The flight was free. The hotel was tantalizing. The bathtub? Deep enough to drown all of my problems. The welcome drinks were bottomless and made from individually picked coconuts and freshly plucked limes from the most luscious garden I’d ever seen.
I assumed there had to be a catch when offered a free trip anywhere in the world. I’m embarrassed to admit I ignored the brand’s emails for months while I was on the road making content around the 2024 election. I was too busy to investigate what I imagined would be the financial or spiritual cost.
Once my travel schedule calmed down, I got on the phone with the brand. To my surprise, there was no catch.
Still, I weighed the pros and cons of doing a junket. I would need to flood my feed with vacation content for over a week, not just for a few days. There was a chance that the trip wasn’t what I expected, but I would still need to promote it. I also usually share my writing and thoughts, not my lifestyle. The trip could turn off some of my core audience.
Taking The Plunge on a Free Trip
Here’s what I ultimately decided: I hadn’t taken a vacation in years and was burnt out from trying to stop democracy from dying. I was about to turn an age that felt a little too serious.
At the moment, a free birthday trip to escape all my woes seemed like the only logical choice. I also felt like I was losing money if I didn’t do it, which, according to girl math, is entirely correct.
Plus, the brand’s founder was lovely and passionate about her business. It felt like a perfect natural fit, and the trip worked well for me. It wasn’t sponsored by a big hotel chain or luxury resort. The business behind the trip focuses on sustainable, respectful travel that supports local businesses, especially those owned by women and minorities.
They weren’t looking for a glam travel influencer to post bikini shots in Santorini. They wanted someone who aligned with their values, which felt like something I could get behind.
So the deal went like this: I’d get economy seats and five-star accommodations for ten days to a destination of my choice. The only requirement? A few stories per day and two fixed posts, one during the trip, one after.
The posts had to stay up for one year. All of the stories and posts had to be featured in a highlight on my page. The company could also use them for its marketing purposes. Finally, after the trip, I had to do an interview about my experience.
It felt like nothing. I’d probably share that much anyway if I were going on a cool vacation like the one offered.
FTC Disclosures and Getting a Free Trip as a Creator
As for disclosure, getting paid to post comes with clear FTC rules and the “paid partnership” label. But getting something for free can feel murkier. There was no invoice or money exchanged, so I chose not to tag each Instagram story as a paid partnership. I felt like that would have been misleading and insinuated that I was being paid to take the trip.
However, in my fixed posts I clearly tagged the brand and made it abundantly clear they were sponsoring the trip by thanking them. I also included the hashtag #Partner at the beginning of the caption. That’s compliant with FTC guidelines, which still require creators to disclose paid partnerships and gifts.
The best practice is to use #Ad, #Sponsored, or #Gifted near the top of the post, or to explicitly say “thank you to [Brand] for the [gift].” The key is visibility. Don’t bury it in a sea of hashtags. You want your audience to trust you, and no amount of money from a brand deal is worth losing that.
To be clear, I don’t usually get offered trips this extensive, mostly because I’m not really an influencer. I rarely accept gifts from brands, and I rarely post about products. My content is usually about misogyny and fascism, so posting about a new moisturizer I like feels deeply off-brand.
How To Get Asked To Take a Free Trip as a Creator
I got the opportunity because a friend (an actual influencer) went on the same trip and thought I’d be a good fit.
For context, I have 674K followers on IG and 334K followers on TikTok. I also have a following on X and Threads. However, that’s never gotten me anything except a refund from Airbnb once during Covid.
Still, getting shit for free is undeniably great. It was the best trip of my life. There wasn’t a day when I wasn’t grateful and in awe that I got to experience it.
I felt lucky that the brand aligned so intimately with my values and interests and couldn’t stop pinching myself. So here are my best practices and advice on how you can get free stuff too:
1) You Won’t Get Anything if You Don’t Ask
While this was the biggest free travel opportunity offered to me, it wasn’t my first rodeo. I’m pretty scrappy and fairly shameless when it comes to free stuff. I’ve gotten a few free hotel stays by asking hotels directly.
Like most creators, I don’t always profit from my social media accounts. So I try to juice those thousands of hours making content for free, towards something useful, with varying levels of success. I’ve DMed plenty of hotels trying to trade a stay for a few posts.
For the record, most say no or don’t respond, but it’s always worth asking. You never know which hotel looking to reach your exact audience has an extra room they’re looking to fill anyway.
2) Getting Something for Free Might Lead to Getting Paid
The thing about asking is that you never know where it will lead. I’ve cold DM’d brands for a discount and ended up getting a brand deal because they liked my ideas for a collaboration. Sometimes, the person on the other side of your message has deliverables to hit and a budget to unlock.
Maybe, they’re looking for someone exactly like you. Sometimes they’re just a fan who will advocate for working with you. It sounds cliché, but the number of followers isn’t always what matters most.
I know creators with far smaller followings who get way more free stuff because they’re not demanding to be paid like big name creators. Many bigger accounts want a large fee per post. However, if you’re willing to do it for free or less, that’s extremely valuable to a brand. Don’t underestimate that.
3) Reach Out to Brands You Already Love
Go through your kitchen, bathroom, and cabinets, and write down everything you already have. Brands you already know are great places to start. Brands don’t need the most famous person; they need someone who can tell their story, and you’d be surprised at how bad they are at doing that.
4) Getting Stuff for Free Still Has a Cost
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. When you get stuff for free, brands expect a post in return. Accordingly, don’t accept something that you’re not prepared to promote. It’s tempting to say yes to anyone wanting to send you a PR package, especially when starting out. But make sure the brand and product are something you think you can endorse.
Also, there might be a cost depending on what you’re getting. For instance, while my trip was gifted, it wasn’t entirely free. I had to invest in a better camera instead of just using my phone. That was ultimately my choice, but I felt I needed to make it given the brand expected high-quality content. I also couldn’t look schlubby in my pics, so I had to make sure that I had good clothes, accessories, and the appropriate wardrobe. I spend a bit on that too.
5) Be Shameless
Most influencers didn’t get free things handed to them; they asked, or hired someone to ask for them. If you want free stuff, you have to be a little forward. But don’t feel guilty about that. Even if something is free, it’s still a transaction. A brand isn’t giving you something because it’s generous. They’re giving it to you because your voice, reach, and vibe is worth more than the product.
So don’t feel bad. Don’t feel weird. Take the trip. Take the gift. Run with it. Use it to get to the next free thing, or the next brand deal that leads to a paycheck.
