Indians may not be entirely new to the Air Mile game, but they are exploring it now, thanks to a few fantastic credit cards. They are getting used to the term Air mile and using it for booking a flight. Probably few of them might also be buying Air Mile or may buy in future. They might do it for their reasons. But does it usually make sense to buy Air Miles? Let’s find out when it makes sense to buy Air Mile and when it is.
But before doing that, here are a few things you should be aware of before buying miles.
Checklist before you buy miles
Before you decide whether to buy miles, you should have a few details handy since you would want to be sure of things before you buy miles.
- Ensure your travel plan is firm.
- Make a list of flights that best suites to your travel plan
- Noting down costs of your preferred flights
- Check if You’re a member of the frequent flyer program of shortlisted airlines.
- If you’re not a member, ensure that the airline allows buying of miles for new members.
- Number of air miles you already have
- How many points can you transfer to the frequent flyer program?
- The days it takes to air miles get credited into your account, as these can’t be expedited.
- Days it takes for credited of bonus air miles when you buy them an offer.
- Carrier Imposed charges(as they can reduce the value of your miles)
- You’re sure about the reward seat availability.
The above will help you make a better decision as you have details that can influence your decision to buy air miles.
When does it make sense to buy air miles?
Usually, buying air miles doesn’t make sense except in a few cases. Here is when it makes sense to buy air miles:
Top-up Air Miles
Let’s say you already have 19k air miles by travelling or transferring from credit cards, but you require 1k more miles to redeem these miles. And you don’t foresee any miles-earning opportunities shortly.
Then buying air miles can be helpful as instead of paying cash for the ticket, you pay through air miles.
Usually, as a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t top-up for more than 30% of total air miles for a flight. That means you need to have at least 70% air miles. Since airlines also provide cash+miles option to pay for tickets which you can explore instead of buying a massive stash of air miles.
For Example, Korean Air, part of SkyTeam Flight from Delhi to Seoul, cost INR 47,508 on 6th June 2023.
You can’t transfer credit card points to Korean Air, but you can use Air France Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic to book its flights. With Air France Flying Blue 24000 Miles, you can book this flight.
If you buy 24000 Flying Blue miles, you will have to spend $732 (INR 60450), more than the flight cost of INR 47,508.
The Maximum miles that could be worth buying will be 8000 miles since you would still be able to get more than INR 1 value per flying blue mile. So, topping up or miles is better than just buying 100% of the miles.
Related: Best Credit Cards for International Spends
Business Class & First Class Tickets
Buying air miles for economy class would rarely make sense. But for business class & first-class travel, buying air miles does make sense.
For Example, Korean Air Delhi to Seoul in Business Class costs INR 105,500 for a flight on 6th June.
I could not find the Availability of a Business Class Ticket on Air France, so I moved to Virgin Atlantic. You can book this business class ticket for 40000 Virgin Atlantic Point.
To buy Virgin Atlantic Points, you must pay £15 (INR 1500) for every 1000 points and £15 (INR 1500) for every purchase transaction. You must pay INR 61,500 to buy 40000 Virgin Atlantic Points and another INR 1500 as a surcharge. By Paying INR 61,500, you’ll be able to save INR 44000.
As a rule of thumb, the higher you go to cabin class, the better value of air miles you get.
During Bonus Miles Offer
Buying air miles during the promotional bonus miles can reduce the cost per mile. You can use these promotions not only for buying a massive stash of air miles but also for topping up your air miles.
From time to time, airlines open miles offers during which you can get more miles than usual or get the same miles at a discount.
- Buy Aeroplan Points Offer
- Buy Avianca Life Miles Offer
- Alaska Airlines Buy Miles Offer
- Flying Blue Buy Miles Offer
- Virgin Atlantic Buy Points Offer
Sweet Spot with Fixed Award Air Miles
Most airlines have moved to dynamic miles pricing. Such dynamic pricing can change the value of air miles you just bought.
In the case of airlines with fixed award charts, the number of air miles will not change. So, buying air miles may prove to be worth it.
For Example, you can use 30000 Turkish Air Miles for travel between Delhi & Europe in Business Class with Promo Rewards. For Every 1000 Turkish Air Miles, you need to pay USD 30 (INR 2500).
So, for 30000 air miles, you will have to spend INR 75000. The same flight may cost anything near INR 1.5 Lac. But Turkish Airlines charges high fuel surcharge.
That means you can get more value from your bought miles with these sweet spots if you can find reward availability.
