February Buy Miles Promos – Are They Worth It?

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Let’s take a look at the buy miles promos that have been released so far this month and let’s assume that we want an award from North America to Brazil not during peak season to keep an even playing field.  The award costs 60,000 in economy on the 3 main airlines serving this route – AA, UA and US.  So how much would it cost to buy enough miles to complete this award?

American Airlines – to buy 60,000 miles it would cost around $1217 including tax and service charge.  You would get your credit card spend miles but no category multipliers as it is processed by Points.com.  This trip can be done for 40k in off-peak season.

AA Buy Miles Promo

 

US Airways – if you have the US Mastercard you can get a 100% bonus, otherwise you get a 50% bonus.  It would cost $1128 to buy these miles including tax.

US Airways Buy Miles Promo

United Airlines has not announced a Buy Miles Promo yet so you would have to pay full price for the whole 60,000 miles – whopping $2257.50!  If they did join the party and offered a 100% bonus promo, the cost would be $1128.75.

United Airlines Buy Miles

 

So how much would it be to simply BUY a ticket from LAX to the gateway city of Sao Paulo, Brazil?  Let’s try Kayak for a generic fare quote.  As we can see, economy fares start at $1015 for a multiple airline routing and go up from there.  The purchase price of a ticket is at least $100 cheaper than buying miles, PLUS you will earn miles from your purchase!

Kayak Quote LAX-GRU

Fare quotes will vary depending on which city you start from and which city in Brazil you want to get to.  If you are headed to the Pantanal, you would need to get to Cuiaba or Campo Grande which can be reached on Brazilian carriers GOL, TAM and TRIP.  In this case, when I tried a fare quote from LAX to CGB (Cuiaba) the fares started at $1414, so in this case if you can use a partner award all the way to Cuiaba you would save around $200, but you would not earn miles.

Fare Quote Cuiaba

 

RECAP

  • Compare costs to buy miles including the promo bonus miles with how much it costs to simply buy a ticket.  Use the examples I have provided to check every program you belong to for the destination you have in mind.
  • If your destination is not the main gateway city, try a fare quote all the way through to your final destination.  Compare that with the cost of buying a local domestic ticket.
  • Check to see if your airline program’s partners can get you all the way to your final destination.  TAM is currently in Star Alliance but will be joining LAN as LATAM and expected to join One World soon.  Copa and Avianca/Taca are in Star Alliance so can be used to get you to domestic destinations in South America.
  • If you are planning an award in business class, you may save a lot of money using a Buy Miles promo.
  • Don’t buy miles if you aren’t going to redeem them within a year.  The award prices could go up, airlines change alliances or even go out of business.