How to Travel for Free

91 Comments

1. Great post guys. Some awesome tips and need to be getting myself one of those reward credit cards. Mine is currently far less thrilling.
   Gabby has couch surfed a fair bit and loved it. I did a short stint of WWOOF's which was a cool experience too. Some of these cost saving options really enhance your trip. We often prefer them to hostels etc.
   Awesome read! 🙂

   1. Hi James,

      Thanks. I'm a huge credit card fan - easy way to get lots of miles and points. Plus I spend less that way because it's easier to track. When I have cash it just burns a hole in my pocket.

      Looking forward to trying WWOOFing, glad to hear it was cool and a good experience for you.

2. Great tips! My husband and I each signed up for Southwest credit cards to maximize sign-up bonuses. I have a companion pass with my husband for Southwest as well. Another great thing with Southwest is they do some incredible packages on sale for points. We had an amazing trip to Vegas that was so over the top - reception on a patio overlooking the Bellagio fountains, Cirque de Soleil, private dinner with one of the Aria chefs, and so many other events and it was all with points! There really is so much potential with airline loyalty programs if you use them wisely.

   1. Hi Stephanie,

      Glad you enjoyed the post. Agreed - the Southwest Companion Pass rocks!

      Sounds like your Vegas trip was fun - great way to use those points!

3. Lots of good information here. I'd love to hear about your personal experiences with any of your recommendations!

   1. Hi Jessica,

      Thanks. I use miles and points to pay for a family vacations and other trips.

      Some examples (which I still haven't blogged about): a week in Australia flying First Class round-trip, staying in luxury hotels like the Park Hyatt Sydney, Radisson Blu, and Hilton, and all meals plus activities and transportation for $200.

      A week in Kauai with the family (4 people), round-trip First Class flights, stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, meals, activities, and car rental for $400 total.

      I could go on an on. Using airline miles and credit card points are an easy way to get free or inexpensive vacations.

      Couchsurfing saved me from having to pay $300 a night for a hotel during a conference.

4. Great tips here! Would love to try the free accommodations through home swaps, housesitting, couchsurfing, and WWOOFing. How does it work exactly?

   1. Hi Aditi,

      Haven't done houseswaps - hubby won't go for it. 🙁 But plan to give housesitting a try.

      With a houseswap, you basically trade homes (think of mom swap but with a house LOL)

      I'll be posting on Houseswap, Couchsurfing and WWOOFing in a few weeks.

5. Nice tips on how to travel for free! I'd never heard of couchsurfing and didn't realize exchanging homes was something that actually happened outside the movies! Might be something to consider later in life.

   1. Hi Angela,

      Thanks for the kind words. Hope you can try some of these tips.

6. Wow these are some great tips! I especially like the credit card sign up bonuses with no minimum spending requirement, that is AWESOME. And I definitely need to check out that companion pass thing from Southwest, thank you so much for sharing these! I always thought traveling was so expensive 🙂 Now I'll be thinking twice!

   1. Hi Monique,

      Thanks, glad you enjoyed the article. Yep, if you know a few simple tricks traveling is totally affordable.

7. Great info and ideas I have not heard of before! I do fly free most of the time, thanks to South West points, and for the second year in a row I've been able to get the companion pass for my husband. It's a wonderful program and we don't take advantage of it nearly enough!

   1. Hi Maureen,

      Yeah, a fellow Southwest Companion Pass holder. I'm with you, didn't use it nearly enough. But hope to for the next one. 🙂

8. I haven't tried any of the above, but they are sure interesting and easy to implement. The house swapping one is a bit scary though. Don't wanna end up in the boogie mans house 🙂

   1. Hi The Results Guy,

      ROFL, my hubby's not thrilled with the idea of house swapping either. But most of those services, have photos, etc. So you have some idea of what you're getting into.

9. Great tips! I love to travel, and I haven't heard of several of these before. I'm going to do a bit more research and then see which one makes the most sense for us. Thanks!