Low Carrier Imposed Charges
Airlines that charge huge Carrier Imposed Charges (YQ) on reward seats will decrease the value of your air miles. Simultaneously, you must bear another huge cost of paying carrier-imposed charges.
So buying air miles from airlines with low or reasonable carrier-imposed charges will save you a ton of money. For Example, you must bear huge carrier-imposed charges along with the Flying Blue Miles for Air France or KLM flights. But using the same miles for Korean Air, you will have to bear low carrier-imposed charges. So, you must know whether you’ll be paying high carrier-imposed charges.
Related: Ultimate Guide to Airline Fuel Surcharge on Award Tickets
When Fare is Higher than Usual
There could be times when the flight ticket cost is beyond normal. You can use Google flight to determine whether the ticket cost is low, usual or high.
And, if you must travel on the dates, buying air miles can make sense.
You probably will be able to save on such a high cost. But, reward availability may be issued during peak demand.
Companion Reward Ticket
Most airlines give a reward ticket for lesser miles while you’re travelling on a paid ticket in First Class or Business Class. Such reward tickets are usually at a good discount to the standard Miles requirement.
If you book a round-trip business class ticket to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, you can book a round-trip companion reward ticket.
The 8th Jun to 12th Jun round trip ticket in business on Cathay Pacific costs INR 123093.
So, two tickets for this will cost INR 246186. But since you have bought a business class ticket, you can use the companion award to book a flight instead of paying INR 123093.
From Delhi to Hong Kong, it is 2332 miles. You must have 38000 Asia Miles for these many miles to book a round-trip companion award.
For 38000 Asia Miles, you can transfer using Amex (but at 2:1). For Asia Miles, you can only buy a maximum of 30% miles, which is a top-up. It costs USD 60 (INR 5000) for every 2000 Asia Miles. That means you must pay INR 20K for 8000 Asia Miles. It isn’t a bad deal, though.
To Extend Miles Validity
Some airlines’ air miles expiry is based on the last air mile earning or spending dates. And buying a smaller number of air miles so that the huge number of air miles you already have can be used beyond the usual expiry period.
For Example, Avianca, a star alliance member and HDFC Transfer partner, air miles expire within 12 months. But you can extend the validity of these expiring air miles by another 12 months with a small purchase of air miles.
When it doesn’t make sense to buy air mile
Usually, it doesn’t make sense to buy air miles. However, the above, it may make sense. But in the below situation, it never makes sense to buy air mile.
No Future Travel Plan
It won’t make sense to buy air miles unless you’re sure of your travel plan. Since if your travel plan goes for a toss, you’ll probably sit on air miles for which you’ll probably not have an alternative use.
No Award Availability
Sometimes you may find reward availability, but only a few may be bookable. So, buying air miles in cases where you don’t know how good award availability is on your preferred flight, you’ll probably sit with air miles at your home rather than the seat on a flight.
Air Mile Credit Time
Last week on Twitter, someone asked the airline to expedite the credit of bought air miles. The airline replied that such a process couldn’t be expedited and took the usual time.
So, whenever you’re buying air miles, you must know how long it takes to get credited to your account. Usually, air miles are credited within 24 hours, and bonus miles may take some time. And, if you’re buying miles under a bonus mile promotion, you need to know how much bonus miles take to get credited. So you can plan your travel well.
You may be left in a situation with no solution, and air mile may not have immediate use after receipt.
High Carrier Imposed Charges
Buying air miles from airlines with high carrier-imposed charges would make sense when you can get great value from the purchased mile. It is because the value of your miles reduces as you’ll pay more to get a reward ticket.
As we covered earlier, Flying Blue Charges huge carriers imposed charges on Air France or KLM flights, so you would not want to buy air miles by using flying blue miles on these airlines.
When you don’t know the math of buying Air Miles
Although buying air miles takes just a few minutes buying without getting into details may not be good. That means you must know a few things before buying air miles. How much does the typical flight cost, and how many miles will it cost? And also other costs, such as carrier-imposed charges.
When You’re New to Air Miles
Buying air miles as the first step may not be good for a newbie to the Air Miles game. As there are many things which drive air miles. It would be better for a newbie to accrue air miles, use them, and get a bit used to Air Miles.
Bottomline
Buying Air Miles is easy, but there are many things to make good use of air miles. So, it mostly doesn’t make sense to buy air miles, but it can be worth it in a few cases. If bought without any foreseen travel, it probably is not a good decision. It takes time to get used to the Air Mile game and make the most of it. That’s probably a better time to load up the air miles, but not always.
