Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[burmans]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

We just get slugged far too much here in AU and these miles deals far from being 'outstanding value' are really just giving us the same as they enjoy in most of the rest of the world.

Agreed, but (unfortunately?) I do still live in AU.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Took the plunge this morning and bought the 75k + 75k bonus. Haven't used LM before, so hopefully this will become handy (judging from people's past experiences)
I'll see if I can purchase the additional 25k tomorrow.

consider you only need 40% of actual miles to buy an award, and can co-pay the rest (at essentially the 2-4-1 price anyway). This might change under the new rules from 1 October but I'm not sure if anyone knows.

if you are starting out and have 150k that allows you to buy a lot of trips. I wouldn't necessarily be buying extra unless you really need them.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Guys I am considering (perhaps foolishly lol) flying LAX-ICN on OZ 388 F and then flying ICN-SIN on SQ 388 J which I cannot put on the same ticket as they are in different classes and as we know LM doesn't do mixed class bookings.

The gap between the flights is 1hour 20mins.

Would it be possible to check my luggage through to SIN from when I check in at LAX if I show them my onward booking ?
I assume yes as both are *A carriers ?

How big of an airport is ICN ? Is a 1h 20m connection doable if the first flight is on time ? Surely is it above the MCT for this airport ?

And finally, for the dreaded question, what is likely to happen to me if I miss the connection ?

 

[PlutekPlutek]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I have a similar question to the previous post. I know LOT Polish Airlines fly PEK-WAW. They are a member of Star, but I cannot seem to find any of these flights using the booking engine. All that it finds are 1-stop flights via Moscow, or Frankfurt. How do you search for these types of flights ? Both PEK and WAW are available in the drop down selection lists for destinations.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Guys I am considering (perhaps foolishly lol) flying LAX-ICN on OZ 388 F and then flying ICN-SIN on SQ 388 J which I cannot put on the same ticket as they are in different classes and as we know LM doesn't do mixed class bookings.

The gap between the flights is 1hour 20mins.

Would it be possible to check my luggage through to SIN from when I check in at LAX if I show them my onward booking ?
I assume yes as both are *A carriers ?

How big of an airport is ICN ? Is a 1h 20m connection doable if the first flight is on time ? Surely is it above the MCT for this airport ?

And finally, for the dreaded question, what is likely to happen to me if I miss the connection ?

depends on the terminal at ICN... you will have to clear transit security and I think head to the other terminal for SQ? they are connected, but it adds time. Coming from TG (second terminal) to OZ it took me about 30 minutes as the security lines were long and there is no priority from premium pax.

you can check your bags all the way through, but you will not be protected if you miss your second flight.

OZ is great, but not worth missing a flight for.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

you can check your bags all the way through, but you will not be protected if you miss your second flight.

What about if I clearly missed it through no fault of my own for example the OZ flight arrives into LAX 2 hours late, due to weather/mechanical/etc ?

 

[mrpooky]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

What about if I clearly missed it through no fault of my own for example the OZ flight arrives into LAX 2 hours late, due to weather/mechanical/etc ?

I think you'd be left in LAX with no onward flight.

With separate carriers and separate tickets, the Star Alliance commonality between the two carriers won't make much (any?) difference. I'd guess the best you could hope for would be to claim on your travel insurance, assuming OZ will give you a letter stating that the fault was theirs, but with a ticket purchased with points, I don't know what you'd get back even if the claim were successful.

mrpooky.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I think you'd be left in LAX with no onward flight.

With separate carriers and separate tickets, the Star Alliance commonality between the two carriers won't make much (any?) difference. I'd guess the best you could hope for would be to claim on your travel insurance, assuming OZ will give you a letter stating that the fault was theirs, but with a ticket purchased with points, I don't know what you'd get back even if the claim were successful.

mrpooky.

Sorry I meant arrived into ICN two hours late, but this probably doesn't change your response does it ? Other than to say I'd be stuck in ICN with no onwards flight ?

Hmmmm wonder if I should go for it. Fortune does favour the brave lol and that 388 OZ F suite does look nice.

 

[kpc]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Sorry I meant arrived into ICN two hours late, but this probably doesn't change your response does it ? Other than to say I'd be stuck in ICN with no onwards flight ?

Hmmmm wonder if I should go for it. Fortune does favour the brave lol and that 388 OZ F suite does look nice.

Just stay a night (or 2) in Icn to be safe....you can stay at airport or downtown which is easily accessible by train.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Sorry I meant arrived into ICN two hours late, but this probably doesn't change your response does it ? Other than to say I'd be stuck in ICN with no onwards flight ?

Hmmmm wonder if I should go for it. Fortune does favour the brave lol and that 388 OZ F suite does look nice.

Although you may be able to reissue your ticket on another flight - dependent on award availability. I'd take the advice and stay in Seoul for a day.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I get that to be safe it is better to stay in Seoul for a day but I am not really keen on doing that.

So, how about if, still on separate tickets, but on the same carrier, does that increases my chances of being protected ?

There is availability on the days I want for LAX-ICN on 388 F which arrives at 17:20, and then the ICN-SYD flight in J which departs at 20:30.

Thoughts ?

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I get that to be safe it is better to stay in Seoul for a day but I am not really keen on doing that.

So, how about if, still on separate tickets, but on the same carrier, does that increases my chances of being protected ?

