Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[coolkid101]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

thanks my post was about the previous promo where the bonus was 25-35%
i got 40% offer in the latest round of offers direct from LM
posted just above about OMAATs 40% as well for others who got less than 40% in this latest round.

140% here if interested LifeMiles

 

[Flashback]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

With the recent changes, what's considered to be the sweet spot in number of miles required for AU-Europe return in J (or F)? Are there issues in 1 person buying and then booking for 2 (think some people have reported issues with that before)?

Award chart says 92,500 one way in J and 120,000 one way in F. Are C+P bookings still the best bet?

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

With the recent changes, what's considered to be the sweet spot in number of miles required for AU-Europe return in J (or F)? Are there issues in 1 person buying and then booking for 2 (think some people have reported issues with that before)?

I have booked for 2 several times via my account with no issues, both directly via the website as well as screenshot bookings.

 

[jgm]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

With the recent changes, what's considered to be the sweet spot in number of miles required for AU-Europe return in J (or F)? Are there issues in 1 person buying and then booking for 2 (think some people have reported issues with that before)?

Award chart says 92,500 one way in J and 120,000 one way in F. Are C+P bookings still the best bet?

1. No issues with 1 booking for 2.
2. C+P still the best unless you buy 100,000 or more. With the current offer, buying over 100,000 costs US 14.35c/mile - under that it goes up from 15.34 c/mile. With C+P the additional when you redeem at the sweet spot are 15 c/mile.

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

1. No issues with 1 booking for 2.
2. C+P still the best unless you buy 100,000 or more. With the current offer, buying over 100,000 costs US 14.35c/mile - under that it goes up from 15.34 c/mile. With C+P the additional when you redeem at the sweet spot are 15 c/mile.

I think you may have the decimal point in the wrong spot. From memory the current promo is about 1.4c/mile. I don't have the calcs in front of me, but on my recent purchase return to Japan in J it was cheaper to buy the miles outright rather than use C+P

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So just doubled checked and assuming my math is right, the best you can get when buying miles at the checkout with C+P is ~1.6c/mile USD vs ~1.35c/mile if you use the current OMAAT 140% bonus and purcahse more than 100,000 miles which you will need assuming you want 2pax return to Europe. So assuming you can find availability and book straight away you are better just buying the points, even in the next tier down it is still better value to just buy the miles to start with.

 

[Buzzard]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I've booked for 2 pax from my account and not been one of the travellers.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So just doubled checked and assuming my math is right, the best you can get when buying miles at the checkout with C+P is ~1.6c/mile USD vs ~1.35c/mile if you use the current OMAAT 140% bonus and purcahse more than 100,000 miles which you will need assuming you want 2pax return to Europe. So assuming you can find availability and book straight away you are better just buying the points, even in the next tier down it is still better value to just buy the miles to start with.

I'm still getting 1.5c for cash plus + pay at the sweet spot. If you are buying the higher band of miles to qualify for the top bonus, you might save a few fractions of a cent buying all up in advance. As long as you are buying now. But at lower levels, or for future travel, the trade-off is that you only need to outlay just over 40% of the money now, the difference is minimal, and the interest you earn with the balance sitting in the bank off-sets the difference.

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'm still getting 1.5c for cash plus + pay at the sweet spot. If you are buying the higher band of miles to qualify for the top bonus, you might save a few fractions of a cent buying all up in advance. As long as you are buying now. But at lower levels, or for future travel, the trade-off is that you only need to outlay just over 40% of the money now, the difference is minimal, and the interest you earn with the balance sitting in the bank off-sets the difference.

Yup 100%, it only makes sense to buy upfront if you have flights ready to go. If you are speculative buying then it isn't too bad a deal to do C+P. Sorry, I probably wasn't clear when I said C+P was ~1.6c/mile vs buying direct at ~1.35c/mile I was referring to the cost of the additional miles not the average cost of both transactions if that makes sense. But those few fractions of a cent add up when you are talking about buying 144,000 miles (60% of a return F to Europe) ~$360usd in that particular scenario.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Yup 100%, it only makes sense to buy upfront if you have flights ready to go. If you are speculative buying then it isn't too bad a deal to do C+P. Sorry, I probably wasn't clear when I said C+P was ~1.6c/mile vs buying direct at ~1.35c/mile I was referring to the cost of the additional miles not the average cost of both transactions if that makes sense. But those few fractions of a cent add up when you are talking about buying 144,000 miles (60% of a return F to Europe) ~$360usd in that particular scenario.

The cost of the additional miles is 1.5 cents each at the sweet spot. That's excluding the cost of any miles you may have purchased at another time.

It's possible using C+P that the total cost of the miles (all up for the total transaction) is less than 1.5c if you had remaining miles left from an earlier purchase at 1.35 cents each.

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

The cost of the additional miles is 1.5 cents each at the sweet spot. That's excluding the cost of any miles you may have purchased at another time.

