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Update: This sale ends today!
Originally posted on 12/10:
Avianca is a Star Alliance member and their Lifemiles program is an interesting one. Lifemiles can be used to book travel with partner airlines like United and Air Canada within North America.
Lifemiles is one of the rare mileage programs that doesn’t collect any fuel surcharges. Note that Avianca Lifemiles require earning activity every 12 months in order to stop your miles from expiring. Transferring points to Lifemiles will extend the points validity for 12 more months.
They have a hidden award chart, which I cracked in this post for the domestic portion.
They are having a coach award sale for select routes for awards booked by 12/14 for travel anytime. Mileage rates below are each way.
Routes on sale in coach:
- Cleveland to/from Newark, was 6,500, now 5,530
- Detroit to/from Newark, was 6,500, now 5,530
- Chicago to/from Newark, was 7,500, now 6,380
- Chicago to/from LaGuardia, was 7,500, now 6,380
- Honolulu to/from Guam, was 27,500, now 23,380
- Newark to/from Tel Aviv, was 42,500, now 36,130
Additionally, you can transfer points from Capital One, Citi, or Brex to Lifemiles with a 25% transfer bonus through 12/17. Points transfer instantly.
Here is the effective cost in Capital One or Citi points with the 25% bonus:
- Cleveland to/from Newark, was 6,500, now 4,424
- Detroit to/from Newark, was 6,500, now 4,424
- Chicago to/from Newark, was 7,500, now 5,104
- Chicago to/from LaGuardia, was 7,500, now 5,104
- Honolulu to/from Guam, was 27,500, now 18,704
- Newark to/from Tel Aviv, was 42,500, now 28,904
For example if I needed a last minute ticket to NYC on Sunday, I’d need to spend $399 for a cash ticket:
Using United miles, I’d need to spend 15K miles for the close-in saver award ticket. (Also, I’d like to speak to United scheduling about flights from Cleveland to Newark that are 10 minutes apart from each other! Can’t we get back Cleveland to LaGuardia if that’s needed?)
But using Lifemiles, it’s just 6.5K miles, 5.5K miles with this sale, or 4.4K with the transfer bonus, a truly incredible value for a $399 flight!
I book last-minute flights to NYC fairly often, and being able to use miles is a lifesaver!
If someone wants to fly United one-way from Tel Aviv to NYC next week, it would cost $1,840 in coach or $3,968 in business.
Using United miles, it would cost 44.8K miles in coach or 77.8K miles in business class for the close-in saver award ticket.
But using Lifemiles, it’s just 42.5K miles in coach, 36,130 miles with this sale, or 28.9K with the transfer bonus:
Want to earn Lifemiles?
- You can transfer AMEX, Capital One, Or Citi points to Lifemiles at a 1:1 ratio, or Marriott points to Lifemiles at a 60K:25K ratio.
If you or a friend has one of the following Citi cards, you can transfer points into miles:
- Citi Premier has a record high 80,000 points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. $95 annual fee. Read more here.
Citi no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require one of the cards above for points transfers include:
- The Citi Double Cash card offers 2% cash back or 2 points per dollar spent everywhere that can be transferred into ThankYou points. If you also have a Citi Premier Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. Read more here.
- The Citi Custom Cash Card offers 5 points per dollar on up to $500 in purchases in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle. This is marketed as 5% cash back, but will actually come in the form of 5 ThankYou points per dollar spent! Eligible categories include Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs, and Live Entertainment. You will also get 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. No annual fee. Read more here.
- The Citi Rewards+ Card offering 15,000 points for spending $1,000 in 3 months. This card can’t transfer points on its own, but can transfer points if you have one of the Citi cards above. This card automatically rounds up rewards earned on every purchase to the nearest 10 points, meaning you earn 10 points on a $0.50 Amazon balance reload. Earn 2 points on $6K in annual spending at supermarkets, 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and a 10% points rebate when you redeem points, up to a 10K points rebate per year. If you also have a Citi Premier Card you can transfer points into miles and get a 10% points rebate on transferred or redeemed miles. No annual fee. Read more here.
Capital One cards with transferable points to miles include:
- Capital One Venture X offering 100,000 miles+$200 towards vacation rentals, $300 annual travel credit, 10,000 mile anniversary bonus, 2-10 miles per dollar spent, Capital One Lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge access, Global Entry/Pre-Check Membership and more. $395 annual fee. Read more here.
- Capital One Venture offering 60,000 miles, 2 miles per dollar everywhere. Global Entry/Pre-Check Membership. $95 annual fee.
- Capital One Spark Miles offering 50,000 miles for spending $4,500 in 3 months, 2 miles per dollar everywhere. Global Entry/Pre-Check Membership. $0 intro annual fee, then $95 annual fee.
AMEX cards with transferable Membership Rewards points to miles include:
- AMEX Blue Business Plus
- AMEX Platinum Business
- AMEX Gold Business Card
- AMEX Platinum Consumer Card
- AMEX Gold Consumer Card
- AMEX Green Consumer Card
- AMEX Everyday Preferred Consumer Card
- AMEX Everyday Consumer Card
Marriott cards with transferable points to miles include:
- Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Consumer Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card
Will you take advantage of this promo?
The LifeMiles site mentions this is valid only for Economy Cabin. When I tried for Business there were no dates.
What’s the change/cancelation policy for LM awards?
IIRC, $150 change fee. Last time I actually used it (in August), it was waived due to Covid.
They charge a 10$ redemption fee?
call me a moron but how does one book using lifemiles? ive looked on the avianca website, nothin. y cant i figure this out??
hmm, seems to be by going on lifemiles.com. only simchos chevra