Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[Guvner]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Ha, no it was late March.

 

[boomy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Not sure how long this is going on but it's now possible to book online SQ J to/from MEL & BNE (A333/B772).

 

[Eric Barasa]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Has been there for a while.
All The 2-2-2 seat configuration flights (a333/b772) are open for star alliance.

 

[boomy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Has been there for a while.
All The 2-2-2 seat configuration flights (a333/b772) are open for star alliance.

That's great, B772s will get new J 1-2-1 later this year.

 

[Gold60]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

i am thinking of buying some Life Miles for a BIZ return trip to BKK - either direct, or via Singapore with SQ.

i think i understand how to buy the ticket from Avianca. My question relates to using other FF points i have in other accounts.

i have almost 40K points in Amex; almost 80K in VA Velocity, and just shout of 3.5K point in SQ Kris.

Can i use these other points towards my purchase so that i can buy fewer Life Miles, and also use up my existing points. i presume that if i want to do this, i would need to move my points around to the account of the airline i want to fly with - either TG or SQ, and then go to Avianca to buy the ticket using these existing points, and the points + cash (for fuel/taxes) ?

Any ideas please ? TIA.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

i am thinking of buying some Life Miles for a BIZ return trip to BKK - either direct, or via Singapore with SQ.

i think i understand how to buy the ticket from Avianca. My question relates to using other FF points i have in other accounts.

i have almost 40K points in Amex; almost 80K in VA Velocity, and just shout of 3.5K point in SQ Kris.

Can i use these other points towards my purchase so that i can buy fewer Life Miles, and also use up my existing points. i presume that if i want to do this, i would need to move my points around to the account of the airline i want to fly with - either TG or SQ, and then go to Avianca to buy the ticket using these existing points, and the points + cash (for fuel/taxes) ?

Any ideas please ? TIA.

You can't transfer miles from or through other programs to Lifemiles, or even in to lifemiles from any Aussie credit cards (as far as I know).

Singapore airlines flights will require a screenshot (if you can find them), thai is straightforward and will show straight away to be booked.

You can buy one way only with lifemiles. One option would be to use your VA points one way to BKK and then lifemiles to fly home (or v.v). You'll have to do the math on the VA/SQ award charts to see which is better for you. There is a loss of points transferring between VA and SQ.

 

[boomy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

i am thinking of buying some Life Miles for a BIZ return trip to BKK - either direct, or via Singapore with SQ.

i think i understand how to buy the ticket from Avianca. My question relates to using other FF points i have in other accounts.

i have almost 40K points in Amex; almost 80K in VA Velocity, and just shout of 3.5K point in SQ Kris.

Can i use these other points towards my purchase so that i can buy fewer Life Miles, and also use up my existing points. i presume that if i want to do this, i would need to move my points around to the account of the airline i want to fly with - either TG or SQ, and then go to Avianca to buy the ticket using these existing points, and the points + cash (for fuel/taxes) ?

Any ideas please ? TIA.

No need to buy more miles. If you transfer your MR and VA points to SQ you should have ~100K miles, enough to book J return to BKK after 15% online discount (93,500 KF + taxes).

 

[Raymond]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Do you guys have any idea when the next special will be? We've ran out of points and need to book a flight really soon (our mistake for not buying during the last special).

Back when I researched this all last, it seems USDM was also an option for cheap J flights, but I haven't really kept up with it all. Are there any good alternatives to Lifemiles?

Thanks!

 

[Gold60]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

thank you boomy, I'll keep this in mind........

 

[Gold60]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Thank you MT - I'll chew my way through your advice..............

You can't transfer miles from or through other programs to Lifemiles, or even in to lifemiles from any Aussie credit cards (as far as I know).

Singapore airlines flights will require a screenshot (if you can find them), thai is straightforward and will show straight away to be booked.

You can buy one way only with lifemiles. One option would be to use your VA points one way to BKK and then lifemiles to fly home (or v.v). You'll have to do the math on the VA/SQ award charts to see which is better for you. There is a loss of points transferring between VA and SQ.

 

[Eric Barasa]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

You can now transfer SPG points to LifeMiles at the usual 1:1 rate (5k bonus for 20k SPG transfers)

there is also a convoluted way to get MR points to LifeMiles (MR ->Marriot -> SPG -> LifeMiles)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

You can now transfer SPG points to LifeMiles at the usual 1:1 rate (5k bonus for 20k SPG transfers)

there is also a convoluted way to get MR points to LifeMiles (MR ->Marriot -> SPG -> LifeMiles)

I stand corrected!

 

[bwhouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Do you guys have any idea when the next special will be? We've ran out of points and need to book a flight really soon (our mistake for not buying during the last special).

Back when I researched this all last, it seems USDM was also an option for cheap J flights, but I haven't really kept up with it all. Are there any good alternatives to Lifemiles?

Thanks!

No guarantees, but they tend to offer a special in Feb (or at least they have for the last 2 years) and then again in May.

