Avianca LifeMiles has launched yet another sale to buy miles with up to 150% bonus until the 26th of April (three thresholds for various bonus amounts) and an extra twist for Club LifeMiles subscribers.
LifeMiles members can buy up to 200,000 miles yearly (before bonuses), and the lowest bonification under this sale is 130%, up to 150% depending on the number of miles purchased.
Potential buyers should be aware of recent tricks Avianca has used to discourage very lucrative award redemptions (by blocking them) and other technical issues on LifeMiles site even though the carrier claims most problems have now been fixed.
You can access this offer on the LifeMiles website here.
This time the bonus depends on the number of miles purchased:
- 1,000-20,000 – 130% Bonus
- 21,000-50,000 – 140% Bonus
- 51,000-200,000 – 150% Bonus
In order to activate the maximum 150% bonus, one has to purchase 51,000 miles or more:
The cost of a LifeMiles under this sale, when purchased at a 150% bonus, is 1.32 US cents each. The lowest price Avianca sold LifeMiles in 2021 was 1.2 cents and most recently the standard is 1.27 cents when they have 160% bonus.
Also, this time around Lifemiles offers an extra bonus for those members who are using the Club LifeMiles subscription and buy miles:
The Club LifeMiles adds a monthly flat amount of miles to the members account in exchange for a subscription fee. Purchasing 50,000+ miles throughout this year would double the subscription bonus (refer to the detailed T&C for this).
Purchases Lifemiles also count towards status but keep in mind in order to get Gold status you still need to fly Avianca.
John tried to buy a large amount of Lifemiles to see how the elite qualifying miles would post, and unfortunately, not only did the miles NOT post as Avianca (meaning you can’t qualify for Gold based on mileage purchases alone), but there was also a transaction problem, and miles still haven’t reflected as a positive balance on the account:
This compounds the point we always try to hammer home when it comes to these sales: Avianca is a highly unreliable carrier/program and you can either be in for an easy transaction (like my recent Korea redemptions) or a world of pain.
Lifemiles has, in the past, amended award charts without any prior notice, is actively blocking award availability, and has an absolutely shoddy IT. Trying to cancel or, especially, change an award is a nightmare.
Conclusion
Lifemiles has opened up yet another miles purchase promotion, this time with a maximum of 150% bonus. Miles should be used immediately though, at least in my opinion, to be on the safe side. I would however eait until a slightly better offer comes around, 160% seems to be the standard these days and there is sale almost constantly, as soon as this one expires another will come around for sure.
Nevertheless, a word of warning here: There have been consistent issues finding award space and issuing tickets using LifeMiles. Clearly, this has been intentional on LifeMiles’ part (less money going out for paying other carriers). I would be very hesitant to purchase LifeMiles unless you have instantaneous use for them, and award space can be booked using Avianca’s miles.
These are the Terms & Conditions for this promotion:
This promotion is exclusive for LifeMiles members that have received this email directly from LifeMiles. This promotion applies for miles purchases made between April 18th, 2023, and April 26th, 2023 (00.00-23.59 GMT-6, El Salvador). The bonus applies as follows: for purchases from 1,000 – 20,000 LifeMiles receive 130%, for purchases from 21,000 – 50,000 LifeMiles receive 140% additional miles, for purchases from 51,000 – 200,000 LifeMiles receive 150% additional miles. The miles must be purchased in multiples of 1,000. The minimum miles to purchase per transaction is 1,000 LifeMiles. The maximum miles to purchase per transaction during this promotion is 200,000 LifeMiles. Additionally, the maximum miles that a member can receive during the promotion, including applicable bonuses is 500,000 miles, minus the miles that the member has previously purchased in 2023 and their respective bonuses. The purchase transaction cannot be made if the amount of miles to purchase and the corresponding bonus, including all miles purchased in 2023, including the bonuses, exceed the 500,000 miles limit, unless the amount of miles to receive without applying the promotional bonus is less or equal to 500,000 miles, in which case, the transaction will be processed but no bonus will be granted, giving such warning to the member. The maximum number of miles to receive by a member through the purchase of miles per calendar year outside of this promotion is 200,000 LifeMiles including any bonus miles received. If the member surpasses the limit, through purchases made during this promotion and other purchases in 2023, considering the bonuses received for those purchases, he or she will not be able to purchase any more miles outside of promotional periods until the next calendar year. Each package of 1,000 LifeMiles is US$33.00 without applicable taxes and US$40.26* including applicable taxes according to country of the mailing address registered in the LifeMiles database. All accrued miles count towards Elite progress, except for miles accrued in Iberia, GOL and certain miles compensations. You will earn qualifying miles according to the rates established for each product or service. Check your Elite progress and other conditions at LifeMiles.com . The purchase of miles is not reversible or refundable, except in countries where this right is granted by applicable law, such as the right to retraction in Colombia, in the cases where it applies. The purchase of miles is an immediate execution contract. Once the payment is made, the miles will be accrued immediately on the member’s account. As of that moment, the miles can be used according to the terms and conditions of the LifeMiles Program. Miles are not endorsable. Miles purchase is available through Avianca’s Call Centers, LifeMiles.com and Avianca Information Centers. For residents of Venezuela, it is only available through LifeMiles.com. Only form of payment through Avianca’s Call Center and LifeMiles.com : credit card or international debit card. Cash payments are only allowed at Avianca’s Information Centers. The receipt of the transaction will reflect the total number of miles accrued to the member´s account, including the bonus miles and the total charge for the transaction. Does not apply to the Flexible Redemption (LifeMiles + Money) during the payment process of air ticket redemption. Miles purchased, once accrued, can be redeemed in accordance with the conditions specified in the LifeMiles Program Terms and Conditions and the portfolio of products and services available for redemption. The Club LifeMiles double bonus benefit applies to the 4 quarterly bonuses of the Club LifeMiles plan to which the member is subscribed at the time of accumulating LM 50,000 in miles purchase from January 1st, 2023, to December 31st, 2023, as long as the subscription is kept active. Applies only for the duration of the current plan at the time of meeting the conditions established for this promotion. Does not apply for plan renewal. Club LifeMiles Terms and Conditions apply. Find them at LifeMiles.com/miles/subscribe. LifeMiles Terms and Conditions apply. Available at LifeMiles.com . LifeMiles is a trademark of LifeMiles LTD. *The values are settled based on the exchange rate of the date of the transaction. The price can be lower depending on the correspondence country entered on the Member´s profile in their LifeMiles account.
