Summary Buying miles can be a convenient way to access extra miles for upgrades or reaching travel goals. Consider buying points in fixed-value programs. You can also earn points through credit cards.
Each major US airline offers different ways to purchase miles, with detailed terms and conditions. Check extras like gifting or multipliers. As we continue to earn airline miles , it may always feel that your next trip is just out of reach with your mile balance or that an upgrade to business class would need just a few more miles.
This is where airlines enable passengers to buy miles to allow them to unlock that next incredible travel experience. It can seem appealing at the time to purchase additional miles, either through airline promos or when you are desperate, with some airlines offering 200% bonuses or up to 100,000 pre-purchased miles; however, which carriers allow you to buy miles, and when is it a good idea? Usually, there are two options to buy miles: buying miles at the full price or adding them to airfare purchases to 'top up' to the threshold required. As tempting as it may seem for travelers, the general advice is only to buy points in fixed-value programs and when needed to fulfill a redemption.
There are plenty of other lucrative ways to earn points , so don't think you are restricted to flying to be able to gain when there are a number of credit cards or points transfer programs that could get you to your target for that next trip. While this list is not extensive and will not cover every airline in the United States to which you can buy miles, Simple Flying decided to look at United, Delta, Southwest, Frontier, American, and JetBlue to understand what the caveats are to pre-purchase miles to enable their most frequent travelers, an 'almost' free trip. Please keep in mind that airlines offer promotions to purchase miles occasionally, and this article is predominantly based on the standard buying rate.
Your guide on when, and if, you should ever pay for your miles. Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here . 1 United Airlines MileagePlus Star Alliance member United Airlines' frequent flier program MileagePlus allows members to access extra miles quicker, including buying, gifting, and subscribing, which is outlined below: Buying Purchasing miles from United Airlines is $35.
00, plus taxes and fees, per 1,000 miles. The minimum 'order' is for 2,000 miles. Gifting If you have extra points you're willing to give away, you can gift miles to friends and family.
Go to the United Airlines website and select who and how many points you want to gift. Multiplying Multiple Miles is an easy way to boost your balance. You can multiply up to 10x based on miles earned the previous month and eligible miles reset at the start of each calendar month.
Subscribing Receiving a monthly deposit of miles in your MileagePlus account will help you save for that dream trip faster. This is done through your MileagePlus account at the rate noted in Buying above. If you want to share miles with others, gifting permits transferring 500 to 100,000 miles at a time.
As the loyalty program of one of the world's biggest airlines, United MileagePlus is also one of the world's biggest frequent flyer schemes. Today, there are more than 100 million members of the program. 2 Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Buying additional SkyMiles for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is easy but comes with a few caveats.
The carrier notes that buying miles does not count towards achieving Medallion Status and that the maximum amount you can purchase is 60,000 miles per year. Further details include: The purchase rate is $0.035 per mile Minimum miles per transaction is 2,000 Maximum miles per transaction is 60,000 The maximum number of miles you can purchase in one calendar year is 60,000 Transactions are processed in USD only Donating miles: Those with too many miles can also donate them to multiple charities, which include, but are not limited to: American Red Cross, Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), Canine Assistants, Children's Miracle Network, Fisher House Foundation - Hero Miles, Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement USA, Luke's Wings, Make-A-Wish America, and St.
Jude Children's Research Hospital. There's no clear consensus on the cost per mile of Delta SkyMiles. Get all the latest aviation news for North America here 3 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Southwest Airlines is another carrier that allows you to purchase miles to enable you to travel sooner for less.
Rapid Rewards, the airline's loyalty program, allows you to log into your membership account and top up. You can do this by managing your account and buying / transferring points. Here, you can select the number of miles needed.
You can also top up when booking if you are a few points shy of your next trip. Here are a few caveats when looking to purchase extra Rapid Rewards miles: Rewards points are offered in 1,000 increments during promotional periods or 500 increments when off promotion. The minimum purchase is 2,000 points (both personal and gifting) Maximum purchase is 60,000 points (both personal and gifting) Rapid Rewards points do not expire The total points you can purchase daily is 60,000, combined with personal and gifting Transactions are in USD and subject to applicable taxes and fees Southwest Airlines has a simple elite system, but with some benefits in mileage bonuses and onboard savings 4 Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles Denver's Frontier Airlines allows its Frontier Miles members to buy additional miles or gift them to someone special.
