Here’s how you can take a free vacation using rewards you earn with three credit cards

While it may seem like an uphill battle to earn enough rewards points or miles for a vacation, there are several travel credit cards available right now offering big welcome bonuses that can significantly cut the cost of your next adventure. By earning these reward windfalls, you won't need to wait years to accrue enough points for a trip.

Select details how you can get your next vacation for free by using this simple strategy with three credit cards.

Credit card companies incentivize people to sign up for new cards by offering a generous welcome bonus. When you sign-up for a rewards credit card, you can earn anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 points (sometimes more) once you meet a certain spend threshold (usually between $500 and $10,000) within a certain time frame (usually a few months, sometimes longer). And if you're able to meet these requirements, you can earn a significant amount of rewards.

Soon after you hit the spending threshold for the card, your points will post to your rewards account to be redeemed for free travel.

By signing up for three credit cards, one for each category of travel expenses, it can help you earn enough rewards to book a nearly free trip.

Credit card #1: Airline credit card

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a great airline credit card to earn Southwest miles. This card is a solid choice for someone who mainly books domestic travel and prefers to check their bag when they fly.

When you sign up for this card, you can earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The annual fee for Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is $69.

Credit card #2: Hotel credit card

To earn points to help cover your hotel costs, consider signing up for a hotel credit card like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. New cardholders can currently earn 5 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after spending $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.

Plus, earn 3X points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations and dining — and earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.

And if you decide to keep the card long term, you'll receive a Free Night Award every card anniversary, up to 35,000 points. For frequent travelers, that kind of perk can help offset the $95 annual fee.

Credit card #3: Travel credit card

Of course, there are more expenses than simply airfare and hotels on a vacation. If you plan on dining out, renting a car, using a rideshare service to and from the airport or purchasing fun activities, a general travel rewards credit card can come in handy.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is offering new cardholders the chance to earn 60,000 bonus points after they spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. These points are worth $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Chase Ultimate Rewards® can be spent in a number of ways. You can transfer them to one of 14 different airline and hotel loyalty programs, redeem them directly in Chase Travel℠. You can also cash them out or purchase gift cards to major retailers.

Both Southwest and Marriott are transfer partners, so you can transfer the points you earn with your Sapphire Preferred card to either program in case you need a few extra points to book a flight or hotel night.

But if your goal is to have a completely free trip, you can use the points you earn with this card for a statement credit at a one cent per point value to cover all your vacation expenses.

While the welcome offers can quickly cut down your out-of-pocket travel expenses, these cards also have helpful features to boost the quality of your trip. Here are a few benefits from each card to consider:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card: Rental car insurance, purchase protection and travel accident insurance
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Automatic Silver Elite Status (with a path to earn Gold Elite) and no foreign transaction fees
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Comprehensive travel insurance and no foreign transaction fees

If you want a step up in benefits like expedited security with a TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee waiver or airport lounge access, consider a premium travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

There are always valuable welcome offers available, but here are a few of our current favorites:

Welcome offers are an excellent way to quickly earn a free vacation. However, it's never a good idea to spend more money just to earn credit card rewards. If you were to sign up for all three of these cards at once, you'd need to charge around $21,000 in order to meet all the minimum spend requirements. If that far exceeds your usual spending, take some time to strategize when you want to open the cards. And ask yourself a few easy questions to make sure it's a good idea to apply for a new card:

• Do you have large upcoming expenses you can use to hit your minimum spend thresholds?
• Is your credit score in the best shape possible?
• Do you have a budget set in place for your annual fees?

Once you figure out those pieces, you can use this exact strategy to begin earning your way to a nearly free vacation.

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For rates and fees for the American Express® Gold Card, click here.

For rates and fees for the The Platinum Card from Amex, click here.