5 great miles and points buying opportunities available in May 2023

The world was hit hard by Covid-19, but luckily, things have started picking up, and travel is back strong. As this happens, hotel and flight rates are sky-high, especially in the luxury segment. However, almost all major travel outlets, fortunately, often sell miles and points with bonuses, which could make for a good discount on the rates these airlines and hotels offer.

It would be a great time to update all the hotel miles and points that are up for sale right now so that you can stock up on the right ones for your travels and start planning your travel for the times ahead.

Airline Miles bonus sales


Buy United MileagePlus Miles with up to a 100% Bonus (till May 31, 2023)

United MileagePlus is offering a tiered sale, with up to a 100% bonus on miles bought. You can purchase miles with up to a 100% Bonus on purchased miles, bringing your net cost of miles bought to 1.88 US Cents/ INR 1.55 per mile purchased at the top end. With the assortment of partners in Star Alliance and no fuel surcharges passed through to customers, this is an excellent programme to consider buying miles in. Check out this post for complete details.

a blue and white photo of a beach

Buy United MileagePlus Miles with up to a 100% Bonus.


Buy Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles with up to a 100% Bonus (till June 11, 2023)

KLM/Air France Flying Blue is offering a tiered sale, with up to a 100% bonus on miles bought. You can purchase miles with up to a 100% Bonus on purchased miles, bringing your net cost of miles bought to 1.53 US Cents/ INR 1.27 per mile purchased at the top end. With the assortment of partners in the SkyTeam alliance, this is an excellent programme to consider buying miles in. Here are the details.

a blue text on a white background

Buy Flying Blue Miles with up to a 100% Bonus.


Hotel Points bonus sales

Purchase Marriott Bonvoy points with up to a 50% bonus (till July 2, 2023)

Marriott Bonvoy is offering a promotion where they are offering up to 50% Bonus points as long as you buy a minimum of 2000 points. New accounts have received a 30% Bonus, while old accounts go to a 50% Bonus. The promotion is available through July 2, 2023. Ultimately, each point comes for USD 0.083 or INR 0.69 equivalent.

a man and woman on a quad bike

Marriott usually allows 100,000 points purchases per calendar year. In this case, one can buy a total of 100,000 points for USD 1,250 (INR 1,02,850), making the per-point purchase cost at US Cent 0.83 (INR 0.69).Full post here.

Buy Marriott Bonvoy points (with a 50% Bonus)


Purchase IHG One Rewards points with an 80% bonus (till June 7, 2023)

IHG One Rewards is offering a promotion where they are offering an 80% bonus on  IHG One Rewards points purchased through Friday, June 2, 2023. In this round of points sale, you get your bonus if you buy a minimum of 5,000 points. Points can be purchased in multiples of 1,000 IHG Rewards points so that you can buy a maximum of 250,000 points can be purchased (with another 200,000 points coming in as a bonus). The promotion drops the price of each IHG point to 0.56 US cents or INR 0.46. Check out the full post for details.

a pool with lounge chairs and trees

Buy IHG One Rewards Points with an 80% Bonus (Till June 7, 2023)


Purchase World of Hyatt points with a 25% Discount (till June 2, 2023)

World of Hyatt is offering a promotion where they are offering a 25% discount as long as you buy a minimum of 5,000 points. A maximum of 55,000 points can be purchased annually. Ultimately, each point comes at a price of US Cents 1.8 or INR 1.48 equivalent. Full Details Here.

a white background with blue text

Buy World of Hyatt points (with a 25% Bonus)


Which Credit Card to use to buy miles and points?

Typically, these point purchases are processed through Points.com and not directly by the hotel or airline. However, you will almost always pay in USD/EUR/GBP, not INR. So, the best cards to earn a bonus are Citi Prestige, American Express Platinum Charge Card and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card, as these cards offer an international spending bonus. Beyond these, you might look at any card that provides a reduced foreign exchange spend conversion or one where you want to meet minimum spend requirements.

If you are from India, like many of our audience members, it might be even more critical to buy miles now to escape the 20% TCS limits, which will be counted effective July 1, 2023, in some shape or form.


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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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