Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Based on anecdotal evidence, the chances of LM having another sale in Dec is very high, especially given that they have more lucrative sales lately, obviously people aren't buying LM as much as they used to (The IT glitch, recent devaluation, rising USD...etc may all be the contributing factor that LM is not selling as well as it used to be. So my guess would be, not only there will be a sale, it will be very lucrative and we may see bonuses up to 150% like the one in Sept.

My prediction was right again! AA did devalue, LM went on sale again! Only problem is it hasn't gone up to 150%, but maxed at 125%. Although I think it's worth wait for a while (unless you need a redemption right away), there may be some cyber Monday kind of promo if they realize they aren't selling as many miles.

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Thanks...I didn't realise the roundtrip would be 170k miles. I guess now one gets hit twice - weak AUD in buying miles, followed by devaluation in award redemptions. Lifemiles is little use to me for Europe...maybe okay for Australia - Asia J/F trips.

Ex Oz to North Asia 40k/50k

yet Oz to South Asia is 40k/60k

So SYD to HKG via SIN - I guess would be 50k in F using SQ.

Isn't there's a better alternative for Star Alliance award redemption.

Not really. Only Krisflyer on their own (SQ) flights where you get a 15% discount when booking online so its 160/190K return less 15% - however the fuel surcharges will kill you and you can't buy Krisflyer miles!

LM are cheap. So if 170K seems a lot - think about United's 210K at a much higher price.

LM is pretty much the only viable option now for Australians to buy miles considering the low AUD

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Not really. Only Krisflyer on their own (SQ) flights where you get a 15% discount when booking online so its 160/190K return less 15% - however the fuel surcharges will kill you and you can't buy Krisflyer miles!

LM are cheap. So if 170K seems a lot - think about United's 210K at a much higher price.

LM is pretty much the only viable option now for Australians to buy miles considering the low AUD

Agree, plus many people don't have that many KF points and buying miles is the only way for them to get into cheap first/business class.

With AA devaluation, LM is really the only viable option. AS is cheap too, but it's quite US-centric and many of the redemption has to involve US as origin or destination.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So SYD to HKG via SIN - I guess would be 50k in F using SQ.

Isn't there's a better alternative for Star Alliance award redemption.

Well it would be, except there is no such availability...pretty much unless you're burning KF miles...maybe M&M enjoys access to SQ, I dunno.

I don't agree with you that LM is no good for Aus - EU. You could be looking at about AUD3700 return in J with this promo. While the numbers certainly used to be much more compelling, those days were certainly not going to last forever. At some peak times of the year, like Xmas, this price would still stack up OK against an economy fare, at other times it's more like double, but plenty of people would still happily pay $3700 to travel to Sweden and back in business class!

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

With AA devaluation, LM is really the only viable option.

It's by no means that clear-cut. Depends entirely on where you want to fly.

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

It's by no means that clear-cut. Depends entirely on where you want to fly.

I'd argue about that. The cost of LM is absolutely the lowest when they do 100% bonus promotions. Now with the AA devaluation the number of miles required in the LM reward chart is on par with other major programs (AS is less but much more expensive to buy)

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'd argue about that. The cost of LM is absolutely the lowest when they do 100% bonus promotions. Now with the AA devaluation the number of miles required in the LM reward chart is on par with other major programs (AS is less but much more expensive to buy)

Yup. Even tho some of AA's post devaluation number looks similar to LM (eg. 40k in J to Asia, 85k to Europe), AA miles sells at 2.0-2.1 cents each and you have to buy a whole chunk to get that price! LM on the other hand sells at 1.45-1.65 cents each, so already 25% cheaper, and you only have to buy a small portion and top up with cash later, so there is no need to buy hundreds of thousands of miles.

I know people that have bought millions of AA miles hoping to fly EY apartment someday. Now they are in trouble. They have to try to burn it in the next 4 months. With LM, you only need to by 40-50k if you want stockpiling.

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'd argue about that.

"Location: Sydney" may be part of that.

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

"Location: Sydney" may be part of that.

May be. Is there anyone here who doesn't live in Sydney? -

it it may be different for locations outside of East Coast - where are you and what other programs work for you better? Care to share?

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

My Australian bases are Canberra or Adelaide. A typical long trip for me will involve a mix of programs, and I don't necessarily see that changing because of this devaluation. Being able to fly QF from ADL or CBR at the start of a trip and then stay overnight with it all on the same itinerary is one AAdvantage feature I use quite often. And I don't think Australia to Singapore is a strong point of LifeMiles any more, I personally was not able to use a KUL-xx_-SIN-SYD screenshot to get them to let me book SIN-SYD.

SYD-HND on NH J is great value, but I still need to get to Sydney. When JL has the F cabin, I'll personally get better value out of CBR-SYD-NRT-xx_ in J/F. I much prefer that to TG F.

Japan to the US in JL F will still be good value after the AA devaluation, and again I can tack on a domestic leg in the US which is much harder to do with LifeMiles. Horses for courses.

 

[tania73]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I think we should all make a pact to wait until CyberMonday to buy miles - hoping for an extra bonus!!

