(This special report is exclusively for No Miles Nancy. We respectfully ask other FCF members not to read it.)
Dear FCF,
You talk about miles a lot. I mean, look at this March Issue – it’s full of miles deals, miles strategies, even how to calculate the value of a mile! MILES, MILES, MILES! Well, let me tell you straight: Stop it! Because I don’t have any miles. Hear me? I DON’T HAVE ANY MILES!
You’re killin’ me here!
Yours truly,
No Miles Nancy
Dear No Miles Nancy,
We hear you. And we’ve written this special report just for you. Let those mile-meisters go count their miles or points. This is for you—someone whose mileage numbers are as low as the membership of the Tahiti Snowboarders Club.
Nancy, You Can Buy Miles – and It’s a Really Smart Idea –Especially When You Buy Them at the Right Time
Nancy, buying miles can save you thousands of dollars—in some cases on one trip—if not tens of thousands of dollars. Most people pay cash or transfer their points for a ticket. Buying miles (and even points) for a trip is the overlooked option.
The Simple Key: Do it when it’s cheaper than paying a published fare and the airline has mileage award space. That’s all.
Before we get into this, we want you to keep this one fact in mind, Nancy: The retail price for most airline miles is 3¢ to 3.8¢ per mile (including taxes). That’s your benchmark.
Buying miles when on sale can give you even bigger savings.
SO, WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY MILES INSTEAD OF A NORMAL AIRFARE? FCF’S Rule of Thumb: When Premium fares are $4K / $6K
If the Business Class fare is over $4,000 or the First Class fare over $6,000, consider buying miles to redeem for your ticket. Let’s break that down a little more.
When Fares are High for a Specific Trip
The airline is great, the flight schedule is great, but the fare is sky high: What do I do? You have two options.
Option 1: Buy Miles When They’re on Sale
For example, New York to Hong Kong, non-stop in First Class on Cathay Pacific starts at $31,155 round-trip. Cathay Pacific is a partner of American, so you can book Cathay Pacific flights using American miles. Back in December, American put miles on sale for as low as 1.8¢. So, if you bought 220,000 miles with American the cost to get the miles for that Hong Kong ticket would have been about $4,027 (including approx. award tax)—a savings of $27,128 (87%). Sound good, Nancy?
Examples of When to Buy Miles Instead of a Published First Class Fare
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When to Buy Miles Instead of a Published Business Class Fare
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When miles are not on sale with American the cost to buy them is 3.2¢, so the savings on the New York to Hong Kong ticket would be less.
Getting Around the Airline’s Maximum Buy Limits
Now, the airlines aren’t stupid, so they don’t let you buy as many miles as you want, kind of. But getting around that barrier is easy – and legal. (We don’t want to get you into trouble, Nancy.) We wrote a piece on it right here.
Option 2: Buy Points with a Credit Card and Transfering them to an Airline
With Amex Rewards for example, you can buy up to 500,000 points at a cost of 2.5¢ if you don’t have enough points for a reward. (With some airlines the transfer time is almost instant from points to miles, but it can take up to 3 days).
Using this approach, buying 220,000 Amex Rewards points and then transferring them to Cathay Pacific brings the ticket cost down to $5,500—a savings of $25,655 (82%).
Nancy, Before You Buy Miles or Points…
Make sure there’s availability: American and United are among the airlines that are less risky because you can hold award space while the miles-purchase transaction transpires, for more details go here.
But we find award availability every day! Just keep an eye on your inbox for our Daily Alerts.
When to Forget About Buying Miles or Points
When fares are low: Of course, we specialize in finding low premium fares, so if they’re out there, Nancy, you’ll know. Like these.
Now of course, these deals aren’t always available. But if you’re a little flexible, you can get great published fares without the Buy Loyalty Strategy.
For example, Washington, D.C. to London on United non-stop in First Class starts at $4,052 round-trip. If you buy 160,000 miles with United at the normal everyday cost of 3.8¢, the ticket would cost $6,080. No savings, no point.
Or Houston to Beijing in Business Class on United. The fare starts at $2,627 round-trip. Nice. If you buy 120,000 miles with United the ticket would cost $4,560, so again, no point.
One more thing. Free award tickets don’t earn miles or elite credit, so the savings must be good to make this strategy worth your while. So…
Remember the Aforementioned Rule of Thumb: Think about buying miles or points when you’re Business Class fare is otherwise $4,000+ or your First Class fare is over $6,000.
Simple.
P.S.
Thanks for reading Nancy. From now on nobody will ever call you “No Miles Nancy.” Just so you know, this is the strategy Mr. Upgrade uses more than any other, because he likes First Class (particularly on airlines whose First Class cabins go for $20,000+). Which is why he buys miles left and right in all kinds of mileage and points accounts.
Oh, all you other readers can come back now.
For more about mileage sales, check out our regular “Sweet Redeems” alerts—and use that information directly with the operating airline, or through a partner program.