Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[casanovawa]

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

Hmmm, always the risk of holding points and do they have any minimum warning times of changes su ch as this?? Probably not...

 

[kkl]

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

Avianca has issued a new partner redemption chart. Modest increases in some zones. Australia to SE Asia seems unchanged.

Could you please post a link of the new changes? Cant seem to find it.

But it seems F from FRA -> BKK has increased by 2500.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

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

Hmmm, always the risk of holding points and do they have any minimum warning times of changes su ch as this?? Probably not...

there is no minimum warning time. the increase seems to have taken effect early May from what I read.

some awards haven't changed, but flying around Asia can add an extra couple thousand points (on the points plus pay option) and if course more cash to top up. my most recent award from china to thailand has increased by 10k which in dollar terms is about $120 all up (4000 extra points + cash top out for the other 6000)

kkl... the 'link' is the new award chart itself.

 

[smit0847]

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

Avianca has issued a new partner redemption chart. Modest increases in some zones. Australia to SE Asia seems unchanged.

No - it's gone up 5K return (i.e. now 95k rather than 90k). A short warning of the price rise by LM (say 7 days) would have been an excellent PR exercise instead of p*ssing off their customer by doing it without warning (second points increase in 6 months).

I guess I shouldn't complain - flights I wanted that were not available on LM a month ago for March 2014 are now mysteriously available since the price rise. Is this normal? I thought availability was loaded 330(ish) days out and once it was gone it was gone - it didn't just appear at a later date?

 

[markis10]

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

I guess I shouldn't complain - flights I wanted that were not available on LM a month ago for March 2014 are now mysteriously available since the price rise. Is this normal? I thought availability was loaded 330(ish) days out and once it was gone it was gone - it didn't just appear at a later date?

Yield control often will look at a flight a different times in the months leading up to its departure and release more award seats if its looking light.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

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

No - it's gone up 5K return (i.e. now 95k rather than 90k). A short warning of the price rise by LM (say 7 days) would have been an excellent PR exercise instead of p*ssing off their customer by doing it without warning (second points increase in 6 months).

it went to that level in the previous un-announced increase not this one.

 

[smit0847]

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

Yield control often will look at a flight a different times in the months leading up to its departure and release more award seats if its looking light.

I'm glad they did. My complicated itinerary just got a whole lot easier

 

[travelislife]

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

it went to that level in the previous un-announced increase not this one.

This is correct, has been 47.5k one way for a while now for Australia to South-East Asia, no changes this time round there.

 

[smit0847]

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

Lifemiles has now made a second price increase in less than a week. The cost of using 'max pay' has now increased by around 17% meaning that it is now more expensive to use 'min points, max pay' than using just points. This means the 2-4-1 points sales will even more important as it is now the cheapest way to fly.

Ever since AV joined *A I don't think they have had any respect for their members, nor have their members had any respect for them. They've always been considered a bit of a joke - third world website and phone support, and people only use them because they're cheaper than USDM for some routes. With US leaving *A they're the only real *A option to buy points to redeem for J and F, otherwise I would probably forget about them and move onto something else.

 

[smit0847]

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

I keep getting this same error message: Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support.

when I search for a simple return yet it works when I do them as 2 x one ways (tried multiple times on multiple computers, cleared cookies etc).


I wanted to book it as a return to avoid paying 2 x booking fees but I also want to avoid calling the call centre to book if necessary - will they charge me more to book a return in booking fees if I call through the call centre, or should I just pay the extra $50 and book it as 2 x one ways to save time?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

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

Ever since AV joined *A I don't think they have had any respect for their members, nor have their members had any respect for them. They've always been considered a bit of a joke - third world website and phone support, and people only use them because they're cheaper than USDM for some routes. With US leaving *A they're the only real *A option to buy points to redeem for J and F, otherwise I would probably forget about them and move onto something else.

not sure i understand this venom? you're buying premium class tickets for pennies, but complain? beggars can't be choosers they say.

it's a great deal.

 

[smit0847]

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

not sure i understand this venom? you're buying premium class tickets for pennies, but complain? beggars can't be choosers they say.

it's a great deal.

Not so much venom - more an observation. Members seem to have always treated LMs with no respect - it seems like only now LMs are returning the favour.

A simple, short warning about price rises by LMs would have gone a long way.......

 

[Aussie_flyer]

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

not sure i understand this venom? you're buying premium class tickets for pennies, but complain? beggars can't be choosers they say.

it's a great deal.

The cost of Australia - Asia has increased significantly all without warning. It is definitely worth complaining about. Yes it's still a good deal, but it's nowhere near as good as it was. Its USD1600 now for australia-s.e asia return. It was circa $1250 when they joined Star Alliance.

 

[smit0847]

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

The cost of Australia - Asia has increased significantly all without warning. It is definitely worth complaining about. Yes it's still a good deal, but it's nowhere near as good as it was. Its USD1600 now for australia-s.e asia return. It was circa $1250 when they joined Star Alliance.

Im calculating it's currently $1450 (all miles), $1497 (min miles max pay) incl booking fees excl taxes......

 

[hummel]

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

Im calculating it's currently $1450 (all miles), $1497 (min miles max pay) incl booking fees excl taxes......

Is that Asia as in China? $1600 RTN J is pretty good but I know where you're coming from!

 

[travelislife]

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

Im calculating it's currently $1450 (all miles), $1497 (min miles max pay) incl booking fees excl taxes......

I booked all inclusive of taxes MEL-BKK-MEL the other day before this with min miles max pay at $1405 I think it was including all the fees etc. Haven't tried since but should probably see what the difference is.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

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

The cost of Australia - Asia has increased significantly all without warning. It is definitely worth complaining about. Yes it's still a good deal, but it's nowhere near as good as it was. Its USD1600 now for australia-s.e asia return. It was circa $1250 when they joined Star Alliance.

as smit0847 points out it is now cheaper to use miles only rather than miles plus $. Australia to Asia is $1425 (before taxes fees and charges) for buying 2-4-1 vs $1468 for miles plus co-pay (with base miles at 2-4-1)

the co-pay has gone from $722 a few weeks ago to $898 now. but at least the base miles have stayed the same.

anyway, the choice remains whether to use LM or not. at that base price to Asia it's starting to compete against a ticket outright on the likes of royal Brunei or Garuda.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

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

as smit0847 points out it is now cheaper to use miles only rather than miles plus $. Australia to Asia is $1425 (before taxes fees and charges) for buying 2-4-1 vs $1468 for miles plus co-pay (with base miles at 2-4-1)

the co-pay has gone from $722 a few weeks ago to $898 now. but at least the base miles have stayed the same.

anyway, the choice remains whether to use LM or not. at that base price to Asia it's starting to compete against a ticket outright on the likes of royal Brunei or Garuda.

plus about $100 in taxes. on mel-thailand-mel it is $1035 incl tax and booking fee, plus 38,000 miles ($570).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

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

plus about $100 in taxes. on mel-thailand-mel it is $1035 incl tax and booking fee, plus 38,000 miles ($570).

exactly... my prices above were before taxes fees and charges. so we have seen an increase of about $140 or so due to the most recent price increases (which seem to remove the ultra cheap co-pay price)

 

[Aussie_flyer]

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

exactly... my prices above were before taxes fees and charges. so we have seen an increase of about $140 or so due to the most recent price increases (which seem to remove the ultra cheap co-pay price)

since the program started it has been more than that. there was also no USD25 fee when the program started. every time the cost has gone up there has been ZERO notification. that is extremely concerning and IMO it is a deceptive practice. they are selling miles and then the following week changing the value of them. it's pathetic.