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’d 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 costs 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’d 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 toward elite status?

No airline or hotel programs count purchased points or miles toward elite status qualification.

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October 2026 Buy Points Promotions and Bonuses

Updated: October 22, 2026, 8:21am CDT

Edited by:

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Table of Contents

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

We may be compensated when you click on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

There’s no shortage of ways to earn points and miles. From credit card welcome offers to bonus categories and 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 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:
- Buy 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus.
- Buy 5,000 to 29,000 points with a 50% bonus.
- Buy 30,000 to 79,000 points with a 75% bonus.
- Buy 80,000+ points with a 90% bonus (1.38 cents each).
Deadline: October 29, 2026
Programs that transfer to Aeroplan: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Rove Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

We value Air Canada Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents apiece, so this sale lets you purchase them below that cost. This could be a good opportunity to pick up Aeroplan points for an upcoming redemption.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Promotion:
- Purchase 3,000 to 9,000 miles and get a 10% discount.
- Purchase 10,000 to 29,000 miles and get a 15% discount.
- Purchase 30,000 to 89,000 miles and get a 20% discount.
- Purchase 90,000 to 150,000 miles and get a 30% discount.
- Purchase 151,000 to 300,000 miles and get a 40% discount (2.26 cents per mile).
Deadline: None specified
Programs that transfer to AAdvantage: Citi ThankYou Points and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

AAdvantage miles have numerous uses, but that doesn’t mean buying at 2.26 makes sense for most people. We value these miles at 1.4 cents apiece, so buying is only worthwhile if you’re making a high-value redemption or need just a few more miles for an award ticket.

Amtrak Guest Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 500 points without a bonus.
- Buy 1,000+ points with a 10% discount (3.39 cents each).
Deadline: None specified
Programs that transfer to Amtrak Guest Rewards: None
Purchase link

While buying points at 3.39 cents each doesn’t sound like a good deal, it’s possible to redeem Amtrak Guest Rewards points at a value higher than this — though that’s not always the case. If you find a ticket that’s expensive with cash but not too expensive with points, buying here and making a redemption could lead to savings.

Frontier Miles

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 miles without a bonus.
- Buy 2,000+ miles with a 100% bonus.
- Buy 5,000+ miles with a 120% bonus.
- Buy 10,000+ miles with a 150% bonus (1.08 cents per mile).
- Direct link to purchase
Deadline: October 23, 2026
Programs that transfer to Frontier Miles: Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

We value Frontier Miles at 1.1 cents apiece, and you can buy at a price below that for a limited time. Using these miles is easy, though opportunities for maximizing value aren’t plentiful.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok suite bed — Waldorf Astoria Bangkok. Image Credit: Eshan Haque

Hilton Honors

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus.
- Buy 5,000+ points with a 120% bonus (0.45 cents each).
Deadline: November 21, 2026
Programs that transfer to Hilton Honors: Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards
Purchase link

While Hilton Honors runs points sales regularly, this is the best price we’ve ever seen: 0.45 cents. That’s below our average valuation of Hilton points (0.5 cents), and this price can unlock some high-quality redemptions.

IHG One Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus.
- Buy 5,000 to 10,000 points with an 80% bonus.
- Buy 11,000 to 39,000 points with an 90% bonus.
- Buy 40,000 or more points with a 100% bonus (0.5 cents each).
Deadline: November 5, 2026
Programs that transfer to IHG: Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase link

We value IHG One Rewards points at 0.5 cents per point, though you can certainly get more value if you redeem them strategically. If you can purchase points slightly below that valuation and redeem them at a value higher than that, buying could be worth it.

JetBlue TrueBlue

Promotion:
- Purchase 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus.
- Purchase 5,000 to 9,000 points with a 100% bonus.
- Purchase 10,000 to 19,000 points with a 110% bonus.
- Purchase 20,000+ points and get a 120% bonus (1.47 cents per point)
Deadline: November 5, 2026
Programs that transfer to JetBlue: Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards
Purchase link

In our experience, you’ll receive somewhere between 1.3 cents and 1.5 cents in value for your JetBlue TrueBlue points. At 1.47 cents per point, this purchase price is within that range, so it could be worth purchasing points at this price.

Lufthansa Miles & More

Promotion:
- Small bundle – 50% bonus
- Medium bundle – 50% bonus
- Large bundle – 50% bonus
- X-Large bundle – 50% bonus (1.4 cents each)
Deadline: October 31, 2026
Programs that transfer to Miles & More: Rove Miles
Purchase link

Technically, Miles & More doesn’t sell miles directly to consumers. Instead, it sells bundles that come with perks and bonus miles together. Right now, you can purchase any of the 4 bundles with a 50% bonus, dropping the per-mile cost to a fair number. Given the short list of ways to earn these miles in the U.S., this could be a good sale for many people.

Marriott Bonvoy

Promotion:
- Purchase 1,000 points without a bonus.
- Purchase 2,000 to 200,000 points with a 55% bonus (0.81 cents each).
Deadline: November 23, 2026
Programs that transfer to Bonvoy: Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

Marriott Bonvoy members can find up to a 55% bonus in the current offer, though buying points at that tier still costs 0.81 cents per point, above our valuation of these points at 0.7 cents each. Under the right circumstances, buying can make sense, but this sale isn’t ideal for everyone.

Starlux Cosmile

Promotion:
- Buy 3,000 or more miles and get a 40% discount (2.4 cents per mile).
Deadline: November 9, 2026
Programs that transfer to Starlux: None
Purchase link

The best use case for purchasing Cosmile miles is if you want to book Starlux first class, which costs 130,000 miles between the U.S. and Asia. Purchasing miles will allow you to book these tickets for ~75% less than the usual cash price. That said, you may want to consider what other options you have to book with points and miles first.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 6,000 to 60,000 points, get a 50% discount (1.5 cents per point)
Deadline: October 29, 2026
Programs that transfer to Southwest: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

Even with a 50% discount, this promotion isn’t really good enough to make it a great deal. Because the cost to purchase points is more expensive than the average value of the points — our valuation of Southwest points puts them at 1.3 cents each on average — you’ll want to keep point purchases to a minimum when dealing with Rapid Rewards.

United MileagePlus

Promotion:
- Buy 2,000 to 4,000 miles without a bonus.
- Buy 5,000 to 19,000 miles with a 75% bonus.
- Buy 20,000 miles+ with a 95% bonus (1.93 cents per mile).
Deadline: October 31, 2026
Programs that transfer to United: Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase link

United MileagePlus routinely sells miles at 1.88 cents each, so buying at 1.93 cents isn’t ideal. The program has also limited how many miles you can buy at once. That said, buying miles can still make sense if you’re redeeming at a high value. Just put this into the proper context, as we only value these miles at 1.2 cents each on average.

World of Hyatt

Promotion:
- Buy 2,000 to 4,000 points without a discount
- Buy 5,000+ points with a 20% discount (2.08 cents each)
Deadline: December 21, 2026
Programs that transfer to Hyatt: Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase link

We value World of Hyatt points at 1.4 cents apiece, though it’s often possible to get more value than that. That said, the price of points during this sale is higher than our valuation, meaning buying points won’t make sense for everyone. However, this new purchase promotion allows you to buy Hyatt points at a fairly reasonable rate.

When Should You Purchase Points?

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

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

Topping Off Your Account

It can be frustrating to have a redemption you’d like to make, with available award space to boot, but not have quite enough points or miles to make the booking. Of course, you could wait until you do, but business class and first class 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 you need 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 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 earning 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 offer 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.