   1. Hi Heather,

      Love to heard which of these tips you end up trying.

10. The hubs and I are planning a trip to Vegas. I'll definitely keep these tips in mind!

    Thanks for sharing them Debra! Hope you're having a great week.

    Cori

    1. Hi Corina,

       Glad you enjoyed the tips. Hope you have a great week as well.

       Looking into Southwest and their Companion Pass - they fly to Vegas.

11. Interesting! How does the companion pass work exactly? And, do you have any tips that would work with small children? It seems like many of these are great for singles or couples. Are there any companies or deals that work with families?

    1. Hi Sarah,

       With the Southwest Companion Pass, you can name a companion who travels with you for free (they only pay the airline taxes of @ $10). So you could earn a pass and name one of your kids and your husband can earn a pass and name your other kid. That way everyone flies free. 🙂

       I made this family friendly so all of these tricks work for families. You can Couchsurf, WWOOF, and house sit/house swap as a family.

       I'm doing a separate post for singles and couples without kids because there are more options.

12. Some great tips here! One of my friends has just started teaching in China and she is having a wonderful time - making 3-4x what she would here, free flights, paid for room and board...and plenty of time to travel. She loves it.

    1. Hi Jen,

       Thanks, glad you liked the tips.

       That's awesome about your friend. Teaching English, especially in Asia countries, pays really well.

13. Hi! Great article. We collect miles traveling back and forth to China these days. The sad thing is we're still new to the credit card miles thing. What's your favorite, no international transaction fee, easy to accrue and use miles card? Thank you for this great information!

    1. Hi Ciara,

       Glad you liked the article. One of my favorite no international transaction fee cards is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

       You earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points which can be used on several airlines like United Airlines, British Airways, Korean Air, etc.

       Let me know if you have any other questions.

14. Although I am not much of a traveler...my daughter is ... I can't wait to share this with her... These are some really great tip... Thank you

    1. Hi Tammy,

       Happy you enjoyed the post. Hope your daughter likes it also.

15. What a great post! I didn't realize there were so many ways to travel for less to nothing or free! Unfortunately, I don't get to travel much do to my dogs but I used to travel frequently. These ideas could have definitely helped me!

    1. Hi Brenda,

       Thanks for the kind words. Hope one day you can travel again. Not sure if your dogs can travel, but there are many hotels that are pet friendly.

16. I have used a handful of these before. Great tips! I have a few I'm going to look into for the next trips that we have planned. 🙂

    1. Hi Karin,

       Awesome, would love to hear which of these you'll be using for your next trips.

17. These are some great ideas! I'd never thought of most of them. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Hi Gina,

       Thanks, glad you enjoyed the post.

18. I love these ideas! One of my best friends and I had planned to travel around the country for a "gap year" after high school. We were hoping to work with WWOOF, and stay with extended family and friends. But I got married right out of high school, and she got pregnant. So our travel plans are on hold for a little while. We've talked about taking shorter trips just the two of us and her daughter, or we might gather our men together for a family trip someday. 😉 Another idea we had to save money was to wrap our vehicle through an advertising service. Do you have any experience with that?

    1. Hi Melody,

       Hope you get to take a trip, whether it's the two, three, or all of you.

       I've heard about car wraps - it was pretty big for awhile, not sure if it still is. Some of the factors in approval include if you drive a lot, especially in places where the car would get a lot of exposure.

19. These are great tips! We'd love to take a trip with our whole family, but it gets so expensive. With some of these ideas, I think we may be able to do it. Thank you!

    1. Hi Shann,

       Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂 Please come back and share if you take any trips using my tips.

20. I love the idea of couch surfing! What a fun way to travel and get-to-know people! Unfortunately, with kiddos, house swapping would probably be a better option for our family. I'm so ready to start trying these out!

    1. Hi Marie,

       There are some couch surfing families who are open to hosting other families. There just aren't as many options.

       Love to hear about your house swapping experience after you've tried it.

