Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[Nizar]

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

It's not being made out to be 'more serious than it is'. It's just pointing out how bloody stupid it is to discuss things like this on open forums. But by all means go ahead.

Lol easy tiger

 

[bcworld]

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

Can't see anything special about ABJ at all. Perhaps it is time to shut the gate?

ABJ has been in the correct zone for a long time now.

 

[burmans]

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

ABJ has been in the correct zone for a long time now.

Yes the gate has been closed and we should expect this will continue.

 

[bcworld]

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

Yes the gate has been closed and we should expect this will continue.

Of course it will. For each of these types of destinations you have to ask, how long will it be before someone legitimately wants to travel to ABJ from say BRU and complains that it's pricing up way higher than it should. Now clearly, AV is somewhat inept when it comes to this stuff, and if calling in you'd probably get told that the website is right end of...but eventually someone will pass the message on. One by one they'll all disappear although it is surprising how long it's taking!

 

[Shanye2233]

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

Can't see anything special about ABJ at all. Perhaps it is time to shut the gate?

I think I was the last to go thru . It was 25k in J when I booked it , then it went to 37.5k I think. And this was back in the day where the 40/60 split the miles were about $12 per 1000 .

Still you have fuj I gave you and I think maj is still available plus many others . The airlines know your on a award ticket but they do not know how many points you paid

 

[ozbeachbabe]

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

Not a good idea. You need visas for gum and if you turn up at the airport without them in hope of spilling this story and it doesn't fly then what do you do. I arrived and spend a hour trying this story when my destination was abj.

What I ended up doing at the airport on the ipad was book a refundable ticket out if abj back to bru and therefore didnt require any visas because I was only transiting for 3 hours in abj . Then in the air NZ lounge I cancelled the flights . I also had a 7 hour connection in Brussels so I had to take my checked bags off anyway.

Something to think about if you get really stuck.

I don't want to get too much into the 'Ivory Coast affair' however I'm guessing that you neither had a return ticket nor a visa which was the issue.

Personally I have never noshowed on any award ticket to a final destination with the intent to stop at an interim point as I think it's all part of the adventure to go somewhere interesting. However, if was contemplating doing such I would ensure that I had fulfilled the entry requirements for the ticketed destination ie ABJ which would be a visa for the Ivory Coast & and onward ticket out of ABJ which it sounds like you didn't have. Always plan for the worst case scenario.

Now if I may offer a bit of advice regarding the other 'issue' you had with NZ MAF (Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries) or was it NZ Customs.

"Rule number 1 - the referee is always right". John Eales former Wallaby Skipper.

When I say referee, I mean any kind of official from any country who can & will make your life difficult should you tell them "your brain is not working..." etc.

www.flyertalk.com/forum/oceania-australia-new-zealand-south-pacific/1366074-customs-issues-auckland.html

 

[Shanye2233]

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

Its not a simple visa requirement . You need vaccinations as well . I can't give my kids needles which they don't need . But I do appreciate your interest in the hidden cities codes and keeping them quiet even tho you have no intention of using it haha .


With the fruit in NZ yeah it was a weird one . Looking from the outside in is alot different then actually being there .

I think we should offer any hidden cities to the members that ask what's the worse that can happen ? And I have already been there done it three times

 

[ozbeachbabe]

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

Its not a simple visa requirement . You need vaccinations as well . I can't give my kids needles which they don't need . But I do appreciate your interest in the hidden cities codes and keeping them quiet even tho you have no intention of using it haha .


With the fruit in NZ yeah it was a weird one . Looking from the outside in is alot different then actually being there .

I think we should offer any hidden cities to the members that ask what's the worse that can happen ? And I have already been there done it three times

You misread my post. I didn't say I wouldn't use a 'hidden city code' if that is the vernacular for making an award booking to a city that it economical on points, I said that I wouldn't try & jump ship early ie that I would fly all the sectors on the entire ticket as it's all part of the adventure.

 

[smit0847]

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

Of course it will. For each of these types of destinations you have to ask, how long will it be before someone legitimately wants to travel to ABJ from say BRU and complains that it's pricing up way higher than it should. Now clearly, AV is somewhat inept when it comes to this stuff, and if calling in you'd probably get told that the website is right end of...but eventually someone will pass the message on. One by one they'll all disappear although it is surprising how long it's taking!

I never actually thought of it like that. For all we know there could be as many people trying to book an incorrectly zoned city and being frustrated it is too high as those people trying to book it as a trick because it is too low.

