Someone you know who travels a lot probably sent you this.

If you’re curious about traveling for almost free using miles and points but don’t really know how it works or how to get started, this is the first post in an introductory series you need to start with. I’ll begin here explaining how this strategy works, and then continue with the next steps in later posts. If you read through this intro series, you’ll know if miles and points are right for you and if they are, how to start traveling for almost free. And at the end of the series, I’ll recommend the cards that are usually the best options for beginners, and you’ll be ready to get traveling.

And if you already know a lot about traveling with miles and points but are trying to explain it to someone else, send them this post! My goal with this intro series is to provide just enough information to make it clear how rewarding miles and points can be without getting too overwhelming or into the weeds. It’s the perfect place for a beginner to start!

What travel with miles and points is

Traveling for nearly free with miles and points is when you is when you strategic advantage of easy ways to earn miles and points and then using those points to book travel that’s either free or almost free. There are lots of ways to earn miles and points, but the way that yields the most bang for your buck—and what I’ll be focusing on in this post—is applying for a credit card that awards a welcome bonus after you put a certain amount of household spending on it within a certain timeframe (e.g., spending $4,000 within the first three months of being approved for the card). The key to doing this successfully enough to be able to travel for pennies on the dollar most of the time is just doing that repeatedly over time and then redeeming the miles and points you’ve earned to get award tickets or award nights. That’s it.

Now, you can also earn miles and points by doing additional things, such as flying using paid tickets, doing online shopping through a portal, answering surveys, linking your Starbucks spending to your Delta SkyMiles account, etc. Those ways are good to be aware of and can earn you a smattering of miles and points here and there, but the big chunks of miles and points you can earn from credit-card welcome offers are where you’re going to want to focus your time. For now, I’m going to set those other methods aside so we can focus on the main event: credit-card welcome offers.

Here are the basics about how travel using miles and points works and whether it might be right for you. In later posts, I’ll cover what cards are generally best for any beginner, some examples of what you can do with miles and points, and frequently asked questions.

How this works: earning miles & points

Four main banks issue credit cards that offer welcome bonuses you can use for travel: Chase, Citi, American Express, and Capital One. A miles-and-points enthusiast (in this scenario: you) will apply for a card from any of these banks around every 90 days (or less often if you’re just starting out and want to take it slow). The same card might have several different bonus offers available, depending on what link you’re using, so you’ll want to make sure that you’re using an application link that yields the best bonus. I’ll get into the differences between cards in a later post, but for now, assume you’ve picked a great card with a great bonus offer.

Applying for credit cards with welcome bonuses

The easiest way to apply for a credit card is to apply online, though you can often apply in a bank branch, too. The bank will usually explain all the terms of the credit-card offer on the application landing page so you know what you can get before you fill out your application. When your card application is approved, you’ll make a note of the date and the terms the bank lays out so you’re sure to earn the welcome bonus. For example, if you apply for a Chase card on June 18 and you need to spend $4,000 within the first three months of having the card in order to earn the bonus points, you need to write down September 6 (90 days from June 18) and $4,000. (Or an easier way to keep track of things like this: download the Travel Freely app and input your info in there. I love this app and how easy it makes it to keep track of all my cards and timing. It doesn’t require entering any sensitive information and it’s free. It rocks.) Then you’ll go about your regular everyday life, buying the things you normally buy, but instead of using a debit card or other credit cards to buy things, you’ll focus on just using this one card you’re trying to meet the spending requirement on. And because you want to treat your credit card like a debit card, you’ll pay your statements in full each month. (I love travel, but carrying credit-card debt isn’t worth it!)

Once you’ve met the spending requirement, you’ll see your bonus points show up in your account shortly after your statement closes. Voilà, you now have a bunch of points you can use to book flights and hotel nights for free or almost free.

Wait, repeat, wait, repeat

If you keep applying for cards with great welcome bonuses and meeting the spending requirements, you’ll keep earning miles and points. That’s the easy part. The part that takes a little organization and strategy is figuring out how often you can do that so you don’t harm your credit.

Your credit score is based on several factors, but the most important ones are paying your statements on time and how much you owe. If you pay on time every time and don’t carry any balances, you’re already in great shape because those two factors alone determine 65% of your credit score. The age of your accounts is another factor, along with the mix of types of credit you have. But the one that you’re probably worrying about right now, reading how often you will theoretically be applying for cards every 90 days, is the number of credit inquiries (also referred to as “hard pulls”) you’ve had within a certain timeframe. So the every-90-days guideline is basically the conventional wisdom that hits the intersection of “often enough to get me some good bonuses” and “not so often that the banks start denying my applications.”

Everyone has to decide on their own comfort level with spacing out credit-card applications. That’s the most important thing. When you’re first starting out, you shouldn’t apply any more often than every 90 days, but it’s also perfectly fine to space out your applications even more, if that makes you feel less anxious about it. I used to apply every three to six months when I first started, because I was really worried about how it would affect my credit. Once I saw that it worked out fine for me, I was able to adjust my application schedule. You have to do what works for you. The most critical thing is not to rush right out of the gate applying for cards too often because you’re so eager to get started. The saying “it’s a marathon, not a race,” is absolutely applicable here.

How to figure out if this strategy is right for you

Just for the record, so it’s absolutely clear, you should not be implementing this strategy if you carry balances on your credit cards from month to month. That’s a rule you don’t want to break, because if you’re carrying balances and paying interest on those balances, you aren’t getting travel for nearly free—you’re paying interest charges.

If the you use your credit cards like a debit card, your credit score is 700+, you can either plan travel in advance OR are super-flexible OR can travel last-minute, and you like figuring out a system and maximizing it, you’re a great candidate to travel with miles and points. If you carry balance on your credit cards, you’re still building your credit, you don’t like to plan in advance or be flexible, or all of this sounds too complicated (and not in an intriguing “hey, this could be really cool” kind of way), this might not be for you. You could have great credit and be flexible with when and where you travel, but if you don’t like the puzzle-like challenge of figuring out how to redeem miles and points for what you want, you’ll find yourself with a bunch of points and not know how to use them.

I will say that there are a couple of very simple redemption options that could work if you wanted an easier, no-hassle path (i.e., redeeming points for Hyatt stays and Southwest flights), and if that’s all you want to do, that’s still great! Miles and points can still work for you even if you want to keep it really simple. Saved money is saved money. So if the only factor in the right column that applies to you is that last one, don’t let that one be a dealbreaker.

If you’re still building your credit and you score isn’t as high as you might want it to be but you’re really interested in getting started, set up a plan to apply for an entry-level card with no annual fee (I’d probably recommend the Chase Freedom Flex) and spend a few months demonstrating consistent on-time, in-full payments. Your score will go up, and then you’ll be closer to ready for a travel-rewards credit card. Also, if your credit score is closer to 700 than to 800, you’ll probably want to wait on applying for any of the “premium” travel-rewards cards until you’ve gotten some of the more entry-level cards under your belt.

Are you with me so far? I hope so!

What’s next?

In my next post in this intro series, I’ll cover the two different types of credit cards that you can get to earn welcome bonuses to use for travel and the basics of the airline frequent-flyer programs you need to know about. After that, I’ll get into some example bookings showing you how to use those miles and points and answer some frequently asked questions.