21. Great list of helpful recommendations! I spent 4 years teaching English, and it was an awesome way to earn money and travel. And if you teach in Asia, you can usually leave with more money then you came with!

    1. Hi Estrella,

       Glad you enjoyed the list. Thanks for sharing your experience teaching English in Asia.

22. Wow! I had to pin this list. I fascinated by the free rental cars to drive from NY to California. That's amazing to me. I can't wait to show my husband this. We've done that trip 3 times and paid almost $900 each time. Thanks so much.

    1. Hi Rena,

       Thanks for the kind words. Hope the next time you're doing the New York to California drive you can get a good deal.

23. Lots of useful tips. I will use some this when we have to travel. Thanks buddies.

    1. Hi Vasantha,

       Hope you can make good use of these tips.

24. Awesome post! I have the companion pass for SW and use hotels.com for free hotels. The deals are incredible!

    1. Hi Macy,

       Love Hotels.com. Can't beat a free night after 10 stays.

       Great way to combine that with your Southwest Companion Pass for a free trip. 🙂

25. i LOVE couchsurfing! I have met absolutely wonderful people through this program. We have had people from all over the world stay with us, and we have couchsurfed many times. My favorite couchsurfing adventures were in Krasnoyarsk, Russia- our host took a day off work to show us the city, and we still stay in touch 5 years later. Also a host San Antonio Texas who took us for a tour of the city on reclining bikes! I have never had a bad experience couchsurfing, and the website is easy to use. My 30yo son has couchsurfed all over the world, and has also hosted hundreds of people in the San Francisco area. The important thing to remember,though, is it is not a hotel- you do couchsurfing because you want to connect with locals, not because you just want a free place to stay. Be prepared to give back in some small way, if only to bring a little something of appreciation, or to cook a cultural meal.
    Cheers to free travel!

    1. Hi Margo,

       Loved hearing your couch surfing stories. Sounds like you were one of the first surfers.

       You're so right, it's not just about a free place to stay. It's all about connecting, getting to meet other people, share stories, and experiences.

       I've only couch surfed once, but am looking forward to doing it again.

26. Definitely going to look into the companion passes. We're looking to take a family vacation next year and saving on our flight costs would free up cash to put towards other things for our trip. Thanks for sharing these resources!

    1. Hi K. Elizabeth,

       You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed the tips and can get the Companion Pass for your family vacation next year.

27. The WWOOF sounds like a wonderful experience. I'll bet you could learn so much from that. These are all really good tips and would make travel accessible. Bookmarking for reference!

    1. Hi Anne,

       Thanks for bookmarking and glad you enjoyed the tips.

       I agree, I think WWOOFing would be a totally fun experience from both a learning and social perspective.

28. This is a great list of suggestions! It seems though that you have to have credit cards to utilize many of the perks and bonuses. We try really hard not to use credit- unless it's an emergency.

    1. Hi Beth,

       You can housesit, houseswap, couchsurf, do airbnb or wwoofing or use blablabar.

29. Hi Brenda, these are all great tips. I am a huge fan of CC sign up bonuses and putting all of our expenses on CC to pay for travel. We are very diligent about paying them off every month or it wouldn't work. Also, the free hotels are great too. I have never house swapped or done house sitting, but I think those would be great to try out. The WWOOF looks really cool and I never thought about being a tour guide. Some of these would have been really great ideas before I had kids, but are a bit harder to do now that I have my "extras". : )

    1. Hi Kirsten,

       Glad you enjoyed the tips.

       Yeah, kids change the dynamics a little. But each of these are doable with kids. 🙂

30. Unfortunately, we haven't taken a vacation in a few years because of the expense. I really like the idea of being a tour guide!

    1. Hi Tara,

       Hopefully these tips will help you enjoy a vacation. And maybe you can pick up a little money on the side as a tour guide.

