Avianca sucks some of the life out of LifeMiles

Over the last decade, I have redeemed more Avianca LifeMiles than any other individual airline currency. LifeMiles has long had some excellent sweet spots that have, in my opinion, made it worth putting up with some of the program’s quirks shortcomings. Unfortunately, as pointed out by Thrifty Traveler a few days ago, Avianca LifeMiles has made some devastating changes to their award prices. Sadly, they have devalued themselves nearly out of relevance, given that the number of opportunities for incredible value has decreased significantly, making it less appealing to deal with said shortcomings.

Many awards have substantially devalued, particularly to/from Europe

Avianca Lifemiles abandoned its award charts a couple of years ago in favor of pricing that mostly mirrored the old award charts for a couple of years. Then, over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a few unannounced devaluations. In most cases, those unannounced devaluations have been relatively mild. Unfortunately, coupled with the most recent devaluation, which in many cases is more substantial than past changes, we’ve seen award pricing skyrocket on many routes as compared to prices just a couple of years ago.

Disappointingly, whereas a typical business class award to Europe priced at 63K miles one way for many years, we are now seeing some business class awards to Europe that cost more than 90K miles one way. Some of those awards had already previously risen to either 69K miles one way or 80K miles one way, but pricing in excess of 90K miles one way for a business class award might make it hard to justify flying up front, particularly on routings from the East Coast of the United States. At the very least, it makes it difficult to choose Avianca LifeMiles over other currencies for booking the same awards.

United Airlines awards take particularly hard hits between the United States and most foreign regions, but they are not alone. As an example, you’ll see routes like New York JFK to Frankfurt on Lufthansa at 92,400 miles one way in business class on a nonstop routing (or 48.4K in economy, which is similarly unappealing).

As an Avianca Lifemiles Plus subscriber, I see a 10% discount on these routes, which drops the price from 92.4K down to 82,170 miles one way in business class on the hardest-hit routes from the US. Frankfurt and Lufthansa are not the only example of this new awful pricing. See this example from New York JFK to Geneva, Switzerland (GVA) for another painfully expensive routing that would be 92.4K miles one-way in business class without my Lifemiles Plus subscription.

Particularly from the East Coast, that pricing is brutal. In many cases, the same awards could be booked via Air Canada Aeroplan for just 60,000 miles one way in business class. 

In most cases, I can’t see any reason to book via Avianca LifeMiles in those situations where a business class award costs ~92K miles one way to Europe. There will almost always be a better way to book that Star Alliance Award, whether via Air Canada Aeroplan, United Airlines Mileage Plus, or perhaps ANA Mileage Club (it might even be worth looking at EVA or Air India). 

Some sweet(er) spots remain

It’s not quite all doom and gloom, as some (many?) awards to and from Europe will still cost 69,000 miles one way in business class. Those who subscribe to a Lifemiles Plus membership get a 10% discount, meaning that those routes cost 62,100 miles after the discount. In some cases, that’s still pretty competitive, particularly when you consider the fact that those subscribing to Lifemiles Plus Basic or higher also get free changes and cancellations.

Awards still price at 69,000 miles each way between the US and quite a few European cities. Just to give a few examples, I found awards pricing at 69,000 miles one way from New York to cities like Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Prague, Paris, Athens, and more. 

Those based on the West Coast can find a glimmer of good news in the fact that many routes to Europe still price at 69K one way in business class, even from the West Coast. Since the West Coast is disadvantaged by Air Canada Aeroplan’s distance-based pricing, Avianca Lifemiles will remain advantageous for flights to the many European cities that still cost 69K miles one-way in business class.

Sadly, Avianca has killed off most of its pricing anomalies. For many years, there were numerous specific airport combinations that yielded inexplicably low award pricing. For instance, it was once possible to book New York JFK to Lisbon, Portugal, for just 35K miles one way in business class, even connecting on another Star Alliance carrier. However, that pricing anomaly got fixed last year.

Until this most recent change, New York JFK to Zurich, Switzerland, was priced at 55,000 miles one way before the LifeMiles Plus discount (which meant it was 49,500 miles per passenger in business class for subscribers). With this most recent change, that award now costs 63,000 miles one way in business class without a LifeMiles Plus membership or ~57K miles with a LifeMiles Plus membership. That can still be a great deal, but it isn’t quite as good as it was just a month ago. In fact, I booked that sweet spot last year and relatively recently changed dates under that same pricing structure. It’s disappointing to see that sweet spot evaporate!

