How to get a free round trip ticket to almost anywhere in the world..

You probably realize that no one is just handing out free airline tickets to your dream destination 10,000 miles away from home. Wait... no one is doing that right? If they are... you would let me know, wouldn't you? Of course you would! ;-)

You also probably realize that most people who are traveling to amazing destinations are not paying cash for all of their flights. Sure, there are some people who can afford to fly anywhere at any time in first class without batting an eye. But how are the 20-something-year-old backpackers doing it!? Have you ever stopped and thought "Wait a second... what am I doing wrong here?!"

I have! For a long time I have avoided the idea of signing up for credit cards just for perks, and now I wish I hadn't. But I only say that because I am a responsible credit card user. I never charge more than I can pay off that month. Every month my cards get completely paid off. I never pay interest on a charge I make on any credit card. Period. I don't even know or really care what my card maximums are, because I will never need that much credit. Know what I'm saying?

Anyhow, after years of a PNC credit card that gave fairly decent cash back and mailed you out a cash check every time you reached $100 bucks, I switched to Chase.

Here's the easy way to get a round trip to almost anywhere you want to go in the next few months.

Chase Sapphire Preffered:
* 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
* 5,000 bonus points when you add an authorized user and they make a purchase
* 2x points on travel and dining at restaurants
* 1 point/dollar on everything else
* 1:1 points transfer to a TON of travel programs including United, British Air,
Korean Air, Singapore Air, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt Gold, IGH Rewards
Marriot Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards.. So 1,000 Chase points = 1,000
miles/points with any of the partners. Awesome value!
* $0 Foreign Transaction Fees (Perfect For Travel Abroad!!!)
* 20% off travel when you use points for airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises through
Chase Ultimate Rewards.

This card has NO annual fee for the first year, and after that the fee is $95.

Chase Sapphire Preffered has some awesome protection for you while traveling also including coverage if you bag is delayed, damaged, or lost. I have personally experienced this and plan to post more about it in the future.


Chase Freedom: * 15,000 bonus points when you spend $500 in the first 3 months
* 2,500 bonus points when you add an authorized user that makes a purchase
* 5% on up to $1,500 each quarter in bonus categories that rotate
* 1% cash back on everything else
* Points never expire if your account is open

Some of the categories have included: Gas Stations, Local Commuter Transportation, Grocery Stores, Restaurants, Amazon, Online Shopping, Amusement Parks etc. Each quarter you have to activate so you can get the bonus 5% in the categories. You can opt for a reminder email and You can activate it until about 2 weeks before the quarter ends and it will be retroactive for the whole quarter, so don't worry if you forgot to do it before the quarter started!

This card has NO annual fee. Period. YAY!

​Why These Cards Are A Great Team

One Reason: Points can be transferred.

For instance, you can cash out your 1,500 points on Chase Freedom for $150. OR you can transfer them to Chase Sapphire, which will then allow you to book travel with them or transfer them to any of the partner programs and you will likely get a value of more than $150.

You can also transfer points like this:

Say your spouse has a card with 5,000 points. And you are 5,000 points short to book a flight. He can call in and transfer his points to your card, combine the points, so you can book award travel! Score!

When to Use:
Chase Freedom versus Chase Sapphire Preferred

Here's the rule I go by:

If Chase Freedom has a 5% category that I use, for instance Amazon since I buy almost everything from there, I will use my Chase freedom on those purchases for the quarter until I meet the maximum amount ($1,500 in purchases of that category for the quarter)

If the category is restaurants, I will still use Chase Freedom. Why?

Chase Sapphire always gives 2x on dining. So basically, 2%. Chase Freedom will give 5%. Then I transfer the points to my Sapphire card and get even more value! Yay!

So.. Chase Freedom for the 5% categories. Chase Sapphire Preferred for ​everything else!

​This has been a stellar winning combo for me!

Sign Up Bonus Scenario

Chase Sapphire Preferred: 50,000 bonus points
Authorized User Purchase: 5,000 bonus points
55,000 bonus points

Chase Freedom: 15,000 bonus points
Authorized User Purchase: 2,500 bonus points
17,500 bonus points

Total of sign up bonus points: 72,500 bonus points

Now remember the spending requirements to get there. If you got 5% (or 5 points per dollar) on the quarter's bonus category for Chase Freedom for the $500 minimum spend, that would amount to 2,500 points for your minimum spending.

Chase Sapphire Preffered requires $4,000. You could have between 4,000-8,000 points depending on what type of purchases you make. Let's say $1000 is on dining and travel (2,000 points) and the other $3000 is on other purchases. (3,000 points)


Sign Up Bonuses: 72,500 points
Spending Earned: 7,500 points (at least)
Total Points: 80,000 points

How To Use 80,000 Chase Sapphire Preferred Points?

One example is with partner airline United. See United's Star Alliance/Partner Awards Chart
(All reward amounts below are "Saver Rewards" - they require the fewest number of points.)

From Mainland US, Alaska, Canada to:
* Mainland US, Alaska, Canada 10,000 or 12,500 miles each way
​ * Hawaii 22,500 miles each way
* Mexico 17,500 miles each way
​ * Central America 17,500 miles each way
​ * Caribbean 17,500 miles each way
​ * Northern South America 30,000 miles each way
​ * Europe 30,000 miles each way
​ * Northern Africa 40,000 miles each way
​ * Central/Southern Africa 40,000 miles each way
​ * Middle East 42,500 miles each way
​ * Central Asia 42,500 miles each way
​ * South Asia 40,000 miles each way
​ * North Asia 35,000 miles each way
​ * Japan 35,000 miles each way
​ * Oceana 35,000 miles each way
​ * Australia/New Zealand 40,000 miles each way

You may want to bookmark this page for quick reference ^^ Instead of having to stare at the tiny print on that chart each time.

So you can go from US roundtrip completely on these points with United to anywhere in the world, except Middle East and Central Asia. For those flights, you're only 5,000 points off round trip, which you could rack up in not much time anyway.

How awesome is that!?

You and a spouse can each do this and you can both travel to an amazing destination and back on your reward miles! Or, if you want to stay in US, Alaska, Canada you could travel round trip up to 4 times. Or Mexico, Caribbean, Central America you could travel round trip 2 times and still have 10,000 points left for a one way in the US, Alaska, Canada zone.

Plus, this hasn't even tipped the iceberg of possibilities to maximize the rewards via stop overs and open jaws etc. as permitted by United.

​Get 55,000 Bonus Points from Chase Sapphire Preferred


Bonus points change from time to time. At the time this article was written, the points were accurate. Hopefully they still are ;-)

If you take advantage of this, let me know any cool way you decided to use your points!!!