How To Redeem Avianca Lifemiles For Best Value: A Key Star Alliance Program

@Ben, just a few weeks ago I discovered that LM can be redeemed for Iberia flights on eligible routes, which is something most people won't even imagine given that each airline belongs to a different alliance. Interestingly, IB awards have been an option for many years. I'm not sure if you have ever mentioned this redemption option before.

Specifically, I managed to redeem an IB Y award on the upcoming MAD-YYZ route for 30K LM. Cash rate was about CAD 1200. Even if I had bought all 30K miles with the usual 100+165% bonus, I would have saved money compared to the cheapest available rate. So this was a very nice and surprising use of LM and it's worth being aware of.

Nice article.

Count me as one of the frustrated ones, it’s hard from the Wedt Coast, even a United transcon in J.

Luckily I have a way to extend the miles at no gist (by booking and the cancelling a hotel on points).

I’ll try the single airline search.

Hi Ben, what’s your take on Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program? I’ve earned around 25,000 miles so far, which I could use for a business class flight within Europe or for a $175 Amazon gift card.... Given that the taxes and surcharges on award tickets are fairly high, do you think it makes more sense these days to redeem the miles for a gift card instead?

I essentially refuse to use Lifemiles at this stage. If you've ever had to deal witha their customer service, it will actively make you contemplate suicide. Their redeposit/change fees are punitive (though admittedly AC isn't great there either) and they have the worst booking engine of any program.

If I needed IAD-SAL on Avianca, sure, I'd happily use Lifemiles. But for Europe I will use Aeroplan every time. And I certainly will never book clients on Lifemiles - I won't have that on my conscience if something goes wrong. Not for a 7,000 point difference with AC

Well, certainly do not use them on Avianca metal… unless you enjoy connecting through BOG for everything and last-minute swaps from 787 lie-flat to a320, 3-3 middle-blocked.

Ben will probably get back to you, but, what type of business class is the real factor here. Is it Turkish lie-flat a330 from IST-CDG? Or, a mere recliner, or a partner airline business class with 3-3 economy seat middle-blocked?

Regarding the lifemiles+ subscription: would the waived cancellation fee apply to already booked tickets if I sign up for the lifemiles + subscription later? Thank you.

And, I just wanna be clear, there’s actually nothing wrong with BOG airport; I actually like the airport, it’s lounges (and the city); just not a fan of Avianca, the airline, and would recommend other carriers for getting to/from there.

There's no 3-3, middle-blocked seat configuration on AV. LA offers it, but not AV.

This is an interesting point as language on the website appears to say that the subscription must be active at the moment of requesting the cancellation (which would mean that it doesn't matter whether you were a subscriber at the time of purchase). However, remember that once you sign up, your subscription can't be cancelled during the first 6 months. So, it might not be worth it in some cases.

I get lots of value from LifeMiles. On 80% of those occasions when it has availabililty, the price is better than Aeroplan and my subscription makes the booking risk-free. LifeMiles has two unique advantages over all other programs:

- cancellation and redeposit of points is possible after the flight has flown
- mixed-cabin itineraries can be crazy value because their pricing is broken

I'll leave it to others to list the disappointments and tell tales of woe. I offer advice though:

- do not expect to book United First/Business with LifeMiles
- do not expect to book Air Canada Business with Lifemiles

When you give up hope on those, you'll feel much better. Then you can focus on what LifeMiles does well. Or you can throw your toys on the floor and leave the room to us.

@hbilbao: thank you.

I agree with everything.

Nice analysis Ben! I use lifemiles quite a bit and wasn't aware of the waived fees for lifemiles+ members. One of the major shortcomings of lifemiles is the high change/cancellation fees. I guess lifemiles+ might be worth the cost.
Thanks!

“ Just be sure you know what you’re going yourself into and do some “dummy bookings” before acquiring lifemiles, to be sure that availability matches up with what you’re expecting”

Last line sums it up…. Availability. I can’t hate lifemiles, as i have had a decade of high value redemptions. Not anymore….. so i am more in the so very disappointed camp with lifemiles.

Article taught me sub gets me free fees…. So that has perked my interest. What other resources are online for lifemiles discussions and guidance?

I see miles sales quite often. Some at 160%. Have there been occasions of 200% or is 160% what to expect? Thanks

I had see max 165%, never seen 200%

Ben your pricing points are woefully outdated, they devalued twice in 2024 & now it’s generally 80k points across the Atlantic in J, and 90-100k across the Pacific (but availability across that ocean is largely nonexistent to partners these days)

Ben your pricing points are woefully outdated, they devalued twice in 2024 & now it’s generally 80k points across the Atlantic in J, and 90-100k across the Pacific (but availability across that ocean is largely nonexistent to partners these days)

My problem with Lifemiles is that it has limited availability with some *A partners. For example - it rarely shows UA domestic business, and Air Canada mainline flights within Canada - even in cases when UA shows availability on an Air Canada flight, LifeMiles still doesn't. It does however show spots on Air Canada regional hops.

Plus, unstable and unpredictable search engine.

I usually find decent availability between YYZ (sometimes YTZ, as applicable) and YOW, YUL, and YHZ. YVR is rather scarce. Haven't really searched for other domestic destinations.

I think the last time they offered a 200% bonus was during the pandemic.

They last offered 200% in late 2024, I believe. Certainly not since then.

I believe you have to be a subscriber both when booking and when cancelling

@mickyb is right. Just checked the T&Cs and found: "Not applicable for redemptions made before the lifemiles+ subscription date. This does not apply to members subscribed to the lifemiles+ Lite plan."

Hey Reyyan, I did the 6 Continents challenge to earn 1m TK M+S points so have spent a while considering their value.

Their peak value is certainly less than most airline points, but they are very useful at times. For example, while we all try to avoid booking non-saver rate seats, if you ever need to book the last seat on a flight you can potentially save a huge amount of cash by doing so.

I'd hold onto the points until they are due to expire. If you don't manage to use them by then, hopefully the option to convert them to a $175 gift card will still be available.

Many thanks for this breakdown Ben, really useful as Lifemiles certainly also get its knockers. The Lifemiles+ subscription looks a good way to deal with the cancellation fees.

Do you or any other Lifemiles+ subcriber know whether the free cancellation (for higher levels) would cover two tickets (self and partner) on the same reservation? or would I and my partner each need to have a Lifemiles+ subscription? (I didn't immediately see this in T&C, but may have missed)

Thanks for any guidancem, best al

Agreed on all this. But now and then, just occasionally, one finds that rare AC J, like the one I booked in February to CUN for 27k. And with my subscription, I can cancel it and get all the points back, even if I don't call until after I no-show!

Subscription's Free Cancel benefit applies to all bookings made from the subscriber's account, for any traveller(s). Source: my own first-hand experience.

Do you need to have the + subscription when you book the ticket, change/cancel the ticket, or all the time from booking to change/cancel ?

Did they just do an increase? It was quoting me 144,000 from HND- ORD IN ANA FIRST. I used to pay 108,000

Thanks for your advice.

Thanks DenB!

Hi
Any advice on booking a trip to Asia with lifemiles? My husband has 140k lifemiles, and I am getting my trip payed for an award I am receiving. We are really struggling on how to book the trip. I read your not complicated itinerary but really prefer to use the miles. We are leaving from Bogotá and need to get to Bangkok. Thanks in advance