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Avianca has its monthly bonus available on LifeMiles purchases, this time it’s 165%. That brings the cost per mile down to 1.25 cents, just below our reasonable redemption value for LifeMiles of 1.3 cents each. At that price, buying for a specific high-value redemption could make some sense (like business class to South America for 35K each way).
It’s worth noting that, like most LifeMiles sales, the promotion is tiered and you need to purchase at least 31,000 miles to get the 165% bonus.
In a recent installment of Ask Us Anything, Nick and I both mentioned that LifeMiles was our most commonly-used transfer partner over the last year or so. My wife was able to do roundtrip Lufthansa Business non-stop from Seattle to Europe last year as well as some Eva Air flights. We’ve also been able to redeem for good value on regional trips.
Keep in mind that these LifeMiles sales happen regularly, usually with a bonus between 140-170%. There’s no need to speculatively buy or worry about missing out. They’ll be back.
The Deal
- 165% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases
- Direct link to offer
- Promotion is tiered according to the number of miles purchased:
- Buy 2,000-15,000 miles, get a 130% bonus
- Buy 16,000-30,000 miles, get a 150% bonus
- Buy 31,000-200,000 miles, get a 165% bonus
Key Terms
- The offer is available from 27 February 2024 to 12 March 2024.
- This offer is exclusively for LifeMiles members who register via OMAAT’s link.
- Minimum purchase amount is 1,000 miles, maximum is 200,000 miles.
- Each package of 1,000 LifeMiles is US$33.00
- Once the payment is made, the miles will be accrued within 24 hours to members account.
- Miles purchased may be accrued in separate transactions.
Best uses of Avianca LifeMiles
- Business class to Europe from 63K with no fuel surcharges. While 63,000 miles to Europe isn't Earth-shattering, what makes this particuarly exciting is the lack of fuel surcharges. Surcharges for Lufthansa are often $700-1000, so this can be a huge savings. There are many examples of routes inexplicably pricing far below the official award chart like JFK to Lisbon for 35K miles and mixed-cabin business class itineraries that price from as low as 49K (Check out The secret LifeMiles award chart and Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing: First class for less).
- Business class South America from 35K. Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive Star Alliance pricing to both Northern and Southern South America with no fuel surcharges. Again, you can mix cabins on partner awards to save miles, which can be useful if you need a positioning flight. Flights on Avianca metal usually price out slightly higher than partners
- North America in Business for 10K. Avianca LifeMiles offers one-ways on United within a single "zone" at excellent prices (the US is split into 3 zones). Within a single zone, pricing is officially 10K one-way in business class. Pricing between Zone 1 (most of the East Coast) and Zone 2 (most of the states apart from the far west) is officially 15K. Many routes will price well below the chart for no obvious reason.
Things to know about Avianca LifeMiles
- LifeMiles expire after 12 months of inactivity. Redeeming Miles does NOT count as activity, but buying miles does.
- LifeMiles generally does not pass on the fuel surcharges we see in other Star Alliance programs, making redemptions even more valuable.
- Availability at LifeMiles.com often doesn't match what you’ll find at United.com or Aeroplan. Phone agents usually do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. While it can be possible to book via E-mail, it is very slow and frustrating. ALWAYS check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
Past Lifemiles Sales
- 170% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid January 23 – January 27, 2024
- 165% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.25 cents each). November 21 – December 5, 2023
- 160% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.27 cents each). November 7 – November 14, 2023
- 140% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.38 cents each). October 10 – October 26, 2023
- 140% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.38 cents each). September 12 – Sept3mber 27, 2023
- 145% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.35 cents each). August 16 – August 30, 2023
- 150% Bonus on LifeMiles purchases (1.32 cents each). July 11 – July 28, 2023
- 160% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. June 13 – June 27, 2023
- 165% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. May 16 – May 30, 2023
- 155% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. April 18 – April 26, 2023
- 160% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. March 14 – March 29, 2023
- 165% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. February 9 – February 22, 2023
- 165% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid January 17 – January 27, 2023
- 155% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid December 15 – December 27, 2022
- 170% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid November 21 – December 2, 2022
- 155% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid November 10 – November 15, 2022
- 145% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid October 13 – October 25, 2022
- 145% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. September 1 – September 8, 2022
- 155% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid May 30- June 14, 2022
- 145% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid May 3-17, 2022
- 145% bonus on Lifemiles purchases. Valid January 19-27, 2022
- 175% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. Valid through December 6-13, 2021.
