I recently wrote about the rules surrounding selling airline miles. Generally speaking, it violates the terms of airline frequent flyer programs to buy & sell miles, but it’s not illegal.
Along similar lines, I think it’s worth discussing airline mileage brokers, which is a pretty big underground industry. I get questions from readers all of the time about whether it’s safe to do business with these companies, given how much they advertise online.
Often the way that mileage brokers market isn’t particularly straightforward or transparent. Some market themselves as offering discounted business & first class tickets, when in reality they’re just redeeming miles for your tickets. Others will outright sell you miles in your choice of accounts.
I should mention that this is different than some first & business class airfare consolidators. There are some legitimate companies that have access to discounted premium cabin tickets that don’t involve the shady business of buying and selling miles.
In this post:
A fascinating look at the world of mileage brokers
Back in 2016, The Milelion published a fascinating post about the world of online mileage brokers. For this, he posed as someone who was looking to buy miles, and contacted five different companies. His goal was to see how they do business, how transparent they are, etc. Not surprisingly, the experiences varied by company.
Reading the correspondence is fascinating, so if you have time I’d recommend taking a look at that story. For example, one of the brokers claimed to have access to more than 500 Singapore KrisFlyer accounts. Wow!
My take on mileage brokers
Let me start by saying that personally I wouldn’t do business with mileage brokers (and for that matter I’ve never done business with a mileage broker). Buying airline miles from someone violates the terms & conditions of frequent flyer programs, and you could potentially find yourself in a bad situation if things don’t go as you’re hoping.
A couple of things to note about mileage brokers:
- In general I think most mileage brokers are running “legitimate” businesses, in the sense that they intend to deliver on what they’re promising, and they’re not looking to rip you off; however, if things go south, I doubt you’ll hear from a mileage broker who you already paid
- Using mileage brokers is extremely risky, and you could have your tickets canceled and frequent flyer accounts closed, as airline auditing departments are getting increasingly aggressive and savvy about audits, and know exactly what to look for
How do mileage brokers do it?
The above are the basics of how it works from the customer’s perspective, but how do the brokers actually get the miles? There are several different methods, and they vary based on whether the broker transfers actual points to you, or whether they book a ticket out of an account for you (the latter is much more common nowadays):
- Some will buy accounts with a lot of miles in them from consumers, and then resell them in the form of promising specific tickets; in this case they’re typically just redeeming miles out of those acquired accounts
- It’s my understanding that in some circles mileage brokers go door-to-door, have people apply for credit cards, pay them a fixed amount for the miles, and then fully manage their accounts
- Some use transferable points currencies, though many of the major currencies have added restrictions when it comes to points transfers, specifically in order to avoid this kind of activity
- Some will just buy miles at a discount when they’re on sale, and then resell them at a profit in the form of promising a specific type of ticket
Like I said, I recommend steering clear of all of these. The reality is that if you’re maximizing credit cards and taking advantage of buying miles when there are promotions, you should have some fantastic premium travel opportunities for pennies on the dollar.
Bottom line
Personally I don’t recommend using mileage brokers, though given the number of questions I get about this, I figure it’s worth a post. If you want to earn lots of miles without actually flying, I recommend buying miles directly from loyalty programs when they’re on sale, as that can be a great way to score a premium cabin ticket at a discount.
While buying miles from brokers typically isn’t illegal, it comes with lots of risks, and also violates the terms of loyalty programs.
Have any OMAAT readers ever purchased miles from a broker? If so, what was your experience like?
Who exactly are these brokers. Are they a company or person. While I would never buy miles from anyone other than the airline directly it would help to know the exact details of these so called brokers? Apart from what they do the article does not specify who they are?
So, Ben, how do you earn miles?
There is a travel advisor that I follow that brags they work with a company that sells discounted business class tickets. She uses them for her personal flights (once to Bali for 2 people and then once to Australia for 8 people after Christmas) and her clients have access as well. This can only be a mileage broker, right? How else could a company offer discounted tickets?
