Travel first class, free

I first became interested in the idea of free travel when I stumbled upon the Frugal Travel Guy’s awesome blog.  I followed his advice and before you know it I was traveling for free!  This got me totally hooked and so I began reading every travel hacking blog I could find.  But that wasn’t enough for me so I started following travel hacker’s via twitter.  Next I joined Flyer Talk and Milepoint forums… 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to do all of that to travel first class for free (or for cheap, anyway).  You can get your feet wet very, very simply.  Here’s the formula:

STEP 1: Sign up for the credit cards with the best sign-up bonuses to earn points (for hotels) and miles (for flights)

STEP 2: Meet minimum spend requirements (if any) for each card (and make sure to pay each card’s bill, in full, every month)

STEP 3: Book travel and enjoy your trip!

STEP 4: Cancel credit cards after a year (when you receive a bill for the annual fee)

Yep, that’s it.  That’s all there is to it.  Well, not really.  You probably have lots of questions such as: which credit cards should I get?  Won’t this hurt my credit rating? Shouldn’t I cancel my cards as soon as I get the sign up bonus?  How can I meet the minimum spend requirements? How do I find available award seats? 

Well, you are inquisitive aren’t you?

Luckily, some awesome bloggers have already answered these questions:

·         For a list of the credit cards with the best bonuses, read: http://thepointsguy.com/top-deals/

·         If you’re worried about your credit score, read: http://thepointsguy.com/2011/06/understanding-how-your-credit-score-works/

·         For how to meet your minimum spend, read:

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2010/09/meeting-minimum-spend-on-credit-cards.html or http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2011/07/24/using-amex-gift-cards-to-the-meet-minimum-spend-requirements-for-credit-card-signup-bonuses/

·         For advice on how to find available award seats, try View from the Wing.  Note that you’ll need to find a blog post that matches the airline you have miles for.  For example, if you have lots of Delta miles, read this: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2011/02/06/how-to-use-delta-skymiles-to-book-international-premium-class-awards/