Imagine if RAR was zoned as US - I think we would have fixed it up!

 

[Shanye2233]

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

My mistake . Im sure you are interested in-correct airport zones for the adventure and not actually wanting to travel to a destination you are interested in. Makes sense now.

P.S nice word vernacular haha

 

[lobo76]

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

I guess I'm just not getting this... I've looked at a couple of trips MEL-<spreadsheet city> and it doesn't seem to be any cheaper than the Expedia price (although if I were able to get the 2:1 points offer I guess it would effectively be half price?) ... am I doing it wrong? If so perhaps someone has the time to PM me a couple of tips?

 

[bcworld]

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

I guess I'm just not getting this... I've looked at a couple of trips MEL-<spreadsheet city> and it doesn't seem to be any cheaper than the Expedia price

That could well be the case. If we're talking about 12.5k miles one way then that's potentially about A$550 at non promo prices - yes, it often wouldn't make sense for Y class.

 

[casanovawa]

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

At 2-1 its not quite half price as the taxes and all stay the same for the redmption, you just get the points component at half price... And yes in Y it doesn't always make a lot of sense, although if you get to travel on a nice plane of a full service airline rather than a J* or Tiger or something it might... But with some tweaking you can get the J fairs for a decent bit cheaper sometimes...

Lets hope some of them stick around for a bit longer...

 

[smit0847]

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

I guess I'm just not getting this... I've looked at a couple of trips MEL-<spreadsheet city> and it doesn't seem to be any cheaper than the Expedia price (although if I were able to get the 2:1 points offer I guess it would effectively be half price?) ... am I doing it wrong? If so perhaps someone has the time to PM me a couple of tips?

That's why I'm not interested in the Y-only cities in the spreadsheet - its just too much effort to go for only a bit cheaper than a rev ticket and have to either try and drop the last leg (and consider visa issues etc) or end up in some random secondary airport/city you've never heard of.

Where there are J options to interesting places zoned cheaply I'm certainly interested in going all the way there and back (I would love to visit OKA for example) or where there's decent availability and flight times to hidden cities through desirable transit cities I might well consider them but they seem to be few and far between with LMs now.

LMs has the annoying feature of not showing any mixed class redemptions, meaning if your last leg is a 1 hour hop that is on an all-Y aircraft, you will only be shown Y only options even if there's plenty of J availability for the first legs and you're happy to pay J and fly the last leg in Y. I believe it also does not show any flights that leave the day after a flight arrives meaning if you land in, say ICN at 11pm, it will not show you any options where the next flight leaves at 12:30am.

There are some benefits of the program but it is very frustrating at the same time.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

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

I guess I'm just not getting this... I've looked at a couple of trips MEL- and it doesn't seem to be any cheaper than the Expedia price (although if I were able to get the 2:1 points offer I guess it would effectively be half price?) ... am I doing it wrong? If so perhaps someone has the time to PM me a couple of tips?

When you are signed in to your LM account & select flights then enter MEL to xx_ when it displays the points required this will be max points & zero cash component.

You can then click on the 'more money' button then it will reduce the points just like the slider does on the QF site.

IMHO even when you use minimum points & max cash it's still a very reasonable amount ie approx what the cash outlay would be on a US DM award ticket.

 

[gizzard]

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

You can then click on the 'more money' button then it will reduce the points just like the slider does on the QF site.
IMHO even when you use minimum points & max cash it's still a very reasonable amount ie approx what the cash outlay would be on a US DM award ticket.

As pointed out by someone else, this may not be the most economical option any more. If you have bought 1000 points at the 2:1 rate of US$15 you will find that the slider moves from US$30 per 1000 reducing but then will start to climb again. It might be best to only move the slider until the increase is no more than US$15.

 

[bcworld]

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

As pointed out by someone else, this may not be the most economical option any more. If you have bought 1000 points at the 2:1 rate of US$15 you will find that the slider moves from US$30 per 1000 reducing but then will start to climb again. It might be best to only move the slider until the increase is no more than US$15.

Yes, but it's still a good option for someone who has missed out on promos i.e. buying half the miles at $15/1000.

 

[ketsuzei]

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

(I would love to visit OKA for example)

I can highly recommend ISG, too.

 

[bcworld]

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

Partner redemption currently down for maintenance - they could all be gone in the morning!

 

[hummel]

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

Partner redemption currently down for maintenance - they could all be gone in the morning!

Exactly my thoughts... wait and see I suppose...