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1. 40% Discount on United Miles. Via The Points Guy, United is selling miles at a 40% discount up to 11:59 pm CST today.
This still works out to ~2.23 cents per mile which is still more than what I’d pay for United miles.
However, this does make sense if you need a few thousand miles to top-off your account for an award.
You can also buy up to 5,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for 2.5 cents each per month and then convert them to United Miles at a 1:1 ratio.
If you do decide to buy United miles, keep in mind that United is one of the few airlines which actually sell you the points directly and not through a third-party like Points.com.
Why does this matter?
Because you can get double Ultimate Rewards points if you use your Chase Sapphire Preferred (which can then be transferred to United or other partners!) or triple points if you use your American Express Premier Rewards Gold card. But do the math to see if this makes sense for you.
2. Hilton Points for 0.55 Cents per Point. Today’s Daily Getaway deal is for Hilton Points. The cheapest package is for 100,000 Hilton points for $550 or $495 if you use an American Express card. Hilton points expire 1 year after no activity, but there are cheap and easy ways to generate activity.
The highest category 7 Hilton costs 50,000 points a night, so you could get some value in buying the points since you’ll effectively get some of the most expensive Hilton’s for ~$250 a night. This could make sense in cities with high hotel prices.
At the other end, category 1 Hilton costs 7,500 points a night or about $41 a night (7,500 points X 0.55 cents per point)
However, stocking up on Hilton points makes even more sense if you use an American Express Hilton card because you get access to the discounted AXON awards so a 4 night stay at a top category 7 Hilton will cost only 145,000 Hilton points instead of the regular 200,000 points (4 X 50,000 points per night).
As always, do the math before buying the points. Here’s a link to the Hilton award chart and here’s a link to the badly designed list of Hilton hotels from category 1 to 7.
Bottom Line: By positioning a deal as “limited time only” or “today only,” marketeers are hoping to get folks to make quick decisions which may not be in their best interest. So do the math to see if these deals make sense for you!
Bought 250,000 pts. Planning a trip to Maui. Waldorf Astoria will be great on an Axon or VIP award.
Hi Daraius,
But I assume you would need a Sapphire Preferred to convert your Ultimate Rewards Points into United Miles. Coz I have 5200 UR points with Freedom Card. I have a United Card as well, btw.
Way I see it, Hilton pts might be worth a buy if you’re short on pts since buying from Hilton over anything 10,000 pts is 0.01 per pt. It’s .00495 using your AMEX or .0055 using anything else. In my experience, Hilton doesn’t have too many of the Pay and Pts options for hotels like Priority Club. If you need extra nights, I would definitely jump on this, it’s better than using pts then rebooking for a paid night(s) with Hilton so you don’t get screwed buying their pts.
I don’t have any other planned trips that I need to book for the rest of the year but if I did, I wouldn’t hesistate
how do you buy up to 5,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for 2.5 cents each per month ?
@Steelgal32 – Unfortunately, the AMEX Platinum doesn’t offer 3X points on travel or airfare. You could buy them with a United and hope to get double points as a United purchase.
@Rat – You need a Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card and you can buy the points here –> https://ultimaterewardsshop.chase.com/rewards/partner/purchasePoints.do?dest=
@Grant – I agree! This could make sense if you have trips planned at Hiltons.
Is the amex platinum 3x points? I dont have the sapphire or the gold and just wonder which card to use?