How Much Does It Cost to Buy Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Turkish or Avianca Miles in 2026?

Emirates Skywards, Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios), Etihad Guest, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles and Avianca LifeMiles all let you buy miles straight from the airline. The catch is price: each one charges a standard rate around 3 cents per mile, and the bonus sales that bring that down don't run year-round. This guide checks each program's official buy-miles price against our live marketplace, program by program.

None of these five had a confirmed live buy-miles promo on our July 14, 2026 research date — every promo figure below is presented as a recent, dated rate, not a current price.

Middle East airline miles: official price vs. our marketplace (2026)

The table below lines up each program's standard buy-direct price, its most recent bonus promo, and our typical marketplace price. Direct and promo figures are as-researched and dated; our figure reflects the live price index and moves over time.

How much does it cost to buy Emirates Skywards miles?

Emirates sells Skywards miles direct through its Points.com-powered storefront at $30 per 1,000 miles — 3 cents each — at the standard, no-bonus tier, per AwardWallet. A recent promo (as of July 14, 2026) offered a 50% bonus that brought the best tier down to about 2 cents per mile, but that sale ran through May 31, 2026 and had expired well before mid-July, with no confirmed replacement.

On our live marketplace, Skywards miles typically run around 1.8 cents each — about 40% below Emirates' standard price, with no bonus sale to wait for.

The gotcha: Emirates charges some of the industry's steepest fuel surcharges on its own metal. A US–Dubai business- or first-class redemption can add $1,600 or more in cash surcharges, and connecting through Dubai can stack that further — price the surcharge before you buy the miles, not after.

How much does it cost to buy Qatar Privilege Club Avios?

Qatar Airways prices Privilege Club Avios — the same Avios currency British Airways and Iberia use — on a tiered scale that runs roughly 2.3 to 2.8 cents per Avios depending on volume (est.), per AwardWallet's tier table; there's no single flat rate. A recent promo (as of July 14, 2026) offered a 50% bonus that pushed the best tier to about 1.53 cents per Avios, but that sale ended May 25, 2026 with no confirmed replacement.

Our marketplace price for Qatar Avios typically runs around 1.5 cents — in line with or below even Qatar's own bonus-sale rate, without needing to catch a promo window. Compare today's price.

The gotcha: Qatar requires prior earning activity on your account before it will let you buy, and caps purchases at 250,000 Avios a year before bonuses. Its Qsuite business-class awards also carry a separate "redemption fee" of $200–$250 that works like a surcharge — don't assume Avios travel is fee-free just because Avios has no classic fuel surcharge.

How much does it cost to buy Etihad Guest miles?

Etihad Guest's most commonly cited standard rate is $20 per 1,000 miles — 2 cents each — through its Points.com storefront, though one source's tier table showed the smallest purchase tier priced closer to 3.2 cents. That discrepancy isn't fully resolved, so treat Etihad's standard rate as roughly 2 to 3 cents (est.) rather than a single confirmed number. A recent promo (as of July 14, 2026) — up to 35% off, landing around 2.08 cents at the top tier — was described in a February 2026 source as an ongoing discount, but we couldn't reconfirm it was still active on our research date.

Our marketplace price for Etihad Guest runs about 1.5 cents — below either end of Etihad's own range. See today's price.

The gotcha: sources disagree on whether Etihad passes fuel surcharges through on partner-airline awards; on Etihad's own flights, surcharges do apply.

How much does it cost to buy Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles?

Turkish Airlines sells Miles&Smiles miles direct from its own site (not Points.com) at a flat $30 per 1,000 — 3 cents each — with no standard-tier discount. The airline has run tiered bonus sales before, including a 100% bonus that brought the best tier to about 1.5 cents per mile, but that sale ran December 8–22, 2025 — the most recent one we could confirm — and we found no active Miles&Smiles promo as of July 14, 2026. Treat that bonus rate as historical color, not a current price.

Turkish miles aren't individually tracked on our price index yet, but they typically trade in the same 1 to 2 cent range as our other indexed Middle East and Star Alliance programs — check the live price index for today's figure.

The gotcha: Miles&Smiles passes through partner carrier-imposed surcharges, and Lufthansa Group redemptions (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines) can add $1,000 or more in YQ — route Turkish miles toward Star Alliance partners with lower surcharges instead.

How much does it cost to buy Avianca LifeMiles?

Avianca LifeMiles sells miles at a standard rate of about 3.3 cents each with no bonus (est.), per secondary-source reporting — LifeMiles' own buy-miles page wasn't reachable to confirm directly. LifeMiles runs frequent tiered bonus sales; a recent one (as of July 14, 2026), up to a 160% bonus, brought the best tier down to about 1.27 cents per mile, but that sale ended April 28, 2026. LifeMiles' sale history suggests another is likely before long, though none was confirmed live on our research date.

Our marketplace price for LifeMiles runs around 1.5 cents — roughly 55% below LifeMiles' standard rate (est.), and available without watching for the next bonus window. See today's price.

The gotcha: LifeMiles is one of the few programs with no fuel surcharges on partner awards — a real advantage on Lufthansa Group business-class redemptions — but budget for a flat $25 booking fee plus local departure taxes.

How buying miles below retail works

The process is the same across all five programs:

• Compare the airline's official buy price against our live per-mile price for the program you need.
• Confirm you have a bookable award seat before buying — miles are only worth buying if you can redeem them.
• Buy the miles you need on our marketplace; a flat 5% buyer fee applies on top of the listed per-mile price.
• Your payment is held until the miles are confirmed in your account, protecting both sides of the trade.
• Redeem the miles for your award, factoring in any fuel surcharges or redemption fees the program charges.

Where to buy Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Turkish and Avianca miles below retail

Qatar's Avios and Avianca's LifeMiles are both well regarded for redemption value — Avios for its flexibility across British Airways, Iberia and Qatar's own oneworld network, LifeMiles for Star Alliance premium-cabin awards with no fuel surcharges. The catch is that buying either one direct means paying a high standard rate or waiting on a promo that isn't always running.

Our live marketplace lists Emirates Skywards, Qatar Privilege Club Avios, Etihad Guest and Avianca LifeMiles at prices that typically beat every one of these airlines' standard rates, with Turkish available at a comparable market rate — no bonus-sale timing required. Payment is held until the miles are confirmed in your account, so you're not sending money to a stranger and hoping.

Not sure buying is the right call for your trip? Our should I buy miles? checker compares the cash fare against the cost of buying, and our airline miles value report breaks down what each of these five programs' miles are worth to redeem, not just to buy.