Are you a college student who wants to travel as much as possible? There are lots of ways to get Big Travel for nearly free! And it’s not hard to get started.
Take a Break From the Books to Travel the World! I’ll Give You Ideas About How to Get Started
I’ll show you how to build your credit and start earning miles and points, so you can see more of the world. And visit family and friends back home!
Get Started on the Path Toward Big Travel
I’ve been lucky enough to visit beautiful cities all over the world, like Paris, Sydney, and Mumbai. But I also appreciate traveling close to home like when I visited Big Bend National Park in Texas.
I get most of my Big Travel by using miles and points. Check out my beginner’s guide if you’re just starting out!
Miles and points are 1 of the the best ways to travel cheaply. Here’s how you can do it, too – even if you’re a college student!
Start Building Your Credit
You’ll need a decent amount of credit history to get a credit card that earns miles or points. Because many of these cards are geared to folks with a longer credit history.
If you don’t have any credit history, or very little, you’ll need to show the banks you can be trusted with credit. That means paying your bills on-time and in full every month. Never miss a payment!
Getting a Store Credit Card is 1 Way to Start Building Your Credit History. Always Pay Your Bill in Full Each Month. And Use Your Credit Responsibly
And you should NOT get started with miles and points until you can pay off your credit cards each month. Because the interest you’ll pay by carrying a balance negates the value of any miles or points you’ll earn.
But if you handle your credit responsibly, it will help to boost your credit score.
Ways to build credit include:
Get your parents to add you as an authorized user
Open a secured credit card
Apply for entry-level or store credit cards
Here’s my guide about the best credit cards to boost your credit history and score.
Best Cards to Get Once You Have Credit
Link: Chase Freedom
Link: Discover it for Students
Link: Discover it chrome for Students
Link: Citi ThankYou Preferred for College Students
Banks will approve you for certain cards without a long credit history.
For example, you can apply for the Chase Freedom card to start a good relationship with Chase. They have some of the best travel rewards credit cards.
Once you establish a good payment history, you can apply for cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase British Airways – or other comparable cards with Big Travel benefits.
Once You Build Your Credit, You Can Apply for Cards Specifically for Students. Or for Entry-Level Cards to Point You in the Right Direction
Citi has the Citi ThankYou Preferred for College Students. And after you show you’re responsible with credit, you can apply for premium cards like Citi Prestige or Citi ThankYou Premier.
Discover in particular has a few cards specifically for students. So you might consider the Discover it for Students or Discover it chrome for Students.
Discover Has Great No Annual Fee Cards Geared Toward Students. And You Can Even Earn a Reward for Getting Good Grades!
They’ll even give you a $20 reward each school year when you get good grades (over a 3.0 GPA). And the cards have no annual fee, so they’re a free way to build your credit!
You can earn miles, points, and cash back with any of these cards while you continue building a credit history and establishing relationships with the banks.
Meet Minimum Spending Requirements and Earn More Points!
Link: 40+ Powerful Ways To Complete Your Credit Card Minimum Spending Requirements
Once you move up to the miles and points cards, you’ll find their minimum spending requirements are higher than entry-level cards (whose minimum spending requirements tend to be $1,000 or less). And when you’re a student, it can be tough to spend that much!
Use Your Cards When You Go Out to Eat With Friends. And Even for Rent and Tuition!
Check out my guide with 40+ ways to complete the minimum spending on your new cards.
Also consider using your cards for things like:
Dining out with friends
Books for classes
Fast food between classes
Public transportation like your subway pass
Any time you need to buy something, put it on 1 of your cards instead of using cash or debit cards. But again, always make sure you can pay them in full at the end of each billing cycle.
Rent
RadPad is a service that allows you to pay your rent with a credit card, too. If you live off-campus, that could be an option.
Keep in mind you’ll pay a ~2% to 2.5% fee, depending on which card you use. So it could be good to meet the minimum spending requirements, especially if you want to plan Big Travel with the points you earn. But it may not be the best strategy for regular rent payments.
I encourage you to run the numbers to make sure it’s worth it. For this deal and ANY others you find along the way!
Tuition
If you attend a school that accepts credit cards for tuition, by all means use your miles-earning (or cash back-earning) credit card! Do the math if there are any fees involved, though. Because depending on how you want to use your miles, it may not be worth it to pay a fee to earn them.
Always Run the Numbers When Fees Are Involved. It’s Usually Not Worth it Unless You’re Earning a Nice Sign-Up Bonus
You might also considering paying your tuition through Plastiq. But again, you’ll pay a 2.5% fee when you pay with a credit card. That said, if you’re trying to earn lucrative sign-up bonus, paying tuition could be an easy way to knock out all the minimum spending requirements at once.
How to Travel Here at Home
If you want to travel home while school’s not in session, you can pay 25,000 miles for a domestic round-trip coach award flight, on most airlines including:
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Delta
United Airlines
If you live near where you go to school, you can pay 10,000 United Airlines miles each way for coach flights under 700 miles on United Airlines. Or you can pay 7,500 British Airways Avios points for flights under 1,150 miles on partners American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Most Domestic Airlines (Like Delta) Will Charge You 25,000 Miles and ~$11 to Fly Home on a Round-Trip Coach Award Flight
For example, if you go to school in Detroit, and you’re from Atlanta, you can fly home at the end of May. And go back to Detroit in early September for 25,000 Delta miles and ~$11. That’s a price most college students can afford to pay! And, you’d get to spend your summer break at home.
You could also get home by using:
AMEX Membership Rewards points to fly on Delta
Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly on United Airlines
Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a flight on Southwest
Chase Ultimate Rewards points for any flight you find (no blackout dates!)
Citi ThankYou points to fly on United Airlines
Citi ThankYou points for any flight you find (no blackout dates!)
You can also fly on a budget airline to save money if you don’t have enough miles or points for a flight.
Of course, these methods will also work to get you anywhere else you want to go, in case you need a getaway and a break from the books!
How to Travel Farther
After you get familiar with your new cards and points programs, you might decide to travel beyond the US. Maybe a backpacking trip to Europe? Or a Caribbean vacation?
Big Travel Isn’t Just for Home! Swim, Lay Out, or Windsurf on the Beaches of the Dominican Republic During a School Break
Be sure to check out:
The Cheapest Way to Hawaii From the West Coast With Miles & Points
The Cheapest Paid Flights to the Caribbean From the East Coast
All the Ways to Get to Europe With AMEX Membership Rewards Points
Use Delta Miles to Get to Europe (Even From the West Coast!)
How to Fly to Europe Using the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Top 5 Cheap Ways to Get to Europe Using Miles and Points!
Explore Europe for Cheap With Budget Airlines!
You can read the guides linked above for more tips to how to travel using the miles of your choice.
And now that you’re reading Million Mile Secrets, you’ll be an expert on booking award flights and hotel stays in no time (in case you need more things to study!) <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f609.png" alt="