Buying Points: Is It Worth It?

Buying Points: Advantages and Disadvantages

Generally speaking, buying points isn’t worth it, as the acquisition value often exceeds the actual value of the points.

However, in certain situations, this alternative can prove effective in bringing a trip to fruition or achieving specific objectives. For example:

• If you need points quickly to book an award ticket or hotel stay, purchasing can help you avoid missing out on an opportunity.
• When a promotion makes the cost per point competitive, buying points can reduce the overall cost of a booking you’re about to make or would have made in cash.
• If you need points that you can’t easily earn other than through a purchase (for example, IHG points).

However, in many situations, free accumulation remains a more advantageous option in the long term. Credit cards linked to loyalty programs, seasonal promotions and shopping portals offer opportunities to accumulate points at no direct cost, although this often takes longer.

Ultimately, it’s important to compare the cost of the points purchased with their actual value at the time of redemption. If the purchase saves more than it costs, then the operation is profitable. If not, other methods of accumulation or more strategic planning may be preferable.

How Can I Tell if Buying Points Is Worthwhile?

Before proceeding, first check the availability of points flights and the total number of points required. Then compare the cash price of the ticket with the cost of buying the necessary points. This will help you determine whether buying points is more advantageous than simply paying cash for the ticket.

Let’s take a simple example:

• You buy 150,000 points for a total of $3,000.
• These points can be used to book 4 airline tickets worth $4,000.
• Result: You save $1,000 compared to buying tickets directly.

This example shows that the purchase can be profitable when the value obtained in exchange exceeds the cost of purchasing the points. However, this profitability depends on the availability and price of rewards.

Alternatives to Buying Points: Earn Them for Free

One of the major advantages of loyalty programs is the ability to earn points for free. Here’s how:

• Program-linked credit cards: Welcome bonuses are often generous, and can cover a large part of an award ticket.
• Seasonal promotions: Extra points can be earned during special campaigns or via partner shopping portals.
• Everyday spending: Using credit cards or partnerships with retailers, you can convert your everyday purchases into points, sometimes up to 5X, as with the American Express Cobalt^® Card.

Here are a few examples of the best credit card offers available, often with generous welcome bonuses. These cards allow you to quickly accumulate a large number of points as soon as you start spending, sometimes enough to cover a round-trip flight or several nights’ hotel accommodation.

In addition to welcome bonuses, these cards offer benefits such as the first year free of charge, travel insurance, access to airport lounges and more.

As for online shopping portals, Aeroplan offers a wide range of promotions to earn points with its partners. You can usually accumulate between 5X and 7X Aeroplan points with recurring promotions via Aeroplan eStore for example, and sometimes up to 20X points!

However, these methods take time. If you’re planning a short-term trip, waiting until you’ve accumulated enough points could mean missing out on availability, especially on coveted award tickets.

Strategies for Maximizing the Purchase of Points

What if You Need to Buy Points?

In certain situations, it may be unavoidable to purchase points to finalize a reservation or make a travel project a reality. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to adopt a strategy that minimizes costs and maximizes the value of points purchased.

Take Advantage of Points Purchase Promotions

Points purchase promotions are generally the key to making this operation more beneficial.

Most loyalty programs regularly offer promotions that make buying points more appealing. These promotions often take the form of:

• Percentage bonus: You receive an additional number of points depending on the quantity purchased, often between 25% and 125% bonus.
• Reduction in price per point: The cost per point is temporarily lowered, reducing the total cost of the purchase.

These promotions reduce the unit cost of points, making them more competitive to purchase.

For example, a promotion with an 85% bonus, which is common with Aeroplan, can reduce the cost per point to around 2.18¢.

For a promotion with a 100% bonus, which is rarer or targeted to certain people, the cost per point drops even further to around 2.01¢, tax included.

To make the most of promotions:

• Watch out for promotional campaigns on the official loyalty program websites or via our newsletter.
• Calculate the cost per point after bonus or rebate to assess whether the purchase is worth the value you’ll derive from the exchange.
• Buy according to your immediate needs: Don’t be tempted by an offer if you don’t have a concrete project in mind, as points can lose value if the program is devalued.