Economy class awards and awards for travel on United are now mostly uncompetitive

It is worth noting that although I’ll give some economy class examples in this post for the sake of comparison, Avianca Lifemiles is mostly uncompetitive in economy class.

For example, flying from New York JFK to Frankfurt in economy class sometimes costs 48,400 miles without a subscription or 43,560 miles with a LifeMiles Plus subscription. While this is a nonstop award shown, you’ll pay the same for some connecting itineraries.

That just isn’t a remotely competitive economy class award price to Europe. For starters, the same award only costs 35K in economy class through Aeroplan. Those willing to connect have a multitude of better-priced options, like flying KLM and booking via Virgin Atlantic for just 12K miles and $165.40 one-way.

Even domestic awards on United have been devalued yet again. I’m now seeing situations like this one from Albany, NY to Chicago (ORD), where booking via JetBlue costs fewer miles than via Avianca Lifemiles. This route used to cost 10K miles in economy class or 15K miles in business class, but it is now up to 17,330 miles in economy or 33,830 miles in business class.

Awards to/from Asia in economy class are similarly laughable on United, with pricing for the United flights to Asia ringing in at more than 60K miles one-way in economy. Consider that programs like Alaska and American offer opportunities to fly in business class for similar pricing, and Avianca LifeMiles has just completely priced itself out in many cases. In fairness, United seems to be behind a push to make booking their own flights via partner programs impossible or impossibly unattractive, so this may not be entirely Avianca’s fault.

Mixed-cabin award pricing has been eliminated

The most painful tragedy here is the end of Avianca’s magical mixed cabin award pricing.

Most programs charge a set price for a business class award if any leg of your trip is in business class. Until this week, Avianca LifeMiles had always been different, pricing their awards proportionately. In other words, if you were booking an award to Europe where about 75% of the distance flown was in business class and about 25% of the distance flown was in economy class, Avianca LifeMiles used to charge about 75% of the business class award price plus about 25% of the economy class award price. In many cases, it was possible to fly transatlantic business class for fewer miles by adding a connection in economy class on either end of the trip. The same was true with first class awards, where the price could be lower if one of your connections was in a lower class of service. That’s a feature that had existed in Avianca LifeMiles for as long as I had been aware of the program.

Avianca has fixed that program feature, and in the worst way possible. In fact, in some cases, I’m now seeing mixed cabin awards where flying a connecting leg in economy class actually costs more than flying the entire itinerary in business class. As an example, with my Lifemiles Plus discount, this itinerary from New York to Frankfurt to Milan costs 62,100 miles one way if flown entirely in business class.

In the past, if you flew the connection from Frankfurt to Milan in economy class, the price of the award would decrease a bit. However, it now costs more to fly the connection in economy class on this award. See below where it costs 62,160 miles one way in business class.

That’s only 60 miles more than the all-business-class award, but it represents a huge change from the way awards have long been priced (not to mention it being completely nonsensical for the economy connection to increase the cost of the award).

Unfortunately, I am no longer seeing advantageous mixed-cabin pricing. As another example, this itinerary from New York JFK to Frankfurt to Athens rings in at the same 62,100 LifeMiles one way with my LifeMiles plus discount if flown entirely in business class (it would be 69K one way without a subscription).

However, as you can see above, if you flew the leg from Frankfurt to Athens in economy class, you would only save about 110 total miles. That is despite the fact that Frankfurt to Athens represents almost 25% of the total distance flown in that example. As much as it hurts to say it, Avianca Lifemiles mixed cabin pricing is dead. 

You can still fly further to pay less (sort of)

It is still possible to save miles by flying farther, but it looks different than before.

Whereas in the past, Avianca’s favorable method of calculating mixed-cabin pricing was the place to find deals, you’ll now need to look to the right routings. In some cases, adding a leg can significantly reduce award pricing, helping you avoid the highest pricing on select routes.

For instance, if you fly nonstop from New York JFK to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), you’ll pay more than 92K miles one way. Ouch.

Even if you have a Lifemiles+ subscription, that nonstop flight still runs north of 83K miles one way in business class.

That’s rough. 

