Is it ever worth it to buy Delta Miles? It seems like Delta is always offering a bonus for buying miles. Usually 50%-100%, but now until March 31st 2012 Delta is offering a 75% bonus. So is it worth it? In my opinion… not at all. With the many ways of earning free miles now-a-days, its hard to pay 3.5 cents per mile plus a 7.5% tax.
If you purchased 60,000 SkyMiles it would cost you $2,257, making the cost of each mile 2.2 cents. Essentially you are buying plane tickets right now to use at a future date, unless of course you are a few thousand miles away from an award ticket. With 105,000 miles you could get 4 basic Delta tickets. I checked flights from Seattle (SEA) to Orlando (MCO), to find the cheapest flights. I could get 4 tickets at $507.20 or 25,000 miles each, a total cost of $2028.80. If I were to just buy miles for a plane ticket, I would be wasting my time and money.
Delta has offered a 100% bonus, making each mile cost just 1.1 cents. If you are needing a few miles then this deal might be good for you. But for me I’ll definitely be holding off. I usually never buy miles unless if the bonus falls in my favor, which is hardly ever. I prefer to get free miles from credit card sign up or point transfer bonuses.
Look at current prices of flights you are interested in and figure out if buying these miles gets you a better price. In my searching, Ive never found a fare that would make buying bonus miles at 3.5 cents each, worth it.
