( CNN ) -- A German entrepreneur claims to have found a way to buy 1 million air miles for as little as $ 6,500 . Those air miles could translate into two first or business class trips on Etihad Airways from the United States to the Maldives , or up to five return first class trips to Asia on Singapore Airlines . Best part : he says anyone could do the same . The scheme , hatched by Torsten Jacobi , principal owner of Bluusun Media which runs travel deals website mightytravels.com , involves applying for credit cards that offer generous sign-up and spending bonuses and then buying gift cards with the credit cards , which you immediately liquidate back into cash . As long as you pay off your credit cards in full each month , that amounts to thousands of air miles for the price of the gift and credit card fees , which in his scheme amount to around $ 6,500 over the course of a year . Cards for miles . `` It requires just two credit cards that most people will be easily eligible for and a couple of minutes of your time every day for a 12-month period , '' he told CNN . By using the Citibank Executive AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard and the American Express Gold Card , which offer generous sign-up bonuses and redemption benefits , and using them to buy $ 1,500-worth of gift cards each day , Jacobi says he is already 150,000 miles toward his goal of 1 million air miles . He has only researched the scheme in the United States so far , and you may need to register for an online payment system such as EvolveMoney . But if you 've got the time , this could be a cheap ticket to a first class flight across the world , he says . `` If you manage to buy an average of $ 1,500 of gift cards every day and use Citibank and Evolve Money to liquidate your gift cards , three gift cards per day [ for a year ] equals $ 6,186.75 in fees , plus a $ 250 partial credit card fee . `` Miles earned : 765,000 American Express Membership Rewards points and 182,500 AAdvantage miles . Since both credit cards have a sign-up bonus , you 'll actually earn a total of 282,500 AAdvantage miles and 790,000 American Express points . '' So what 's the catch ? `` It 's 100 % legal . However stores could stop selling gift cards with a credit card . That has happened , but it 's very easy to find supermarkets/gas stations who are allowing that volume of sales per day ; $ 1,500 is small -- I have done up to $ 5,000 per store several days in a row . '' Jacobi even has preferred routes to get the most of his air miles once they 're earned . `` [ My ] recommendation would be to use the AAdvantage miles for a trip for two to the Maldives or Sri Lanka with Etihad Airways or Cathay Pacific First Class . For both airlines the surcharges/fees are minimal . `` As for Membership Rewards , the most luxurious option is Singapore Airlines ' [ frequent flyer program ] KrisFlyer to Hong Kong . This can be had for around 150,000 one-way when redeemed online . `` American Express Membership Rewards transfer instantly to KrisFlyer . Taxes and fees come to about $ 250 per round-trip ticket . ''
German entrepreneur says he is 200 miles into a 100 million air mile target . Scheme involves buying gift cards with air mile - linked credit cards , and immediately liquidating the company . Only researched for United Airlines so far , but is good for first class flights on various airlines .