Avianca’s LifeMiles is running a “Buy Miles” sale that will get you a “3 for 1” deal on purchased miles as long as you buy 101,000 or more miles.
For example, buying 101,000 miles would net you 303,000 total miles and cost $3,333. If you buy less than 101,000 miles your bonus will be less.
The bonus applies as follows: for purchases from 1,000 – 50,000 LifeMiles receive 150% bonus, for purchases from 51,000 – 100,000 LifeMiles receive 175% bonus, for purchases from 101,000 – 200,000 LifeMiles receive 200% bonus.
The offer is here.
In this article
So “Should You” Buy LifeMiles?
I’ll say the same thing I would say if the miles were 0.8 cents each or 1.3 cents each. Only buy if you have an immediate need for them and know the ins and outs of the Avianca LifeMiles program.
One thing we were worried about was an Avianca bankruptcy. That seems unlikely now, as the Colombian government has offered $370 million in loans to the carrier.
Lifemiles remain great for use on Star Alliance awards, given that they have no surcharges. Happily, later this year Aeroplan will also become a great program for Star Alliance awards without surcharges.
I’d suggest you read these two articles on Avianca LifeMiles before deciding on a purchase:
If your flights change because of coronavirus, you’ll still be on the hook for a cancellation fee and if your flight is cancelled you’ll probably have to chase them down for your miles and refund.
One thing that could tip the scales for you is a current 20% mileage discount offer on some routes to Asia.
For me, this is a pass. Given that I can transfer miles into Avianca LifeMiles from three credit card transferable points (Amex, Citi, Capital One), I’m not about to lock up cold hard cash speculatively. But if you’re about to go somewhere and aren’t flush with points, this could be an option.
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
Just a heads up about Avianca’s Lifemiles change fees,
I just changed a ticket on (JFK-ICN) on Asiana that I redeemed through Lifemiles (originally booked on Sept. 3 for Oct, 8, 2020 travel) and had to change my date. Cannot be done online, but just got off the phone with them and they changed it with little hassle and no fees. Cancelation seems unclear but changes I believe can still be made to award tix with no penalty, at least once.
From their site
“And you redeem it between September 1st and 30th, 2020 regardless of the date of flight:
You can change it as many times as you want without any penalty or fare difference only if you reschedule it to fly before November 30th, 2020 and as long as you do it on the same route. If you decide to reschedule to fly after December 1st, 2020, you can make one (1) change without penalty to fly, even until December 31st, 2021. It does not apply to domestic routes in Colombia and Ecuador, flights between North and Central America and flights between Central American countries”
Thanks for sharing, James! Glad you hear you didn’t have any difficulty. When Lifemiles works, it’s great 🙂 Did you have luck just calling the regular number?
Also – they hadn’t published a COVID waiver for the longest time. Excellent to hear they have one now and it seems quite fair.