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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.
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 up to a 160% bonus sale through 05/15/25.
The best deal was in September of 2020 when Avianca offered miles with a whopping 200% bonus
- 185% bonus November 2024
Max is 200k with a 320k 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 7500 to 15k
- Business transcon from 25k
USA to Europe
Even at 70k you’re able to buy business class for $770 plus any fees they would add on.
- Econ: 35k
- Business Class: =70k
- First Class: 30k to 143k
USA to Africa
- Business Class 78k
USA to Asia
- Business Class from 85k
- First Class
- 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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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