This is an opportunity to
buy airline miles for 1.82 cents each in your choice of programs, with the flexibility to transfer them whenever you'd like.
Technique brief summary: Buy merchandise at discount with credit card, earn portal rewards, resell to break even, or make profit, or for a slight loss (this is often a cheap way to indirectly
buy airline miles when portals offer big bonuses)
Sometimes there are promotions where it makes sense to
buy airline miles and then use them to get flights rather than spending money on airline tickets directly.
Furthermore, should I ever
buy airline miles?
Whether or when to
buy airline miles all comes down to the math.
I normally never
buy airline miles just to redeem for a rewards ticket.
-- The offers can be tempting:
buying airline miles to boost your mileage account.
The offers can be tempting:
buying airline miles to boost your mileage account.
... (See
Buying airline miles)
Here's what you should know about
buying airline miles.
See related:
Buying airline miles usually doesn't pay, but might now,
Buying airline miles: is it worth the cost?
Not exact matches
I once used a clients
airline miles to
buy an all expense paid trip for a family to go to Disney Land.
American Express Gold Card users can use their points to shop (both through online vendors and Amazon),
buy gift cards, pay off a charge on your bill, book flights and hotels, pay for Uber rides, and transfer points for
airline frequent flyer
miles or hotel points.
For example, when you
bought a plane ticket, you received
airline miles.
Many experienced travelers know that travel rewards
miles (or points) are like a currency all of their own that can
buy you
airline tickets, hotel reservations and even excursion and travel gear (among other perks) sometimes when you need them the most.
American
Airlines is running a weekend sale on
buying miles by adding 20 % to the bonus levels of their current sale.
American Express Gold Card users can use their points to shop (both through online vendors and Amazon),
buy gift cards, pay off a charge on your bill, book flights and hotels, pay for Uber rides, and transfer points for
airline frequent flyer
miles or hotel points.
As the Citi ThankYou program gives you the option to both transfer points to
airlines as well as use your points at a fixed rate to
buy cash fares, the best use of points would be to redeem them for
miles.
However, the biggest secret that
airlines keep is that they have mileage malls, where consumers can
buy stuff online through normal retailers, and earn
miles (sometimes up to 4
miles per dollar spent!).
Not all
airlines allow holds on award tickets, but when they do you should definitely take advantage of it when
buying miles!
Buying miles directly from an
airline such as American, Avianca, or Delta will code as a travel purchase, but purchases through Points.com will not.
The Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card will net you 2
miles per eligible dollar on all airfare
bought directly from the
airline.
They entice you with wonderful offers like cash back on the things you
buy everyday or
airline miles with no blackout dates.
For instance, you can get 2
miles when you
buy gas or groceries, and 3
miles when you shop with Asiana
Airlines.
A while back, I shared how I
bought two round trip tickets to Israel for $ 280 using a credit card churn and fee
airline miles.
Since you don't have to redeem all your
miles toward one travel expense, you could
buy a $ 400
airline ticket, redeem 20,000
miles to offset $ 200 worth of the ticket, then pay the remaining $ 200 when your bill arrives.
Also, be sure to check out the best
airline credit card to see if you can earn free
miles towards your next flight or consider the best day to
buy airline tickets.
When an
airline offers bonus
miles for traveling on a certain route, he doesn't just
buy himself a ticket, he pays for other people to fly as long as they agree to let him use their
miles.
United
Airlines and BP have joined forces so that BP Driver Rewards and United MileagePlus members can earn up to triple
miles on gas purchases, as well as use their
miles to
buy gas at BP locations within the United States.
If you sign up to use the services of real estate agents from American HomeMiles, you will earn American
Airlines AAdvantage
miles when you
buy or a sell home valued at $ 250,000 or more or complete a state - to - state move using Allied or North American Van Lines.
Earn 2X MileagePlus
miles per $ 1 spent on tickets
bought from United
Airlines, spend at office supply stores, restaurants, and gas stations
If you don't want to deal with the rules of
airline mile programs, you can use your points like cash to
buy tickets on the Chase website anytime.
If you use a co-branded card to
buy tickets through a third - party aggregator such as Orbitz, you should be able to claim the
miles for the flight offered by the
airline, as well as most of the perks that are offered by the card.
Zito says she knows someone who
bought all the materials for his bathroom remodel from HomeDepot.com using an
airline shopping portal, earning thousands of extra
miles in the process.
Purchase 8 upgrades for 40,000
miles or
buy 500 -
mile upgrades for $ 40 on aa.com, at the airport, by phone (800-882-8880), or at American
Airlines ticketing locations.
Frequent flier
miles sometimes contain hidden tax — If you accumulate
miles that have been purchased, be prepared to see slight charges to cover a 7.5 percent excise tax the IRS imposes when companies
buy miles from the
airlines... (See Frequent flier
mile excise tax)
According to the article, banks spend an estimated 1.5 cents to 2.5 cents per
mile / point to
buy from the
airlines.
You don't want to
buy points on a whim as stockpiling
miles / points is risky especially if it's with one
airline that is prone to devaluation.
When you
buy miles from American
Airlines, the purchase actually codes as airfare, which means it falls into the travel category of many credit cards.
Tips and tricks for
buying miles To make sure the purchase of
miles helps pad your wallet — and not the
airline's bottom line — experts offer these tips:
Since you don't have to redeem all your
miles toward one travel expense, you could
buy a $ 400
airline ticket, redeem 20,000
miles to offset $ 200 worth of the ticket, then pay the remaining $ 200 when your bill arrives.
Using highly negotiated contracts, banks are
buying these
miles and points by the billions from
airlines with few details about the actual cost and value of these deals.
If you
buy the minimum of 11,000
miles to receive bonus
miles, your total cost (including taxes and the processing fee charged by American
Airlines) will come out to $ 343.95.
American Express, Capital One and one or two other credit cards have gone from the affiliated card, where you only earn
miles on one program, to a card where you don't earn
miles on an
airline program, you earn points that translate into dollars that actually
buy the
airline ticket.
Instead of
airline miles, I recommend a card that is redeemable for money that they can then apply to
buy you a ticket.
You can also
buy 500 -
mile upgrades for $ 40 by phone (800-882-8880), online at aa.com, at the airport, and American
Airlines ticketing locations.
My rewards credit cards get my family into amazing airport lounges around the world, waive various
airline fees, give us hundreds of dollars in annual travel credits, offer instant elite status, provide money back when something we
bought goes on sale, provide complimentary insurance on car rentals, and, of course, put lots of valuable
miles and points in our accounts.
As the Citi ThankYou program gives you the option to both transfer points to
airlines as well as use your points at a fixed rate to
buy cash fares, the best use of points would be to redeem them for
miles.
As long as there's qualifying activity on your Mileage Plan account — including flying on Alaska, Virgin or their
airline partners, redeeming
miles for award tickets, eating at Mileage Plan Dining restaurants,
buying items via Mileage Plan Shopping portal and credit card spending — your
miles won't expire.
If the
airline thinks you've done something it doesn't like — such as selling
miles to a friend or
buying a cheaper round - trip ticket and then throwing the second half away — they can seize those
miles.