Are there any points purchase promotions/programs that allow unlimited purchases?

Frequent Flyer Programs
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Hi all

Its time for our annual holiday planning, previously we took advantage of the Alaska Air miles to do a US round trip on Emirates (thanks to Point Hacks!). Had a good time even though there were some small hiccups with Emirates/ Alaska.

This time round, we are looking to do another US/ Canada trip with a cruise thrown in. Since its in planning stages, we set out a couple of criteria to narrow down the options; (1) originating and returning from Melbourne, (2) trip starts in Aug 2016 and ends early Sep 2016, (3) preference to start East Coast and work our way to West Coast, (4) happy to pay for business class on international legs.

So far, its early days but my thoughts are Melbourne–>either Chicago or Montreal–>either Vancouver or Los Angeles–>Melbourne.

Saw the excellent United 80% promotion (which I am eligible for), however the business class for just outbound will take 175K miles and the maximum allowable for miles purchase per annum is 150K.

The Alaska Air miles was good in a way it allows for unlimited purchase of the miles, which allows for the whole family to travel in business while paying a discounted price.

Can anyone provide good suggestions on ways to achieve objective? Thanks in advance. Ben

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Hey Ben - one alternative is to use multiple accounts to achieve what you’re trying to do. Theres’s nothing to stop you using the promotions on individual accounts for your partner, kids etc - buying miles on each.

Also, be strategic about the annual limits for purchasing and when you purchase - it’s only a couple of months before 2016 hits, so the annual limit will reset really soon for United for example.

The downside is you have to hope the numbers of miles needed for each trip works out when compared to how many are on offer, and you’ll all be travelling on seperate itineraries - which is a headache for small kids, but not for bigger ones or adults where PNRs can be linked. It’s not insurmountable though, as when you come to book with American (or whoever) over the phone, you explain that you have enough miles in different accounts to make your booking for your whole party and they should allow it all to go through (have had some success in doing this in the past).

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