How does the math work when buying airline miles?
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Signing up for credit cards to get airline bonuses and flying more are good options to earn miles. With an average redemption/valuation of 1 cent/mile or maybe 1.2 cents/mile why would it make sense to buy airline miles at 1.7 or 2 cents/mile?
airline frequent-flier-miles
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perennial_noobperennial_noob
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Signing up for credit cards to get airline bonuses and flying more are good options to earn miles. With an average redemption/valuation of 1 cent/mile or maybe 1.2 cents/mile why would it make sense to buy airline miles at 1.7 or 2 cents/mile?
airline frequent-flier-miles
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
New contributor
perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Signing up for credit cards to get airline bonuses and flying more are good options to earn miles. With an average redemption/valuation of 1 cent/mile or maybe 1.2 cents/mile why would it make sense to buy airline miles at 1.7 or 2 cents/mile?
airline frequent-flier-miles
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
New contributor
perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Signing up for credit cards to get airline bonuses and flying more are good options to earn miles. With an average redemption/valuation of 1 cent/mile or maybe 1.2 cents/mile why would it make sense to buy airline miles at 1.7 or 2 cents/mile?
airline frequent-flier-miles
airline frequent-flier-miles
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
New contributor
perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
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perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
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perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
asked yesterday
perennial_noobperennial_noob
278213
278213
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perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
perennial_noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
Your experience might vary depending on the mileage program, but whenever I've been offered, buying extra miles is a huge waste of money.
This might be done to get money from people that assume this must be a good value without doing the math.
A legitimate use of it, however, might be when you're very close to a redemption value (e.g. the minimum for any flight is 7500, and you have 7000), there's no other reasonable way to get the miles, and you're able to buy the amount you need without going over too much.
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
The most practical (though not necessarily cost effective) reason for buying miles is to reset your mileage expiry date.
Most programs have some some of expiry built into them so that if you don't earn/buy any miles for a certain period of time you forfeit your accrued miles. Buying miles will generally count as activity on your account and reset the expiry date. As buying the minimum amount of miles can be much cheaper than taking a flight, particularly with a long-haul airline, paying to keep your accrued miles can be worth it especially if you have a high balance.
As a concrete example me and my wife both have mileage with Virgin Atlantic. We used to fly frequently transatlantic as we lived in the US for work so racked up plenty of mileage. However after moving back home to the UK she rarely flies transatlantic anymore (and if she does it's usually by spending our accrued mileage balance from when we did fly frequently) so hasn't earned any miles in years. Virgin Atlantic mileage expires if you have no earning activity in 3 years and costs £30 (including transaction fees) to buy the minimum amount of miles (1000) so costs £0.30 per mile which is quite expensive BUT it's worth keeping the account active so that when we next want to take a big trip we still have our mileage balance to spend.
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
add a comment |
It makes a lot of sense for the airlines, obviously.
If you are very near to a free flight, it might make sense to buy a small amount, but generally, it is a very bad deal for the buyer. Not everyone realizes that, though.
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
add a comment |
protected by JoeTaxpayer♦ yesterday
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Your experience might vary depending on the mileage program, but whenever I've been offered, buying extra miles is a huge waste of money.
This might be done to get money from people that assume this must be a good value without doing the math.
A legitimate use of it, however, might be when you're very close to a redemption value (e.g. the minimum for any flight is 7500, and you have 7000), there's no other reasonable way to get the miles, and you're able to buy the amount you need without going over too much.
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
Your experience might vary depending on the mileage program, but whenever I've been offered, buying extra miles is a huge waste of money.
This might be done to get money from people that assume this must be a good value without doing the math.
A legitimate use of it, however, might be when you're very close to a redemption value (e.g. the minimum for any flight is 7500, and you have 7000), there's no other reasonable way to get the miles, and you're able to buy the amount you need without going over too much.
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
Your experience might vary depending on the mileage program, but whenever I've been offered, buying extra miles is a huge waste of money.
This might be done to get money from people that assume this must be a good value without doing the math.
A legitimate use of it, however, might be when you're very close to a redemption value (e.g. the minimum for any flight is 7500, and you have 7000), there's no other reasonable way to get the miles, and you're able to buy the amount you need without going over too much.
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
Your experience might vary depending on the mileage program, but whenever I've been offered, buying extra miles is a huge waste of money.
This might be done to get money from people that assume this must be a good value without doing the math.
A legitimate use of it, however, might be when you're very close to a redemption value (e.g. the minimum for any flight is 7500, and you have 7000), there's no other reasonable way to get the miles, and you're able to buy the amount you need without going over too much.
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
answered yesterday
wide.writing.immediatelywide.writing.immediately
542411
542411
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
6
6
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
Some airlines also count purchased miles as regular miles (not "bonus" miles) - usually "bonus" miles do not count towards your status. I once bought a couple of thousand miles to keep my gold status in KLM's skyteam elite. Having gold means you can purchase certain seat options at half the price (or was it 75%?) which really matters on the long haul flights. Having a good seat makes the difference between business and economy flight only a glass of champagne. Avoiding that glass could save you or your company several thousand dollars.
– Stian Yttervik
19 hours ago
1
1
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
Another legitimate use -- if you have a particular multi-city itinerary that is insanely expensive to buy, but uses a chain of 1-way rates when using miles. I had to book a 6 city ticket and was able to get close to 10 cents/mile used, so if I needed to buy some extra at 2 cents a mile, it would still be worth it.
– tpg2114
18 hours ago
4
4
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
Your last paragraph stands on it's own as the best answer to, "why would it make any sense." If my miles are about to expire, and I'm just below having enough miles for a trip, buying a few more can make a huge difference in my favor, regardless of the per mile cost. I did this the last time I redeemed miles. I bought $200 in miles to redeem with my balance for an $1800 flight and avoided losing the $1600 worth of miles that would have expired in a month. So I paid $200 for a flight that would have cost $1800 otherwise. "Mile cost" for that $200 aside, I won out.
