Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.
Loyalty programs are a huge moneymaker for airlines and hotel companies because they have many revenue streams. One of these revenue streams is selling airline miles and hotel points directly to travelers at a discount or with a bonus.
Selling points or miles gives the program an immediate cash injection as travelers prepay for future travel at a potential discount.
This roundup of points and miles sales walks you through some of the best current offers on airline miles and hotel points, including some that may be targeted. But first, let’s discuss when it makes sense to buy points and miles.
Should I buy points and miles now?
There are a couple of things to consider before taking advantage of points and miles sales.
First, buying points and miles only makes sense for certain travelers and at certain times. It’s generally a much better deal to earn points and miles for “free” through welcome bonuses tied to travel rewards credit cards. However, buying points and miles during good promotions can make sense for those who have tapped out their credit card options and can get high value from their rewards. It can also make sense when you need more points to lock in a specific award now.
We generally only recommend buying points or miles if you have an immediate use in mind. Otherwise, you’re left open to unexpected devaluations.
With that out of the way, here are eight current promotions for buying points and miles.
Related: What are points and miles worth? TPG’s current monthly valuations
Promotions for buying airline miles
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Current promotion: Up to a 100% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As low as 1.52 cents per mile.
- TPG valuation: 1.2 cents per mile.
- End date: June 11.
- Link to buy miles.
Flying Blue offers some reasonably priced awards in both economy and business class, making this promotion one to consider if you want to head to Europe for less.
JetBlue TrueBlue
- Current promotion: Up to a 60% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As low as 1.85 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 1.3 cents per point.
- End date: June 20.
- Link to buy points.
JetBlue TrueBlue is offering up to a 60% bonus when you buy points through June 20. You’ll unlock the maximum 60% bonus when you purchase at least 40,000 points, though you can also get smaller bonuses when buying fewer points. Even with the full 60% bonus, the purchase rate is significantly higher than our valuation of JetBlue points. Since the airline uses dynamic pricing for its own flights, you’d likely only want to buy JetBlue points during this promotion if you need to top off your account for a specific flight.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- Current promotion: Up to 45% off.
- Purchase rate: As low as 1.65 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 1.5 cents per point.
- End date: June 20.
- Link to buy points.
Southwest Rapid Rewards is offering up to a 35% discount when you buy between 3,000 and 9,000 points, a 40% discount when you buy between 10,000 and 14,000 points and a 45% discount when you buy at least 15,000 points through June 20. Since Southwest award rates vary with paid rates, getting more than 1.5 cents per point is often hard. So we generally only recommend buying Southwest points to top off your account for a specific redemption.
American Airlines AAdvantage
- Current promotion: Up to a 35% discount.
- Purchase rate: As low as 2.45 cents per mile.
- TPG valuation: 1.77 cents per mile.
- End date: Unknown.
- Link to buy miles.
American AAdvantage is offering up to a 35% discount on miles. You’ll get the highest discount when you buy 150,000 miles, dropping the price to 2.45 cents per mile. This is significantly higher than TPG’s valuation of American miles, but buying American miles for specific high-end awards could still make sense.
Promotions for buying hotel points
IHG One Rewards
- Current promotion: Up to an 80% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As low as 0.56 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 0.5 cents per point.
- End date: June 7.
- Link to buy points.
When you buy at least 5,000 IHG One Rewards points through June 7, you’ll receive an 80% bonus. That brings the purchase rate roughly in line with our valuation of IHG points, so it’s worth comparing award prices for your upcoming stay to see if you can save by purchasing IHG points. We’ll occasionally see IHG promotions drop the purchase price as low as 0.5 cents per point, though.
Choice Privileges
- Current promotion: Up to a 30% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As low as 0.79 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 0.6 cents per point.
- End date: June 18.
- Link to buy points.
Choice Privileges is offering targeted offers for buying points by June 18. In our sampled account, Choice offered a 30% bonus for buying 20,000 or more points, with smaller bonuses for buying fewer points. Although this isn’t the best Choice promotion for buying points we’ve seen, you may be targeted for a better offer.
Marriott Bonvoy
- Current promotion: Up to a 50% bonus.
- Purchase rate: As low as 0.89 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 0.83 cents per point.
- End date: July 2.
- Link to buy points.
Marriott Bonvoy is offering a 50% bonus when you buy at least 2,000 points, dropping the purchase rate to 0.83 cents per point. That’s close to our valuation of Marriott points, so it’s worth comparing award and cash rates to see if you can save on your next stay by buying Marriott points.
Hilton Honors
- Current promotion: Up to a 100% bonus or 50% discount.
- Purchase rate: As low as 0.5 cents per point.
- TPG valuation: 0.6 cents per point.
- End date: July 18.
- Link to buy points with the bonus or the discount.
When you buy at least 5,000 Hilton Honors points by July 18, you can choose between a 100% bonus or a 50% discount. Regardless of the offer you select, you’ll buy Hilton points at 0.5 cents per point, which is below our valuation of Hilton points. Since Hilton Honors members can buy a maximum of 160,000 points per year, we recommend going with the bonus if you choose to buy Hilton points. Doing so would let you snag up to 320,000 points (160,000 points plus a 100% bonus).
Which credit card should you use to buy miles?
Most of these promotions are processed through Points.com rather than directly by the hotel or airline. So, you won’t earn bonus rewards with most travel rewards cards.
As such, you’ll want to use an everyday spending card that offers a solid return on non-bonus spending. Or, if you’re working toward a credit card spending requirement, using that card may be the way to go. Remember that you may incur foreign transaction fees on some cards when buying points or miles from a program abroad. As such, you may want to use one of the following cards:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases and no foreign transaction fees.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases and no foreign transaction fees.
The main exception to this rule is American Airlines. The airline reportedly codes mileage purchases as airfare, so you may want to use a credit card that earns bonus miles on airfare for the highest return when buying AAdvantage miles.
Additional reporting by Caroline Tanner, Clint Henderson, Andrew Kunesh, Benji Stawski, Summer Hull and Katie Genter.