 

[Kremmen]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

i am thinking of buying some Life Miles for a BIZ return trip to BKK - either direct, or via Singapore with SQ.
i think i understand how to buy the ticket from Avianca.

Assuming you could transfer the miles why would you use Avianca for this? Their SE Asia J is 40k each way. United charges 30k each way with the option of an extra stopover.

 

[Gold60]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I am not entirely sure what the answer is to be honest. i think i have a lot to learn here. i will have a look at the United thing. Thanks for the tip.

Assuming you could transfer the miles why would you use Avianca for this? Their SE Asia J is 40k each way. United charges 30k each way with the option of an extra stopover.

 

[annielee]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

you have to consider the promotion as well, then it will bring down point per cent/$ :
- Lifemiles (100%-140%) usually got better promotion than United (40%-100%)
- United only allow stopover for return ticket
- SQ redemption with United, will be 'priced' separately
- Lifemiles is troublesome coz need screenshot method if u cant find the 'end to end' ticket..

So it's all up to you on which program you want to use..

Assuming you could transfer the miles why would you use Avianca for this? Their SE Asia J is 40k each way. United charges 30k each way with the option of an extra stopover.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I am not entirely sure what the answer is to be honest. i think i have a lot to learn here. i will have a look at the United thing. Thanks for the tip.

United is cheaper to South East Asia (30K in business compared to 40K through lifemiles). To North Asia UA and LM are the same 40K. UA is much more generous with routing options and airlines than lifemiles, although with lifemiles you can sometimes get singapore airlines (you won't see these on UA, rather you have to call).

The downside however is that United rarely has 100% bonus offers, and never the 140% offers that LM has. LM offers 100% bonus frequently.

The downside for Lifemiles is booking connections which may require a screenshot.

(I see annielee just beat me to it )

 

[Kremmen]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

- Lifemiles is troublesome coz need screenshot method if u cant find the 'end to end' ticket..

Do LM have routing rules listed anywhere? I've used UA MileagePlus for years (originally by crediting flights to them and later by topping up when there's a 100% bonus offer or similar) and have only looked at LM as an option. With UA, you can simply book, say, PER-SEA online. With LM, it either says nothing is available, or shows SQ Y on PER-SIN as the start of the only option, even when PER-SEA options (starting with TG PER-BKK, not SQ, of course) are available through UA. Even simple routes like MEL-SIN shows as unavailable on LM, when UA shows MEL-BKK-SIN. Apart from how incredibly tedious it is, how do you know if the screenshot method will work at all?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Do LM have routing rules listed anywhere? I've used UA MileagePlus for years (originally by crediting flights to them and later by topping up when there's a 100% bonus offer or similar) and have only looked at LM as an option. With UA, you can simply book, say, PER-SEA online. With LM, it either says nothing is available, or shows SQ Y on PER-SIN as the start of the only option, even when PER-SEA options (starting with TG PER-BKK, not SQ, of course) are available through UA. Even simple routes like MEL-SIN shows as unavailable on LM, when UA shows MEL-BKK-SIN. Apart from how incredibly tedious it is, how do you know if the screenshot method will work at all?

Lifemiles doesn't publish routing rules.

Lifemiles shows very limited SQ availability... there's some, but not a lot. PER-SIN is usually one of the better routes. In theory SQ 'premium' flights are blocked for LM as they are for other *A partners, but some have been lucky on getting allocated these flights after using the screenshot method.

Lifemiles at the moment shows very limited connections. In most cases you have to piece your itinerary together sector by sector, take screenshots of all those individual sectors (showing availability), and then another screen shot of the end-to-end showing no availability (for example you screen shot PER-BKK, BKK-SEA, then another screenshot showing PER-BKK coming back 'unavailable'). You send those all off to LM support and they will book it and call you for payment. In some of these cases LM has responded with a different set of flights to the screen shots sent in, and sometimes this includes SQ flights.

In some cases connections may show from the beginning, in others they only show after you select the specific airline from the drop-down box.

LM is always the final arbiter of routing rules. You can't go crazy like some of the options UA will offer (for example they allow MEL-PVG-BKK), but once you send in screenshots LM will generally come back with either the flights you have requested, OR, with a reasonable (more direct) alternative.

In addition to SQ limits, Air China is currently blocked from redemption.

 

[Kremmen]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

LM is always the final arbiter of routing rules. You can't go crazy like some of the options UA will offer (for example they allow MEL-PVG-BKK), but once you send in screenshots LM will generally come back with either the flights you have requested, OR, with a reasonable (more direct) alternative.

In addition to SQ limits, Air China is currently blocked from redemption.

UA doesn't allowing going through North Asia to get to South Asia any more, so MEL-PVG-BKK is no longer valid. (Unfortunately, that makes some places impossible to get to (e.g. CEB) when the only *A carriers are from North Asia (e.g. OZ/CA/NH.)

Sad about Air China. CA's a useful option to have.