You’ll need: Southwest points

The Southwest Companion Pass is considered by many of us to be the single best for most travelers. Put simply, it allows you to bring along a travel buddy every single time you fly Southwest — for up to two years. You’ll only be on the hook for the taxes and fees of your companion, which are a mere $5.60 one-way for domestic flights.

Even if you were to fly on Southwest multiple times per day every single day of the year, your companion could come with you for virtually free. This is a great money-saving tool for families who often travel together.

To get the Companion Pass, you must earn 135,000 Southwest points in a calendar year. That’s unbelievably easy, as long as you’re willing to open a couple of credit cards. See, Southwest credit card bonuses count toward this requirement. By earning the bonuses from one personal and one small business Southwest credit card, you’ll often immediately qualify for the pass (depending on each card’s current bonus).

There are some other quirks to the Companion Pass that you should know about, so be sure to read our guide to the Southwest Companion Pass for more details.

You’ll need: American Airlines miles

You can use American Airlines miles for flights on Qatar Airways, widely agreed to be one of the highest-quality airlines. Many of its planes offer incredible business class seats called Qsuite — if you and a travel companion book seats right next to each other, your section can be turned into a double bed.

Qatar Airways flies its Qsuite to lots of fun destinations, such as Cape Town, Bangkok, Singapore, and Paris. One of the best uses of American Airlines miles is to book flights between the US and the Maldives for 140,000 miles round-trip. These flights can easily cost $5,000 — and potentially much more, depending on your originating city.

You’ll need: Turkish Airlines miles

If you’ve got Turkish Airlines miles, you can book domestic US flights on partner United Airlines for just 7,500 miles one-way in coach — and 12,500 miles in business class.

Incredibly, this also includes flights to Hawaii. These are highly contested seats, meaning you’ll likely have trouble finding dates that work for you. But if you can pull it off, it’s a steal. You’ll have the best chance of success if you search from United’s hub airports, such as Newark (EWR), Washington Dulles (IAD), Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO), etc.

You’ll need: ANA miles

ANA is a major airline in Japan and a luxurious one. It allows you to book round-the-world award flights — a single award with up to eight stopovers. In other words, you visit up to eight destinations during your trip.

ANA prices its awards based on the distance you fly. Depending on how direct you build your round-the-world trip, you could fly for as little as 105,000 miles in business class.

There are some rules to know, such as:

• You can make up to three stopovers in Europe and four in Japan.
• You can’t backtrack.
• You’re required to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Considering you can earn more than 105,000 points with a single credit card welcome bonus, this deal makes compassing the world in style relatively easy.

You’ll need: American Airlines miles

US carriers, namely American Airlines and Delta, occasionally publish super cheap domestic fares between random cities. Available dates are often limited, but the prices are white hot — as low as 6,000 miles one-way for transcontinental flights.

More commonly, you’ll see one-way flights for 12,500 miles each way. But if you’ve got a bit of flexibility in your travel plans, you can save more than 50% on these special prices.

As an example, above is a flight between Cincinnati and San Jose, California, for 6,000 American Airlines miles. That’s over 2,000 miles of flying!

You’ll need: Virgin Points

Inside an ANA premium cabin are some of the biggest and most luxurious seats in the sky. The food is restaurant-quality and even serves Japanese whiskey that costs nearly $1,000 per bottle.

Virgin Atlantic is partnered with ANA and offers a confusingly good deal on business- and first-class flights between the US and Japan:

• First Class — 120,000 Virgin Points from the East Coast, 110,000 Virgin Points from the West Coast
• Business class — 95,000 Virgin Points from the East Coast, 90,000 Virgin Points from the West Coast

You will pay fuel surcharges with this ticket, though these fees are normally very reasonable — perhaps a couple of hundred dollars. But when gas prices are high, you may find yourself paying a prohibitive $700 round-trip. Still not a bad deal for a seat that otherwise costs more than $20,000.

Note that ANA only flies first class to Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. If you don’t live nearby, it could still be worth flying to one of these cities just for the experience.

You’ll need: Aer Lingus Avios

Aer Lingus is the official airline of Ireland, and serves lots of US cities. There are a handful of strategic routes that can get you to Ireland for as little as 13,000 Aer Lingus Avios points one-way in coach:

• Boston to Dublin/Shannon
• Chicago to Dublin
• Minneapolis to Dublin
• New York (JFK) to Dublin/Shannon
• Philadelphia to Dublin
• Washington, DC (IAD) to Dublin

Only during off-peak dates can you book a flight for 13,000 points. You can view the Aer Lingus award calendar here (all dates in green are peak pricing), but just know that well over half the year is off-peak.

