Buy bonus points and miles with these September promotions

Loyalty programs are huge moneymakers for airlines and hotel companies because they support multiple revenue streams. One of these revenue streams is selling airline miles and hotel points directly to travelers.

Programs can get an immediate cash injection by selling points and miles as travelers prepay for future travel. However, as a traveler, keep in mind that it generally only makes sense to purchase points and miles when a discount or bonus offer is available.

This roundup of points and miles sales walks you through some of the best current offers on airline miles and hotel points, including some that may be targeted.

But first, when does it make sense to buy points and miles?

Should you buy points and miles?

There are a few things to consider before taking advantage of points and miles sales.

First, buying points and miles only makes sense for certain travelers and at certain times. It’s generally a much better deal to earn them for “free” through flights, hotel stays, travel rewards credit cards and other means.

However, buying them during good promotions can make sense for those who have tapped out their credit card options and can get high value from their rewards. It can also make sense when you need more points to lock in a specific redemption.

We generally only recommend buying points or miles if you have an immediate use in mind. In that case, the purchase might save you thousands of dollars. We don’t recommend stockpiling your loyalty rewards, as programs frequently undergo unexpected devaluations.

With that, here are some current promotions for buying points and miles.

Related: What are points and miles worth? TPG’s current valuations

Promotions for buying airline points and miles

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

• Current promotion: Up to a 45% discount
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.68 cents per mile
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.3 cents per mile
• End date: Sept. 17
• Buy Flying Blue miles

With Flying Blue‘s tiered bonus, you can get a 35% discount when you purchase at least 4,000 miles, a 40% discount when you purchase at least 22,000 miles and a 45% discount when you purchase at least 50,000 miles. The maximum 45% discount brings the cost down to roughly 1.68 cents per mile. Though this is higher than our current valuation of Flying Blue miles, it could be worthwhile if you already have a high-value redemption in mind and have confirmed award availability.

American Airlines AAdvantage

• Current promotion: A 10% to 40% discount
• Purchase rate: As low as 2.25 cents per mile
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.55 cents per mile
• End date: Unknown
• Buy AAdvantage miles

American Airlines AAdvantage is offering up to a 40% discount on miles, depending on how many you buy. You must purchase at least 3,000 miles to get the lowest 10% discount, and you’ll get the maximum discount of 40% when you buy 151,000 miles or more, dropping the price to 2.25 cents per mile. This is significantly higher than TPG’s current valuation of American miles, but buying American miles for specific high-end awards could still make sense.

Finnair Plus (targeted)

• Current promotion: A 30% to 50% bonus
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.47 cents per Avios
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.4 cents per Avios
• End date: Sept. 17
• Buy Finnair Plus Avios

Finnair’s current promotion is a tiered bonus ranging from 30% to 50% bonus Avios, depending on how many you buy. You’ll need to purchase at least 5,000 Avios to get the starting 30% bonus, and the maximum 50% bonus requires purchasing 75,000 Avios or more. With the 50% bonus, you’ll pay around 1.47 cents per Avios, pretty close to our current valuation.

This deal is targeted to Finnair Plus members who joined the program before Aug. 20 and have a minimum balance of 500 Avios in their account. If this doesn’t describe you, it’s still worth checking to see if you’re targeted for a different offer.

JetBlue TrueBlue (targeted)

• Current promotion: Up to 130% bonus points
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.4 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.45 cents per point
• End date: Oct. 28
• Buy JetBlue TrueBlue points

JetBlue TrueBlue has one of the best offers on buying points right now — but it’s targeted, so your offer may vary. One example we’ve seen is a 100% bonus on 3,000-plus points and a 115% bonus on 10,000 points or more. If you’re targeted for the maximum 130% bonus, you could pay as little as 1.4 cents per point after taxes — not a bad deal compared to TPG’s valuation of 1.45 cents per mile.

If TrueBlue Mosaic elite status is in your 2025 goals, JetBlue is also offering a 15% discount when you purchase Tiles by Sept. 30. This isn’t as stellar of a deal, but it could make sense if your travel plans will put you only a couple of Tiles away from the next status tier.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (targeted)

• Current promotion: A 50% discount
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.5 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.35 cents per point
• End date: Oct. 2
• Buy Rapid Rewards points

Southwest’s 100,000-point credit card welcome offers aren’t the only deal going on for Rapid Rewards members. These offers may vary, but we’ve seen a 50% discount when you buy at least 3,000 Rapid Rewards points. The sale price of 1.5 cents per point is still above TPG’s current valuation of 1.3 cents, so purchasing points will only make sense if you’re planning a redemption soon.

