I created this website to explain to my friends and family how my wife and I have been able to travel the world for free. The “secret” has been using various credit card mega bonuses (often non-publicized), layering additional offers and some other tricks that I will show you. Below are some of my favorite offers or delve deeper by reading my Points Blog.
Before applying, make sure to check your credit. You can get two of your three FICO scores for free at Credit Karma and Credit Sesame.
| Card Name | Upfront Bonuses | Spending Benefits | Other Key Benefits | Annual Fee | How to Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card | 50k points (UA, BA, SW, Hyatt, etc. or $750 Cash) after spending $4k in 3 mos. | 1 point/$ 3x for Travel and Dining (directly book travel at 1.5c/pt) |
| $450 | General, Travel, Dining |
 | Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® | 50k ($500 toward travel) after spending $3k in 90 days | 2 Points + 5% rebate / $ (in effect 2.1% toward any travel) |
| $0 1st Yr., then $89 | General spending only |
 | Citi® Hilton HHonors Reserve card | 2 weekend nights after spending $2.5k in 4 mos. + 1 more/yr after spending $10k | 3 points / $ 5x on airfare and car rentals 10x at Hiltons |
| $95 | Keep in safe and pay $95/year for a Saturday night at an expensive hotel (e.g., The Bentley on South Beach) |
 | Chase Hyatt Card | 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt hotel worldwide after spending $1k in 4 mos. + 1 more (cat <=4) each year | 1 points/$ 2x for restaurants, airfare (direct) and car rentals 3x at Hyatts |
| $75 | General Spend, Restaurant, Air, Car Rental |
 | Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express | 35k after spending $5k in 3mos (until 4/5/2017) | 1 (valuable) point / $ |
| $0 1st Yr., then $95 | General Spend |
 | Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card | 50k points (UA, BA, SW, Hyatt, etc. or $500 Cash) or $625 in travel after spending $4k in 3 mos. | 1 point/$ 2x for Travel and Dining |
| $0 1st Yr., then $95 | General, Travel, Dining |
 | Chase Ink Preferred Credit Card | 80k points after spending $5k in 3 mos = UA, BA, SW, Amtrak,etc. or $800 Cash or $1,000 toward travel | 1 point/$ 3x for travel, shipping, telecom, advertising (up to $150k spend) |
| $0 1st Yr., then $95 | General, Travel, Shipping, Advertising, Telecom |
| Card Name | Upfront Bonuses | Spending Benefits | Other Key Benefits | Annual Fee | How to Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card | 50k points (UA, BA, SW, Hyatt, etc. or $750 Cash) after spending $4k in 3 mos. | 1 point/$ 3x for Travel and Dining (directly book travel at 1.5c/pt) |
| $450 | General, Travel, Dining |
| Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® | 50k ($500 toward travel) after spending $3k in 90 days | 2 Points + 5% rebate / $ (in effect 2.1% toward any travel) |
| $0 1st Yr., then $89 | General spending only |
 | The Business Gold Rewards Card | 25k points after spending $5k in 3 mos. (look for higher offers) | 1 point /$ 3x on ONE OF air,advertising, gas, shipping, tech (certain vendors) 2x on the categories you don't pick | N/A | $0 1st Yr., then $175 | Keep in desk for advertising, shipping & short-list of tech firms (e.g., Apple, Dell, MSFT) |
| Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express | 35k after spending $5k in 3mos (until 4/5/2017) | 1 (valuable) point / $ |
| $0 1st Yr., then $95 | General Spend |
 | Capital One Venture Rewards | 40k points after spending $3k in 3mos | 2 Points / $ (basically 2% Cash) |
| $0 1st Yr., then $59 | General spending only |
 | Blue Cash Preferred® Credit Card | $150 after spending $1k in 3 mos. | 1% cash 6% at supermarkets (up to $6k spend) 3% at stand alone gas stations and some department stores |
| $75 | Supermarket spend for families, Gas |
 | Spark Cash From Capital One (Business) | $500 after spending $4,500 in 3 months | 2% cash |
| $0 1st Yr., then $59 | General spending only |
 | Chase Ink Cash Credit Card | $300 after spending $3k in 3 mos. | 1% cash 2% on gas & dine 5% on Office Supply & Telecom (2/5% - max $25k); convert to UR if also have Ink+ or Sapphire |
| $0 | General, Gas & Dine only if you have a Plus or Sapphire too; Office Supply & Telecom |
 | Chase Freedom | $100 after spending $500 in 3mos + $25 for an additional cardholder | 1% Cash 5% (up to $75) of rotating categories; convert to UR if also have Ink+ or Sapphire |
