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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May 2026 Buy Points Promotions and Bonuses

Updated: May 1, 2026, 9:15am CDT

Edited by:

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Table of Contents

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 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 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:
- Buy 1,000 to 8,000 points without a discount
- Buy 10,000 to 19,000 points with a 15% discount
- Buy 20,000 to 75,000 points with a 20% discount
- Buy 80,000 to 95,000 points with a 25% discount
- Buy 100,000+ points with a 30% discount (1.9 cents per point)
Deadline: May 13, 2026
Programs that transfer to Aeroplan: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

We value Air Canada Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents apiece, so this isn’t as good an opportunity to purchase points as previous promotions we’ve seen. That said, you should only buy if you’re redeeming points at a high value for an upcoming award ticket.

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 3,000 to 9,000 points and get a 80% bonus
- Buy 10,000 to 19,000 points and get an 90% bonus
- Buy 20,000+ points and get a 100% bonus (1.88 cents each)
Deadline: May 2, 2026
Programs that transfer to Alaska: Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

We value Atmos Rewards points at 1.6 cents apiece, and even the best tier in this offer (a 100% bonus) costs more than that on a per-point basis. That means you should have a specific redemption in mind before buying points. You should skip this offer unless you can redeem the points you purchase at a value of at least 1.88 cents each.

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 200,000 miles and get a 40% discount (2.26 cents per mile)
Deadline: None listed
Programs that transfer to American: Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

American Airlines AAdvantage is a well-known program that offers numerous redemption options. This sale offers a good discount, but 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 2.26 cents is best avoided in most circumstances. Plus, you’ll need to shell out over $3,40 to reach the 40% discount tier with this sale.

Etihad Guest

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 2,000 miles without a discount
- Buy 3,000 to 10,000 miles with a 10% discount
- Buy 11,000 to 25,000 miles with a 15% discount
- Buy 26,000+ miles with a 35% discount (2.08 cents per mile)
Deadline: None specified
Programs that transfer to Etihad Guest: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Rove Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

Etihad Guest has some interesting partnerships and a few decent redemption options, and it’s also the easiest way to find award space in Etihad’s premium cabins. That said, most of its partner awards can’t be booked online, and we only value these miles at 1.4 cents each — meaning buying them at 2.08 cents isn’t a good idea unless you have a great redemption lined up.

Hilton Honors

Promotion:
- Purchase 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus
- Purchase 5,000+ points and get a 100% bonus (0.5 cents per point)
Deadline: May 29, 2026
Programs that transfer to Hilton: Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards
Purchase link

Hilton Honors is unfortunately prone to devaluations, so sitting on Hilton points is never a good idea. However, there are some great opportunities to buy points at a lower cost than the price of a hotel room — especially at luxury properties. Paying 0.5 cents per point is right on par with our valuation of Hilton points.

JetBlue TrueBlue

Promotion:
- Purchase 1,000 to 4,000 points without a bonus.
- Purchase 5,000 to 7,000 points with a 100% bonus.
- Purchase 8,000 to 12,000 points with a 110% bonus.
- Purchase 13,000 to 200,000 points and get a 125% bonus (1.43 cents per point)
Deadline: June 10, 2026
Programs that transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue: Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Wells Fargo Rewards
Purchase link

The TrueBlue program is easy to use, as every seat is available with points. The value of points is tied to the cash price of a ticket, and you’ll typically get 1.3 to 1.5 cents per point in redemption value. If you buy at 1.43 cents per point, ensure you’re redeeming at the top of the value range — or buy if you’re just a few points short on your next redemption.

JetBlue Blue Monday — Image Credit: Ehsan Haque

Lufthansa Miles & More

Promotion:
- XS bundle: 4,800 miles for $110
- Small bundle: 16,000 miles for $290
- Medium bundle: 80,000 miles for $1,170
- Large bundle: 160,000 miles for $2,050
Deadline: May 31, 2026
Programs that transfer to Miles & More: Rove Miles
Purchase link

Miles & More is a valuable program if you want to book premium seats on airlines like Lufthansa, SWISS, ITA Airways, and other member airlines. That’s because these seats aren’t easy to book through partner award programs. However, taxes and fees can be quite high when making a reservation, so do the math to ensure this works for you.

Marriott Bonvoy [Targeted]

Promotion:
- Purchase 2,000+ points and get up to a 40% bonus (0.89 cents per point)
Deadline: June 23, 2026
Programs that transfer to Marriott: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase link

If you are targeted for the 40% bonus, you can snag Marriott Bonvoy points for 0.89 cents each through this sale. That’s higher than our average valuation of Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents apiece.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Promotion:
- Purchase 2,000 to 60,000 points and get up to a 45% discount (1.65 cents per point)
Deadline: May 30, 2026
Programs that transfer to Southwest Rapid Rewards: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards
Purchase link

Rapid Rewards members can log in to find their discount, which may be up to a 40% savings right now. However, even with the best discount, the cost to purchase points is more expensive than our average valuation of Rapid Rewards points. If you absolutely need to purchase points, keep transactions to a minimum. Fortunately, you can buy just 2,000 to get the discount.

United MileagePlus

Promotion:
- Buy 2,000 to 4,000 miles without a discount
- Buy 5,000 to 49,000 miles with a 30% discount
- Buy 50,000 miles with a 50% discount (1.88 cents per mile)
Deadline: May 4, 2026
Programs that transfer to United MileagePlus: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy
Purchase link

If you were to max out this promotion with the best offer, which offers a 50% discount, you’ll buy miles at 1.88 cents apiece — instead of the usual 3.5 cents per mile. However, note that this price is still significantly more expensive than what we value United MileagePlus miles at: 1.2 cents apiece.

Wyndham Rewards

Promotion:
- Buy 1,000 to 2,000 points without a bonus
- Buy 3,000 to 200,000 points with an 100% bonus (0.65 cents per point)
Deadline: May 1, 2026
Programs that transfer to Wyndham: Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Wells Fargo Rewards
Purchase link

We value Wyndham points at 0.9 cents apiece. Because you can buy points for less than their average value, these prices are reasonable. Depending on what you plan to redeem these points for, buying them at 0.65 cents apiece could make sense.

When Should You Purchase Points?

As promised, let’s examine some 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 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.