Example of Buying Aeroplan Points During a Promotion

Aeroplan regularly runs promotions to encourage members to buy points. During these campaigns, it is possible to receive bonuses of up to 125%, which significantly reduces the cost per point.

For example, in an 85% promotion, you can earn 46,250 points for a total of $1,006.30 (taxes included). This equals to a cost per point of 2.18¢.

These promotions can be beneficial if you are planning an exchange that will maximize the value of your points. However, the cost remains relatively high compared with other means of accumulation, making them a solution to be considered mainly for topping up a balance or in specific cases.

Milesopedia assigns a reference value of 2¢ per Aeroplan point, which means that buying points in this situation is disadvantageous. However, if you buy points at this price to use them on more expensive flights (such as in high season or in premium class), you could maximize their value if you redeem them at a value higher than the purchase cost.

Let’s take an example with a promotion offering 85% bonus points, where you could earn 46,250 points for a total of $1,006.30 (taxes included). You could buy points for business-class with Etihad Airways between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and Geneva (GVA) for around $1,000.

By comparison, the public fare for the same flight is over $3,300.

Another example: a spring break vacation to a popular destination like Disney World. Round-trip cash prices start at $1,650 per person, but it’s possible to snag some real gems, like a flight for just 25,000 Aeroplan points if you get them early enough!

To make up for the shortfall in points, it would cost you approximately $600, taxes included. A great way to travel at a lower cost, with only 55% bonus points!

Aeroplan Tip: When Redeeming

When you don’t have enough points to cover the full cost of a booking, purchasing points directly at the time of redemption can be a strategic and advantageous alternative. Unlike buying points during general promotions, this method offers several specific benefits worth considering closely.

Analyze Different Exchange Options

Let’s say you only have 66,000 Aeroplan points and you’re short 44,000 points to book this award ticket. In this case, you can purchase these points directly via the booking portal for $867.10 (taxes included) by selecting the first redemption option on the far left.

This brings the cost per point down to around 1.9¢, a rate often lower than that of regular promotions, where the cost per point can fluctuate between 2 and 2.5¢, or even more.

For a promotion offering an 85% purchase bonus, the cost per point is 2.18¢, as explained in the previous section. However, it is necessary to purchase slightly more points than the exact number required to meet your needs, due to the program’s predefined purchase thresholds.

It is generally recommended to favour the third redemption option with Aeroplan, as it reflects the actual cost of the reward and the exact amount of taxes and fees. However, if you’re short on points, it is often better to purchase them directly at the time of booking by selecting the first redemption option, rather than buying them separately and then using the third option.

It is important to note that the first redemption option (which includes the purchase of points via redemption) is only available if you have at least 75% of the actual cost of the bonus in points, as indicated in the third redemption option.

Significant Financial Benefits

This method offers several distinct financial advantages:

• Taxes included in the cost of points: Unlike buying points via promotions, where taxes are added to the final price unless you have an American credit card, here the cost shown already includes taxes. This makes the purchase more competitive and transparent.
• No risk of devaluation: Loyalty programs regularly revise their point values, which can reduce the profitability of accumulated points. By buying only what you need at the precise moment of redemption, you avoid this uncertainty.
• No unnecessary purchases: You buy exactly the number of points required for your reservation. This avoids keeping an excess balance of unused points, which could become worthless or unusable in the short to medium term.
• Accumulation of additional points:
  The purchase of points in this context is generally billed directly by the airline and not by a third party, so at 1X the points, as it is a non-category purchase. This allows you to earn extra points by using a credit card offering a high multiplier for airline-related purchases. For example, with the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Reserve Card or the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Business Reserve Card which offers 3X points for Air Canada purchases, a points purchase on redemption is considered a direct purchase on Air Canada, maximizing your earnings.

