Buying airline miles or points can be beneficial when you want to travel in premium cabins without paying hefty full-fare tickets.
This month, there are currently three great buy mileage promotions where you can receive up to a 100% bonus when purchasing miles/points.
Buy United MileagePlus Miles With Up To 100% Bonus
First of all, let us go over United Airlines MileagePlus’ latest promotion. United Airlines MileagePlus has been continuously offering bonuses on miles purchased every month and as of today, it has launched its latest promotion.
Through March 19, 2023, United MileagePlus members purchasing miles will receive up to a 100% bonus tiered as follows:
- Purchasing between 5,000-14,000 miles, you’ll receive a 50% bonus
- Purchasing between 15,000-39,000 miles, you’ll receive a 75% bonus
- Purchasing between 40,000-87,500 miles, you’ll receive a 100% bonus
With this month’s 100% bonus promotion, members are able to purchase up to 175,000 miles for US$3,292.19 including taxes and fees. This will give you a rate of 1.88 cents per mile which is half the usual price. You can buy United miles with 100% bonus here.
United Airlines’ MileagePlus limits the maximum number of miles purchased to 175,000 miles per calendar year in which the bonus is included. So even with the 100% bonus promotion, the maximum amount of miles members can buy is 87,500 miles.
Redeeming United MileagePlus Miles
From time to time, MileagePlus has good redemption rates, especially on one-way awards. For example:
- A one-way from New York to London costs as low as 60,000 miles on United Airlines.
- A one-way flight from New York to Europe costs around 77,000 miles on partners.
- One-way from the US to Japan cost as low as 70,000 miles on United Airlines.
- A one-way flight from the US to Japan cost around 88,000 miles on Star Alliance partners.
The only catch is, United Airlines do not have a published award chart, you’ll have to access United’s website to check individually to find the best deal. You can buy United miles with 100% bonus here.
Air Canada Aeroplan Offering Up To 80% Bonus On Purchased Points
Next on this week’s buy miles/points deal is from Air Canada’s Aeroplan program.
Through March 29, 2023, Aeroplan is offering up to an 80% bonus when buying points. However, different members are targeted with different offers with different bonuses. So I’d ask you to check your account to how much bonus you will get.
Here are the bonus based on points purchased (Based on an 80% bonus offer):
- Buy 4,000 – 29,000 points, and receive a 45% bonus
- Buy 30,000 – 55,000, and receive a 65% bonus
- Buy 60,000+ points, and receive an 80% bonus
For this program, there is a minimum point purchase requirement which is 4,000 points. Buying below 4,000 points will not be eligible for bonus points. So how many points can you buy?
Generally, you can buy up to 1 million Aeroplan points per calendar year but there is a one-time purchase limit of up to 250,000 points. Thankfully, during this promotion Aeroplan has increased this limit to 500,000 points per purchase.
Based on an 80% bonus, you could buy and receive up to 1.8 million points for CAD$35,000 (~US$25,480) which gives you a rate of CAD1.94 cents (US 1.4 cents) per point.
Redeeming Air Canada Aeroplan Points
Air Canada Aeroplan program is one of my favorite programs and it has a lot of airline partners to redeem points, even with non-Star Alliance members. Aeroplan has the most airline partners than any other program so it is worth buying points with extra bonuses.
There are also advantages to why Aeroplan is one of my favorites:
- Aeroplan does not charge fuel surcharges on award redemptions.
- A stopover is allowed on one-way booking for just 5,000 points additional.
- The redemption rate is based on a combination of zone and distance.
The program also does not charge a high number of points for redemptions. Moreover, it is also partners with non-Star Alliance airlines such as Oman Air, Etihad, and recently the program partnered with Emirates. For example:
- a one-way business-class ticket on Lufthansa from Frankfurt(FRA) – New York(JFK) costs 60,000 points
- a one-way first class ticket on Lufthansa from Frankfurt(FRA) – Mexico(MEX) costs 100,000 points
- a one-way first class ticket on Emirates from Muscat(MCT) – London(LHR) costs 201,000 points
- a one-way first class ticket on Oman Air from Muscat(MCT) – London(LHR) costs 65,000 points
Buy Alaska Mileage Plan Miles With Up To A 50% Bonus
Lastly, the Alaska Mileage Plan program is offering a bonus promotion when buying miles this week. Keep in mind that the promotion is valid until tomorrow.
Through Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 50% bonus when buying miles. Different bonus offers are targeted to different Mileage Plan members so it is best to check out your account on how much bonus you will get.
I have received the following offer for my account:
- Buy 3,000-9,000 miles, get 30% bonus miles
Buy 10,000-19,000 miles, get 40% bonus miles
Buy 20,000-100,000 miles, get 50% bonus miles
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan limits non-elite members to purchase a maximum total of 150,000 miles whether purchased or gifted. The bonus miles do not count toward the maximum total of 150,000 miles.
On the other hand, Mileage Plan MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K Mileage Plan members have no annual limit on the number of miles which may be purchased or gifted. Moreover, the program sells up to 100,000 miles per single transaction so if you need to buy more miles, you would need to make another transaction.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan sells miles at US$27.50 before taxes at a block of 1,000 miles. The miles can be purchased in increments of 1,000 miles up to 60,000 miles, and in increments of 5,000 miles up to a maximum of 100,000 miles per transaction.
With the 50% bonus promotion, it will cost US$2956.25 for 150,000 miles. So each mile comes with a cost of 1.97 cents. Buy and get up to 50% Alaska bonus miles here.
Redeeming Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
The Mileage Plan program has 21 airline partners where you can redeem. Since Alaska Airlines is now a member of the Oneworld alliance, you can now miles on most of the Oneworld partners plus select airlines from different alliances (Korean Air and Singapore Airlines).
Mileage Plan usually offered great award value on Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines first class. I once redeemed 85,000 miles on Japan Airlines first and business class from New Delhi to New York. Or redeem 70,000 miles on American Airlines Flagship First from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Here are some great sweet spots around the year.
- Japan Airlines first class: San Francisco(SFO) – Tokyo(HND) – 85,000 miles one-way
- British Airways first class: Newark(EWR) – London(LHR) – 70,000 miles one-way
- Qatar Airways business class: Doha(DOH) – Bangkok(BKK) – 70,000 miles one-way
