We often get questions about whether or not someone who doesn’t spend much can get value from this hobby. Can low spenders travel with points and miles? Absolutely! Ideally, you want to be spending at least $1,000 a month on things you can put on a credit card to meet your minimum spending requirement, depending on what card you’re working on, but some cards offer good earning potential even with lower spending requirements.  And always be thinking of all the ways you can possibly put purchases on your credit card if you do want to try for a higher spending requirement. Here are some suggestions about how to earn points and miles even if you’re a low spender.

 

Enlist the Help of Family

Maybe you can’t meet certain minimum spends, but your family has expenses that you can put on your card and be reimbursed for. Readers always tell me how their parents use the readers’ credit cards to purchase things like a new couch. The parents aren’t interested in this hobby, but are happy to help their children.

 

 

 

Pick Up the Tab

When you go out to eat or on vacation, volunteer to pick up the tab for the restaurant, groceries, or even the flights, and have your travel companions Venmo you their share. When my daughters and I travel, we always let the person who is meeting minimum spend pick up the tab and reimburse them.

Team coaches can volunteer to put the new team uniforms on their credit cards and get reimbursed. Teachers can buy school supplies and get refunded. Leaders of church groups can pay for activity expenses, etc. Can low spenders travel with credit card points and miles? Yes, with a little help from their friends!

 

 

Plan For Your Infrequent Large Expenses 

Even if you typically have a low monthly spending pattern, there may be months where you know your spending will be higher than normal.  For example, maybe you’ll need to pay an annual insurance bill, or you know you’re going to need new tires.  When those larger expenses are looming, plan ahead for them by using those as opportunities to meet a card with a higher minimum-spend requirement you might not normally be able to reach.

 

Pick Credit Cards with Low Minimum Spends

There are credit cards with low minimum spends, so tackle those first if necessary. Get in the groove of earning and using points and miles slowly, then see if you can figure out how to get the cards that require a bigger minimum spend.

When you go to our best offers page, you can see that some cards require a minimum spend of less than $1,000 in three months. However, the cards with better bonuses usually require at least $2,000-$4,000.

 

Cards With Low Minimum Spends

Our favorite cards, the card_name and the card_name, both require a minimum spend of $4,000 in the first three months. That might be easy to reach even if you only have $1,400 of expenses each month!  See if you can use some of our methods above to earn those bonuses.

Here are some credit cards with lower minimum spending requirements that might also interest you:

• card_name . You can earn 35,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months + an additional 40,000 points after you spend $6,000 in 6 months. The minimum spend on this card is typically $6,000 in 3 months, but they’ve doubled the amount of time to hit it!
• Chase Freedom Flex℠.  The minimum spend is only $500, and you earn $200 cash back or 20,000 Ultimate Rewards®. (You’ll need a card_name, card_name, or card_name to transfer those points to airline and hotel transfer partners.)
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. Only do this if the welcome offer is at least 70K miles. It usually has a $2,000 minimum spend, and the annual fee is waived the first year then $150 after that.
• AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®. The welcome offer is usually 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles, and only one purchase on the card is needed. This is the easiest minimum spend to hit in points and miles. The annual fee is $99. This card may not be available long-term as American Airlines is strengthening its association with Citi Bank.
• card_name . The bonus on this card fluctuates, but the standard offer is 50,000 Southwest Airlines® Rapid Rewards® points after spending $1,000 in 3 months.

All information about the Chase Freedom Flex℠ has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

All information about the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

Bottom Line

The more you spend on a credit card, the more points and miles you’ll earn. But you can still save on vacations and travel even if you spend less. Can low spenders travel with credit card points and miles? Absolutely! Free is free, and even if you do it on a smaller scale, it is amazing! If you have other tricks for low spenders, please share them!