Buying Points and Miles: When Paying for Points Can Actually Save You Money

Most people think points and miles are something you earn. But many loyalty programs also let you buy them — and sometimes buying them can save you money.

At first, paying cash for something that is supposed to be a reward might sound backwards. But there are situations where buying points or miles can actually cost less than paying cash for the hotel or flight you already planned to book. For long-term travelers, knowing when that opportunity exists gives you another tool for controlling travel costs.

This is not a “buy points because they are on sale” article. It is also not a list of every loyalty program willing to sell you points.

This is how we think about buying points and miles as long-term travelers — what they actually are, how buying them works, when purchasing them can save real money, and when you are better off keeping your cash.

First — What Are Points and Miles?

Points and miles are simply rewards issued by loyalty programs. Hotels commonly call them points, airlines may call them points or miles, and credit-card rewards programs often have their own type of points.

You earn them in different ways. You might earn Marriott Bonvoy points from staying at a Marriott hotel, Aeroplan points from flying or using an Aeroplan-linked credit card, or credit-card points from everyday spending.

The important thing is that these rewards have value because they can be redeemed for something. Hotel points can be used toward hotel stays. Airline points or miles can be used toward flights. Some credit-card points can also be transferred into hotel or airline loyalty programs.

Normally, we think about earning these rewards through travel or credit-card spending. But many loyalty programs also allow you to purchase their points or miles with cash.

That is where Points.com enters the picture.

So What Is Points.com?

Points.com is a company and website that provides technology and services to loyalty programs. One of the things its technology allows some hotel and airline programs to do is sell points or miles to their members.

This distinction is important because Points.com is not another type of points program. There are no “Points.com points” that we are suggesting you collect.

Think of it this way:

In many cases, you will never need to visit Points.com directly. You might go to your hotel or airline loyalty program’s website, choose the option to buy points or miles, and Points.com provides some of the technology behind that transaction.

Other loyalty programs also sell points or miles using their own arrangements. From a traveler’s perspective, who provides the technology is not the strategy. The opportunity is knowing that you may be able to purchase points or miles when the numbers make sense.

Why Would You Ever Pay for Points?

This was the part that seemed strange to us when we first started learning more about points and miles. If points are supposed to be a reward, why would anyone voluntarily pay money for them?

The answer becomes clearer when you stop thinking about the points themselves and start thinking about what those points can buy.

Imagine a hotel costs $400 for one night. That same room is also available for 30,000 points. Now imagine you can buy the 30,000 points needed for $250.

In this hypothetical example, buying the points and using them to book the room would save you $150. That is the basic idea behind buying points. You are comparing two ways of paying for the same travel and choosing the one that costs less.

The Math That Actually Matters

Once you understand that basic comparison, the calculation is pretty simple. Look at the total cash price of the hotel or flight you want to book, then compare it with the amount you would have to spend to buy the points or miles required for the same booking.

Let’s use a hypothetical hotel stay that costs $1,200 in cash or 80,000 points. Imagine you could purchase those 80,000 points for $800.

In this hypothetical example, buying the points would save $400 compared with paying the cash price. But change the cash price of that hotel from $1,200 to $800 and the opportunity disappears because the two options now cost roughly the same.

The cost of the points did not change. The value of using them did.

Promotions Can Change the Equation

Hotel and airline loyalty programs regularly run promotions on purchased points. These promotions can significantly reduce the effective cost of acquiring the points you need for a redemption.

IHG One Rewards is a good example. IHG frequently offers promotions on purchased points, including offers where members can receive a 100% bonus. During a 100% bonus promotion, buying 50,000 points would give you another 50,000 bonus points, for a total of 100,000 points.

That can change the economics of a redemption. If you have already found an IHG hotel where buying the required points costs less than paying the cash rate, a 100% bonus promotion could make that opportunity even more attractive.

But the order matters. We would not recommend that someone new to this strategy buy IHG points simply because IHG is offering a 100% bonus. Start by finding the hotel you actually want to book, compare the cash and points prices, and then see whether the promotion makes buying the points the better option.

