Can you really travel the world for free? A travel points expert shares her secrets

Stacy Roberts, a travel points influencer with 321,000 social media followers, says her family took eight vacations last year for roughly $4,300 by opening a new credit card each month to amass about one million points annually [1]. Roberts, who holds 16 credit cards and maintains an 832 credit score, told The Guardian she has never carried a balance in 25 years. “Every card goes on autopay,” she said. “I have never carried a balance on a credit card in 25 years of having credit cards” [1]. A score above 800 is considered “exceptional” by FICO, the most widely used personal credit scoring firm [1]. The strategy relies on signup bonuses, which Roberts pursues by opening roughly 12 cards per year between herself and her husband. She estimates the family’s average monthly spend at $2,500 to $3,000, though one-time expenses—such as a $20,000 home insurance claim paid by card and later reimbursed, or a $20,000 tax bill paid with a card—helped meet spending thresholds for bonuses [1]. Roberts acknowledged paying a fee of nearly 3% on the tax payment but calculated the miles earned justified the cost [1]. Roberts also opens two to three business cards between each personal card to avoid triggering bank restrictions on application frequency. “If you have a side hustle that makes money—such as selling your kids’ used clothes or old bikes on Facebook marketplace, photography, lemonade stand—that’s a business,” she said [1]. She closes most business cards after a year unless they offer ongoing value, such as a free hotel night worth more than the annual fee [1]. Total annual fees across her cards ran close to $3,000 last year, though many carry no fee [1]. Roberts said she never signs up for store cards, favoring travel rewards. “The points value is more lucrative than, like, a 10% discount at Home Depot,” she said [1]. Roberts cautioned that her approach is not for everyone. “Half of the US is in credit card debt, and half is not. [My advice] is for the half that are not,” she said [1]. Americans held roughly $1.3 trillion in credit card debt, according to federal statistics cited by The Guardian [1]. Roberts said she learned to pay off cards from her parents, who used points for flights during frugal family trips when she was a child [1]. She wants her children, ages seven, nine, and 11, to gain perspective from travel. “Ultimately, what I really want for them is to not be ethnocentric, where my way of life, the world I live in and my worldview is the way everyone should live,” she said [1].