Buying miles & points strategically can represent a great value, especially for first & business class travel. On January 17, the Avianca LifeMiles program launched its first promotion of 2023 on purchased miles. While this offer was supposed to expire on January 25, it has been extended by two days, through January 27.
There’s an exclusive value proposition for OMAAT readers who register. Furthermore, there’s a potential redemption discount as well. Let’s go over all the details.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased LifeMiles
Through Friday, January 27, 2023, 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 165%, tiered as follows:
- Buy 1,000-20,000 miles, get a 145% bonus
- Buy 21,000-50,000 miles, get a 155% bonus
- Buy 51,000-200,000 miles, get a 165% 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 530,000 LifeMiles at a cost of $6,600, which is a rate of 1.25 cents per mile.
This is a very good offer, among the best we’ve seen from the LifeMiles program in quite some time. So if you’re in the market for LifeMiles, this would definitely be an offer to take advantage of.
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 1.25 cents to 1.14 cents, which is an even better value (this isn’t cash in your pocket, but rather points in your “pocket” based on my valuation).
Get a 10% refund when you redeem miles
Those who buy miles with this offer can take advantage of a further value-add perk. If you purchase miles with this promotion, you can also get 10% of the miles you purchase back, with some restrictions:
- This is valid if you redeem any route between the United States and Europe before February 17, 2023
- You’ll get 10% of your purchased base miles back (before factoring in the bonus)
- The promotion only applies when redeeming on partner airlines
- The miles from the rebate will post within 15 business days of the redemption transaction
So not only is a 165% bonus among the best we’ve seen from LifeMiles, but being able to save on a redemption between the United States and Europe makes this an even better deal!
Just to give an example, if you purchase 200,000 miles, you could receive 530,000 miles. If you then redeemed 63,000 miles for a ticket, you’d receive 20,000 miles back, which is equal to 10% of the miles you purchased.
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 165% bonus. With a 165% bonus, you can acquire miles for as little as 1.25 cents each (before factoring in credit card rewards, which can lower the real purchase cost even further). This is potentially a great deal.
Do you plan on buying LifeMiles with a 165% bonus?
Imposible to buy.
I've tried with multiple Cards, and it gets some unenteligible error Code 480 and nothing happens after that, never get even charged for anything.
I've tried to buy them by telephone, and after entering my card data, my call was ended by their end.
It almost seem like they do not want me to spend money on their stuff.
The rebate is for miles redeemed. Buying miles qualifies one for the rebate. Do I expect the rebate? No.
Don't start LifeMiles with a large initial purchase. The credit card processing for LifeMiles has never worked well. Best guess fraud prevention is one person working every other day...
No you cannot earn status by just buying miles. Wouldn't that be nice!
It seems there is an issue with some accounts being credited the appropriate number of miles right now. I purchased the max number of miles 8 days ago, and they have not posted to my account still, even though the account history shows them being earned, and the credit card statement has posted. Loyalty Lobby has posted similar results. I've tried emailing and tweeting and them, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere. I'll be doing...
It seems there is an issue with some accounts being credited the appropriate number of miles right now. I purchased the max number of miles 8 days ago, and they have not posted to my account still, even though the account history shows them being earned, and the credit card statement has posted. Loyalty Lobby has posted similar results. I've tried emailing and tweeting and them, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere. I'll be doing a credit card charge-back soon if the miles don't post.
If I book an award flight for someone else using my miles will I get the rebate?
I did not see the terms for the 10% refund, where is it?
How long does it take for the miles to actually be credited and useable? I bought the miles 15 hours ago, and it shows in the activity, but my balance is still 0. I still cant redeem flights.
it should be immediate
Bought miles late morning Sunday, didn't post immediately. Called a couple of hours later and was told they would post to my account at midnight Colombia time. Which has now come and gone and no miles. I'm afraid to see if the flight I want to book is still available. It's killing me!
When I checked Monday 4am PT (so 7am Columbia) the miles posted. So around 18 hours from purchase to seeing them in my account. And happily the flight I wanted was still avail and is now booked.
As for what booked: one way Sydney to San Francisco in economy. Cash would have been $1250, but got it for $560 in miles + $125 in taxes on the miles ticket. Saved me $550. I love this hobby!
Do I still get the Elite benefits if I buy thur this link ?
When I first bought Lifemiles they were credited instantly. However the last 2-3 times that wasn't the case, no confirmation, nothing. 1-2 days later they charged my credit card and the new balance was shown. I guess my account was flagged (for whatever reason) and they had to manually confirm the transaction.
How many day do you need to wait to receive your elite points after purchase miles?
The LifeMiles landing page for the 10% "rebate" (already a poorly chosen term) says: "When buying miles on sale get a 10% miles rebate of the miles purchased for your next air redemption on air tickets from/to United States – Europe. Those miles will be accrued in your account up to 15 business days after the redemption."
Maybe this is due to a poor translation from their Spanish terms. Anyway, what it SEEMS to...
The LifeMiles landing page for the 10% "rebate" (already a poorly chosen term) says: "When buying miles on sale get a 10% miles rebate of the miles purchased for your next air redemption on air tickets from/to United States – Europe. Those miles will be accrued in your account up to 15 business days after the redemption."
Maybe this is due to a poor translation from their Spanish terms. Anyway, what it SEEMS to say is: you get a 10% BONUS on the miles PURCHASED if you redeem miles for a ticket (conditions apply). So the 10% are applied against the purchased miles, not the redeemed miles. Which also seems to make more sense since they want to incentivize purchases, not redemptions. Again, please use your own judgement but this is my take on the language Lifemiles provides. Maybe someone can chekc their Spanish version and clarify.
I was not able to find any T&Cs in Spanish, but I agree with you: it should be a 10% based on the miles you bought during the promo period. I also read elsewhere that it only applies to your first purchase of miles during the promo period. So, if you buy 1000 miles and a few days later you buy 50000, you'll only get 100 miles back LOL. This "refund" is contingent on redeeming...
I was not able to find any T&Cs in Spanish, but I agree with you: it should be a 10% based on the miles you bought during the promo period. I also read elsewhere that it only applies to your first purchase of miles during the promo period. So, if you buy 1000 miles and a few days later you buy 50000, you'll only get 100 miles back LOL. This "refund" is contingent on redeeming a ticket that meets the remaining T&Cs, which are not as opaque, but certainly not the clearest either (for the average person, I mean).
I checked the Colombian version of the website and couldn't find any info at all about this promo.
Got an email saying get 1 Elite mile per 2LM purchased. Does that mean I could buy SA gold?
I had the same question. The Terms say the opposite of what the advertising/offer says. Very confusing.
You still need 12k minimum qualifying miles on Avianca and the rest can be purchased.
Where is this from? I don’t see it posted anywhere.
"The miles purchased and earned with this promotion do not apply to achieve or maintain the Elite status."
Confused on the 10% refund. How would they track that you are redeeming miles you just bought? Can you buy 1,000 miles (which would trigger their system) and then redeem 200,000 miles (that are already in your account) and get 20,000 miles back?