Editor’s note: This can be a recurring post, frequently updated with recent information.
Loyalty programs are an enormous moneymaker for airlines and hotel firms — partially because they’ve many revenue streams. One among these revenue streams is selling airline miles and hotel points at a reduction or with a bonus.
Selling points or miles gives the vendor a right away money injection, as travelers are essentially prepaying for future travel at a possible discount.
This round-up of points and miles sales walks you thru a few of the perfect current offers on airline miles and hotel points, including some that could be targeted. But first, let’s discuss when it is sensible to purchase points and miles.
Should I purchase points and miles now?
There are a few things to think about before benefiting from these sales.
First, buying points and miles only is sensible for certain travelers. It’s generally a significantly better deal to earn points and miles for “free” through welcome bonuses on top travel rewards bank cards. Nonetheless, buying points and miles during good promotions could make sense for individuals who have tapped out their bank card options and may get high value from their rewards.
That said, we only recommend buying points or miles if you have got a right away use in mind. Otherwise, you’re left open to unexpected devaluations.
With that out of the best way, listed below are nine promotions for purchasing points and miles.
Promotions for purchasing airline miles
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air Canada Aeroplan is letting members select as much as 85% bonus points when purchasing Aeroplan points through April 29. Remember, Aeroplan processes point purchases in Canadian dollars, so use a card and not using a foreign transaction fee and do a currency conversion to find out your cost in U.S. dollars.
Air France Flying Blue
Flying Blue offers some very affordable awards in each economy and business class, making this one to think about if you need to head to Europe for less.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Current promotion: As much as a 50% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As little as 1.97 cents per mile with a 50% bonus.
- TPG valuation: 1.8 cents per mile.
- End date: May 21.
- Link to purchase miles.
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has been devaluing partner redemptions left and right, but the present promotion could possibly be appealing in the event you’re able to buy and redeem miles quickly.
Targeted members can purchase Alaska miles with a bonus based on what number of miles they purchase. In our test, we were targeted for a 50% bonus, which we’ve included here, but your rates could also be higher or lower. Note that Alaska charges around an 8% tax recovery fee whenever you buy miles, which is included within the above totals.
American Airlines AAdvantage
- Current promotion: As much as a 35% discount.
- Purchase rate: As little as 2.45 cents per mile.
- TPG valuation: 1.77 cents per mile.
- End date: Unknown.
- Link to purchase miles.
American Airlines AAdvantage is offering as much as a 35% discount on miles. You’ll get the best discount whenever you buy 150,000 miles, dropping the value to 2.45 cents per mile. That is significantly higher than TPG’s valuation of American miles but could still be a superb deal for specific high-end awards.
JetBlue TrueBlue
JetBlue True Blue offers a bonus that varies based on what number of points are purchased and what offer you’ve got received. Our offer was for as much as a 50% bonus, in order that is reflected within the figures above.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Southwest Rapid Rewards is offering a reduction whenever you buy points through May 19. With this offer, you may receive a 50% bonus so long as you buy not less than 3,000 points in a single transaction.
United MileagePlus
- Current promotion: As much as a 50% discount or 100% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As little as 1.89 cents per mile.
- TPG valuation: 1.21 cents per mile.
- End date: April 28.
- Link to purchase miles.
United MileagePlus is offering a bonus and discount whenever you buy miles by April 28. You’ll unlock a 30% bonus whenever you buy not less than 5,000 miles, a 65% bonus on not less than 15,000 miles and a 100% bonus whenever you buy not less than 40,000 miles. The acquisition rate is significantly above TPG’s valuation of United miles, but in the event you are redeeming for a high-value premium award seat, the mathematics can still work in your favor in specific cases.
Promotions for purchasing hotel points
Hilton Honors
It is extremely possible to return out ahead when purchasing Hilton points for half a cent each, especially in the event you can find standard award availability at a resort similar to the Conrad Bora Bora or one other high-dollar destination. Listed below are additional details on this Hilton buy points promotion.
World of Hyatt
World of Hyatt is a favourite of the TPG team for having the Most worthy hotel points. Once you buy not less than 5,000 points through June 2, you’ll unlock a 25% discount.
Last 12 months, we saw a more intriguing promotion from Hyatt that allowed members to purchase points for just 1.68 cents apiece. Still, this promotion could possibly be worthwhile since Hyatt waives resort fees on award stays.
Which bank card do you have to use to purchase miles?
Most of those promotions are processed through Points.com slightly than directly by the hotel or airline. Unfortunately, meaning you won’t often get bonus rewards with a travel category bonus card.
As a substitute, go for a card that gives a solid return on non-bonus spending. Keep in mind that chances are you’ll incur foreign transaction fees on some cards when buying points or miles from a program abroad. As such, chances are you’ll need to use one among the next cards:
In the event you’re working toward a bank card spending requirement, using that card would be the solution to go. For added suggestions, take a look at our guide to the perfect cards for on a regular basis spending.
The major exception to this rule is American Airlines. The airline reportedly codes mileage purchases as airfare, so chances are you’ll need to use a bank card that earns bonus miles on airfare for the best returns when buying AAdvantage miles.
Additional reporting by Caroline Tanner, Clint Henderson, Andrew Kunesh, Benji Stawski, Summer Hull and Katie Genter.