- 170% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. Valid through November 22-30, 2021.
- 155% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. Valid through November 9-16, 2021.
- 150% bonus on LifeMiles purchases. Valid through March 29 – April 11, 2021.
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Hey Tim, one easy way to extend the expiration of Lifemiles is an Amex MR or Citi TYP redemption of 1k.
Thanks, Tim! What would the FM Team say about buying Lifemiles with a bonus vs. taking advantage of a transfer bonus? Like the current 15% for Amex.
Ever since the move to points.com, the timeliness of purchased points posting for use in Lifemilew accounts has gotten significantly worse. They are sometimes using the whole 72 hours thing to post the purchased points and it’s awful for customers in this era where award seats with partner-operated flights are subject to getting grabbed faster than ever.
The link from OMAAT goes to:
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You’re right, looks like the OMAAT affiliate link is broken. The link above in the post should be fixed now.
Looks like the points purchase is no longer through Avianca but through points.com. Could someone please confirm if this will be coded as airfare or a regular non-bonus category? I am guessing the later.
if so, the article can be updated to reflect that.
If points.com it is not airfare.
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. OMAAT
This shows as expired but I got an email today offering a surprise bonus for purchasing lifemiles. When I clicked through to the lifemiles website, my offer was for 160% bonus. When my wife logged on to her account, the offer was for 175%! Tempting at 1.2 cents a point…
Can you please do a new/updated post on LIfeMIles awards that are actually available and will ticket? It seems that LifeMiles has become a fraud, with the vast majority of awards not bookable anymore.
not sure why you’re having issues.
I currently have 2 domestic Y, 3 intl J and 1 intl F tix issued.
I’m certainly not a big time ff. Last international trip was 2018. I got 2 one way business class seats on Austrian Air from Chicago to Vienna for 63,000 pts each. Just need to be flexible. Points came from amex instantly.
[…] Avianca LifeMiles on sale with 145% Bonus (1.35 cents each) […]
What’s going on with the Lifemiles website these days. They implemented some changes recently and I haven’t been able to get an award fare to populate since the changes were made. The website freezes every single time. The app is no different. Right now, Lifemile points are worth zero…:(
I’m having the exact same problem. Can anyone help? I’ve tried different browsers, app, clearing cache, etc.. and the award flights just won’t populate as the OP suggested. Please help us!!
Use Firefox, that worked for me
I have been using the mobile app and it seems to work.
Looks like OMAAT is now reporting that the bonus is up to 165%.
Tell me if I’m crazy here, but … this sale ends on May 30 at 23:59 San Salvador time – which means it’s Jun 1 01:59 am New York time. See where I’m going with this? Rent day is June 1 and Avianca is the only airline I’m familiar with that codes miles are airfare. Any thoughts?
Great thinking, except for May having 31 days…?
Ugh! Just pulled a Charlie Brown to your Lucy! Thank you for saving me the trouble of staying up past my bedtime on May 30!!
sale usually means large devaluations incoming…
They have run sales around this cost for years.
The sale is back as of yesterday. (150% public offer, but 155% with referral link)
Recently we had a bucket of LifeMiles that needed using before they expire and we really struggled to find an attractive destination with a decent redemptions. We ended up booking a flight to London, with a return from Dublin for late Aug/Sep. I’m pleased with the plans we have for a week in London and a week in the Lake District. But it was painful to use this points. I am done with LifeMiles.