Should you purchase points and miles?

Usually, you’d be better off redeeming points and miles that you already have, rather than purchasing more. That said, if your point balances are dwindling, and you have a redemption in mind where you know you’ll get more value than the cash price you pay for the points, then, yes, it can make a lot of sense to purchase the points. You might always find it worthwhile to purchase points if you just need a small amount to make a certain redemption or if you’re trying to keep miles from expiring.

How much does it cost to purchase points?

That depends on the program, but generally, it will cost anywhere from 1 to 3 cents per point. However, we recommend timing your point purchases alongside promotions that offer a discount or bonus when you buy — both of which bring down the per-point cost you’ll pay.

Are there limits to the number of points you can purchase?

Yes, most programs implement a maximum number of points you are allowed to purchase each calendar year, though the amount varies drastically by the program.

How often are there point purchase promotions?

This varies by program, but usually in any given month, there are multiple current purchase promotions. We update this page each month to help you stay up-to-date on all of the latest point promotions you can take advantage of.

Do purchased points count towards elite status?

Unfortunately, no airline or hotel programs count purchased points or miles towards elite status qualification.

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December 2024 Buy Points Promotions and Bonuses

Updated: December 17, 2024, 3:08pm CST

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Latest Buy Points Promotions
When Should You Purchase Points?
Final Thoughts

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There’s no shortage of ways to earn points and miles. From credit card welcome offers to bonus categories to shopping portals to dining programs, the list goes on and on.

Given the numerous options, travelers are often conflicted about purchasing points for their trips. After all, why purchase points when you can amass points with your everyday purchases?

This is a fair point and a solution that works for many. However, there are some instances where purchasing points and miles can make sense. We will explore each of those options later in the post, but first, let’s dive into all of the current promotions that allow you to receive a discount or bonus on your points and miles purchases.

Latest Buy Points Promotions

Air Canada Aeroplan

Promotion:
- Purchase 2,000 to 9,000 points without a discount
- Purchase 10,000 to 19,000 points with a 15% discount
- Purchase 20,000 to 75,000 points with a 20% discount
- Purchase 80,000 to 95,000 points with a 25% discount
- Purchase 100,000 to 250,000 points with a 30% discount (1.71 cents per point)
Deadline: January 3, 2025
Programs That Transfer to Aeroplan: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

We value Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents apiece, so buying them at 1.71 cents each won’t make sense for most people. And this price is disappointing when you consider Aeroplan was selling points at 1.39 cents per point just a few weeks ago.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Promotion:
- Buy 4,000 to 10,000 miles, get a 35% discount
- Buy 12,000 to 22,000 miles, get a 40% discount
- Buy 24,000 to 100,000 miles, get a 45% discount (1.68 cents per mile)
Deadline: December 19, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Flying Blue: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and Wells Fargo Rewards
Purchase Link

We value Flying Blue miles at 1.3 cents per mile, so you’ll likely want to skip this promotion unless you have a redemption lined up that will offer you more than 1.68 cents per mile.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Promotion:
- Purchase 3,000 to 19,000 miles and get a 40% bonus
- Purchase 20,000 to 39,000 miles and get a 50% bonus
- Purchase 40,000 to 100,000 miles and get a 60% bonus (1.85 cents per mile)
Deadline: December 23, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Alaska: Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan provides some incredible partner redemptions if you want to fly in business or first class. We value Alaska miles at 1.6 cents each, so buying at 1.85 cents isn’t worth it unless you’re redeeming miles at a higher value.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Promotion:
- Purchase 6,000 to 24,000 miles and get a 10% discount
- Purchase 25,000 to 79,000 miles and get a 15% discount
- Purchase 80,000 to 104,000 miles and get a 20% discount
- Purchase 105,000 to 149,000 miles and get a 25% discount
- Purchase 150,000 miles and get a 35% discount (2.44 cents per mile)
Deadline: None specified
Programs That Transfer to American: Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

American Airlines AAdvantage is a well-known program, offering numerous redemptions. This sale doesn’t have an end date at this time, and it won’t make sense for most people — unless you’re redeeming your miles at a value above the costly price of buying them. We value AA miles at 1.4 cents apiece, so buying at 2.44 cents is best avoided in most circumstances.