| $0 | General only if you have a Plus or Sapphire too; rotating bonus |
| Card Name | Upfront Bonuses | Spending Benefits | Other Key Benefits | Annual Fee | How to Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card | 50k points (UA, BA, SW, Hyatt, etc. or $750 Cash) after spending $4k in 3 mos. | 1 point/$ 3x for Travel and Dining (directly book travel at 1.5c/pt) |
| $450 | General, Travel, Dining |
 | The Platinum Card® from American Express | 40k points after spending $3k (personal card only); See this page for up to date info on the Biz version | 1 point / $ |
| $450 | Keep in carry-on for travel benefits |
| Citi® Hilton HHonors Reserve card | 2 weekend nights after spending $2.5k in 4 mos. + 1 more/yr after spending $10k | 3 points / $ 5x on airfare and car rentals 10x at Hiltons |
| $95 | Keep in safe and pay $95/year for a Saturday night at an expensive hotel (e.g., The Bentley on South Beach) |
| Chase Hyatt Card | 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt hotel worldwide after spending $1k in 4 mos. + 1 more (cat <=4) each year | 1 points/$ 2x for restaurants, airfare (direct) and car rentals 3x at Hyatts |
| $75 | General Spend, Restaurant, Air, Car Rental |
 | Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card | 80k points after spending 3k in 3mos, free night @renewal (<=cat 5) | 1 point /$ 2x for airfare, dining and car rental 5x for Marriott |
| $0 1st Yr., then $85 | Only good for big marriott spending. |
If you apply for a card with good credit and you don’t get instant approval, click here for a list of credit analysis and reconsiderations departments’ direct lines. They can often expedite an approval or fix a denial.
Unless otherwise stated, my advice is for people with good credit that are able to pay off their entire credit card balance each month. You also accept that my advice is provided as a courtesy and you agree to do your own research. Also, credit card bonus offers change rapidly — while I try to keep this site up to date, you must check the credit card company’s website for the latest rules before you apply. For a more complete introduction and details on how card applications can affect your credit score, click here.
Category Bonuses
For those focused on spending, below is an analysis of Category Bonuses for some of my preferred cards to help you decide which to pull out of your wallet.
| Ink Plus | Ink Preferred | Ink Cash | Sapphire Pref. | Sapphire Reserve | Amex Biz Rewards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas | 2X | 1X | 2X | 1X | 1X | 2-3X |
| Travel | 2X Hotel Only | 3X | 1X | 2X All | 3X All | 2-3X Air Only |
| Restaurant | 1X | 1X | 2X | 2X | 3X | 1X |
| Office Supply | 5X | 1X | 5X | 1X | 1X | 1X |
| Telecom/Cable | 5X | 3X | 5X | 1X | 1X | 2-3X |
| Shipping | 1X | 3X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 2-3X |
| Advertising | 1X | 3X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 2-3X |
| Tech | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 1X | 2-3X Select merchants |
Other Bonus Categories
Supermarket: If you spend over about $50/week, you should use the Amex Blue Cash Preferred for the supermarket to get the 6% cash back.
Non-Bonus Spending
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Premium Cards (Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, Ink Preferred): transferable into United and Hyatt points among others. I generally consider United and Hyatt points worth over 2 cents each, though not everyone should
- 2-2.1% Cash Back Cards(Barclay’s Arrival Plus, Capital One Venture, Capital One Spark): fixed cash value
- Your bonus card for convenience. Realistically, there are only so many cards you want to physically carry, especially if you don’t have an iphone.
Note that everything is a multiple of the that program’s points. The relative value of such points is generally selective though there are a few exceptions (such as Ultimate rewards points needing to be worth at least as much as pennies and hyatt points due to their convertibility). In general, I consider Chase points worth than Amex points and Chase points worth more than pennies. If a Chase point is worth > 2 cents, than the Sapphire or Ink Plus should probably be your general spending card. If it is worth < 2 cents, than a Barclays Arrival Plus, Capital One Venture or Capital One Spark should probably be your non-bonus spending card.
See Glossary for definitions of the shorthand I use on the site.
