How to Buy and Sell Airline Miles

By Amy Lu. Last updated 13 December 2016. 17 comments

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Most airlines these days have frequent flyer programs where you can use your accumulated miles to redeem rewards, often in the form of flight tickets. (See also: The Cheapest Way to Fly to Europe)

It's great when you earn enough miles to pay for free trips, but you don't necessarily have to wait for your miles to build up before you reap the fruits of your miles. You can also buy, sell, and transfer frequent flyer miles to get a deal you want.

How to Buy Miles

You can purchase miles directly from an airline by visiting their rewards program page. (For American Airlines, it's AAdvantage; for Delta, it's Sky Miles; British Airways has the Executive Club, and so on.) Simply hit the "Buy Miles" link, and they'll walk you through the process.

The cost of miles varies from airline to airline. For example, Delta's miles cost 3.5 cents per mile, while American Airlines sell theirs for 2.5 to 2.75 cents per mile. Generally, buying miles only makes sense when you're just shy of a goal and you buy only enough miles to reach it. You don't want the value of your purchased miles to exceed the value of the ticket.

Another way to buy miles is through coupon broker sites. Now, buying and selling through a broker violates the policy of most airlines, but it's not illegal (except in the state of Utah). However, if you're caught, the airline may confiscate your ticket, cancel your reservation, and wipe out the accumulated miles in your (and the seller's) frequent flyer account.

If you're willing to take the risk, start by visiting the website of a coupon broker. The broker acts as the middleman between you and the seller. The broker will ask for your contact information, your preferred travel dates, service class (such as business or first), airline, and the price you're willing to pay per mile. Once the broker matches you with a seller, and all parties agree to the terms, the broker will ask you for your rewards account number. When the broker receives your payment, the seller will transfer the miles to your frequent flyer account.

If all goes well, any purchase (or sale) through a coupon broker should look like a simple transfer from the airline's point of view. 

How to Sell Miles

It's great when you can get a free trip out of your miles…but what do you do when you don't want your reward? Even if you don't want your points, someone else might.

Airlines don't like it when their customers sell miles, so if you want to convert your miles to cash, we're back in violates-policy-but-not-illegal-except-in-Utah territory.

If you want to sell your miles through a coupon broker, you first need to provide your contact information. The broker will also ask for the number of miles you want to sell (most require a minimum amount), the name of the airline, the expiration dates, and your asking price per mile. When they find a buyer, you'll transfer your miles to the buyer's account. You receive payment when the transaction is complete.

You can cut out the middleman by selling directly to your friends or family. It works just like a transfer, except that you'll receive money, gifts, or free labor for the miles. This method may not flag the airline's attention, but there are other risks involved — especially if the buyer can't find seats for the trip they want. (See also: How to Score a Frequent Flyer Rewards Flight)

How to Transfer Miles

Airlines allow you to give your miles to family, friends, and even charities, provided that the recipient also has an account with the airline. Simply click on the "Transfer Miles" link on the airline's rewards program page and enter your account information, the recipient's information, and the number of miles you want to transfer.

Even though you're freely sharing miles that you have already earned, don't assume that sharing the miles is free. As with buying miles, airlines charge a processing fee for transfers.

Other Ways to Use Your Miles

In order to compete with other reward programs, airlines have had to make their frequent flyer miles more flexible. Nowadays, if you don't want to use your miles on a plane ticket, you can apply them to another part of your trip. Airlines will allow you to redeem rewards for hotel accommodations, rental cars, vacation packages, Broadway show tickets, gift cards, and more. (See also: How to Save on Travel Accommodations)

To redeem these other rewards, you may need to go through Points.com. This website allows you to manage and exchange your reward points between their partnered programs. Their partners include several large airlines, such as Delta, JetBlue, Korean Air, and American Airlines. They're also partnered with Best Buy, Hilton, CVS, Wells Fargo, Swagbucks, and other retailers. While the site is free to join, transaction or processing fees still apply and will vary. Some airlines may also restrict how you can use the miles in their program.

The exchange rate on Points.com may also be an issue. You won't find a 1:1 exchange here; a good chunk (if not most) of the value of your miles will be lost, guaranteed. Then again, sitting on miles that you won't ever use doesn't help much, either. It can be worth your while to make an exchange if there's a reward that you want and can use.

Maximizing Miles Through Credit Cards

One of the best ways to earn and maximize miles is through travel rewards credit cards. These cards typically offer new cardholders sign-up bonuses of 30,000 miles and more, depending on the card issuer and the current bonus offer. Although you usually need to meet a specific spending requirement to earn these bonuses, they can be worth hundreds of dollars in airfare or cash if you decide to sell or transfer them. In any event, if you already plan on making a large purchase, it's worth making sure you get the best sign-up bonus available

In addition, travel rewards credit cards allow you to earn more miles when you use your card for certain types of purchases. For example, co-branded travel credit cards offer double or more miles for each dollar spent with a particular airline or hotel property, with all other purchases earning, at least, one mile for each dollar you spend. There are also travel rewards credit cards which award bonus miles for everyday purchases like gas, groceries, and dining out, which can end up being an easy way to rack up extra miles just for buying the items you would buy on a regular basis anyway. 

