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There is no shortage of ways to earn points and miles. From credit card welcome offers to bonus categories, shopping portals, and 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 just save up the points you earn from 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.
We value Air Canada Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents apiece, so this offer is a great opportunity to buy points right at that valuation, but you’ll want to make sure you have a redemption lined up that will offer you more value than that.
We value Alaska Mileage Plan miles at 1.8 cents apiece, making the 50% bonus tier relatively close to our baseline. Given that, it could be a good idea to purchase miles at this price if you have a specific redemption in mind, especially if it will offer significantly more value than what you’ll purchase the points for.
Keep in mind that this is a targeted offer, so the exact discount you see on your account may differ. We value American Airlines miles at 1.4 cents per mile, so we wouldn’t recommend purchasing miles at these prices unless you are topping off your account for a specific redemption.
We value Avianca LifeMiles at 1.4 cents apiece. Therefore, this promotion offers a solid opportunity for those looking to stock up on LifeMiles for a specific redemption.
At Upgraded Points, we value Choice Privileges points at 0.6 cents per point, so this 50% bonus promotion allows you to purchase points close to that value. That said, it is certainly possible to get more value than 0.6 cents per point depending on how you redeem Choice Privileges points.
For reference, we value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, so this can be a great opportunity to top off your account balance for your next redemption.
We value IHG One Rewards points at 0.5 cents per point, though you can certainly get more value than this if you redeem them strategically. If you have a plan for redeeming the points you’d purchase with this promotion, it could be well worth it.
The deal is especially worthwhile for those who hold one of the co-branded IHG One Rewards cards and have access to the fourth-night free perk. You’d only need to purchase enough points to cover 3 nights — boosting the value of your points by 25%!
Usually, you’ll receive somewhere around 1.3 cents to 1.5 cents per point in value on your JetBlue redemptions, so it makes little sense to purchase points for more than what you’ll be able to redeem them for, while at the same time forfeiting the points you would earn by booking a cash ticket.
We value Lufthansa miles at 1.3 cents per mile, making both the Large and Special bundles excellent opportunities to purchase miles below this rate. Keep in mind that Lufthansa miles can be quite tough to earn, so if you have a certain redemption in mind this could be a great opportunity to stock up.
Free Spirit awards are tied directly to the cash price of a flight, so you won’t find any sweet spots. But if you needed to top off your account for a specific redemption, this could be a good opportunity to do so — although we’ve seen bigger discounts in the past.
With the current sale, the price of purchasing Hyatt points has dropped from 2.4 cents apiece to a more reasonable 2.0 cents. We’ve seen better discounts of upwards of 25-30%, so unless you have a specific redemption in mind, it may be better to wait out this sale.
We value Wyndham points at 0.9 cents apiece, which isn’t far off from the 1 cent-per-point price you can purchase them for if you maximize this promotion. Depending on what you plan to redeem these points for, buying them at these rates could make sense.
As promised, let’s go through some examples of when it might make sense for you to purchase points and miles.
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.
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 business class 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 53,000 American Airlines miles for $1,395.89 with the 30% discount promotion — 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.
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.
In most cases, your primary points strategy should be earning them through new welcome bonuses, everyday card spending, and other point-earning activities like shopping portals, as these activities shouldn’t require a significant expense beyond what you might have spent anyway.
That said, there is a time and a place for 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Unfortunately, no airlines or hotel programs count purchased points or miles towards elite status qualification.
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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
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