Offer ended October 21, 2026. Checked Oct 19 on our own account: Alaska's buy-points bonus ends Oct 19. Five flights where bought points beat the cash fare,
By Vamsi, RewardsGuru.club. Published October 19, 2026.
This offer ended on October 21, 2026. Both sales in this roundup have ended: Alaska's buy-points bonus on October 19 and LifeMiles' on October 20, 2026. The flight math still works for any future sale: multiply the award's points by the sale's price per point and compare with the cash fare for the same flight.
Checked October 19, 2026, signed in to our own Atmos Rewards and LifeMiles accounts, and on alaskaair.com's award search: one way, one adult, prices exactly as the search showed them. Cash fares include taxes and fees. Figures are as of October 19, 2026.
We value Atmos Rewards points at 1.55 cents each. Alaska's buy-points sale sells them to our account at 1.75 cents, before tax. On that math alone, buying points is paying about 13% more than they're worth, and most people stop there.
One flight says otherwise. Aer Lingus's nonstop from New York to Dublin on February 10, 2027 prices at 22,500 Atmos points plus $26. Bought at 1.75 cents, those points cost $393.75, so the ticket comes to $419.75. The same seat costs $635 in cash on the same search, and the points end up worth 2.7 cents each.
TL;DR
Alaska's buy-points page, signed in to our account this morning: "Earn up to 100% bonus points. Buy Atmos™ Rewards points and get a bonus toward the world's classic destinations. Ends Oct. 19." The tiers on the page: 80% bonus at 5,000+ points, 90% at 15,000+, and 100% at 30,000+.
Our checkout showed 48,000 points plus 48,000 bonus points, 96,000 in total, for $1,680.00. That's 3.5 cents a point at the base price and 1.75 cents with the bonus. The page adds that "applicable taxes and fees will be calculated at checkout," so the final cost per point lands a little above 1.75 cents. Alaska can show different members different offers, so the tiers on your page are the ones that count.
We searched each route for Wednesday, February 10, 2027, once with Points and once with Money, and compared the same flight. The third column is what the award's points cost at 1.75 cents, plus the taxes and fees the award shows.
| Route and flight | Award price | Bought points + award taxes | Cash fare, same flight |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York (JFK) to Dublin, Aer Lingus EI 104 nonstop, Main | 22,500 points + $26 | $419.75 | $635 |
| Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda, American AA 27 nonstop, Main | 37,500 points + $26 | $682.25 | $891 |
| Seattle to Paris, Alaska's 787 to London then British Airways, Main | 35,000 points + $47 | $659.50 | $860 |
| Los Angeles to Honolulu, Alaska AS 803 nonstop, First (lie-flat) | 40,000 points + $6 | $706.00 | $910 |
| Los Angeles to Honolulu, Alaska AS 801 nonstop, Main | 12,500 points + $6 | $224.75 | $289 |
Worked out per point, the five flights return 2.26 to 2.71 cents for every point, against the 1.75 cents the sale charges.
Three things the table doesn't show:
The five flights above are economy, at 2.3 to 2.7 cents a point. Business class is where the gap gets wide. On the same February 10 search, Alaska priced New York to Madrid in business at 55,000 points plus $26: American's two-hour flight to Charlotte on a 737, then American's eight-hour flight to Madrid on a 777, which Alaska's flight details list with "Lie-flat Seat Business." Alaska marks it a "mixed itinerary," because the short first leg isn't in business.
At 1.75 cents, 55,000 points cost $962.50, so the seat comes to $988.50. The cheapest business fare from New York to Madrid that day on Google Flights was $2,874, and American's own nonstop was $3,159. Against $2,874, the points work out to 5.2 cents each, about double the economy flights. There were six seats left at that price when we looked.
Two things to know before buying for a seat like this:
Alaska holds Atmos Members Day "on the first Wednesday of every month," in its own words, and cuts award prices to a short list of cities. The next one is Wednesday, November 4. October's edition priced one-way awards from Seoul at 20,000 points, Paris, Helsinki and Munich at 25,000, and Sapporo and Stavanger at 30,000, for travel January 15 to March 8, 2027.
At 1.75 cents, those prices come to $350 for Seoul, $437.50 for Paris and $525 for Sapporo, before taxes. With the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite's Global Companion Award, which takes up to 25,000 points off a companion's seat, October's sale put two people from Seattle to Paris for 25,000 points plus $52. That's $437.50 of bought points for two seats.
The catch is the timing. This sale ends tonight, and Alaska names each Members Day's cities on the day itself, so on October 19 nobody knows November's list. Points bought today are a bet that November's cities will include one you'd fly to.
LifeMiles' checkout, signed in to our account this morning: 50,000 miles to buy, 67,500 bonus miles, 117,500 in total, for a payment total of US$1,650.00. That's a 135% bonus, 3.3 cents a mile at the base price, and 1.40 cents a mile with the bonus. The payment summary showed no tax line.
At 100,000 miles the bonus steps up: the same checkout showed 100,000 miles to buy, 145,000 bonus miles, 245,000 in total, for US$3,300.00. That's a 145% bonus and 1.35 cents a mile. We value LifeMiles at 1.6 cents, so both tiers sit under our valuation before you book anything.
LifeMiles' terms for the sale, from the offer LifeMiles emailed us:
If the email isn't in your inbox, check your LifeMiles account before assuming you have the offer. We couldn't load LifeMiles' award search to price flights today, so there's no LifeMiles table here. Price the award you want at lifemiles.com before you buy the miles.
This is educational content, not financial advice. Program terms change often, so check the current terms on each program's site before you rely on them.