Should you buy airline miles?

Almost never buy miles speculatively. The only time it works is when you have a specific booking priced, you are short of the total, and the miles cost less than the cash fare for the same seat.

The arithmetic

Airlines sell miles at a price well above what those miles typically buy. A mile is worth somewhere around one to one and a half cents in ordinary use; the list price to buy one is usually around two to three. Buying at list and hoping to use them later loses money on the spot.

Programs run frequent sales, sometimes with bonuses that halve the effective price. That closes the gap without reversing it.

When it does work

One case, and it has three conditions at once. You have found a specific award seat, you are short of the miles needed, and the cost of buying the shortfall plus the miles you already hold is less than the cash fare for that seat.

This comes up most often on premium long-haul cabins, where the cash fare is high enough that even overpriced miles beat it. Do the sum for that booking. Do not do it in the abstract.

Before you buy

• Confirm the seat is there. Miles are almost always non-refundable. Buying them and then finding the award gone is a total loss.
• Check for a transfer instead. If you hold transferable bank points, moving them costs nothing and is usually the better route.
• Check the surcharges on the award you are targeting, because they change the arithmetic and they are easy to miss.
• Watch the account limits. Programs cap how many miles you can buy per year.

Topping off is the honest use case

Being two thousand miles short of a booking you have already found is exactly what buying miles is for. Being forty thousand miles short of a trip you have not planned is not.

Common questions

Is buying airline miles worth it?

Only to top off a specific award you have already found and priced, where the cost of the shortfall is less than the cash fare for the same seat.

Can I get a refund on purchased miles?

Usually not. Miles purchases are almost always final, which is why you confirm the award seat exists first.

Is it cheaper to buy miles during a sale?

Yes, and programs run sales regularly. A sale narrows the gap between what miles cost and what they are worth, but it rarely reverses it.