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Programs devalue their currency all the time. We live in an inflationary world where currency printed by central banks lose purchasing power every year, so it only makes sense that airline and hotel programs who price their flights in these currencies will devalue the miles and points they print as well. Heck, we’ve been seeing some of the biggest credit card sign up bonuses year after year. The more points and miles are floating around, the quicker they will devalue.
Despite some of the “quirks and features,” as Doug Demuro would say, Avianca LifeMiles is a program I’ve used a bunch in the past, and they have offered a distinct value proposition when redeeming points within Star Alliance airlines. The fact that they did a deval without notice is really annoying, especially when you see the massive hit they inflicted on the first class awards to Europe ( 87k to 130k…wow an absolute slaughter ), but so far, everything else really isn’t too bad. So far? Often, programs will release a devaluation to their program sector by sector. So far…we’ve seen First Class take the big hit between US and Europe and US and North Asia. H/T To ThriftyTraveler
USA to Europe
-
- Econ:
- was 30k now 35k
- Business Class NYC to London:
- was 60k now 45k
- Business Class:
- was 63k now 70k
- First Class:
- was 87k now 130k to 143k
- Econ:
Which programs transfer to Avianca
- Amex
- Bilt
- Capital One
- Citi
Anything good I should know first?
Yes… Avianca dropped the redemption rate on the NYC to LON route specifically. What used to cost 60k miles each way now cost just 45k miles. That is an unreal redemption on a route that often has a ton of availability
You could ostensibly make this even cheaper by using a connection where the flight into London is in economy – 42,900 shown below. If you happened to miss your flight from Frankfurt to London and didn’t check a bag you would have booked a flight to Frankfurt for 42.9k instead of the new 70k rate as well. It has me wondering if you book JFK to MUC or FRA and then to LHR if somehow you will be able to fly Lufthansa First Class at a much reduced rate. Time will tell.
Oddly this doesn’t seem to work in reverse
What are the new LifeMiles redemption rates?
To find ANA and Lufthansa First Class avail just go to Seats.Aero and use their tools. Super easy that way.
Within USA
- Economy 8750
- Business transcon 25k
USA to Europe
- Econ: 30k now 35k
- Business Class NYC to London: 60k now 45k
- Business Class: 63k now 70k
- First Class: was 87k now 130k to 143k
USA to Africa
- Business Class 78k
USA to Asia
- Business Class 78k
- First Class
- was 90k, now 120k
USA to South Pacific
- Business Class 80k
Hawaii to North Asia
- Business Class: 48k
- First Class: 66k
It will now cost you a whopping 130k Avianca LifeMiles to book Lufthansa First Class. You’re better off using Aeroplan now.
Are these devaluations bad?
The way they were done…yes.
Overall….not really.
Are they done? We have no idea.
Yes, the US to Europe and US to North Asia rates have gone up quite a bit, but those were insane sweet spots set years ago. They were ripe to be devalued, and both Lufthansa and ANA rarely release much award space anyways. In practice, these were redemptions content creators like myself loved to utilize, but in practice I doubt many people with fixed schedules were able to regularly take advantage of them. I’m not saying it doesn’t suck, but rather, the most valuable and heavily used redemptions are largely still very, very attractive.
The most used redemption, the business class rates from US to Europe are now 70k, up from 63k. This is a great deal, especially because LifeMiles puts their points on sale so often, and sometimes you’ll see them as low as 1.2 cents a pop. That’s still just $840 one way for business class.
Don’t speculatively buy or transfer
We see examples over and over again where programs devalue without notice. You don’t wan to be left holding the bag when this happens. If you had purchased LifeMiles or transferred them thinking you’d get a last minute Lufthansa First Class seat for 87k miles…you’re SOL. Those are now massively more expensive.
My advice is to leave your points in a transferrable currency until you’re ready to book a flight or hotel.
Sadly, programs are adopting this unpublicized devaluation strategy more and more.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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