Buying miles & points strategically can represent a great value, especially for first & business class travel. The Avianca LifeMiles program has just launched a Cyber Week promotion on purchased miles, and there’s an exclusive value proposition for OMAAT readers who register.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased LifeMiles
Through Friday, December, 2, 2022, the Avianca LifeMiles program is offering a bonus on purchased miles. While the publicly available promotion offers up to a 160% bonus, OMAAT readers who register can take advantage of a bonus of up to 170%, tiered as follows:
- Buy 1,000-20,000 miles, get a 150% bonus
- Buy 21,000-50,000 miles, get a 160% bonus
- Buy 51,000-200,000 miles, get a 170% bonus
Again, to take advantage of this exclusive offer you’ll need to first register, and then you should immediately see the improved bonus attached to your account (make sure it’s reflected at the time that you make a purchase). For what it’s worth, I don’t get any sort of kickback from LifeMiles if you buy miles, I’m just happy to be able to give readers (and anyone else who chooses to share the link) access to a better offer.
How much does it cost to buy LifeMiles?
Ordinarily you can buy Avianca LifeMiles for 3.3 cents each, before any discounts or bonuses. That means that if you purchased 200,000 LifeMiles with this offer pre-bonus, you’d receive a total of 540,000 LifeMiles at a cost of $6,600, which is a rate of 1.22 cents per mile.
The 170% bonus is the biggest percentage bonus promotion we’ve seen from the LifeMiles program all year.
How many LifeMiles can you buy?
LifeMiles lets members purchase up to 200,000 miles per account per calendar year, before factoring in any bonuses.
Which credit card should you buy LifeMiles with?
LifeMiles processes mileage purchases directly, meaning that buying miles with the program qualifies as airfare spending. Therefore you’ll want to consider using one of the following cards for your purchase, since they offer the following bonus points for airline spending:
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
American Express® Green Card
If you pay with The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) then you earn 5x points. I value those points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s the equivalent of a further 8.5% return. That means that the real cost of each mile goes down from 1.22 cents to 1.12 cents, which is an even better value (this isn’t cash in your pocket, but rather points in your “pocket” based on my valuation).
Is buying LifeMiles worth it?
For context, Avianca is in the Star Alliance, which means you can redeem LifeMiles on all Star Alliance airlines without any fuel surcharges. Really this is the core value proposition of buying LifeMiles, since this is a great way to book Star Alliance premium cabin seats at a huge discount. Check out my guide on how to redeem LifeMiles for ideas on how to redeem these miles.
With a specific use in mind, this LifeMiles promotion can be a great value, whether you’re looking at traveling first class on All Nippon Airways or Lufthansa, or are looking at traveling in business class on a countless number of airlines.
Everyone has to crunch the numbers for themselves and decide whether this makes sense or not.
Do note that in some cases LifeMiles doesn’t have access to the same award availability as Star Alliance partners, for better or worse. Sometimes LifeMiles doesn’t have access to partner awards that other programs do have access to, and other times the inverse is true.
That’s why I always recommend doing some “dummy” award searches before buying miles, so you can get a sense of how award availability lines up with your needs.
How much are LifeMiles worth?
Everyone will value mileage currencies differently, but personally I value LifeMiles at ~1.4 cents each. That’s based on the redemption values on Star Alliance partners, as there’s tons of value to be had. I tend to value miles very conservatively, so if you’re maximizing miles you should be able to get way more value than that.
Do LifeMiles expire?
LifeMiles don’t expire as long as you accrue some miles at least once every 12 months. Any mileage earning activity, including buying miles, will extend the expiration of your miles. However, redeeming miles as such doesn’t extend the expiration of your miles.
How else can you earn LifeMiles?
If you’re looking to earn LifeMiles, the good news is that there are lots of options beyond outright buying them. Specifically, Avianca LifeMiles is partners with several bank currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou, so there are lots of ways to pick up these miles.
Bottom line
LifeMiles is offering a promotion on purchased miles. While the publicly available offer is for up to a 160% bonus, OMAAT readers who register can receive up to a 170% bonus. With a 170% bonus, you can acquire miles for as little as 1.22 cents each (before factoring in credit card rewards, which can lower the real purchase cost even further).
This is one of the best promotions we’ve seen from LifeMiles in a long time, so there’s potentially significant value to be had here.
Do you plan on buying LifeMiles with a 170% bonus?
Has anyone gotten this to work? I only get a 160% bonus, not 170%?
Does anybody found Lufthansa First class availability nowadays (using miles - O class)? I am searching for D14 or even D3 but nothing appears on all routes...
I register but the bonus offer is only 160%. What’s going on?
You don't get any extension ( expiration date ) when you buy miles. Plus no credit cards are available for US residence.
How do I navigate if I don't understand Spanish
This is a form of devaluation and also in the future anything less than the amount they are offering people will just wait it out, but rather than devalue directly, the airline is making a couple of bucks.
Also, you will never get back the $25 booking fee even if LifeMiles cancels your ticket. LifeMiles says it is Aviance who charges it, Avianca says it's LifeMiles. Go figure.
I love your added bonus and have been waiting for the 170%. BUT as we travel full time I am finding it is not easy to find available reward flights in this day in age! Plus Asiana is no long an option! And when you need to cxl a reward flight it’s $200. Oh and when you use these miles with a Turkish airlines flight and they cxl a flight last minute you are in...
I love your added bonus and have been waiting for the 170%. BUT as we travel full time I am finding it is not easy to find available reward flights in this day in age! Plus Asiana is no long an option! And when you need to cxl a reward flight it’s $200. Oh and when you use these miles with a Turkish airlines flight and they cxl a flight last minute you are in trouble. Plus LifeMiles CS is poor. I have enjoyed your bonuses in the past but I am not sure this program is worth the trouble. Amy recommendations on whom to switch to? And please don’t say Moles and more or United. Thx!!!
I agree with your comments. I've been debating to buy LifeMiles with 170% bonus vs Alaska Air points with 50%.
I ended up with Alaska Air points instead since their point are more valuable. I need to book a trip LAX to HND next summer but can't find any business class seat with LifeMiles but was able to book a one way direct flight LAX to HND business class for 60K points. Also Alaska...
I agree with your comments. I've been debating to buy LifeMiles with 170% bonus vs Alaska Air points with 50%.
I ended up with Alaska Air points instead since their point are more valuable. I need to book a trip LAX to HND next summer but can't find any business class seat with LifeMiles but was able to book a one way direct flight LAX to HND business class for 60K points. Also Alaska Air booking with points are refudable which is super flexible in case I need to change or cancel. My recommendation is Alaska Air with 50% bonus.