High Cash Prices Can Change the Math

Buying points can become particularly interesting when the cash price of a hotel or flight is unusually high. Hotels can become much more expensive during festivals, conferences, holidays, or other periods of high demand, and airline tickets can do the same during popular travel periods.

That does not automatically mean points will be cheaper. It simply means you should check both options. If a hotel costs $500 in cash but you can buy enough points to book the same room for $300, the comparison is worth making. If buying the points costs $475, the small difference may not be worth the extra step.

Buying Points Can Unlock Other Benefits

Sometimes there is another benefit to consider beyond the simple cash-versus-points comparison. Certain loyalty programs provide additional benefits when you redeem points.

Marriott Bonvoy, for example, offers its Stay for 5, Pay for 4 benefit on eligible award stays. That means a five-night points redemption can provide additional value compared with looking at the price of each night individually.

This does not mean you should buy Marriott points simply to use the benefit. It means that when you are comparing a cash booking with a points booking, you should look at the cost of the entire stay and any benefits that come with the redemption.

When We Would Not Buy Points

The biggest reason we would not buy points is simple: we do not have a specific use for them. Loyalty programs can change award pricing, our travel plans can change, and the hotel room or flight we thought we might book someday may no longer be available. Cash gives us considerably more flexibility.

That is why, in most cases, we would rather find the hotel or flight first, compare the cash and points prices, and then decide whether purchasing points makes sense.

There is one important exception in our own travel strategy: IHG One Rewards.

Because we travel full-time and regularly stay at IHG properties, we know those points will be used. When IHG offers one of its 100% bonus promotions, we will buy points even if we do not have one specific hotel reservation waiting to be booked. For us, this is not a speculative purchase. IHG points are something we regularly use as part of our accommodation strategy.

There is also no reason to force yourself to use points when cash is clearly the better deal. Sometimes people become so focused on getting a “free” hotel or flight that they ignore the value of the points they are spending.

Points are not free once you have them. They are an asset you can use later.

One Detail People Often Miss: Who Processes the Purchase?

If you decide that buying points makes sense, check who is actually processing the transaction before choosing which credit card to use.

A purchase processed through Points.com may not be treated the same way by your credit card as paying a hotel directly for a stay or an airline directly for a flight. That can affect how many credit-card rewards you earn on the purchase.

This should not determine whether you buy the points in the first place, but it is worth checking once you have decided the purchase makes sense.

How We Think About Buying Points

For us, points and miles have never been about building the biggest possible balance. We would rather use them to reduce the cost of travel we actually want to take.

Buying points fits that same philosophy. We are not interested in buying loyalty currency simply because we can. We want to know whether spending money on points today can reduce a larger travel expense we were already going to have.

That is really the entire strategy. Find the travel first, compare the two ways of paying for it, and choose the option that makes sense.

Our Take

Buying points and miles is not a shortcut to cheaper travel. It is simply another way of paying for travel, and sometimes it can be cheaper than paying the normal cash price.

Sometimes earning points through travel or credit-card spending will make more sense. Sometimes transferring credit-card points to a hotel or airline program will be better. And sometimes the cheapest and simplest answer will be to forget about points entirely and pay cash.

But when buying points allows us to book travel for meaningfully less than the cash price, we think it is an option worth knowing about.

For us, the goal is not to become better at collecting points. It is to become better at using the resources available to us to reduce the cost of the life we actually want to live.

The Bottom Line

Points and miles are loyalty rewards that can help pay for hotels, flights, and other travel. While most people think about earning them, many loyalty programs also allow you to buy them.

Points.com is one of the companies that provides the technology behind some of those purchases. But you do not need to understand the technology behind Points.com to use this strategy.

Find the hotel or flight you want. Look at the cash price. Look at how many points it requires. Find out what it would cost to buy those points. Then compare the two prices.

Find the redemption first. Buy the points second.

If buying the points meaningfully reduces the cost of travel you were already planning, it may be worth doing. If it does not, keep your money.

Because the goal was never to collect more points. The goal is to create more freedom with the money you already have.