The good(ish) news is that if you continue on to Paris, you’ll pay just 69K miles without Lifemiles+, or 62,100 miles one-way (entirely in business class) with a subscription.

That includes the same flight to Frankfurt that costs either 83K or 92K on its own, but continuing to Paris saves you miles, and those savings can really add up with multiple passengers.

Paris is far from the only example like this. You can continue on to a multitude of different airports to drop the price to 69K without a subscription or 62,100 with Lifemiles Plus, like Prague:

Or Milan:

However, a connecting itinerary is not necessarily the secret sauce in all situations. For instance, the same flight from New York to Frankfurt to Budapest prices in between the levels shown thus far, at about 81K without Lifemiles+ or just over 73K with Lifemiles+.

While the JFK-to-Frankfurt example might make you hypothesize that “nonstops cost more”, that isn’t necessarily the case, either. New York JFK to Zurich, Switzerland, which previously rung in at 55K miles whether on SWISS or partners, now costs 63K miles without Lifemiles+ or just over 57K miles with Lifemiles Plus.

That pricing sticks even if you fly New York JFK to Frankfurt and connect to Zurich, which is kind of nuts when you consider the fact that just JFK to Frankfurt costs either 92K or 83K on its own, but continue to Zurich and you’ll save 27K-29K miles per passenger.

Oddly, though, if you reverse that a bit and instead fly New York JFK to Zurich and then connect on to Frankfurt, the price jumps back up to 83,100 miles for a Lifemiles Plus subscriber or 92.4K miles without a subscription. Make it make sense!

Pricing varies by partner, so make sure to tick all the boxes

One of Avianca’s “quirks” is the multiple ways to search for an award. The award search tool defaults to a “Smart Search”, but as I have pointed out numerous times in the past, it isn’t nearly as smart as the name would suggest.

The default smart search does not necessarily show the best-priced awards available. For instance, when searching for an award from San Francisco to Zurich, the tool defaulted to a “United” check box after Smart Search and showed only one itinerary result, with the price starting from 47,880 miles one way in economy class or 43,090 with LifeMiles Plus. Notice that there is also a check box titled “Swiss Airlines (Switzerland)” and one titled “Star Alliance”, but those are unchecked by default.

If you check the box for Swiss Airlines, you’ll find that there is also a nonstop award available on Swiss for 42,600 miles in economy class at the regular price or 38,340 miles with Lifemiles Plus.

If you check all three boxes — that’s United, Swiss, and Star Alliance — you’ll find many more itineraries are actually available than what was shown by default with the “smart search” function.

That situation isn’t unique to this route; you’ll want to make sure you check the different boxes to make sure you aren’t overpaying for an award. 

In some cases, that “smart” search will default to a more expensive award even if there is a cheaper nonstop available. For instance, when I searched from Chicago (ORD) to Zurich (ZRH), the default result was a nonstop United flight for 48,400 / 43,560 miles, but checking the other boxes showed that there was also a Swiss nonstop on the same route for 37K / 33.3K miles (all economy class pricing).

You’ll find similar patterns in other regions, where flying airlines other than United is usually cheaper. For instance, San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda (HND) is cheaper on ANA than on United, but you need to check the All Nippon Airways box to see it. The ANA flights do not show up with the default search.

The same is true of flying to Taipei: flying EVA is cheaper than flying United, but you won’t see the EVA flights with the default “smart search” unless you check the additional boxes.

Bottom line

Avianca Lifemiles has made what is arguably its worst-ever devaluation, once again changing award pricing without advance notice or notification. In many cases, these changes will make Avianca Lifemiles completely unappealing for booking awards, particularly for those who are willing to dig into other foreign award programs to search for much better pricing on the same flights. Some opportunities remain, particularly for travel to Europe in business class from parts west of the Mississippi, where Aeroplan’s distance-based pricing loses its advantage. And if you’re a Lifemiles Plus subscriber and you hit the right transfer bonus, there are still situations where Avianca Lifemiles will look OK. However, I expect that these latest changes will really turn many people off on the program, particularly with how Lifemiles doesn’t even “put its best foot forward” by offering its lowest award pricing in default search results. I feel lucky to have already booked a summertime trip to Europe before this devaluation came along, but I am disappointed that it might be my last Lifemiles booking for a while.

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