– dwizum
16 hours ago
1
1
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
I've seen people sneak miles through expense reports and get reimbursed by their companies.
– schadjo
10 hours ago
1
1
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
@schadjo I don't think anything that should fall under the fraud heading should be classified as a legitimate use.
– Dan Neely
9 hours ago
|
show 1 more comment
The most practical (though not necessarily cost effective) reason for buying miles is to reset your mileage expiry date.
Most programs have some some of expiry built into them so that if you don't earn/buy any miles for a certain period of time you forfeit your accrued miles. Buying miles will generally count as activity on your account and reset the expiry date. As buying the minimum amount of miles can be much cheaper than taking a flight, particularly with a long-haul airline, paying to keep your accrued miles can be worth it especially if you have a high balance.
As a concrete example me and my wife both have mileage with Virgin Atlantic. We used to fly frequently transatlantic as we lived in the US for work so racked up plenty of mileage. However after moving back home to the UK she rarely flies transatlantic anymore (and if she does it's usually by spending our accrued mileage balance from when we did fly frequently) so hasn't earned any miles in years. Virgin Atlantic mileage expires if you have no earning activity in 3 years and costs £30 (including transaction fees) to buy the minimum amount of miles (1000) so costs £0.30 per mile which is quite expensive BUT it's worth keeping the account active so that when we next want to take a big trip we still have our mileage balance to spend.
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
add a comment |
The most practical (though not necessarily cost effective) reason for buying miles is to reset your mileage expiry date.
Most programs have some some of expiry built into them so that if you don't earn/buy any miles for a certain period of time you forfeit your accrued miles. Buying miles will generally count as activity on your account and reset the expiry date. As buying the minimum amount of miles can be much cheaper than taking a flight, particularly with a long-haul airline, paying to keep your accrued miles can be worth it especially if you have a high balance.
As a concrete example me and my wife both have mileage with Virgin Atlantic. We used to fly frequently transatlantic as we lived in the US for work so racked up plenty of mileage. However after moving back home to the UK she rarely flies transatlantic anymore (and if she does it's usually by spending our accrued mileage balance from when we did fly frequently) so hasn't earned any miles in years. Virgin Atlantic mileage expires if you have no earning activity in 3 years and costs £30 (including transaction fees) to buy the minimum amount of miles (1000) so costs £0.30 per mile which is quite expensive BUT it's worth keeping the account active so that when we next want to take a big trip we still have our mileage balance to spend.
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
add a comment |
The most practical (though not necessarily cost effective) reason for buying miles is to reset your mileage expiry date.
Most programs have some some of expiry built into them so that if you don't earn/buy any miles for a certain period of time you forfeit your accrued miles. Buying miles will generally count as activity on your account and reset the expiry date. As buying the minimum amount of miles can be much cheaper than taking a flight, particularly with a long-haul airline, paying to keep your accrued miles can be worth it especially if you have a high balance.
As a concrete example me and my wife both have mileage with Virgin Atlantic. We used to fly frequently transatlantic as we lived in the US for work so racked up plenty of mileage. However after moving back home to the UK she rarely flies transatlantic anymore (and if she does it's usually by spending our accrued mileage balance from when we did fly frequently) so hasn't earned any miles in years. Virgin Atlantic mileage expires if you have no earning activity in 3 years and costs £30 (including transaction fees) to buy the minimum amount of miles (1000) so costs £0.30 per mile which is quite expensive BUT it's worth keeping the account active so that when we next want to take a big trip we still have our mileage balance to spend.
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
The most practical (though not necessarily cost effective) reason for buying miles is to reset your mileage expiry date.
Most programs have some some of expiry built into them so that if you don't earn/buy any miles for a certain period of time you forfeit your accrued miles. Buying miles will generally count as activity on your account and reset the expiry date. As buying the minimum amount of miles can be much cheaper than taking a flight, particularly with a long-haul airline, paying to keep your accrued miles can be worth it especially if you have a high balance.
As a concrete example me and my wife both have mileage with Virgin Atlantic. We used to fly frequently transatlantic as we lived in the US for work so racked up plenty of mileage. However after moving back home to the UK she rarely flies transatlantic anymore (and if she does it's usually by spending our accrued mileage balance from when we did fly frequently) so hasn't earned any miles in years. Virgin Atlantic mileage expires if you have no earning activity in 3 years and costs £30 (including transaction fees) to buy the minimum amount of miles (1000) so costs £0.30 per mile which is quite expensive BUT it's worth keeping the account active so that when we next want to take a big trip we still have our mileage balance to spend.
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
answered 21 hours ago
RobVRobV
35015
35015
add a comment |
add a comment |
It makes a lot of sense for the airlines, obviously.
If you are very near to a free flight, it might make sense to buy a small amount, but generally, it is a very bad deal for the buyer. Not everyone realizes that, though.
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
add a comment |
It makes a lot of sense for the airlines, obviously.
If you are very near to a free flight, it might make sense to buy a small amount, but generally, it is a very bad deal for the buyer. Not everyone realizes that, though.
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
add a comment |
It makes a lot of sense for the airlines, obviously.
If you are very near to a free flight, it might make sense to buy a small amount, but generally, it is a very bad deal for the buyer. Not everyone realizes that, though.
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
It makes a lot of sense for the airlines, obviously.
If you are very near to a free flight, it might make sense to buy a small amount, but generally, it is a very bad deal for the buyer. Not everyone realizes that, though.
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
answered yesterday
AganjuAganju
22.5k43679
22.5k43679
add a comment |
add a comment |
protected by JoeTaxpayer♦ yesterday
Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
