Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[robd]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

If it's not there where you arrive you can just ask a member of ground staff and they will find out if it's on its way or request one for you.

Might have to get some lessons in DYKWIA etiquette before arrival

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Might have to get some lessons in DYKWIA etiquette before arrival

Sometimes they might be running a bit late, or you're a bit early. So a simple 'oh, is there a buggy?' will give you the answer. No point the poor person having to drive all the way to pick you up and they miss you! (Conversely if the walk is short you may want to just walk it anyway, but letting the gate staff know means they can let the driver know, or that the buggy doesn't have to wait for you if there are other passengers but you've already gone.)

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Is it 1.576 or bang on 1.5c for the co-pay? The price varies to the sweet spot, and I was pretty sure (until now) that 1.5c was possible?

Does it really matter ? :mrgreen: I mean, the difference between 1.5c and 1.576c is 0.076 cents lol

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Does it really matter ? :mrgreen: I mean, the difference between 1.5c and 1.576c is 0.076 cents lol

Not a huge difference - about ~AUD150 on a return First trip to Europe for co-pay purposes. It was more that the co-pay at 1.5c meant that it was fairly close (1c) to the top offer for buying max miles... so some may want to keep the money in the bank and co-pay later rather than max out now.

 

[Finale]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Does it really matter ? :mrgreen: I mean, the difference between 1.5c and 1.576c is 0.076 cents lol

That's almost $11 AUD per 10,000 points! Not sure about others but it matters to me, a poor man who only flies business and first class.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Sometimes they might be running a bit late, or you're a bit early. So a simple 'oh, is there a buggy?' will give you the answer. No point the poor person having to drive all the way to pick you up and they miss you! (Conversely if the walk is short you may want to just walk it anyway, but letting the gate staff know means they can let the driver know, or that the buggy doesn't have to wait for you if there are other passengers but you've already gone.)

What if you are arriving in F and connecting to J on international flight? Do they still buggy you to F lounge? (BTW, I double checked with the lounge staff there, yes, I'll have F lounge access).

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

That's almost $11 AUD per 10,000 points! Not sure about others but it matters to me, a poor man who only flies business and first class.

Not only that, sometimes the last 1000 mile bumps the copayment component by >$40! If you are really short of miles and needed that extra 1000, it's actually cheaper to buy it at RRP, ie $33.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Not a huge difference - about ~AUD150 on a return First trip to Europe for co-pay purposes. It was more that the co-pay at 1.5c meant that it was fairly close (1c) to the top offer for buying max miles... so some may want to keep the money in the bank and co-pay later rather than max out now.

That's almost $11 AUD per 10,000 points! Not sure about others but it matters to me, a poor man who only flies business and first class.

Haha. I knew I would get these sort of responses.
The truth is I don't know know - that figure comes from back in mid-2013 when i first started getting involved with LM and that's when I did the calculations.
May well have changed since then and it may now be a flat 1.500c but I am not sure.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

What if you are arriving in F and connecting to J on international flight? Do they still buggy you to F lounge? (BTW, I double checked with the lounge staff there, yes, I'll have F lounge access).

Yes - arriving F gets a buggy and they'll deliver you to the F lounge. No problems, as you say, with F access.

Haha. I knew I would get these sort of responses.
The truth is I don't know know - that figure comes from back in mid-2013 when i first started getting involved with LM and that's when I did the calculations.
May well have changed since then and it may now be a flat 1.500c but I am not sure.

It's not a flat 1.5c... it's scaled. At some point towards the 'sweet-pot' miles actually have a negative value on the co-pay - but it averages out to 1.5c (excpet maybe as VAG Newbie points out the last 1000 miles can be a bit more expensive!)

 

[hummel]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How strict are LM on screen shot method with +8hr transits? Trying to get MEL-BKK-MNL for the 27th of this month.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How strict are LM on screen shot method with +8hr transits? Trying to get MEL-BKK-MNL for the 27th of this month.

Best advice is to send it off and see if they approve it.

Manual bookings are supposed to follow the IT rules in the on-line system. If another person has been successful with 8+ hours it doesn't mean the next person will get the same agent or be afforded the same.