Avios Tip: Avios Balance Boost

As for the British Airways Executive Club, the « Avios Balance Boost » feature offers program members a beneficial way to increase their Avios balance. This option allows you to purchase additional Avios based on the percentage of points accumulated over the last 30 days, with potentially more competitive rates than traditional Avios purchases.

How Points Purchase Works

Members can choose to purchase 100%, 200% or 300% of the number of Avios earned over the previous 30 days. For example, if you have earned 15,000 Avios during this period, you can purchase an additional 15,000, 30,000 or 45,000 Avios via Balance Boost.

To use Avios Balance Boost:

• Log in to your British Airways Executive Club account.
• Go to the section dedicated to buying Avios.
• Select the « Avios Balance Boost » option and the relevant transactions.
• Choose the desired percentage of additional Avios (100%, 200% or 300% of Avios accumulated over the last 30 days).
• Finalize your purchase by following the instructions provided.

Pricing and Benefits

The cost per Avios via Balance Boost can be lower than traditional purchase methods, which charge 3¢ to 4.75¢ when there is no promotion running.

Indeed, here is a comparison between buying Avios points via a 1X boost and a traditional purchase:

15,000 Avios points for US 187 versus US 365

The price differs according to the boost multiplier selected and varies according to the prevailing exchange rate, here’s a summary:

Milesopedia gives a value of 1.7¢ per Avios point. So it’s worth buying them only if you intend to use them at a higher value. A good example would be to fly Qsuite, Qatar Airways’ famous business class.

With 25,000 Avios points, you can buy an additional 75,000 Avios points for around $1,300 thanks to the boost offer, giving you a total of 100,000 Avios points.

With these 100,000 points, you can book a flight between Montreal and Seoul in Qsuite.

This flight, regularly priced at around $9,000, is then available at a fraction of its actual cost. The result: you enjoy a flight at an exceptional discount, thanks to the strategic use of the boost to buy your points.

Avios Balance Boost offers several advantages:

• This method can offer a lower cost per Avios than traditional purchase options.
• It allows you to quickly adjust your Avios balance according to your travel needs.
• Sometimes there are promotions where you can earn bonus points when you Boost.

However, it is essential to note that this option is limited by the number of Avios accumulated over the last 30 days. So if you haven’t accumulated any Avios recently, Balance Boost will not be available.

Transactions Eligible for Avios Balance Boost

The following transactions are eligible for the boost:

• Avios obtained via the British Airways shopping portal (don’t forget your Airbnb bookings, which can earn lots of points)
• Avios earned through spending on Executive Club credit cards such as the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card.
• Avios obtained on flights operated by British Airways or its partners.
• Avios obtained via « hotels and travel » activities, such as Uber rides, which are partners.

However, some transactions are not eligible for boosting. Depending on the conditions, you may not be able to boost Avios obtained via:

• Points transfers from other airlines, such as Qatar Airways or Finnair.
• Avios shared or donated by other members.
• Avios purchased differently.

On the other hand, transfers of points from programs such as American Express Membership Rewards or RBC Avion are eligible for Boost, which makes it particularly interesting (for your purchase, since Boost is a form of points purchase). This is not explicitly mentioned in the terms and conditions, but it works.

Finally, British Airways also occasionally runs promotions like this one, where you can boost all eligible transactions by 4X over the course of 2024, not just the last 30 days. As mentioned above, buying Avios points via a Balance Boost can be worthwhile, depending on how much you value them.

Bottom Line

Purchasing points, whether for Aeroplan, Avios, Marriott Bonvoy, Alaska Mileage Plan or other programs, is a flexible solution that can be useful in specific situations, from topping up a low balance quickly to accessing luxurious experiences at a lower cost, such as a stay on a stilt in the Maldives for a fraction of the actual price thanks to the use of purchased points.

However, this strategy requires careful analysis to ensure that it is financially profitable. Systematically comparing the purchase cost with the real value of points when redeeming them is essential to avoid unpleasant surprises. In parallel, free point accumulation via credit cards, shopping portals or promotions often remains the most cost-effective method of achieving your travel goals.