Top travel freebies

Love to travel but have little money to spend? Luckily there are a few credit cards that might just have the answer.

Holidays are great, but with the credit crunch taking its toll on our wallets, many of us are scaling back the number of breaks we take and staying closer to home to save cash.

But there are ways to travel on the cheap - or even for free. Welcome to the world of credit card travel freebies!

Everyone has heard of cashback cards. And we all know about transferring a balance to a 0% card. But did you know there's a wealth of travel freebies out there for the financially responsible who know which card to pick? Let's take a look at a few.

Free European return flight (or two)

The Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo card is so-called as it's actually two cards on one account - an American Express (Amex) and a MasterCard. You earn one Airmile for every £10 you spend on the Amex, or £50 you spend on the MasterCard.

And new customers who spend £10 in one transaction on their Amex card will currently receive 1500 Airmiles. This should be enough for a return flight to any of the Zone 2 European destinations, including Barcelona, Nice and Prague. And miles can be used to cover taxes.

Alternatively, you could get two flights to a Zone 1 destination such as Paris, Dublin or Amsterdam. Not bad!

The catch

Unfortunately, you'll need to book at least one night's accommodation (through Airmiles) at the same time. But as a three star hotel in the suburbs of Prague (inc. breakfast) is currently listed at just £27 per night it could still be a bargain break.

BMI

New customers who spend £250 on the BMI Amex card (run by MBNA) within the first 90 days will be given 20,000 "Destinations miles", which can be redeemed in the BMI Diamond club.

This should cover a zone 2 European return flight or two Zone 1 flights. And every £1 spent on the card earns 1.5 Destinations miles (triple points earned when purchasing BMI flights).

The catch

However, the miles cannot be used to pay taxes and charges.

Ryanair

Ryanair's MasterCard (run by Santander) tempts new customers with a free Ryanair flight, provided you spend £250 on the card within the first 90 days. Spend £1,500 in the first 6 months and you'll get another return flight. Spend £3,000 during this time and you'll get a return flight for two people.

What's more, spend another £3,000 during the second half of the year and you could earn another two return flights. So that's a maximum of five free flights that could be claimed in a year!

The catch

Unfortunately, these "free" flights do not cover the taxes, fees and charges (and all Ryanair customers know that these can cost far more than the flight itself).

EasyJet

EasyJet's MasterCard (run by Citibank) lets you earn 3 easyJet miles per £10 UK spend, 5 miles for every £10 spent overseas, and 30 miles for every £10 spent with easyJet.

Spend £250 on the card within the first 3 months and you'll receive 40,000 miles (£40) which should be enough to cover a flight and can be used against taxes.

Free flights and benefits

Finally, the Amex Preferred Reward Gold card lets customers earn one Membership Rewards point for every £1 of spending (2 points/£1 for travel spend) which will be doubled in the first year. Points can be redeemed with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Hertz and Hilton.

Cardholders are also entitled to Travel inconvenience benefits, meaning that you could claim up to £200 for meals and hotels if your flight is delayed or cancelled. If you're left without luggage for more than 6 hours you can claim up to £750 for clothes and toiletries.

Plus you get £250,000 worth of Travel accident benefit, should something happen to you while travelling on public transport.

The catch

However, this is a charge card, not a credit card, so you will need to clear the whole balance each month (which could be viewed as a good thing).

It also has a whopping £96 annual fee. Add an additional cardholder and you'll pay an extra £35 per year. Yikes.

It could be a good card for a frequent traveller. However, as some of the benefits listed form part of a good travel insurance policy you may have with a packaged bank account (and could buy for far less than £96) you may question how much the freebies are worth to you.

Which one to pick?

As you can see, there are all manner of credit/charge card freebies available, with some more lucrative than others. And with cashback cards offering increasingly meagre rates, travel freebies are looking more lucrative.

And as freebies go, getting a free flight is pretty exciting!

But if you are tempted, here are a few pointers to bear in mind:

1) Check the details carefully

A free flight with a huge tax bill is not usually a good deal so check the details carefully and work out how much the actual cost will be. Is it such a bargain?

2) Decide what you want the card for

You must clear the balance of the card each month or risk being charged interest. So although many of the cards mentioned offer 0% periods for balance transfers or new spending don't mix the two up - either use it as a reward card, or a 0% card (and avoid negative payment hierarchy).

3) Is the freebie worth the credit check?

If you have a less than perfect credit record and risk being turned down by a picky lender, you need to decide if the freebie is worth another footprint on your file?

Do your research, work out the actual costs and make sure it's a good deal for you.

More: How to have a free holiday | 35 things you can get for £5 or less