LifeMiles is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs out there, in my opinion, given that the program frequently sells miles at a discount, and has great award redemption rates. That’s why LifeMiles is often my go-to program for booking premium cabin Star Alliance awards.
At the moment LifeMiles is offering a discount on award redemptions in select markets when traveling on Star Alliance partners. This is noteworthy because LifeMiles is one of the few programs to offer discounted award redemptions on partner airlines, as that’s otherwise quite rare. Many of the most lucrative routes on sale will likely be of limited use given the current travel restrictions, this the offer is still worth being aware of.
In this post:
LifeMiles Star Alliance award sale
At the moment LifeMiles is running a sale on award redemptions, where members can receive up to 30% off select redemptions.
This promotion is only valid for redemptions through October 11, 2021, though you can plan travel for any dates in the future (all that matters is that you book during the promotion period).
The discount is valid for travel between specific city pairs, and you can find all the eligible markets at this link. There are all kinds of city pairs, in economy and business class.
I think it’s important to note that many of these discounts are for travel to & from Asia. Obviously travel between many countries isn’t particularly practical right now, but this could be a good opportunity if you have an optimistic outlook for the future.
Here are all the business class Star Alliance award discounts we’re seeing with this deal (in all cases, discounts are available for both directions of travel):
- Miami to Houston for 11,500 LifeMiles (23% discount)
- San Francisco to Toronto for 20,000 LifeMiles (20% discount)
- Tokyo Haneda to Los Angeles for 60,000 LifeMiles (20% discount)
- Tokyo Haneda to San Francisco for 60,000 LifeMiles (20% discount)
- Tokyo Narita to San Francisco for 60,000 LifeMiles (20% discount)
- Tokyo Haneda to New York for 64,000 LifeMiles (15% discount)
- Tokyo Narita to New York for 64,000 LifeMiles (15% discount)
- Tokyo Narita to Los Angeles for 64,000 LifeMiles (15% discount
- Seoul Incheon to Los Angeles for 64,000 LifeMiles (15% discount)
- Taipei to Vancouver for 64,000 LifeMiles (15% discount)
Buy LifeMiles with 150% bonus
Not only can you get a discount when redeeming LifeMiles, but you can also get a great discount when buying LifeMiles.
At the moment LifeMiles is offering a 150% bonus on purchased miles, which is a great deal. With this you could purchase miles for as little as 1.32 cents each (and potentially even less, factoring in credit card rewards).
To take advantage of the best version of this offer you need to register, and then you should immediately see the improved version when you try to buy LifeMiles. Make sure you see the correct bonus when you go to buy miles.
LifeMiles processes mileage purchases directly, meaning that buying miles with the program qualifies as airfare spending, which I almost view as a further discount on purchased LifeMiles. Therefore you’ll want to consider using one of the following cards for your purchase, since they offer the following bonus miles for airfare spending:
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold 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.
Keep in mind there are numerous ways to earn LifeMiles through credit cards as well, including converting points from major transferable points currencies. While LifeMiles is a spun off frequent flyer program, see this post for a bit more on Avianca’s overall financial situation, so you can decide whether this deal makes sense for you.
Bottom line
Not only is LifeMiles offering a 150% bonus on purchased miles, but you can also receive discounts on select redemptions.
LifeMiles offers these discounted redemptions several times per year, and it’s always worth taking a look at the list to see if one of the routes works for your travel plans. The heavy focus on Asia makes it difficult for some, given that many countries in Asia continue to be closed. However, you can always plan future travel and hope for the best.
Anyone plan to take advantage of this LifeMiles award sale?
I am fed up with Lifemiles. I can find saver availability on United for many different domestic itineraries. But with Lifemiles there is either no availability, red eyes, or connecting flights that result in 12-13 hour trips across country. And I am just looking at economy. Forget business class; it is nonexistent. I do not understand how I am ever going to use my 100k Lifemiles. I may just let them expire and be done fretting and wasting my time.
DO NOT, under any circumstances do ANY business with this disaster of a company. They're the most incompetent airline I have ever worked with and that's saying something. They don't notify you if flights are cancelled, most agents can barely speak English to help you, most award flights don't show up, miles take forever to be refunded, you have to call a very specific set of teams to get anything done and a lot of...
DO NOT, under any circumstances do ANY business with this disaster of a company. They're the most incompetent airline I have ever worked with and that's saying something. They don't notify you if flights are cancelled, most agents can barely speak English to help you, most award flights don't show up, miles take forever to be refunded, you have to call a very specific set of teams to get anything done and a lot of times you're on hold for a long time and they'll keep transferring you over and over and hanging up even when you're completely calm and reasonable. They just don't want to deal with customers! Seriously, I'd rather PAY than to use even FREE miles with this company. Save yourself the absolute fear of being stranded and headache of dealing with this place.
Like many others have pointed out, the sale seems like a marketing trick. LifeMiles was showing zero award availability on many of the routes published here under sale until Oct 11, 2021 (I was specifically checking SFO - YYZ route but I had intermittently checked other routes too) even when United and other *A engines were showing the saver level award (e.g. I could find AC flights on SFO - YYZ route available through United...
Like many others have pointed out, the sale seems like a marketing trick. LifeMiles was showing zero award availability on many of the routes published here under sale until Oct 11, 2021 (I was specifically checking SFO - YYZ route but I had intermittently checked other routes too) even when United and other *A engines were showing the saver level award (e.g. I could find AC flights on SFO - YYZ route available through United at 27.5k miles) for the same dates/flights. Fast forward to Oct 12 (the day after sale ended), I can suddenly see all AC flights on the same route with the availability matching that on United. Surprise Surprise!!!
Can you please do a post detailing how painful it is to find flights (such as the ones on sale!) - not to mention actually book or deal with Lifemiles after the fact.
See you post a lot about sales but I'm afraid your visitors are being set up for big disappointment once it comes to booking. A good test will be checking if any of the above sales routes are available.
Not to mention Avianca is under Chapter 11. Even a separate entity still needs an airline.
Can anyone find any availability? I went for the Brex deal here and cashed out (i know I know) 100,000 Lifemiles. I have a brother living in Japan and I'm within an hour of Newark and I cant find a single date to book this trip with business class availability.
With which airline?
any airline you can book with lifemiles on the New York to Tokyo routes listed above. in business class
Those fares to Tokyo could actually be quite useful to me since I'm trying to move there. Does New York mean JFK, Newark, or both in this case?