Have you ever been a few points shy of booking your dream flight or scoring a free hotel night, or nabbing a reward you’ve been eyeing off? Well, good news — virtually all loyalty programs let you buy points to top up your balance to get there faster. You can unlock the rewards you want, without waiting months to earn them through everyday spending.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to buy points in your favourite loyalty program, when it’s worth it, and how to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
How to buy Qantas points
The only legit way of buying Qantas Points is via Qantas itself. Their points are arguably a currency of their own in Australia and wildly different values are attached to points, depending on what you're buying or redeeming them for.
Best value for Qantas Points remains for flights at the pointy end of the plane and buying toasters is among the worst value redemptions.
If you want to buy Qantas Points, simply head to their Top-Up page and you can purchase from 1,000 to 150,000 Qantas Points in one go. You can do this 4 times per year.
A word of warning – Qantas points are extremely expensive to purchase, so do all you can to earn the points instead.
You can also read our Join Qantas Frequent Flyer for free guide here.
TIP: Avoid the Service Centre as the fees will rapidly erode points value and seek alternative ways to purchasing points.
How to buy Velocity points
Velocity Points can also be bought directly within the Velocity Frequent Flyer program via Points Booster.
You can purchase anywhere from 1,000 to 250,000 Velocity Points per calendar year.
Points start at pricing of 3.6 cents for 1,000 points and decrease in cost to 2.34 cents for 100,000 points. Even though you can buy up to 250,000, be aware that the points don't discount beyond the 100,000 mark, and remain at 2.34 cents (which is still very expensive).
You can also read our Velocity Frequent Flyer guide here.
TIP: Purchase points at least 72 hours to give them time to land in your account before use.
How to buy Hilton points
Buying Hilton Honors points can save you a serious amount of money if you're planning a lengthy overseas trip, but there are several catches.
You can buy up to 160,000 points in US dollars. Typically points are 1 cent per point but occasionally there can be 50% discounts which create huge value.
You can also read our Hilton Honors guide here.
TIP: Ensure you have activity in your account within the last 90 days or your won't be able to buy points.
How to buy IHG points
Just like Hilton, you can buy IHG points for USD$0.01 per point. Up to 150,000 can be bought per calendar year. And discounts are sometimes available adding serious value if you know what you're going to do with your purchased points.
You can also read our IHG Brand Guide here.
TIP: Points may take 24-48 hours to drop into your account.
How to buy Accor points
Sorry, you can't buy Accor Rewards points.
You can read our Accor+ membership guide here.
How to buy Marriott points
You can purchase up to 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points annually.
It costs $12.50 per 1,000 points ($0.0125 cents USD per point). You can expect that redemptions will realise less than this value, so waiting for a discounted offer is advised.
For your first purchase, you'll have to wait 90 days from opening of your free Marriott Bonvoy account, or trigger some activity such as a stay to reduce the wait time to 30 days.
You can also read our Marriott Bonvoy guide here.
TIP: Points may take up to a week to drop into your account.
How to buy Hyatt points
Hyatt Bonus Points can be purchased from 2,000 points up to 55,000 points per calendar year. Bonus Points are purchased in increments of 1,000.
Some exceptions on the World of Hyatt program volumes and price discounts may occur as part of promotions, but generally you can expect to pay USD$0.026 cents per point.
TIP: Hold out for a special offer if you can.
How to buy Choice points
Choice Privileges lets you buy 120,000 points in a calendar year. Purchases occur in 1,000 point blocks and you can expect to pay approximately USD$0.0128 per point.
Significant deals and promotions of up to 45% have occurred in the last year with up to 180,000 points on offer at USD$0.0057 cents per dollar (.57 cents).
Did you know that Choice Privileges allows you to convert their points to Qantas and Velocity points. You might just find a sweetspot!
TIP: Careful – you can only buy points for a stay up to 100 nights out.
Buy points in your favourite Airline loyalty program
Many airline programs have some way you can buy points:
Conclusion
Buying points can seem like a good idea, but often you may unwittingly pay over the odds for the privilege.
Only buy points if you fall just short of a goal or if a discounted offer is too good to resist. Treat buying points as an alternative way to top up your points for a specific hotel or flight, not as a general way of collecting them.
