tl;dr – Good stuff for thee, but not for me?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of buying points. With the frequency with which I travel and want to fly lie-flat, I find buying points and redeeming them at a total cost far less than the cash rate to be a near necessity. One thing I’m not about? Not getting the best ‘going rate’ on my points purchase.
Oftentimes, you’ll see travel providers (airline, hotel, etc.) put their rewards for sale, which makes sense for them. It’s a good cash-earner and a nice line item under ‘ancillary services’ on the balance sheet. However, some travel providers (Alaska Airlines is a good example) like to stagger the offers in their points sales, targeting certain potential buyers with higher offers than others might receive.
In such scenarios, if I haven’t received the best offer, I’m not a buyer. Maybe it’s a personal thing, but I just feel like if I can’t get the best deal, I’ll wait for the next one.
In particular, because the ‘why’ as to who gets an offer remains such a mystery – and is often just labeled as ‘random’ – I’m even more inclined to say no thanks. I’d be more sympathetic if, say, a given elite tier member is always targeted for the best offer.
