Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

When you buy at above US$ parity there is very little risk. I managed to warehouse ~350k when the A$ was above US$1.05 which gave us return J to Europe for around A$2k each. If we ever get above .90 again I will be sweating on another promo.

Of course! If AUD goes above parity again (I don't anticipate it for the next 20 years), I would warehouse all FFP. Not just LM, AA, UA, AS, everything I can get my hands on. Unfortunately when AUD was above parity I wasn't in the game yet....

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I managed to warehouse ~350k when the A$ was above US$1.05 which gave us return J to Europe for around A$2k each.

I don't think it was ever close to that cheap. In those days the best promos were 100%. You were probably looking at about A$2400 in cost of miles + taxes...e.g. UK return in the heyday cost me about $2800. Unless you were flying a tricked route, in which case you could get to the EU oneway in J for $600!

Now with promos running at +140% and even higher LM is taking SOME of the sting out of that exchange rate pain, although the miles cost is still about +30%.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Thanks for letting us know. So what we know from all the reports here, it seems with screenshots you can be as creative as you like with the itinerary. It's basically the new USDM! Only caveat is the no mixed cabin rule and still no stopover, but can have one way which USDM didn't allow.

This is something that even the "professional" bloggers don't know!

I would agree that you can be as creative as you want with screenshots, but there is no guarantee or rules that support highly creative routes. And hence not a leg to stand on if you don't get the answer you want.

 

[smit0847]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I would agree that you can be as creative as you want with screenshots, but there is no guarantee or rules that support highly creative routes. And hence not a leg to stand on if you don't get the answer you want.

Thats the exact reason USDM was so intoxicating....

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Thats the exact reason USDM was so intoxicating....

Indeed - except with USDM you could actually achieve/adapt your itinerary in real time. An operator would sit on the phone and allow/disallow a particular routing.

Using screenshots makes that a little more complicated.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Indeed - except with USDM you could actually achieve/adapt your itinerary in real time. An operator would sit on the phone and allow/disallow a particular routing.

Using screenshots makes that a little more complicated.

Of course the creativity has to be within reason. But so far based on all reports, it seems that all screenshots have been approved even crazy routings like BNE-YVR-HND.

My guess would be, you can combine any routing of 2 screenshots but not 3.

With regards to the 8 hr layover rule, has anyone been rejected using the screenshot method? It was rejected by phone agents cuz what they see is what we see online and they have no ability to manually combine 2 flights for you. However, the email agents that handles screenshots can manually combine 2 flights so they can do >8hr layover.

There is nowhere in the T&C that says anything about the 8hr layover rule other than saying no stopover allowed. But I would love to hear from anyone who has been refused booking with layover > 8hrs using screenshot method.

 

[robd]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Umm'd and arr'd about purchasing with the latest offer. Topped up with 15k (36k with bonus).

Time will tell if it was a good decision.

 

[boomy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

There is also FRA to HND on several dates.

Indeed - I just booked one today.

Thanks guys, got it and booked it

Will be interesting to compare LH F to EY apartments which I just did on the outbound.

 

[PLC]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

The Cyber Weekend sale still seems to be active...for anyone that's interested.

 

[annielee]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

still deciding whether to purchase or not.. im planning for europe travel end of next year...

 

[robd]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

still deciding whether to purchase or not.. im planning for europe travel end of next year...

FX @ .728 and 140% bonus. Won't get much better in the current climate. You only need 40% of redemption miles + co-pay, but traditionally, 50% is the sweet spot (at the same fx rate or above).

 

[annielee]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

which is why im planning to buy mayb 30k miles only (72k with bonus).. still have 60k miles in my account

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Will be interesting to compare LH F to EY apartments which I just did on the outbound.

That actually will be an interesting comparison!

The LH hard product won't be able to compete in terms of cabin lay-out (privacy), but service-wise LH is quite unique.

 

[st4ff]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Has anyone else noticed that TG availability from BKK to MEL/SYD seems to be blocked from 2nd Jan 2016 and onwards? Prior to that it is more or less wide open.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Has anyone else noticed that TG availability from BKK to MEL/SYD seems to be blocked from 2nd Jan 2016 and onwards? Prior to that it is more or less wide open.

Yup. If you use the UA calendar you will see a sea of white squares for Jan 2016...and a return to normal service on Feb 1. Seems like it might be a new policy for TG, not great for Xmas bookings.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Yup. If you use the UA calendar you will see a sea of white squares for Jan 2016...and a return to normal service on Feb 1. Seems like it might be a new policy for TG, not great for Xmas bookings.

That's normal. That means the demand for revenue is actually there for BKK to SYD/MEL. It's actually good news. This means TG is likely to maintain F to SYD and possibly upgrade MEL.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

That's normal.

It's not normal for TG to block out the whole of January, I've never had an issue doing xx_-BKK-MEL a few days after NY before. But I understand what you're saying...TG hopefully thinks that this year they can actually sell the seats, although I would've thought mid Jan was not a particularly peak travel period even if the beginning and the end of the month are.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

It's not normal for TG to block out the whole of January, I've never had an issue doing xx_-BKK-MEL a few days after NY before. But I understand what you're saying...TG hopefully thinks that this year they can actually sell the seats, although I would've thought mid Jan was not a particularly peak travel period even if the beginning and the end of the month are.

TG would probably be the only airline in the world with peak business and first class if that was the case. Economy yes, but that's the time of year most airlines are discounting their premium cabins. QF included IIRC.

Maybe TG is planning on rolling fwd cabins during that time. Or offering cheap upgrades.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

It's not normal for TG to block out the whole of January, I've never had an issue doing xx_-BKK-MEL a few days after NY before. But I understand what you're saying...TG hopefully thinks that this year they can actually sell the seats, although I would've thought mid Jan was not a particularly peak travel period even if the beginning and the end of the month are.

What I meant by normal is that during peak seasons airlines block award seats. These are the return flights to Australia so you expect people returning from their holidays.

True it's unusual for any airlines to block premium cabins. But if the demand for economy is high, some people may have no choice but buy business class, especially if TG is giving a discount.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

What I meant by normal is that during peak seasons airlines block award seats.

Yes I know this. But it tends to be a lot more subtle (specific date ranges) than the entire month of January all of which isn't really peak, especially in the premium cabins as mentioned. This is a new thing for TG, certainly in the 6 years that I've been playing.