It all depends on what you plan to do with your miles. The following airline frequent flyer programs let you buy miles directly from the airline website:. As such, purchases made from these airlines will be treated as travel spend. So in this case, using the respective co-branded airline credit card would be a good idea since you would earn the bonus category spend. Terms apply.
Certain other programs process their miles and points purchases through Points. The miles purchase can still be a good way to meet the minimum spend requirement on a new credit card. Buying miles is expensive and seldom makes sense. However, if you have a compelling reason for making the purchase e. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of , including those best for:. Planning a trip? Check out these articles for more inspiration and advice: Find the best travel credit card for you 4 ways to quickly rack up miles for your next flight How to get started with frequent flyer programs.
Why buying miles is generally a bad idea. When it could make sense to buy them. If you need to top up an award. If the price of a ticket is more expensive than buying miles. Cash-Back Cards. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.
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Focus on Where You Fly. Consider Airline Partners. Get a Points or Miles Bonus. Choose the Right Credit Card. Dine Out. Use Shopping Portals. The Bottom Line. Key Takeaways Earning frequent flyer miles can land you free flights, upgrades, and other travel perks. The most basic way to earn points is to fly often and with the same carrier. You can earn points without flying by signing up for a rewards credit card and using it and shopping with program partners.
Tip When choosing a rewards card for travel or everyday spending, pay attention to both how you can earn rewards and how you can redeem them.
Tip Airline frequent flyer programs can also allow you to buy miles but before you do, calculate what you'll pay to make sure it's worth it. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.
We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. That sounds pretty good, right? That works out to 1. Southwest reward flights require between 76 and 78 points per dollar of the base fare to purchase with points. Straight math will indicate that this is a redemption rate of around 1. After factoring in taxes and fees, the redemption rate can climb as high as 1. The only time that it makes sense to buy points in fixed-value programs is when you need just a few more points to fulfill a redemption and you have no other source of getting those points.
Another option: Purchase a cash fare and save your points for the next flight. The standard purchase price for most airlines is quite high. For example, both Delta and United sell miles starting at 3. And small purchases of American Airlines miles can cost nearly 4 cents per mile.
Unless you urgently need miles, it makes sense to wait until the next bonus offering. There are some exceptions—such as Etihad Guest. The Etihad Guest program offers excellent redemption rates on American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and its eclectic mix of other partner airlines.
The standard purchase rate for Etihad Guest miles is just 2 cents per mile. Like most other airlines, Etihad Guest offers periodic mileage sales that drop the purchase rate even lower. Two cents per mile is a reasonable enough rate that you can still get value even when paying full price, depending on what redemption you have in mind. Many airlines offer a mileage boost option when you purchase or check-in for a flight.
As with buying miles without a bonus, it rarely makes sense to buy miles this way. The airline is just trying to take advantage of the fact that you already have your credit card out to make a purchase. At the same time, AA is selling miles for as little as 1. Meanwhile, United recently sold miles for as little as 1.
Anyone who has needed to book a last-minute flight knows how expensive last-minute tickets can be. Airlines rely on business travelers buying last-minute tickets to generate a large portion of their revenue. While airlines try to maximize revenue from business travelers, airlines never want to leave empty seats on a flight. So, although cash prices may be high, the airline may release award availability for more flexible travelers. You can take advantage of this situation by using miles when you need to book travel at the last minute.
For example, in April , I was in Los Angeles when I learned that my grandmother was suddenly admitted to the hospital. However, American Airlines offered award flights for 20, miles. Thankfully, I had enough miles in my account to cover the cost of this award. But, AA consistently runs mileage sales, and purchased AAdvantage miles usually post to the account right away.
So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, you could top off your account with a purchase of miles and then redeem them right away for an award. As the coronavirus pandemic surged in March , I was one of many travelers that relied on miles to book last-minute one-way international flights to get home from overseas.
In this case, I was able to transfer points into my Virgin account from Citi ThankYou points to complete the booking. The other time that it can make sense to buy miles is for business and first class awards. By both utilizing a mileage sale and airline sweet spots, you can get an incredible experience for a more reasonable out-of-pocket cost. That reduces the purchase rate to as low as 1. How far can , miles get you? Well, United charges just 60, miles for business class awards to Europe.
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