One of the great developments we've seen on many airline award charts the past few years is the introduction of discounted short-haul awards. For example, that's one of the best aspects of British Airways Avios, though it's a concept many other airlines have followed in the meantime. However, there aren't many Star Alliance programs that…
Continue reading: LifeMiles Introduces Discounted Shorthaul Awards For US Travel
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
By Washington in United States 1 do they mean Washington, DC? Because then Washington State is missing from United States 3?
If I'm reading this right, Washington (presumably the state) is classified in the same zone as the rest of the Northeast. This could potentially mean that coast to coast flights can be booked for 7.5k
Though I'm guessing this is some sort of a mistake, as DC is notably missing. Let's hope this one works...
@Jonathan My thought's the same, until I read Lucky's example on SEA to SAN. I am guessing Aviance actually meant DC.
Minneapolis is listed as a state in zone 2. Washington State is omitted from zone 3.
I am guessing US 2 should have Mississippi, rather than Minneapolis? Although, the Weather Channel often just refers to it as the "land mass". hahaha
I think it's kind of hilarious that when you click on the link and actually go the LM page to look at the regions, they list "Nuevo Mexico" in United States 2. That's what a lot of people here call it too.
I live in DC and we technically do not have an airport within our borders (even though DCA and IAD are listed with "Washington DC" addresses) I'd be curious to see if you can do IAD-SEA for 7500 pts as well.
Another interesting question, how does LifeMiles work with stopovers? Can i do IAD-DEN-SEA and do an extended stopover in DEN?
The downside of BA Avois for redeeming AA awards is its 7500 per segment. which mean you need to pay 15K if you are not originating from AA hub. Is this case with LifeMiles as well ?
Lifemiles also charges a $25 ticketing fee per person on all redemptions (in addition to taxes and fees). I'm guessing this would still apply there? That could hurt the value of these redemptions.
Heck yeah I can see myself booking award flights on United using LifeMiles. I live in ATL (US-2) so could get discounted rates to most of the country rather than the bare handful United prices at 10k from here.
The biggest issue is the amount of award blocking that LM does. Its got much worse recently. Buyer Beware
Wow, an award chart revaluation. LifeMiles is an awesome program, if only their website is kind of buggy.
Lucky, you should probably mention that LM recently chaged their award booking GUI for the worse and is actively blocking *A on many routes.
eugene (OR) to LAX still shows up at 12.5K miles ... i wonder when the reduced chart takes effect
@Lucky Can you please do a post at some point on which Star Alliance airlines are blocking Lifemiles currently, and which have blocked them in the past? It'd be really useful to have that in one place for reference
It's interesting that Florida and Montana are in the same region, meaning a flight from Miami to Billings would technically cost 7,500 miles. That seems like the best sweet spot redemption on the award chart.
A masterpiece of understatement came toward the end, "The one catch is that LifeMiles doesn’t always have access to every partner award seat." In my experience I almost always get the dreaded "Sold Out" availability, even when I can clearly see seats at united.com and aeroplan.com. If that doesn't happen, I get the generic "error" message when I try to go ahead and book. I'd like to like this program, but I can't. I have not tried short haul domestic on United yet. Maybe that's a way to get rid of my existing Lifemiles and say goodbye. Buying miles I can't redeem would be a waste of useful U.S. dollars. Let us know when they get normal Star Alliance redemption availability. I could get interested at some point if that happens.
When does this change go into effect? I ran UA flights EWR-DTW and EWR-BOS, and the engine is still pricing 12.5k one way.
I don't see any United short haul award flights out of Houston on the LifeMiles site. I looked at Tulsa, New Orleans and Miami. I transferred 15,000 points from Citi Thank You to LifeMiles, and now I am wondering if I will ever get to use them....