The phrase "buying points" is correct and usable in written English.
It is typically used in the context of finance or sports betting, referring to the practice of purchasing additional points to improve odds or outcomes.
Example: "In order to increase my chances of winning, I considered buying points on the spread for the upcoming game."
Alternatives: "purchasing points" or "acquiring points."
Buyers now have the option of having floating weeks, split or fractional shares in properties or, more recently, buying points in resort clubs.
Bid premiums have averaged over 30% in the past three months in Europe, suggesting that corporate buyers can find plenty of value, while episodes of high premium in the past have proved good buying points for equities in general.
Illegal cheating on this scale is dwarfed only by the legal cheating that supports the multibillion-dollar testing and test-prep industry, as families of means further distance themselves from the underprivileged by spending tens of thousands of dollars buying points on high-stakes tests for their children.
(Carvin suggested that in many cases buying points is a bad decision).
When I used to write about the online ad-market for New Media Age (1996-2000), speaking to media buyers usually came down to the issue of buying points.
Credit card companies, banks and other partners send billions of dollars annually to airlines and hotels, buying points wholesale to entice brand-loyalists to open a new brokerage account (Get 25,000 miles when you deposit $10,000!) or charge up a storm (20 bonus miles per dollar spent on Valentine's Day!).
Now, however, real estate investors are once again buying, pointing to strong job growth, a lower vacancy rate and higher rents as reasons for their moves.
"You need to buy points in order to get the best rates at many banks," Mr. González said.
(The company has chosen to emulate Microsoft's baffling Xbox "points" system, where you buy points with cash and then buy games with points. It works out to 500 points for $5, so why not just use currency?
Lagos addicts say they can buy "points" of crack cocaine for as little as 200 naira, or just over a dollar.
Ms. Doe's ultimate monthly expenditure could be mitigated if she buys points at closing; these reduce mortgage rates by a quarter of a percent per point.
