip flight to Europe is about 60,000 miles. That led me to researching credit cards and their sign up bonuses. With a large family, I always advise earning your air miles first. Flights can be booked 330 days in advance and finding 4+ award seats on a flight can be challenging, so earn these points first, then move on to earning points for free hotel stays.
2: KNOW HOW YOU’LL MEET THE MINIMUM SPEND
Never apply for a card unless you know you can meet the minimum spend. Review your monthly budget, calculate how much you spend every month on bills, groceries, gas and miscellaneous stuff. That’s the amount you will be able to spend on your credit card each month. It’s important that you don’t overspend. If you are unable to pay off your credit card balance every month, you’ll have to pay interest. And travel isn’t free if you’re paying interest.
3: PICK A CARD
There are so many great cards with increased sign on bonuses right now. Here are a few of my faves. Most of these will earn you at least one round trip flight to Europe. I particularly love these cards because they earn flexible points. That means you can transfer points to airline and hotel partners. These are some of the most valuable points to have. I’ll show you how to book below.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: This should be one of the first cards you add to your wallet. The welcome bonus is enough for:
One round trip flight to Europe (transfer to United, Air Canada or Air France)
Two or more round trip domestic flights (on United, Southwest or British Airways)
One-way business class from the U.S. to Europe on Flying Blue (just 50k miles each way)
FOUR one-way flights or two round trip flights from U.S. to Europe on Air France
American Express® Gold Card: This card earns Membership Rewards® points and has more travel transfer partners than any other flexible points card. It’s a great everyday card. It earns 4x Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases and 4x Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases.
Four one-way flights to Europe (on Air France)
Two round trip flights to Europe (on Air France)
Fly to the Middle East or Africa on United, Swiss, Ethiopian or EygyptAir (Singapore Airlines)
Fly roundtrip to Japan on ANA
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: This is my new favorite card. It earns 2x miles on every purchase which makes it a great card for every day non-category purchases. With the welcome bonus you’ll have enough miles for:
FIVE one way flights from the U.S. to Europe on Air France
Fly to Hawaii from the West Coast for just 7.5k miles each way with Turkish Smiles
One way business class to Europe for 50k points on Flying Blue
This card comes with unlimited complimentary access to over 1,400 lounges with the Priority Pass Membership and access to Capital One Lounges.
Worried about the high annual fee? I show you how to erase all of it in this blog post here.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: This card comes with the same great bonus of the Venture X but without the hefty annual fee. You won’t get Priority Pass Membership with this card, but you do get two complimentary visits a year to the Capital One Lounge or to over 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges. Same travel transfer partners and flight options as the Venture X above.
4: BOOK THE FLIGHT
Once you have earned your bonus points you’ll be ready to book your flight. Bonus points typically hit your account after the statement closes. For example, let’s say I complete my minimum spend on September 2nd. The statement closes on September 15th, so my bonus points won’t be in my account until after the 15th.
To book your flight, you want to find award availability first with the airline and once you find award availability, then you will transfer points from your credit card account to the airline. You must have a loyalty account with the airline that you are booking with. Make sure that your name matches exactly the name on your travel rewards card.
If you have a transferable points card like the Capital One Venture or Chase Sapphire Preferred, it’s important to become familiar with your travel transfer partners. These are airlines and hotels that you can transfer your points to. You can search for flights on each of the airline transfer partners but do not transfer points to that airline until you confirm they have award seats available. Transfers are one way only. Let’s do an example below:
EXAMPLE: HOW TO BOOK AWARD FLIGHT USING CHASE ULTIMATE REWARDS POINTS:
Go to United.com. This first step in booking flights is to always find award availability first. You do not have to login to view award flights, but you do have to be logged in to click to place fights on hold or to purchase. When creating an account with United (it’s free to do) make sure that your name matches the name on your Chase account exactly.
Enter in your travel dates and departure/arrival cities and click “Book with Miles”
You want to find the Saver fare which is usually in green. This will be the lowest award price.
If you are on a desktop you will be able to search a month at a time rather than a week at a time. You are looking for Saver flights, which are typically around 30k - 34k miles each way on United. I like to search for award flights one way at a time. When booking with points there is no price difference or benefit to booking a round trip flight like when you book with cash. In fact, I prefer to book two one way flights. That way I can fly into one city and out of another and there’s no backtracking involved.
Once you have found your award availability, then you can go back to your credit card account, log in and transfer your points from your credit card to the airline.
Go to Chase.com and log in to your account. Click on your Chase Sapphire Preferred card/account and when you see your Ultimate Rewards points, you can click on ‘See Rewards Details and Redeem’. I’m using the Chase app as an example, if you are on the desktop, this may look a little different. Pro Tip: Did you know you can combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards points with another household member? This is extremely useful when booking flights!
Once you see the screen below, select “More” then select "Transfer your Points”.
Scroll down until you see United. Transfers are instant. Now you would return to United.com, log in and book your flight. Pro Tip: I always pay for my award flight with a card that has trip interruption/cancellation insurance. Even if I’m just paying the $5 fee.
To book flights with your Citi ThankYou points or Capital One Venture miles you will follow essentially the same process. Always find award flights first. Point transfers are one way only. Once you transfer them out, you can not get them back.
FINAL THOUGHTS
To continue earning points for free travel, you should be applying for a new travel credit card every 3 months (or as often as you can easily meet the minimum spend while paying off your balance every month). My husband and I will stagger credit card applications. This gives each of our credit scores a break from constant pulls.
The first couple of years that I started traveling with miles and points, I was meeting a minimum spend almost constantly. Do what works for your budget and try not to compare your journey to anyone else’s. It took me 18 months to earn enough points for our first trip to Europe on points with six people.
Happy Travels!
Learn how to Fly your Family of Five to Europe with one credit card sign up bonus here!
Points for Family Travel has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Points for Family Travel and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how or where products appear on this site.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
