Most major travel brands have their own loyalty programs with points or miles that you can earn and redeem. In general, there are three ways you can earn these hotel points or airline miles:
- Using a rewards credit card credit
- Book a hotel stay or flight
- Buy your points or miles from the source
It is easy to get poetic about the value of a good Travel rewards credit card. And the rewards that you receive for booked trips are the icing on the cake for your necessary hotel stays or flights. But most experts will warn you not to buy points or miles – and for good reason.
In many cases, buying awards from a hotel or airline is simply not worth it, as they can cost up to $ 0.01 per point. In general, paying for your booking in cash will give you more value for your dollar, especially since you will receive rewards for cash purchases that you don’t earn if you redeem rewards instead.
However, there are occasional situations when buying points and miles can actually make sense – even financially – as well as times when the convenience can be worth the price.
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Discounts and sales can add value
The best reason to buy hotel points or Frequent flyer Miles is when you can get them to sell – how to sell them. Most hotels and airlines offer their rewards at least once a year, although many brands have sales several times a year. The discount you can get varies widely, although 20 to 30% is common and 50% is not uncommon for some brands.
A good sale has the potential to spend less on the awards for a particular flight or hotel stay than you would pay for the same booking in cash. Of course, this depends entirely on how you redeem these rewards, so it shouldn’t be an impromptu purchase. It’s best to have one specific release in mind – and do all of the math.
Purchasing rewards can help fill a rewards gap
Another common reason to buy a few points or miles is to top up your balance for a specific award redemption. For example, if a particular flight costs 25,000 miles but your balance remains at 24,000, then it may be worth buying the extra 1,000 miles to get to your destination.
This option works best when the cost of the miles you need is small compared to what you would pay if you paid for the entire booking in cash. For example, if the 25,000 mile award flight is typically $ 500, spending $ 50 on the extra 1,000 miles might be a good move, especially if you don’t have better ways to use those miles.
On the flip side, if the award flight would only cost you $ 150 to book in cash, you probably shouldn’t be wasting money buying miles. Here you would spend 33% of the airfare on just 4% of the miles required. It is better to pay for the flight directly and save your miles for more valuable redemption across the board.
Purchasing rewards may extend your expiration date
A great thing about many types of Credit card Rewards is that they don’t expire unless you close your account. Unfortunately, this does not apply to airline and hotel loyalty programs. In many cases, your frequent flyer miles or hotel points have a ticking clock that could expire – and take your rewards with you.
As you near the expiration date of your loyalty rewards, purchasing a few points or miles can be a great alternative to expire them. In most cases, any type of reward activity will reset the clock, giving you an additional six months to a year to put your rewards to good use.
That being said, before you spend any cash to buy them, be sure to do a little research to see if you can find other ways to earn additional rewards. Many frequent flyer programs, for example, have shopping portals through which you can earn a few miles when you make a purchase anyway.
And of course there is always the good old co-branded card. Many major hotels and airlines offer co-branded credit card options, including no annual fee Cards that can turn everyday purchases into hotel points or airline miles.