Aer Lingus will pass along moderate fuel surcharges — but it’s still a good deal.

You’ll need: Iberia Avios

Iberia is the flag carrier of Spain. This trick is a bit niche, as it only works if you fly to Spain — but it’s a great way to inexpensively reach Europe in style. Once you’re across the Atlantic, you can fly to whichever country you actually want to visit for very cheap (sometimes $20 or less).

For just 17,000 Iberia Avios in coach or 34,000 Iberia Avios in business class, you can book the following routes one-way:

• Boston to Madrid or Barcelona
• New York (JFK) to Madrid or Barcelona
• Chicago to Madrid

Similar to using Aer Lingus Avios, prices are only this low for off-peak dates (which you can view here). Again, over half of the year is off-peak, so you shouldn’t have a terrible time finding availability.

You’ll need: Hyatt points

Calala Island is about 3.5 miles east of Nicaragua. The island’s resort has just four rooms, with a maximum occupancy of eight total guests. In other words, this is about as close as you can get to booking a private island with hotel points.

You’ll pay 40,000 Hyatt points per night — with a minimum three-night stay. You’ll get an all-inclusive experience, and you can request whatever you want to eat. The chef and the multiple staff are entirely at your disposal.

These rooms routinely cost $3,000 per night, heightening Calala Island’s bucket-list allure.

You’ll need: An annual fee-incurring Hilton credit card

One of the greatest deals in credit card rewards is the free night certificate that comes with select American Express Hilton credit cards. It is valid at nearly every Hilton hotel on the planet (with a few exceptions), making it worth up to 150,000 points.

To earn this free night certificate, you must have one of the following cards:

• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card — Receive an annual free night certificate after opening the card and after each account anniversary. Also, earn a second free night certificate when you spend $60,000 on your card within a calendar year.
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card — Earn one free night certificate after you spend $15,000 on your card during a calendar year.
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card — Earn one free night certificate after you spend $15,000 during a calendar year with your card. Earn a second free night award when you spend $60,000 with your card during a calendar year.

Depending on where you use your certificate, you could get thousands of dollars in value. For example, you can stay at hotels like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives (pictured above), which regularly costs over $2,000 per night.

You’ll need: Hyatt points

Bali has two personalities: Beach and jungle. The Viceroy Bali is located in Ubud — surrounded by jungle, rice terraces, monkeys, etc.

This resort is a Hyatt Category 7 hotel. That means you’ll pay between 25,000 and 35,000 points per night, regardless of the cash price of the hotel. Prices often cost over $750 per night, but even the base room comes with a heated plunge pool, marble floors, and a terrace with excellent jungle views.

You’ll need: Hyatt points

Alila Ventana Big Sur is a gem along the Central Coast of California. It’s a luxury all-inclusive resort surrounded by towering redwoods, shimmering ocean, and serpentine hiking paths.

This resort is a Category 8 Hyatt hotel, meaning it costs between 35,000 and 45,000 points per night for double occupancy. The hotel otherwise routinely costs over $2,000 per night. The only thing not included is alcohol and some ancillary activities such as falconry and ax throwing.

Booking a stay at this resort is just about the closest you’ll get to truly free travel.

You’ll need: The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (or the Ritz-Carlton Credit Card)

The best Marriott hotels in the world cost between 80,000 and 120,000 points per night, depending on the season. These resorts can cost over $1,500 per night, meaning you can get huge value from your Marriott points if you choose a super aspirational resort.

That’s why the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is so enticing to keep year after year. The card comes with an annual 85,000-point free night award after each account anniversary. This nearly guarantees you a free night at a five-star property every year. You have the ability to add 15,000 Marriott points to the certificate, as well, if the night you want to stay costs more than 85,000 points.

You can stay at resorts like Mystique, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Santorini (pictured above), or the famed Al Maha a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai, which is nearly impossible to find for under $1,000.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card comes with 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is worth at a minimum $750 in travel when you use the card directly with airlines hotels, etc. and redeem your miles by “erasing” your travel purchases at a rate of 1 cent each. But they can be worth much more by transferring them to travel partners.

For example, you could transfer those points to Turkish Airlines for five round-trip coach tickets to Hawaii from a United Airlines hub. That could potentially save you over $3,000, depending on your origin airport.

Or, you could transfer 60,000 miles to Virgin Red and book a one-way first-class seat between the East Coast and Japan. That ticket will otherwise cost over $14,000!

You can read our Capital One Venture X review to see other fun features that make the card worthwhile, such as an annual $300 travel credit, some of the best airport lounge access around, and more.

Note: The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card comes with this exact same bonus.