Amtrak Guest Rewards

Promotion:
- Purchase 1,000 to 3,500 points and get a 10% bonus
- Purchase 4,000 to 11,500 points and get a 20% bonus
- Purchase 12,000 to 50,000 points and get a 40% bonus (2.7 cents per point)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Amtrak: None
Purchase Link

The value of Amtrak points depends on how you’re using them, and redemption values can vary. It’s possible to get more than 2.7 cents per point in value for redemptions, but that’s not always the case. Do the math before purchasing.

Avianca LifeMiles

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 miles with a 120% bonus
- Buy 2,000 to 20,000 miles with a 140% bonus
- Buy 21,000 to 35,000 miles with a 150% bonus
- Buy 36,000 to 200,000 miles with a 160% bonus (1.27 cents per mile)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to LifeMiles: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

LifeMiles is a great program for booking Star Alliance flights without hefty surcharges, and award pricing is competitive — whether you’re flying far or just a short hop. We value LifeMiles at 1.4 cents each, so this sale lets you purchase them for even less than their value.

Copa Airlines ConnectMiles

Promotion:
- Buy 5,000 to 9,000 miles with a 60% bonus
- Buy 10,000 to 14,000 miles with a 70% bonus
- Buy 15,000 to 19,000 miles with an 80% bonus
- Buy 20,000+ miles with a 90% bonus (1.58 cents each)
Deadline: December 19, 2024
Programs That Transfer to ConnectMiles: Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

ConnectMiles isn’t the most popular program in the world, but it has an interesting advantage: increased access to United Airlines flight awards. The program also has a simple award chart that doesn’t require complex math or guesswork when you want to use your miles.

Emirates Skywards

Promotion:
- Buy 5,000 to 15,000 miles with a 10% bonus
- Buy 16,000 to 25,000 miles with a 15% bonus
- Buy 26,000 to 100,000 miles with a 25% bonus (2.45 cents per mile)
Deadline: December 22, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Emirates: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

We value Emirates Skywards miles at 1.1 cents apiece. And even if you receive the 25% bonus, you’ll purchase miles for 2.45 cents each. Therefore, you’ll want to have a specific redemption in mind where you know you can get significantly more value than you would without purchasing miles.

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

Promotion:
- 1,000 to 5,000 miles: 10% bonus
- 6,000 to 24,000 miles: 20% bonus
- 25,000 to 150,00 miles: 40% bonus (2.86 cents)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to EVA: Capital One Miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards
Purchase Link

There are some high-quality uses of EVA Air miles, including around-the-world tickets, business class between the U.S. and Europe at 65,000 miles per passenger, and transcontinental business class in the U.S. for 29,000 miles per passenger.

Hilton Honors

Promotion:
- Purchase 5,000+ points and get a 100% bonus (0.5 cents per point)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Hilton: Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards
Purchase Link

There are certainly times when purchasing points makes sense, especially in situations where cash prices are high. Hilton Honors doesn’t publish an award chart, but it does feature standard award levels and premium room award levels. For the most part, standard room rewards cap out at 120,000 points. Keep in mind that Hilton also gives you your 5th night free on award stays.

JetBlue TrueBlue

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 2,000 points without a bonus
- Buy 3,000+ points to get a 130% bonus (1.4 cents each)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to TrueBlue: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards
Purchase Link

You’ll typically redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points at a value of 1.3 to 1.5 cents apiece. Buying them at 1.4 cents each falls in the middle of that range, so it only makes sense to buy if you’re redeeming points at a higher value than the cost of obtaining them — or if you’re just a few points short for your next redemption.

