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LifeMiles are the ‘secret’ weapon to getting a great deal on many premium cabins
Avianca LifeMiles continues to be one of my favorite programs even after they silently devalued ( it mainly adversely affected First Class, but business became marginally more expensive ). I’ve made great use of the program via transfer, but also via the periodic point sales that they conduct. I would note, Avianca LifeMiles can be a little tricky to book, and their IT is notoriously clunky. With that said…it’s worth the hassle to secure some really great deals.
Not everyone will get the 200% bonus like I was targeted for, but if you do get that bonus, you’re effectively buying their points for 1.1 cents a piece. You can fly business class to London from the East coast for as little as 45k miles. That means you’re buying business class for about $500 each way. That’s nuts, but don’t buy points unless you see the flights you want to book. As Avianca proved recently, they can and will devalue without warning.
But…if you can get a great deal, it’s worth pulling the trigger.
Currently, Avianca is promoting a buy 1, get up to a 200% bonus sale through 9/30.
The best deal was in September of 2020 when Avianca offered miles with a whopping 200% bonus and this matches it!
Max is 200k with a 400k bonus.
LifeMiles is a transfer partner of the following programs
- Amex
- Bilt
- Cap1
- Citi
Avianca LifeMiles recently devalued but great redemptions remain
Within USA
- Economy 8750
- Business transcon 25k
USA to Europe
Even at 70k you’re able to buy business class for $770 plus any fees they would add on.
- 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.
Should you buy Miles?
This is totally up to you. I don’t know your travel plans, what will happen with restrictions, etc. These are things you should heavily consider, but what I can say is this is a very good price for LifeMiles.
You can go here to Buy.
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
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
- 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.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.