How I travel the world for free

For 4 years now I have been living abroad most of the year. My freelance work is flexible enough that I can work for longer periods away from home, so with my laptop I can run my office from anywhere in the world. I usually make about 2-4 week trips, but the longest I have been from home was a 9 month trip through Asia, the US and Southern America.
And it’s all done by simply taking advantage of airline reward systems.

Start collecting miles

If you’re planning a long-haul trip, this may be the right moment to start. The miles that you gain from a 12 hour return trip might be enough to pay for a continental flight. The trick is: those ‘free flights’ also give you new miles. (It's not 100% free, you still pay some airport taxes)

Another way to earn miles is by using airline credit cards. I own a couple of credit cards, all linked to a different miles program. All big company expenses are done with those cards, so the amount of miles grows very fast. For instance all my google adwords, facebook ads etc are paid with those cards, but also freelancers that work for me through sites like upwork.com give me a lot of extra miles balance.

Choose your alliance

It’s important to compare miles programs and choose one airline for all three alliances. For instance I chose delta airlines in the skyteam alliance because they give 100% miles also on cheap tickets. Other airlines give only as low as 25% of the miles when you buy your tickets with discount. Of course choose a company that flies to your local airport and has good international connections.

The Three main alliances are:
Skyteam: Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, AeroMexico, AirEuropa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta Airlines, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, Tarom, Vietnam Airlines, Xiamen Air.
OneWorld: Air Berlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, Qatar Airways
Star Alliance: Adria Airways, Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca-Taca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, Ethiopian, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways International, Turkish Airlines, United, US Airways.

Add layovers for extra miles

Plan your trips well, through sites like Kayak.com and Google Flights you can find the best deals. A flight with more legs can give you more miles and more qualifying flights that are used for upgrading your level in the alliance. Use Great Circle Mapper to calculate how many miles you will make in your trip.

Free upgrades and more luxury

The more flights you make you make, the higher you’ll end up in the miles program. Usually with about 30 flights in one program per year, you get acces to the airline lounges for a more comfortable preparation for your flight. Also you can skip lines in the airport and will get free upgrades to business class.

Get paid while you are away

I’m not at home for half of the year and during those periods I make more money by renting out my apartment than I yearly pay on mortgage. I’ll soon write an article with tips on how to make the most out of your apartment while you’re not at home!

I hope these tips will help you get the most out of your flights and create a more nomadic lifestyle!