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I think we should all make a pact to wait until CyberMonday to buy miles - hoping for an extra bonus!!

Agreed. We have until Dec 20 to decide. So if no redemption in mind there is no rush. Although I would also factor in exchange rate. If AUD hit 73 cents I think it would be time to buy.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

My Australian bases are Canberra or Adelaide. A typical long trip for me will involve a mix of programs, and I don't necessarily see that changing because of this devaluation. Being able to fly QF from ADL or CBR at the start of a trip and then stay overnight with it all on the same itinerary is one AAdvantage feature I use quite often. And I don't think Australia to Singapore is a strong point of LifeMiles any more, I personally was not able to use a KUL-xx_-SIN-SYD screenshot to get them to let me book SIN-SYD.

SYD-HND on NH J is great value, but I still need to get to Sydney. When JL has the F cabin, I'll personally get better value out of CBR-SYD-NRT-xx_ in J/F. I much prefer that to TG F.

Japan to the US in JL F will still be good value after the AA devaluation, and again I can tack on a domestic leg in the US which is much harder to do with LifeMiles. Horses for courses.

Your itinerary of CBR-SYD-NRT-xx_ will depend on where the xx_ is. If in Asia, great! But to US and Europe may not be so great. To Europe it'll cost you $4600 USD rt, or $7000 AUD. If to US, it will be 160k miles, or $6400 USD rt, which you might as well buy a revenue ticket.

I agree to SIN isn't LM's strength, but that's cuz of SQ being the cough, not LM's fault. If I have to go to SIN I simply use KF, and that's why we need multiple programs.

The argument here is not about which program is more convenient but on LM being the only viable cheap option for premium travel. JAL F from Japan to US that you consider as "good value" will be 200k miles return, or $4000 USD (~$6500 AUD) vs ANA F that costs 180k return or $2700. A saving of $1300 USD (almost $2000 AUD!). For the saving I wouldn't mind a bit of inconvenience.

I'm not from SYD but from BNE. So I know the pain of needing to buy a separate ticket to depart from SYD. But I find it still cheaper doing it that way.

 

[Finale]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

The argument here is not about which program is more convenient but on LM being the only viable cheap option for premium travel. JAL F from Japan to US that you consider as "good value" will be 200k miles return, or $4000 USD (~$6500 AUD) vs ANA F that costs 180k return or $2700. A saving of $1300 USD (almost $2000 AUD!). For the saving I wouldn't mind a bit of inconvenience.

Isn't it 80K (from 62.5k) one way on JAL F Japan to US? LM is still cheaper though and heard ANA is better.

I'm glad we did Europe early this year and sorted out one more for next year using AA miles and won't be going there for a while.

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Isn't it 80K (from 62.5k) one way on JAL F Japan to US?

Yep. As I said, horses for courses. Given US immigration I like to be on the same itinerary when transferring to a US domestic flight, and I find that easier to do with AA. So next trip to the US I'm using AA to get there and LM to get back to Japan.

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

The argument here is not about which program is more convenient but on LM being the only viable cheap option for premium travel.

I stand by it not being as clear-cut as you claim.

You're out by 20% on the figure for JAL. So call it USD3200 for JL versus USD2700 for NH. For that extra USD500 I can get domestic legs in the US and Japan at both ends.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I stand by it not being as clear-cut as you claim.

You're out by 20% on the figure for JAL. So call it USD3200 for JL versus USD2700 for NH. For that extra USD500 I can get domestic legs in the US and Japan at both ends.

Oops, read the chart wrong. My apology.

You are right, horses for courses and if the origins and destinations are not major cities and if the itinerary suits you, by all means, buy AA miles. I also agree that on one should be stuck on just one FFP, needs multiple programs to make it work.

That said, I won't be rushing to buy AA miles this time around. Like UA, I believe they'll realize by devaluing their chart they will lose a lot of business in mile sells, and higher bonuses will come. UA used to be very stingy with their bonuses and didn't come very frequently. But this year it's on sale almost every month, and bonus up to 85%!!!

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I stand by it not being as clear-cut as you claim.

You're out by 20% on the figure for JAL. So call it USD3200 for JL versus USD2700 for NH. For that extra USD500 I can get domestic legs in the US and Japan at both ends.

You can do exactly the same thing with LM - domestic legs in the USA (on UA) and in Japan (on ANA) will be included as long as the connection is under 8 hours, and most of them are
so with all other things being equal, LM is cheaper

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

You can do exactly the same thing with LM - domestic legs in the USA (on UA) and in Japan (on ANA) will be included as long as the connection is under 8 hours, and most of them are
so with all other things being equal, LM is cheaper

Except LM doesn't allow mixed class. So for business class TPAC it can be very difficult finding a connecting flight in the USA or China. For F it's fine. The recerse is true for Europe - can fly there in F but can't connect from the gateway.

 

[incumbent]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

You can do exactly the same thing with LM - domestic legs in the USA (on UA) and in Japan (on ANA) will be included as long as the connection is under 8 hours, and most of them are
so with all other things being equal, LM is cheaper

I've never been able to find domestic NH in J or F on LM, hence it can't be combined.