Best Travel Auction Sites for 2027: Cash and Points
Travel auctions come in two kinds for 2027. The first is cash sites such as Luxury Travel Diary and Charitybuzz, where you bid money on hotel stays, vacations and trips. The second is the auction marketplaces that hotel and airline loyalty programs run for their members, where you bid points and miles instead. PointAuctions.com tracks 19 loyalty programs, 10 of which had auctions listed on October 9, 2026, and 580 point auctions are live across them.
We run PointAuctions.com, which covers the points side, so read the second half knowing where it comes from. To see what is open on that side, browse every live point auction or start with the largest program, live Marriott Bonvoy Moments auctions.
Part 1: cash travel and vacation auction sites
When someone searches for travel auctions or vacation auctions, they usually mean bidding money on a trip. We checked each site below on October 9, 2026, and each works differently, so the watch-outs differ too.
Luxury Travel Diary
Luxury Travel Diary, a UK travel site, has run hotel-stay auctions since 2014, and had two- and three-night hotel stays open for bidding when we checked. Per its auction help page:
- Stays are provided by the hotel itself, with no booking agency in between, and the site puts the winner in touch with the hotel.
- All bids are in British pounds (GBP); you pay through PayPal, which can convert from another currency.
- There is no buyer's premium: the winning bid is the price you pay. Some resorts collect extra charges directly at booking, such as a resort fee or a local tax, and those are listed in the auction's terms.
- Auctions usually extend when a bid lands in the final moments, though the site says not to rely on it.
- Some auctions carry a reserve, and the available dates are listed in each auction's details.
Charitybuzz
Charitybuzz is a charity auction house with a travel category split by region (North America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, South America, Europe and the UK, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and Australia and the Pacific), plus sections for private residences, eco-adventures and spa and wellness. Charitybuzz's conditions of sale say a buyer's premium of 15% to 20% may apply to the winning bid (as of October 9, 2026).
SkyAuction and SkyTravelClub
SkyAuction.com has sold travel by auction since 1999, and its auctions now run on SkyTravelClub: the SkyAuction homepage sends bidders there. When we checked, SkyTravelClub had timed auctions on seven-night resort stays, each with a countdown, a current or starting bid in US dollars and a bid count. Per its FAQ, membership is free, you pay only when you win an auction (or book or buy a certificate), and a resort may charge its own fees, such as a resort or cleaning fee, at check-in; those are disclosed on each listing.
Vacbid
Vacbid works differently from the others: when we checked on October 9, 2026, you named the price you would pay for a hotel room, flight, bus seat or rental car, and the seller accepted the offer or not. You pay after your bid is accepted, so it is a set of offers rather than a timed auction. Bidding looked thin on that October 9 check: its featured hotels showed no bids, and its most-bid hotel showed 29.
A note on penny auctions, since they surface in the same searches: on a penny-auction site you pay a fee for every bid whether or not you win. If you land on a site from a travel-deals ad, check its terms for a per-bid fee first.
Part 2: point auctions run by loyalty programs
Many of the largest hotel and airline loyalty programs run their own marketplaces where members bid points and miles instead of cash. You spend the Marriott points or Delta SkyMiles you already have, on experiences the program arranges with teams, venues and artists. A short tour of the busiest programs, with figures as of October 9, 2026:
- Marriott Bonvoy Moments is the deepest catalog, with 698 active listings, heavy on sports and entertainment. Start with what Marriott Bonvoy Moments is or the live Marriott Bonvoy Moments auctions.
- Hilton Honors Experiences mixes auctions with fixed-price offers. Its "British Grand Prix: McLaren Mastercard F1 Team VIP Weekend Experience" package sold for 2,660,000 Hilton Honors points after 11 bids on June 2, 2026, one of the five largest verified closes in our archive. A Canadian Grand Prix package carries a higher verified final, 4,410,000 points on two bids, but that figure came from the program's archive 1,715,000 points above the last bid we saw, so we do not lead with it. More in what Hilton Honors Experiences is, or see the live Hilton Honors Experiences auctions.