There is availability on the days I want for LAX-ICN on 388 F which arrives at 17:20, and then the ICN-SYD flight in J which departs at 20:30.

Thoughts ?

With separate tickets you are (almost) always never protected.

With the same carriers, you stand some chance of better assistance, since the next flight's carrier is the same as the one you just disembarked (and also made clear at the start of the journey). In addition, since this is OZ's home base, a little bit more comforting in that regard. Checking through your luggage helps a little bit, but only if your connection becomes tight (i.e. there's still time to rush your luggage from one flight to the other), not if you miss it completely.

Between that known and the service factor in Korea (similar to Japan in a way), you will likely be reaccommodated on the next OZ flight (possibly an alternative option and/or with overnight accommodation) if you do miss it due to a delay of the first one. They may get sketchy if you are on separate tickets (because the system will not show you as a passenger who was on a delayed flight, but rather one who has missed a flight completely), but if you are humble and polite you should be OK.

If you have a > 3 hour margin I'd be pretty comfortable giving that a go. At LAX keep monitoring your departure time and if it starts to get closer to a possible misconnect (albeit significant delay by that time), start thinking about talking to the OZ service counter.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

With separate tickets you are (almost) always never protected.

With the same carriers, you stand some chance of better assistance, since the next flight's carrier is the same as the one you just disembarked (and also made clear at the start of the journey). In addition, since this is OZ's home base, a little bit more comforting in that regard. Checking through your luggage helps a little bit, but only if your connection becomes tight (i.e. there's still time to rush your luggage from one flight to the other), not if you miss it completely.

Between that known and the service factor in Korea (similar to Japan in a way), you will likely be reaccommodated on the next OZ flight (possibly an alternative option and/or with overnight accommodation) if you do miss it due to a delay of the first one. They may get sketchy if you are on separate tickets (because the system will not show you as a passenger who was on a delayed flight, but rather one who has missed a flight completely), but if you are humble and polite you should be OK.

If you have a > 3 hour margin I'd be pretty comfortable giving that a go. At LAX keep monitoring your departure time and if it starts to get closer to a possible misconnect (albeit significant delay by that time), start thinking about talking to the OZ service counter.

Thanks, appreciate the detailed response.

 

[thehound]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Can anyone help me with this question: do Air Canada release additional domestic J award seats once existing ones have been booked, similar to Thai? I'm looking for 3 x J from YYZ to YVR next year, but there's usually only 2 available (never seen 3). Would booking the two J seats prompt a third to open up in anyone's experience?

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Can anyone help me with this question: do Air Canada release additional domestic J award seats once existing ones have been booked, similar to Thai? I'm looking for 3 x J from YYZ to YVR next year, but there's usually only 2 available (never seen 3). Would booking the two J seats prompt a third to open up in anyone's experience?

In my limited experience, I would guess 'no'.

Otherwise, there would be a hell lot more AC flights that would be open slather - no jokes.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

consider you only need 40% of actual miles to buy an award, and can co-pay the rest (at essentially the 2-4-1 price anyway). This might change under the new rules from 1 October but I'm not sure if anyone knows.

if you are starting out and have 150k that allows you to buy a lot of trips. I wouldn't necessarily be buying extra unless you really need them.

Well, we're looking at using these to go to Europe, and there is myself, my wife, and our daughter. So considering these still have a 100% bonus, would that not still be cheaper than co-paying the rest ? Or is co-pay the equivalent of 2-4-1 ?

 

[travelislife]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Well, we're looking at using these to go to Europe, and there is myself, my wife, and our daughter. So considering these still have a 100% bonus, would that not still be cheaper than co-paying the rest ? Or is co-pay the equivalent of 2-4-1 ?

Co pay is currently the same as buy miles on promo at USD$15 per 1000 so no advantage to buying over just copaying. So a return to Europe in J all you need in you account is actually 70,000 miles per person.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Well, we're looking at using these to go to Europe, and there is myself, my wife, and our daughter. So considering these still have a 100% bonus, would that not still be cheaper than co-paying the rest ? Or is co-pay the equivalent of 2-4-1 ?

While there are some bargains to be be had - for the current prices of LM I'd be considering options quite carefully. With full business class ex Asia possible for $2000-2500 (giving you all the flexibility you need) it may be an option to use LM to get to asia and connect from there.

Thai airways, while it has good availability, is probably not worth it in business class for many destinations served by angled beds in business. First class is ok however.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

While there are some bargains to be be had - for the current prices of LM I'd be considering options quite carefully. With full business class ex Asia possible for $2000-2500 (giving you all the flexibility you need) it may be an option to use LM to get to asia and connect from there.

Thai airways, while it has good availability, is probably not worth it in business class for many destinations served by angled beds in business. First class is ok however.

How can you tell if they are angled beds ? Are J seats in other *Alliance airlines not available to LM ? For instance Lufthansa, Austrian, or LOT ?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

How can you tell if they are angled beds ? Are J seats in other *Alliance airlines not available to LM ? For instance Lufthansa, Austrian, or LOT ?

other star alliance seats are available, but out of Australia you're pretty limited to TG (or sq within 14 days of departure).

Air China is a good option, if you can combine it with LH etc.

it depends what the LM system is willing to show you. I would be checking a few sample itineraries to see if you can get the airlines you want.