Ends Today: Buy Discounted Miles From Alaska, United, Hilton, Hyatt, And IHG

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-United: Get 50% off purchased miles through 08/31
For example 150K miles will cost $2,821.88, or 1.88 cents per mile.

-Alaska: Get 40% bonus miles when purchasing miles through 10/06
For example 56K miles will cost $1,182.50, or 2.11 cents per mile. There is no limit to how many Alaska miles you can buy.

-Hilton: Get 80% bonus points when purchasing miles through 08/31
For example 144K points will cost $800, or 0.55 cents per point.

-Hyatt: Get 30% bonus points when purchasing miles through 08/31
For example 71.5K points will cost $1,320, or 1.85 cents per point.

-IHG: Get 50%-100% bonus points through 08/31.
This promotion varies based on your account. With a 100% bonus 120,000 points would cost $690 (0.575 cents per point).

Buying miles is hardly the most cost-effective way to collect miles. It’s always better to earn the miles from opening and spending on credit cards for example.

However it can make sense to buy miles, when they are discounted, in 2 scenarios. The first is when you’re close to an award but need some topping-up.  The second is when you have a specific award in mind and it makes financial sense to buy the miles.

Hilton:

-Let’s say you want to stay at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, probably the nicest hotel in Israel. A 5 night stay from October 6-11 for example would run $750/night (plus 18% VAT for locals). However it’s just 64K points per night with a 5 night stay or 80K points per night without a 5 night stay.
When buying points for 0.55 cents each that’s $352 per night on a 5 night stay or $440 per night without a 5 night stay.

Need the full 320K points for a 5 night stay? Just open multiple Hilton accounts in your name and then merge the accounts via this link.

Alaska:

-Say you want to fly from JFK to the Maldives in Emirates First Class. You know, the one with the golden suite and a shower onboard.

You could spend $18K:

Or you can use 90K Alaska miles, which would set you back some $1,899 with this promotion. There’s a limit of 56K miles per transaction, but there’s no limit on how many transactions you can make.

With Alaska you can also get a free stopover on a one-way award, so you’d be able to stopover in Dubai/Abu Dhabi for as long as you want.

-A round-trip award from JFK to Tel Aviv via Seoul in Korean business class would set you back 140K while a round-trip award from JFK to Johannesburg via Hong Kong in Cathay first class would be 140K round-trip as well. Each of those come with 2 free stopovers to boot.

United:

-A flight from Bangkok to Sydney will set you back 30K United miles in business or 40K in first.

A paid flight would be $3,150 in business or $3,650 in first. But at 1.88 cents per mile you can effectively buy the business flight for $564 or the first flight for $752 with a 1 hour massage in the first class lounge in Bangkok included.

IHG:

–IHG runs PointBreaks which allows you to book rooms at rotating hotels for just 5,000 points per night.   That’s just $28.75 for a room if you buy points at .575 cents each. Those hotels rotate every couple of months.

IHG also has 9 hotels in Israel that start at 10K points, or as low as $57.50 per night when buying points with a 100% bonus.

Hyatt:

Once you’re used Alaska miles to get to the Maldives, the Park Hyatt has exceptional reviews and is a great value.

Checking random rates in January and February shows a nonrefundable rate of $1,335 or a refundable rate of $1,570 after tax. The refundable rate with points is just 25K. If you buy points at 1.85 cents each that’s $462.50 per night.

Other award winning Park Hyatt hotels in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Milan, NYC, Paris, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, and Zurich will also provide exceptional values.

Of course there are dozens more examples for each of these programs, the key is having a specific redemption in mind before buying.

Do you ever buy miles from the airlines or hotels? Sound off in the comments!