It's possible using C+P that the total cost of the miles (all up for the total transaction) is less than 1.5c if you had remaining miles left from an earlier purchase at 1.35 cents each.

I stand corrected, I didn't think you could get the 1.5c/mile anymore, I assumed you were averaging out the cost.

Still, event at a 0.0015 delta it adds up to a few hundred dollars, so provided you are whiling to book now I still say it is a better deal to buy the miles outright. In saying that I don't generally speculatively buy lifemiles as the promos are fairly predictable and come around often enough.

 

[jgm]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

My maths was wrong. Shift the decimal point one place to the right for the correct prices. If only the A$ would get back to last year's peak.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

if you use the current OMAAT 140% bonus and purcahse more than 100,000 miles which you will need assuming you want 2pax return to Europe.

Just wondering, I get the 40% bonus just when I log into LM and select 101,000 points to buy..

Do you get that ? or do you need OMAAT

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just wondering, I get the 40% bonus just when I log into LM and select 101,000 points to buy..

Do you get that ? or do you need OMAAT

I believe some people got a targeted 140% bonus during this promotion. I personally didn't get that and actually purchased miles before the OMAAT promo, but ist still worked out as I got in before the raised the redemption rates from Aus - Japan

But if you are showing 140% already, you should be good to go.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I believe some people got a targeted 140% bonus during this promotion. I personally didn't get that and actually purchased miles before the OMAAT promo, but ist still worked out as I got in before the raised the redemption rates from Aus - Japan

But if you are showing 140% already, you should be good to go.

I got the +25% email but when I log in I get the 40% bonus..

Still amazes me this LM website / business

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I got the +25% email but when I log in I get the 40% bonus..

Still amazes me this LM website / business

Maybe it's just me, but I kinda enjoy the fun little curve balls Lifemiles has thrown at me

 

[Deleted member 29185]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

What do you Life Miles experts think about this thread having a wiki? I'm all at sea with so much about Life Miles and the thread is so long I haven't the time to keep backtracking to find the missing piece(s).

Would I be correct in assuming some critical points would be:
1. Sweet spots
2. Promo value
3. Best partner airlines for redemption possibility
4. Best way to find available redemptions
5. Screen shot method

Others?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

What do you Life Miles experts think about this thread having a wiki? I'm all at sea with so much about Life Miles and the thread is so long I haven't the time to keep backtracking to find the missing piece(s).

Would I be correct in assuming some critical points would be:
1. Sweet spots
2. Promo value
3. Best partner airlines for redemption possibility
4. Best way to find available redemptions
5. Screen shot method

Others?

A wiki is usually a good idea. But it takes work.

To answer your questions very simply...

Sweet spots: awards require minimum 40% of miles in your account. The rest can be topped up with cash. But the cash value varies. Use the slider to achieve the cash value at 1.5c per mile, which is usually one or two levels above the min 40% level. If you are booking an award immediately, buying the max miles in a promo will be the best value. If you are buying now to book later, miles plus cash offers some protection to your funds as you're only investing 40% in miles now.

Promo value: with the double miles plus 40% you get around the 1.35-1.375 cents per mile range. If you max out at the miles at the top of the promo. Marginally more expensive buying miles under the max.

Best partner airlines: Thai - which has the best availability. But it depends on route. Ex Asia and Europe others like Turkish and EVA are good.

Finding availability: Lifemiles is clunky to find availability. Use the United airlines tool instead. Look for saver awards. Then check the specific day on Lifemiles. Exclude results in United that include Air China. Singapore airlines is not available for long haul premium travel on lifemiles.

Screenshot: because lifemiles is clunky and has glitches it often shows no availability where there actually is. If Melbourne-Paris doesn't show as a single option, you can search for MEL-BKK and BKK-CDG separately. You then send these screenshots in to Lifemiles support (showing each leg available), along with the MEL-CDG showing nothing. You'll need to send other stuff like a colour photocopy of your passport. They call you back to take payment.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

A wiki is usually a good idea. But it takes work.

To answer your questions very simply...

Thanks MEL_Traveller. As usual, the information given is very much appreciated. The reason I suggested a wiki is that the info can be easily found and added to, or corrected as things change. A single post gets lost after a few weeks. Things like the recent reward changes could be fairly easily updated to stay current, but as a yet-to-use Avianca flyer, I guess all I need is some practice!

 

[jayel]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

A wiki is usually a good idea. But it takes work.

To answer your questions very simply...

...Finding availability: ...Singapore airlines is not available for long haul premium travel on lifemiles.

Thanks very good summary

For SG, is there absolutely no space made available to lifemiles ex melbourne? I've been trying to find some. I have seen availability from another east coast city in J to singapore (with a trick to) so it may not be a blanket rule. does lifemiles SG availability match united? If so it could be an availability issue but it would be good to know if searching is futile.