Marriott Bonvoy

Promotion:
- Purchase 2,000+ points and get up to a 45% bonus (0.86 cents per point)
Deadline: December 23, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Marriott: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase Link

Buying Marriott Bonvoy points, even with a bonus of up to 45%, is expensive and should only be done in the most limited of circumstances.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 2,000 points without a discount
- Buy 3,000 to 60,000 points, get 50% off (1.5 cents per point)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Southwest: Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

We value Southwest points at 1.5 cents each, so you’re buying points at their face value. Whether that makes sense depends on what you need the points for and whether you’re redeeming your Rapid Rewards points at a higher value — which can be challenging.

United MileagePlus

Promotion:
- Buy 5,000 to 14,000 miles, receive a 20% discount or 50% bonus
- Buy 15,000 to 39,000 miles, receive a 35% discount or 75% bonus
- Buy 40,000 to 100,000 miles, receive a 50% discount or 100% bonus (~1.88 cents per mile)
Deadline: December 23, 2024
Programs That Transfer to United: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase Link

Note that this price is still significantly more expensive than what we value United MileagePlus miles at: 1.2 cents apiece.

World of Hyatt

Promotion:
- Receive a 25% bonus when purchasing 5,000 or more points
Deadline: January 5, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Hyatt: Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase Link

This drops the price of purchasing Hyatt points to just 1.92 cents each. We value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents apiece, though it’s often possible to get more value than that.

Wyndham Rewards

Promotion:
- Purchase 3,000 to 200,000 points and receive up to a 45% discount (0.71 cents per point)
Deadline: December 31, 2024
Programs That Transfer to Wyndham: Capital One Miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards
Purchase Link

We value Wyndham points at 0.9 cents each, so these prices are reasonable, letting you buy points for less than their average cost. Depending on what you plan to redeem these points for, buying them at 0.71 cents apiece could make sense.

American Airlines B737 8 MAX at SNA — Sometimes it can make sense to purchase airline miles. Image Credit: Ryan Smith

When Should You Purchase Points?

As promised, let’s examine some examples of when it might be wise to purchase points and miles.

Topping Off Your Account

It can be frustrating to have a redemption you’d like to make, with available award space to boot, but you don’t have quite enough points or miles to make the booking. Of course, you could wait until you do, but if you’re looking to book a business- or first-class award ticket, award space can vanish quickly.

In cases like these, it can make sense to purchase a small number of points to acquire the number of points or miles needed to book the award.

Price Arbitrage

We frequently discuss the opportunity to take advantage of price arbitrage when talking about purchasing points or miles.

For instance, say you’d like to fly from the U.S. to Europe in business class. You pull up Google Flights, pop in your desired destination and travel date, and the results reveal that the best nonstop option is an American Airlines flight that costs a whopping $2,500 — yikes.

While the best award redemptions require locating award space at the saver level, assuming it is available on the date you’d like to travel, you could purchase the points needed for this ticket for far less. For example, you could purchase 58,000 American Airlines miles for just over $1,400 — more than $1,000 less than the retail price.

Bottom Line:

Simply put, purchasing points and miles can be a great way to get a substantial discount on flights you were planning to purchase anyway.

Preventing Points From Expiring

One of the annoyances of some loyalty programs is that their points or miles expire after a set period, usually 1 to 3 years. Depending on your travel habits, you may be at risk of your points expiring if you go long periods without earning or redeeming points within the program.

Fortunately, most programs count purchasing points as a qualifying earn activity, allowing you to extend the life of your miles simply by purchasing a small number of them.

Final Thoughts

In most cases, your primary points strategy should be earning them through new credit card welcome bonuses, everyday card spending, and other point-earning activities like shopping portals, as these activities shouldn’t require a significant expense beyond your everyday spending habits.

That said, there is a time and a place when it can make sense to purchase points and miles. In those cases, promotions that allow you to receive a discount or bonus miles on your purchase can offer you even more value.

Of course, you should always run the numbers when deciding which path makes the most sense for your next redemption, but it is always great to have options.