 

[coolkid101]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

It's not a flat 1.5c... it's scaled. At some point towards the 'sweet-pot' miles actually have a negative value on the co-pay - but it averages out to 1.5c (excpet maybe as VAG Newbie points out the last 1000 miles can be a bit more expensive!)

from a quick calculation this is what i think it is
sweet spot for co-pay is at about 61-62% - 41% miles to be used with rest in cash
in that range it's 15USD for 1000miles i.e. 1.5cents per mile

keeping in mind minimum miles is 40%

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I don't know if they have changed the formula, but one time I managed to deconstruct the code behind the LifeMiles booking page and found that the sweet spot is generally at 50%, give or take about 2% either side (this is to allow you to be able to select a multiple of 1,000 closest to the theoretical target).

 

[RB]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I don't know if they have changed the formula, but one time I managed to deconstruct the code behind the LifeMiles booking page and found that the sweet spot is generally at 50%, give or take about 2% either side (this is to allow you to be able to select a multiple of 1,000 closest to the theoretical target).

My experience has been that this has changed over time. Haven't booked one for a while but I think it is safe to say everyone needs to check their own priorities & do calculations each time

 

[coolkid101]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

yeah i tried it with a few dummy bookings and everything within that range i calculated above allows you to effectively "buy" miles at 1000 for 15USD.

from a quick calculation this is what i think it is
sweet spot for co-pay is at about 61-62% - 41% miles to be used with rest in cash
in that range it's 15USD for 1000miles i.e. 1.5cents per mile

keeping in mind minimum miles is 40%

My experience has been that this has changed over time. Haven't booked one for a while but I think it is safe to say everyone needs to check their own priorities & do calculations each time

 

[vae086]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Nice! And welcome!! Which month did you book the SQ leg for? Everyone seemed surprised that I got SQ to Perth for mid-Jan as it has always been only available T-14 days in the past. I think us Perthians may be the lucky ones for a change!

Well done that's a great job. Mind sharing which screenshots you used?

Hi Cleaver and coolkid101,
I think I should answer you guys on this thread instead.
I used united for availability and picked the itenerary that suited us (PER-BKKx-SINx-ICN-HKGx-BKKx-PER)
On LM:
1 screenshot for through journey
1 screenshot for PER-BKKx-SIN
1 screenshot for SIN-ICN
1 screenshot for ICN-HKGx-BKK
1 screenshot for BKK-PER

It was 48+ hours after my email before they called me back and the agent had some problems seeing availability for ICN-HKGx-BKKx-PER.
I was offered ICN-BKKx-SINx-PER instead, with an overnight connection at BKK (13 ish hours). Fortunately, this itenerary actually worked better for us.


As for your query Cleaver, the SQ leg that I got was for second week of Jan 16.
Over the past few days I could see SQ connections on LM for SIN-PER, not just T-14 for some reason.

 

[smit0847]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Hi Cleaver and coolkid101,
I was offered ICN-BKKx-SINx-PER instead, with an overnight connection at BKK (13 ish hours). Fortunately, this itenerary actually worked better for us.

That is very very interesting!

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I was offered ICN-BKKx-SINx-PER instead, with an overnight connection at BKK (13 ish hours). Fortunately, this itenerary actually worked better for us.

So they allow layover over 8 hours using screenshot technic? That's good to know!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So they allow layover over 8 hours using screenshot technic? That's good to know!

This may have been an exception - and as such shouldn't be taken as representing new procedure just yet.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

This may have been an exception - and as such shouldn't be taken as representing new procedure just yet.

But the reality is, have you read anywhere in LM's T&C that layover cannot be over 8 hours? I can't seem to find it. It is a unofficial rule that has been set up by many frequent flyers because any connection beyond 8 hours can't be booked online.

Even before the IT glitch, I found several times in the past that if your connecting flight departs the next morning, even if it's within 8 hours, it wouldn't show online (eg. If you arrive at 2am and connecting flight is 8am).

I haven't got any trips coming up that needs screenshots but it would be nice for someone to try out. TG recently tweaked their schedule and now SYD-CDG and FRA connecting time has gone over 8 hours so it would be a shame if we can't fly F all the way to Europe now even with screenshot.