31. Great tips! I'll be checking them out for sure next time I plan a trip!

    1. Hi Be Gracefully Inspired,

       I'd love to feature a guest post from you if you use these tips.

32. Great list. I want to get more into housesitting and have been really curious to try out Trampolinn, which is big in Europe.

    https://saverocity.com/thedealmommy/2015/01/05/trampolinn/

    1. Hi Dia,

       Glad you enjoyed the tips. Thanks for the info on Trampolinn. I'll have to check it out.

33. We haven't used a lot of these, although they are all good ideas.

    We've taken advantage of HomeExchange in the past and use credit card points often though.

    1. Hi Lesley,

       Thanks. Credit card points are my favorite way to travel for free. 🙂

34. Fantastic tips! I'm all about using my credit card to gain airline miles, but haven't delved into the hotel credit cards yet. It's next on my list! Needed to sell and buy a house first before I added in more cards 😉

    1. Hi Keryn,

       Once you add hotel credit cards to the mix, your trip will be practically free, even with the kids. Our last family trip to Hawaii only cost $400 for 1 week, First Class seats, rental car, all meals and activities, thanks for airline miles and hotel points.

35. Wow! Who knew there were so many options to travel for free? I will keep these in mind for when I'm ready to just get away.

    1. Hi Dawn,

       Happy to hear that you enjoyed the tips. 🙂

36. Great tips! I wish I could find a cheaper way for my children and I to travel. My parents live 16 hours away. I will check into some of these. It would be great if it didn't cost me $700 everytime I want to take my kiddos to see them!

    1. Hi Stephanie,

       Hopefully you can use these tips to visit your parents. Sounds like they live in another country. If so, the credit card sign-up bonuses would be the fastest way to earn free tickets and save that $700.

37. These look like some great ideas. I am going to have to check them out. I did look at the companion pass. It seems like you have to have a 100 flights a year to get that pass or a certain number of points.

    1. Hi Keelie,

       Glad you liked the tips.

       Yes, with the Companion Pass you need to either fly 100 flights or earn 100,000 points. The fastest way to get 100,000 points is by getting 2 Southwest credit cards.

38. Thank you for this. This is a great post. I have done the free hotel stay and couch surfing and I always think you should try to things that you like and traveling is for me.

    1. Hi Nelly,

       Happy you liked the post and that you've gotten free hotel stays and have done couch surfing.

39. These are wonderful ideas! Some I was familiar with and some I will be checking into more! I love to travel and saving money while doing it is even better!

    1. Hi Jaime,

       Hope you this tips help you travel more and save money. 🙂

40. I hadn't heard of companion passes and had no idea Southwest offered them! Thanks for the great tip!

    1. Hi Brooke,

       You're welcome. Happy traveling. 🙂

41. This is really informative! I never knew that you can even swap houses while travelling, but it make perfect sense. My husband and I pledged to do more travel as much as we can. We have never traveled when we were young and we hope to fulfill our bucket list one at a time.

    1. Hi Icar,

       Thanks! Hope you can do house swapping and start crossing off things on your bucket list. 🙂

42. These are all very good tips...flying for free isn't as easy for Canadians I don't think...Our flights are always hundreds of dollars.

    1. Hi Lizz,

       It's a little harder for other countries. But the AMEX card and several others offer great options to earn lots of points that you can transfer to Aeroplan and travel for free.

43. thank you so much for sharing this!!! this is some invaluable information and i've saved this for when we get ready to travel!

    1. Hi aaronica,

       Thanks! Glad you liked the tips. Hope you can start traveling soon.

44. Great info. I didn't know about the companion pass. That's a new one for me. Good stuff.

    1. Hi Camesha,

       Thanks so much. 🙂

45. Being an introvert, something like couch-surfing scares me to death! But the car thing, I'll have to look into that one. Thanks for the info!!

    1. Hi Anne Marie,

       I'm totally introverted too. So I was nervous to do couch-surfing, but had a great experience.

46. A lot of great info learnt for my next travel ^^

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