How to Sell Airline Miles for Cash

A miles broker buys the use of your miles and books flights for their own customers with them. You keep your account and your login; the broker arranges bookings through you and pays you for the miles used.

With Points Plug the process has four steps:

• Get a quote. Enter your program and balance in the quote form and you see an offer and a price per mile immediately, before giving up anything.
• Accept the offer. Our team reaches out to confirm details and explain how the booking will be handled.
• The booking is made. We book last-minute airfare for pre-qualified travellers using your miles. Most balances are used in one or two bookings rather than many small ones.
• Get paid. Payment goes out through the method you choose, typically within 24-48 hours of the booking.

You never pay anything. The quote is free, and the offer you accept is the amount you receive.

Cash offers are quoted in cents per mile and depend on two things: the program and the size of your balance.

Program matters because some currencies are in higher demand. Miles that book premium cabins on strong partners, such as Alaska Mileage Plan, KrisFlyer or Lufthansa Miles & More, tend to fetch more than programs with weaker award charts or dynamic pricing.

Balance matters because larger amounts are easier to use in a single booking. Points Plug pays higher tiers at 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000 miles, so someone selling 500,000 miles receives a better per-mile rate than someone selling 60,000.

For a sense of scale, our guide to what miles are worth walks through typical redemption values program by program. The fastest way to know your exact number is the quote form, which shows the offer and the price per mile for your balance.

• A balance of at least 50,000 miles in one airline program (100,000 for credit card points).
• An account in good standing that you control.
• A phone number and email so the team can reach you to arrange the booking.
• A payment method for receiving funds.

Most airline programs state in their terms that miles may not be sold or bartered, and airlines do occasionally audit accounts with unusual activity. That is the main risk of selling miles, and it is why the process matters more than the price.

Points Plug reduces that risk by booking a small number of last-minute tickets for pre-qualified, existing customers rather than churning through many bookings, and by walking you through each step so nothing about the booking looks out of place. It is still worth reading your program's terms so you understand the policy you are working within.

Two practical checks before accepting any offer, from any buyer:

• You should never be asked to pay a fee, deposit or "verification" charge to sell miles. A legitimate buyer pays you.
• The offer should be shown before you hand over any account details. If a buyer will only quote after they have your login, walk away.

Selling is not always the best option. If you fly often, can book far in advance, and are happy in economy, redeeming miles for flights can beat any cash offer. Selling makes sense when one or more of these is true:

• Your balance is larger than you can use in the next year or two.
• Your miles are in a program you no longer fly with, or one whose award prices have risen.
• Your miles are approaching expiry.
• You would rather have cash now than a future flight.

If you are not sure, get a quote. It takes a minute and commits you to nothing, and the price per mile is an easy number to compare against what you would realistically get from a flight.