United Airlines MileagePlus

• Current promotion: Up to 100% bonus miles
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.88 cents per mile
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.3 cents per mile
• End date: Sept. 23
• Buy MileagePlus miles

United MileagePlus’ latest promotion is tiered. You can get 50% bonus miles when you buy 8,000 miles or more, 75% bonus miles when you buy 25,000 or more, and the maximum 100% bonus miles when you buy 50,000 or more. If you can maximize this promotion, you’ll pay 1.88 cents per mile after taxes. This essentially halves the cost per mile — though it’s still well over our valuation, so we wouldn’t recommend purchasing miles unless you need to top off your balance for a specific redemption.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

• Current promotion: Up to 70% bonus points
• Purchase rate: As low as 1.48 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.3 cents per point
• End date: Oct. 12
• Buy Flying Club points

With this offer from Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, you can get 20% bonus points when you purchase at least 5,000 points, 40% bonus points when you purchase at least 25,000 and 60% bonus points when you purchase at least 70,000. If you buy 125,000 points or more, you can get the maximum 70% bonus, dropping the cost to around 1.48 cents per point — not too much higher than our current valuation. This deal could be worth using if you already have a redemption in mind.

Promotions for buying hotel points

Choice Privileges (targeted)

• Current promotion: A 35% to 45% discount
• Purchase rate: As low as 0.57 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 0.6 cents per point
• End date: Sept. 29
• Buy Choice Privileges points

This Choice Privileges promotion appears to be targeted, so yours may look different. We’ve seen a tiered offer for 35% off when you purchase 6,000-plus points, 40% off 10,000-plus points and 45% off 18,000-plus points. The maximum discount drops the price to roughly 0.57 cents per point, right on par with our valuation of 0.6 cents for choice points. This makes now a great time to consider buying the points you need for your next redemption.

Hilton Honors (targeted)

• Current promotion: Up to 100% bonus points
• Purchase rate: As low as 0.5 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 0.5 cents per point
• End date: Sept. 25
• Buy Hilton Honors points

With this offer from Hilton Honors, you can get up to a 100% bonus on the points you buy, allowing you to essentially pay half price per point. Offers may vary, but we’ve seen a 100% bonus on purchases of at least 5,000 points — meaning you could take advantage of this great deal even if you only need a few thousand points.

You’ll pay only 0.5 cents per point with this bonus, in line with TPG’s valuations, so it could be a good idea to buy the points you’ll need for your next redemption. For instance, you could purchase the 110,000 points needed for a night at the Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria Resort for only $550 during this promotion — a great deal considering cash rates start at around $900 per night.

Marriott Bonvoy (targeted)

• Current promotion: 40% bonus points
• Purchase rate: As low as 0.89 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 0.7 cents per point
• End date: Sept. 17
• Buy Marriott Bonvoy points

Log in to your Marriott Bonvoy account to see your targeted offer. We’ve found a 40% bonus when you purchase at least 2,000 points, dropping the price to roughly 0.89 cents per point. This isn’t a great deal, considering we value Marriott points at 0.7 cents each in the wake of the program’s recent devaluation, so we wouldn’t advise purchasing points in most circumstances.

World of Hyatt

• Current promotion: A 20% discount
• Purchase rate: 2.1 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.7 cents per point
• End date: Oct. 6
• Buy World of Hyatt points

World of Hyatt is offering 20% savings on purchases of at least 5,000 points, giving you a price of around 2.1 cents per point. Because this is quite a bit higher than our current valuation, we’d only recommend taking advantage of this promotion if you need a few extra points for your next redemption.

Wyndham Rewards

• Current promotion: Up to 90% bonus points
• Purchase rate: 0.5 cents per point
• TPG September 2025 valuation: 1.1 cents per point
• End date: Oct. 21
• Buy Wyndham Rewards points

With Wyndham Rewards‘ latest promotion, you can score up to 90% bonus points when you purchase 3,000 points or more. This brings the price per point to 0.68 cents, a spectacular deal compared to our valuation of 1.1 cents. If Wyndham Rewards points are useful to you, you may want to jump on this offer.

For example, since Wyndham award nights start at 7,500 points, you could buy all the points you need for a one-night stay for only $52 — probably less than you’d pay in cash at most properties.

Which credit card should you use to buy points and miles?

Most of these promotions are processed through Points.com rather than directly by the hotel or airline, so you won’t earn bonus rewards with most travel rewards cards. Instead, you’ll want to use an everyday spending card that offers a solid return on nonbonus spending.

The main exception to this rule is American Airlines. This airline reportedly codes mileage purchases as airfare, so you may want to use a credit card that earns bonus miles on airfare for the highest return when buying AAdvantage miles.

Or, if you’re working toward a minimum spending requirement to earn a welcome bonus on a new card, using that card may be the way to go.

Remember that you could incur foreign transaction fees on some cards when buying points or miles from a program abroad. So, you may want to use one of the following cards:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases and no foreign transaction fees
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases and no foreign transaction fees

Bottom line

Buying points and miles isn’t always a good idea, but it can make sense in some situations — especially if you can take advantage of a promotion. In most cases, it’s best to have a specific redemption in mind and confirm award availability before considering paying for points and miles.