DEAL: Purchase Avianca LifeMiles: Up to 150% Bonus (1.34 USD-Cents per Mile) until Sep 19

Book ANA's excellent First Class with LifeMiles (Source)

Purchasing Avianca LifeMiles is once again possible with a bonus offer. Until September 19, 2024, you can buy miles with up to a 150% bonus. At best, this results in an average price of 1.34 USD-Cents per mile, slightly above the best value of similar promotions. LifeMiles, thanks to the lack of fuel surcharges, allows us to book affordable Star Alliance Business and First Class flights.

The Offer

• Bonus/Discount: Up to 150% bonus

• Offer Duration: August 22, 2024 – September 19, 2024

• Minimum Purchase: 1,000 + 1,100 miles for $34 (1.61 USD-Cents per mile)

• Maximum Purchase: 200,000 + 300,000 miles for $6,800 (1.34 USD-Cents per mile)

• Best Price: 1.34 USD-Cents per mile when purchasing 31,000 + 46,500 miles or more

Note: Offers for purchasing Avianca LifeMiles can be personalized. Therefore, it's possible you may receive a different or no bonus offer at all.

Avianca miles typically cost about 3 USD-Cents per mile and can be purchased in multiples of 1,000 miles. The price remains the same regardless of the number of miles purchased, but buying at this price is rarely worthwhile. However, Avianca LifeMiles frequently offers promotions with bonuses ranging from 120% to 170%. In the best-case scenario, a mile costs around 1.07 USD-Cents.

During this promotion, we have the opportunity to receive a bonus of up to 150%. The current offer is in the upper range of these promotions. Unlike previous offers, the bonus is tiered, with the 150% bonus available when purchasing 31,000 miles or more.

• 1,000 + 1,100 miles for $34 – 1.61 USD-Cents per mile

• 2,000 + 2,600 miles for $68 – 1.47 USD-Cents per mile

• 10,000 + 13,000 miles for $340 – 1.47 USD-Cents per mile

• 16,000 + 22,400 miles for $545 – 1.42 USD-Cents per mile

• 31,000 + 46,500 miles for $1,055 – 1.34 USD-Cents per mile

• 50,000 + 75,000 miles for $1,700 – 1.34 USD-Cents per mile

• 100,000 + 150,000 miles for $3,400 – 1.34 USD-Cents per mile

• 200,000 + 300,000 miles for $6,800 – 1.34 USD-Cents per mile

Is It Worth Buying Avianca Miles?

Avianca LifeMiles can be quite valuable when redeemed for Business and First Class flights. With a price of 1.34 USD-Cents per mile, many First Class flights can be booked at a lower cost. However, we shouldn't assume that buying miles is automatically a great deal; it's essential to have a specific redemption option in mind and to check available routes and availability beforehand. The following examples might help us assess whether the offer is worthwhile.

• ANA Business Class from Bangkok to Tokyo (one-way): 36,000 LifeMiles + $23 –> around $490

• Thai Business Class from Bangkok to Sydney (one-way): 40,000 LifeMiles + $46 –> around $555

• Lufthansa Business Class from Frankfurt to Delhi (one-way): 45,000 LifeMiles + $125 –> around $715

• Lufthansa First Class from Frankfurt to Bangalore (one-way): 60,000 LifeMiles + $125 –> around $900

• Lufthansa Business Class from Frankfurt to Los Angeles (one-way): 63,000 LifeMiles + $156 –> around $975

• ANA Business Class from Tokyo to San Francisco (one-way): 75,000 LifeMiles + $68 –> around $1,040

• Lufthansa Business Class from Frankfurt to Singapore (one-way): 78,000 LifeMiles + $64 –> around $1,075

• Lufthansa First Class from Frankfurt to Chicago (one-way): 87,000 LifeMiles + $156 –> around $1,280

• ANA First Class from Tokyo to San Francisco (one-way): 90,000 LifeMiles + $68 –> around $1,225

• Lufthansa First Class from Frankfurt to Mexico City (one-way): 96,000 LifeMiles + $149 –> around $1,390

Keep in mind that Lufthansa First Class flights are available through LifeMiles, but only within the next two weeks. Therefore, a Lufthansa First Class flight must be booked relatively spontaneously. For flights further in advance, we can only book LH First Class through Miles & More.

Book Thai Air's Business Class with LifeMiles (Source)

LifeMiles Award Chart

If we want to know how many miles a reward flight requires, we can check the LifeMiles Award Chart, available through this link. The additional charges are generally low, as suggested by the above examples. This is because LifeMiles does not pass on fuel surcharges.

LifeMiles+Money

For those looking to use LifeMiles, it's a good idea to become familiar with the LifeMiles+Money feature. This allows us to purchase the missing miles directly during the reward flight booking process. Up to 60% of the miles can be purchased. Therefore, it makes sense to buy only about half of the required miles for a reward flight during a promotion. This reduces the risk of being left with a large number of unused miles. The miles purchased through LifeMiles+Money are only slightly more expensive. The price is about 1.61 USD-Cents per mile. They are cheapest when we purchase exactly 50% of the miles. More details are in the following article: LifeMiles+Money – Always Buy LifeMiles at a Discount.

What Else to Consider

Each participant can purchase a maximum of 200,000 miles per calendar year. Additionally, bonus miles received do not count toward this maximum. There are no restrictions on the number of transactions as long as the maximum purchase amount is not exceeded.

Purchased miles are subject to the regular expiration rules of LifeMiles. This means as long as we have at least one earning activity in our account every 12 months, the miles will remain safe from expiration. If we have a status with LifeMiles, the validity extends to 24 months.

Promotional History

Here are the promotions from recent months.

• August 22, 2024 – September 9, 2024: 150% Bonus (1.34 USD-Cents per Mile)

• July 19, 2024 – August 15, 2024: 160% Bonus (1.31 USD-Cents per Mile)

• June 12, 2024 – July 11, 2024: 155% Bonus (1.32 USD-Cents per Mile)

• May 2, 2024 – May 31, 2024: 160% Bonus (1.32 USD-Cents per Mile)

• February 27, 2024 – March 26, 2024: 165% Bonus (1.27 USD-Cents per Mile)

• January 23, 2024 – February 9, 2024: 160% Bonus (1.29 USD-Cents per Mile)

Conclusion

The Avianca LifeMiles program is traditionally one of the best frequent flyer programs for buying miles. When used wisely, a mile can yield a value well above one cent. Since LifeMiles is one of the few frequent flyer programs that does not impose fuel surcharges, the additional charges for an award flight are very low. This combination makes it possible to find some worthwhile award flights. As always, it's important to familiarize ourselves with the program and only buy miles if we know how to use them effectively.