An Indonesian content creator got jailed in Singapore for buying stolen miles/accounts from a broker and using them.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/man-krisflyer-compromised-accounts-bought-food-jail-5280226
"I know you warned me not to use mileage brokers but we did it anyway and now we're in big trouble with the airline" is a conversation we have far too often with AwardCat clients.
When airlines find out (not if, but when) here are some of the things they do to you:
- Intentionally strand you in a connecting city, far from home
- Close your frequent flier account with the airline
"I know you warned me not to use mileage brokers but we did it anyway and now we're in big trouble with the airline" is a conversation we have far too often with AwardCat clients.
When airlines find out (not if, but when) here are some of the things they do to you:
- Intentionally strand you in a connecting city, far from home
- Close your frequent flier account with the airline
- Confiscate all of your miles with the airline
- Notify card issuers of any affiliated credit cards that you have violated the terms and conditions of their program, which can result in your credit card accounts being shut down
- You can sometimes even be banned from flying with the airline
Why do airlines react this way? Here's a reason that Ben didn't touch on: Airlines *sell miles for cash* and they do not want competition from other businesses for their own product. Mess with airline revenues, and they're going to mess with you.
So, here's the key takeaway: You can buy miles safely, without involving brokers at all. Just buy miles directly from the airline! Often you can buy them on sale for less than mileage brokers sell them for (there were two recent opportunities to buy Alaska Airlines miles well below market by taking advantage of a Hawaiian Airlines points sale). We have assisted many clients in purchasing points directly from airlines, and then booking excellent, high-value itineraries with these miles. If you do this, you'll be totally in the clear.
Normally your posts get like 40 replies in 5 minutes. These two regarding buying/selling/brokering miles have got 4 and 6 after many hours. I don't think that's a reflection on your writing skills, but rather, it demonstrates that people are sick to death of how corporations treat humans. Corporations can continue to be as cutthroat and anti consumer as possible while we can or wont do anything to stop them. The reason people are silent...
Normally your posts get like 40 replies in 5 minutes. These two regarding buying/selling/brokering miles have got 4 and 6 after many hours. I don't think that's a reflection on your writing skills, but rather, it demonstrates that people are sick to death of how corporations treat humans. Corporations can continue to be as cutthroat and anti consumer as possible while we can or wont do anything to stop them. The reason people are silent here is because it's becoming a bigger and bigger problem. It doesn't matter that there are 2 or 3 choices in each industry, because they are all owned by the same insitutional investors and all of them have silently coluded to let service standards drop to amost comical (but more tear-inducing) levels. At this point it seems unstoppable and everyone is in quiet denial that this is our new reality. I think your blog is one of the last places someone can express a view like the one I just expressed without being censored, and tbh I wonder how long the powers that be will let such a popular and frequented blog be as free to comment as we are here. I don't think you know how much power you yield just by being one of the last holdouts of industry buy-out. I love you for that.
The activities of mileage brokers harm legitimate consumers who are vying to redeem their own miles, so I'm not sure cracking down on them is an example of evil, anti-consumer corporate behavior. Furthermore, the idea that some nameless, faceless corporate entity is trying to censor your beliefs in this comment section is such a needless self-victimization.
I think the stuff you're doing is too strong for you and makes you delusional.
I find it so amazing when people make complaints like this - as if they’re not familiar with corporate history at all. Have you gotten a visit from the Pinkertons and some shotgun toting thugs recently as was common for decades in American history?
The idea that insitutional investors control corporations is patently ridiculous. Theyre index funds and there are more activist funds than ever that invest alongside them. Elliott mgmt is even going after airlines today.
Is this a joke?
Interesting. Thanks for this! I have always wondered how this works. Several friends have shared too-good-to-be-true deals with me, which I suggested they pass on. Figured it had to be something like this.
The disconnect we often see between the pictures posted and the text accompanying each picture can be hilarious sometimes.
I am curious regarding the purpose of all these enticing pictures in the article :)
:D