- Delta SkyMiles Experiences is nearly all auctions and heavily contested: its closed auctions with bids drew a median of 32 bids. See what Delta SkyMiles Experiences is or the live Delta SkyMiles Experiences auctions.
- Wyndham Rewards Experiences sits at the other end: its closed auctions with bids drew a median of one bid. More in what Wyndham Rewards Experiences is, or see the live Wyndham Rewards Experiences auctions.
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Accor ALL, IHG One Rewards, Choice Privileges, Alaska Atmos Rewards and United MileagePlus also had auctions listed; United and Alaska had only a handful (three and five).
What makes point auctions different
- Members only. You bid inside your loyalty account, so you need to be a program member with a points balance.
- Points, not money. A winning bid is a number of points or miles, and this site shows it as points, without converting it to dollars.
- No buyer's premium. On a straight auction win the points come out of your balance and there is no buyer's premium; read the listing's inclusions for anything else you pay, such as gratuities or travel.
On some programs a win is binding: Hilton's terms (as of July 2026) take the points automatically when the auction closes. You also need the points in your account before you bid. Check each program's terms before you bid, and bid only what you are ready to spend.
The Hilton mechanics are covered in our Hilton Honors explainer, which draws on Hilton's terms as of July 2026; the full beginner walkthrough is in our miles and point auctions guide.
Cash sites and point auctions side by side
| Row label | Cash travel auction sites | Point auctions |
|---|---|---|
| What you bid | Money (or a per-bid fee on penny sites) | Loyalty points or miles |
| Who can bid | Anyone who registers | Program members only |
| Examples | Luxury Travel Diary, Charitybuzz, SkyTravelClub, Vacbid | Marriott Bonvoy Moments, Hilton Honors, Delta SkyMiles |
| Extra fees | Buyer's premium (Charitybuzz), resort fees on some stays, per-bid fees (penny sites) | No buyer's premium or bid fee; check each listing's exclusions |
| What is listed | Hotel stays, vacations, trips, flights | Experiences: sports, concerts, F1, suites, dinners, hotel packages |
| Best for | Travelers with cash and flexible dates | Members with a points balance |
Neither side is better across the board. If you have cash and flexible dates, the cash sites fit. If you have points you are not using and want experiences you cannot easily buy with cash, the loyalty marketplaces are where to look.
Where PointAuctions.com fits
We do not run auctions. PointAuctions.com tracks 19 loyalty programs and pulls their live listings into one search, fixed-price offers included. It also keeps every closed auction as a results page, with more than 3,000 verified winning bids as of October 9, 2026, so you can see what similar auctions closed at before you bid. The method is in how we verify closing prices, the program-by-program picture is in our closed-auction data hub, and if you are weighing us against the other points tracker, see our comparison with Points Events.
Live auctions in the travel category on the points side, soonest to close first:
You can also jump to the live travel auction search or the closed-auction archive before your first bid.
Frequently asked questions
Are travel auction sites legit?
Luxury Travel Diary, Charitybuzz, SkyTravelClub and Vacbid were all operating when we checked on October 9, 2026, though we have not audited any of them, and the loyalty-program marketplaces are run by the programs themselves (Marriott, Hilton, Delta and others). The main risk on any auction site is overpaying, so read each auction's terms and dates first.
Can you bid points instead of cash on travel?
Yes. Major hotel and airline loyalty programs run auction marketplaces where you bid points and miles. A straight auction win carries no buyer's premium: the points come out of your balance, and each listing says what else is or is not included. PointAuctions.com tracks 19 loyalty programs, 10 of which had auctions listed on October 9, 2026.
What happens if you lose a travel auction?
On the points side, nothing leaves your account if you are outbid. On the cash sites above you pay only if you win, or on Vacbid only if your offer is accepted. Penny-auction sites are the exception: you pay the per-bid fees whether you win or lose.
Do travel auction sites charge a buyer's premium?
Some do. Charitybuzz says a buyer's premium of 15% to 20% may apply to the winning bid (as of October 9, 2026); Luxury Travel Diary says the winning bid is the price, with any resort fee or local tax listed in the auction's terms. Loyalty-program auctions charge no premium on a straight win.