Final Tips on Buying and Selling Airline Miles

  • No matter what you do, there will be a processing fee. The fee varies from airline to airline and depends on the type of transaction (buy or transfer), as well as the number of miles involved. Remember to factor in the processing fee (and taxes) when you calculate the costs.
     
  • Most airlines set caps on the number of miles you can buy, receive, and transfer per year, per account. Check the terms and conditions of your rewards program to make sure you don't exceed the limit.
     
  • As with most electronic transactions, there's a delay before you see the purchase or transfer (or sale-transfer) reflected in your account. It can take 1-3 days to process a transaction, so plan any last-minute trips accordingly.
     
  • Most transactions involving frequent flyer miles are non-refundable.

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Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Guest's picture

I shared my US Airlines miles with my colleague last year. hey charged $30 fee for doing it. Actually if transfer had been free it would have become a big industry for people tyring to get cheap tickets.

Already majority of the airlines are barely surviving.

Guest's picture

Continental is ending the OnePass Program 12/31/2011 and replacing it with the Mileage Plus Program. They are also ending participation with American Express. I'm curious to see what other changes will be made.

Guest's picture
Donna Kramer

I sold my Delta Skymiles through this site flipmymiles.com - I was kind of skeptical because they sent me a form requesting my account information but I took a leap of faith and gave it to them :/ Within 5 minutes of filling out the form, they sent me a $3,000 paypal payment for my miles! I highly recommend this company... very quick turn around.. My salesperson was Seth

Guest's picture
Guest

How many miles were sold for $3000.00?

Guest's picture
Chris D

I like the way you mention getting a FREE Trip. American Airlines wanted $685 in fees and taxes (no explanation of what they were) + a ticketing fee of $50 for a RT to Europe with the FULL amount of miles required (50000) ...
FREE?
I had to stop my reservation and am still trying to get them to explain the fees...
They also have almost no seats out of season 9 months ahead...

Guest's picture
Juda

I followed Donna's lead and sold my amex points with flipmymiles. fast turnaround. highly recommended. i read about all these cash for miles places being a scam so I'm just happy i got my money. highly recommended. my salesperson was Eli.

Guest's picture
Andrey

You can buy air miles from other people, for this you can use a marketplace like this: http://tripmakler.com/miles/

Guest's picture
Guest

Thanks for your tips. I have actually sold my miles to www.sellmymilesnow.com and had a great experience.

Guest's picture
Ted

Great article! Very informative. I searched google for company that would buy my miles and I found cashformymiles.com. Very pleased with their speed , efficiency and overall customer service. Of course the fact that they were paying almost 20% more than the other sites didnt hurt.
Tell them Ted Wheeler sent you so I can get a referral bonus too ;)

Guest's picture
Craig

I couldn't agree more! I shopped around and found themilesbroker.com to have paid more than any company and actually pays BEFORE transferring the points over.

Guest's picture
yzyx21

need some jetBlue points, want to take my family on vacation and i need some points.

Guest's picture
Rudy Feldt

I've checked around and found sellmymiles. sold over 200k amex points. The guys there are great and would recommend to anyone looking to sell their miles.

Guest's picture
joe imbriazzi

I sold my points to cashformymiles.com. Got paid within a few minutes. Very pleased with the speed and transparency they operate with. Will recommend to all.
JI

Guest's picture
lori

Wonderful article. I decided to take my chances and sell my miles as we had over 2 million accrued from over the years. I found Cashformymiles and was extremely pleased and surprised how simple easy and efficient they were. For some reason I was under the impression that this was a shady and unprofessional business. Definitely was not the case with them .
Thanks!

Guest's picture
homer

Had a great experience selling my miles to cashformymiles.com. i spent over 20 years accruing these and the opportunity to use them was far and few in between . I was able to get a nice chunk of change from these folks. Transaction was simple and the professionalism exhibited was top notch. Their service was immensely appreciated.

Guest's picture
Anna Galloway

I tried a few of the companies above but it seems that the comments are a bit outdated because milesbuyer.com offered me much higher payouts. Sold them my Delta miles and american express points and they paid me after just seeing a screenshot. Highly recommended and i'm happy I found this article.

Guest's picture
Bryan

I have sold miles before, but some of the companies who do this I have had horrible experiences with. One of them is MilesMoola.com. I submitted for a quote, and honestly they provided the best price for my Southwest miles. After confirming that I would accept the quote and providing my secure airline account info, I never heard from them. I called them the next day, and the gentlemen on the phone was very rude and basically said he would get back to me tomorrow. Several days went by and still no word (all they while they are sitting on my account info), and after following up with an email asking if they are going to proceed, I get a reply within 10 minutes saying "no thanks. Please send elsewhere". Amazing. They could have at least used proper grammar.

In any case, DO NOT USE MilesMoola.com.