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Ever since the move to dynamic award pricing, United's award costs have been all over the map. Sometimes, you can find great deals, but often I'm looking at routes where 15,000 miles is the minimum price. Enter LifeMiles, my go-to currency for short hops on United Airlines. I find that I can consistently save if I book United flights with LifeMiles instead of MileagePlus.
It's not the answer in every situation, but it has been common enough that I want to highlight the usefulness of keeping a stash of LifeMiles on hand. The program has some quirks, though, that you should be aware of. But savings for certain United itineraries are often worth the trouble.
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LifeMiles Basics
If you're not familiar with the LifeMiles currency, consult our LifeMiles program overview and some sweet spots it holds. LifeMiles is the award currency of Avianca, a major carrier based in Colombia, with substantial operations in other countries in Central and South America. The airline is a Star Alliance member.
You can earn LifeMiles by transferring any of multiple bank currencies to the program, including:
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Bilt Rewards
- Brex Cash Rewards
- Capital One miles
- Citi ThankYou® Points
- Marriott Bonvoy
With plenty of transfer options, accumulating LifeMiles shouldn't be hard. But you'll need to know a few key things before you redeem them. First, the program has a non-refundable award redemption fee. This is usually $25 but is as low as $10 for some awards. Second, it is one of the least flexible currencies when it comes to award changes and cancellations. Changes are $150 in every instance. Cancellations range from $50 to $200. The $50 fee applies to domestic United tickets.
One cool aspect of LifeMiles is that the currency does not pass on carrier surcharges. This makes them an excellent option for carriers with egregious extra fees (looking at you, Lufthansa). But LifeMiles also is useful for booking awards with United, a carrier that does not levy any surcharges.
I use LifeMiles often enough that they are one of the few currencies where I keep a small stash of miles and speculatively transfer points when transfer bonuses are offered.
Book United Flights With LifeMiles: How To Find Value
Unlike many award currencies with region-based award pricing, LifeMiles breaks the continental United States up into three regions. Prices within a region are cheaper than across regions. And, just to be quirky, the prices within and across regions aren't 100% consistent, depending on the route. The table below displays what the prices should be, but some routes are slightly different.
Here are the defined regions:
- Region 1: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia
- Region 2: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin
- Region 3: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
It's the pricing within each region I want to focus on. United has a dynamic pricing model, but these awards often have a floor of 15,000 MileagePlus miles, unless that cash price is especially low. You can usually book these flights for just 7,500 LifeMiles, which is an excellent deal.
I also want to highlight using LifeMiles for flights within the coming two or three weeks. United often releases award seats at saver level (X-class fare in economy, I-class fare in business/first) where before there wasn't much inventory. This is important, as you can only book United flights with LifeMiles when saver-level award space is availa le.
Comparing MileagePlus to LifeMiles
Now, let's walk through several real-world comparisons to see how much you can save if you book through LifeMiles rather than through MileagePlus for a United flight. I highlight routes where the cash cost of flights is typically high, so you'll want to book an award in most cases.
Within LifeMiles Region 1: Phoenix to Seattle last minute
Although United has a decent price of 15,000 MileagePlus miles for this last-minute ticket, you can book it for half that using LifeMiles. Fares between the two cities just a couple days out cost over $300 one-way on mainline carriers. At the time of writing, I'm looking just two days out, and this economy ticket would get you just over 4 cents per mile using LifeMiles.
However, the cost is significantly lower with LifeMiles:
Region 1 nonstop: Ski in Jackson Hole for 7,500 miles each way
This is another one-way deal within U.S. Region 3. The same flight is currently going for $236.
Rather than pay 15,000 United miles for this nonstop, you can get it for 7,500 LifeMiles.
Region 3 regional itinerary: Roanoke, VA to Portland, ME
I highlight this route for two reasons. First, it's an example of regional-to-regional airport travel where you can book United flights with LifeMiles for great value. Second, this itinerary connects in Chicago O'Hare (ORD), which is in LifeMiles Region 2, although the origin and destination are both within Region 3.
Select short hops for 6,500 LifeMiles
Select short hops cost just 6,500 LifeMiles — versus whatever United is charging — as long as there is saver space. I've positioned to San Francisco several times to connect to a separate award ticket for this dirt-cheap price. There are a good number of routes where you'll see the 6,500-mile price. These are all short nonstops, mostly within the U.S. — although some Canadian routes feature as well.
This particular route never drops below $150 one-way. And it often goes for over twice that.
Related: 112 United Award Routes That You Can Book for Just 6,500 Miles
When Not To Book United Flights With LifeMiles
Avoid using United miles for routes where cash prices are low. For many of these, United will drop its award price to less than what LifeMiles charges. And even then, consider whether you want to use miles at all. For this San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX) route, I'd opt to save my miles and buy a ticket with cash.
It comes down to some key ideas to remember for booking United flights with LifeMiles within the United States:
- Use the LifeMiles U.S. award chart to your advantage by booking flights within a single region when possible, as these should price at 7,500 LifeMiles.
- Look for regional-to-regional routes where cash prices are always high. These are a good candidate for using LifeMiles, assuming there is Saver space.
- Consider using LifeMiles for last-minute fares where United may open up Saver award space while keeping cash prices high.
- Avoid United routes where cash prices are low. You'll often see low award prices with MileagePlus miles, and the value will be poor.
Final Thoughts
LifeMiles can be an incredible tool for booking United flights. I find this program's greatest value is in booking regional United flights within the U.S. on routes where cash prices are typically high and United has prices starting at 15,000 miles. I've also gotten great value when I use LifeMiles for last-minute United tickets.
The examples above just scratch the surface. There are plenty of other routes where you should book United flights with LifeMiles. What I hope to illustrate are a few of the key ideas that should help you get the most out of your miles.
I've found less great use for LifeMiles booking United internationally, although there can be great value here as well. Given that LifeMiles doesn't pass along fuel surcharges, I find that I end up using these miles to book partner airlines more often than not. United doesn't charge fuel surcharges anyway, and the MileagePlus saver business-class pricing to Europe is competitive enough with LifeMiles — and you have to factor in award ticket flexibility.
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