Buying miles & points strategically can represent a great value, especially for first and business class travel. The avianca lifemiles program has just launched its newest promotion on purchased miles, which has the potential to be a great deal.
Note that nowadays lifemiles promotions are targeted, so different members may see different offers, and on top of that, some members may not see any offers at all.
I find this to be one of the most useful frequent flyer programs for redeeming miles, thanks to the ability to redeem for long haul premium cabin Star Alliance awards. Keep in mind that you can get even more value with a lifemiles+ subscription, and lifemiles’ credit cards offer a discount on that.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased lifemiles
Through Thursday, August 15, 2024, the avianca lifemiles program is offering a bonus on purchased miles. Different members are being targeted for different offers, and the best promotion I see on any account I manage is for a bonus of up to 160%, structured as follows:
- Buy 1,000 miles, get a 120% bonus
- Buy 2,000-20,000 miles, get a 140% bonus
- Buy 21,000-40,000 miles, get a 150% bonus
- Buy 41,000-200,000 miles, get a 160% bonus
You’ll of course want to check your account to see what offer you’re targeted for.
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 (pre-bonus) with this offer, you’d receive a total of 520,000 lifemiles for $6,600, which is a cost of 1.27 cents per mile.
How many lifemiles can you buy?
The lifemiles program 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?
With lifemiles now using points.com, this means that buying miles no longer counts as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending.
Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), Citi Double Cash® Card (review), or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees).
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?
Miles with the lifemiles program 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
The avianca lifemiles program is offering a promotion on purchased miles. Different members may be eligible for different offers, though it appears the best promotion is for a 160% bonus, which kicks in when you purchase at least 41,000 miles in one transaction. This is an opportunity to acquire miles for 1.27 cents each, which could represent a great deal.
Do you plan on buying lifemiles with a bonus?
Ben, I know that you really favor LifeMiles program and I agree that it is a great value overall.
But, there is one little catch that could cost you a lot of money. If you need to change your itinerary or to cancel your trip, the only way to do it is to call them via landline. The waiting time usually goes from 20 minutes and up to one hour. If you are outside...
Ben, I know that you really favor LifeMiles program and I agree that it is a great value overall.
But, there is one little catch that could cost you a lot of money. If you need to change your itinerary or to cancel your trip, the only way to do it is to call them via landline. The waiting time usually goes from 20 minutes and up to one hour. If you are outside of US, that call can cost you a lot of money. It is unfortunate that you can not communicate with them online or make a call via WhatsApp or some other platform. This is one bad thing about the LifeMiles.
Got offered 160% bonus. Might buy some. One of the kids has been using my lifemiles for Y fares from ASIA/US- AKL on AIR nz. Handy because air nz keeps offering cheap fares for the flight out of nz but return fare is expensive. So my son buys the on sale nz cash fare to his destination and then uses lifemiles to get back on nz award flight. Hasn’t had any issues with 2 bookings so far. He checks straight after booking that it’s showing up on the air nz site.
Christmas would always offer best price of miles
I've heard that trying to redeem through Avianca's website can be a nightmare - with system glitches that debit your account but don't end up booking a ticket for example. Does anyone have an opinion on the quality of the redemption process?
I’ve used lifemiles a ton of times. Really valuable program. The phone center has improved a lot. Sometimes flights don’t show up but that’s baked into my points value.