This allows its passengers to accumulate miles quickly to get that free flight faster. A free flight on Frontier starts as low as 10,000 miles. Miles don't expire with Frontier as long as the travel remains active and generates accrual activity every 12 months, including through the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard.
Here are the finer details about buying and gifting Frontier Miles: Cost is $0.025 per mile Minimum purchase is 1,000 miles Maximum purchase if 30,000 miles Points do not expire if you accrue points through travel or the airline Mastercard every 12 months. You can open a family pool, invite up to eight friends or family members, and share your Frontier Miles.
Discounted miles are offered during promotional periods; read more below: Frontier Airlines wants to turn one of its loyalty program winners into a "Miles Millionaire!" as it launches the sweepstakes and sells two million seats. You can enter now to win 1 million Frontier Miles and become a "Miles Millionaire" with as many as 100 flights. A sale on 2 million seats starts at $19 one-way for travel, ensuring every participant feels like a winner.
Read more about the promo below: The latest Frontier Miles promotion joins an ongoing sweepstakes for Elite Status with the airline and is free to enter. Have you heard the Simple Flying podcast recently? 5 American Airlines AAdvantage For one, American Airlines enables its AAdvantage members to pre-purchase miles at a standard rate of 3.76 cents per mile.
Miles can be used for some excellent award ticket options. With region/distance-based pricing charts, some good value awards and routings are available. This makes it especially attractive to purchase miles for a specific award or to top up existing balances to reach a goal.
Following the pre-purchase guide of 3.76 cents per mile, this identifies the cost as: 10,000 miles $376.25 100,000 miles $3762.
50 150,000 miles $5643.75 Buying miles is a popular option, and there are several ways to do so with AAdvantage. Caveats include: Minimum order of 5,000 miles at a time Maximum purchase of 150,000 miles per year If you are not in a rush, waiting for a promotion before buying miles can make sense.
AAdvantage offers multiple promotions throughout the year, during which you can buy miles at a discounted rate of 20-35% on average and sometimes up to 50%. Points can only be redeemed on American Airlines flights booked directly Some promotions incur a 7.5% federal excise tax Pre-purchased miles do not count towards elite status qualification.
You can buy up to 150,000 miles per year, but be careful with the value you get. 6 JetBlue TrueBlue New York-based JetBlue is another American carrier that tries to entice its passengers to earn or buy more miles for their next trip. Its loyalty club TrueBlue allows its members to purchase a maximum of 150,000 per transaction or 200,000 points per calendar year at the standard rate of 1.
5 cents per mile. It is worth noting that purchases will incur a 7.5% tax recovery fee on the value of the purchase.
JetBlue allows members to buy and sell miles quickly and is known to be one of the most commonly traded airline miles in the aviation industry. If you need to sell your miles, you can approach the airline, and they can provide a cash offer for your hands-on cash quickly. Earning miles is easy, and the earning rate below identifies how you could be traveling with JetBlue for less: Flights A minimum of two points per $1 spent on JetBlue.
com or the JetBlue app Vacations Minimum of six points per $1 for airfares and an additional point per $1 on hotels, car hire, and transfers when booked with JetBlue Vacations Car Hire, Hotels and more Additional earnings through car hire and hotels when booking with JetBlue preferred partners. Points Pooling JetBlue also allows friends and family to pool points to earn rewards even quicker. This makes it easy for JetBlue TrueBlue members to share points between their pooling group with no transfer fees.
Any member 21 years or older can create a 'Points Pooling' account and be the 'Pool Leader.' Anyone who holds a TrueBlue account can join the poo, and there can be a maximum of seven members and a minimum of two. Once you have joined, 100% of your points are combined into the balance of the pool.
The Pool Leader administers all the points and can designate pool members to redeem points. You can not be in multiple pool accounts, and if you leave the pool, the points you earn will be returned to your original TrueBlue account. There is a stand-down period of six months before you can replace or reinstate pool members.
JetBlue does not offer the alliance-wide benefits of other airlines, but has some good value for regular passengers..
