AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Avianca devalued its LifeMiles program just five short months ago. But, apparently, it believes it didn't go far enough. As first flagged by Loyalty Lobby, LifeMiles once again chiseled away at some of our favorite LifeMiles sweet spots.
Here's a quick overview of the new LifeMiles award pricing we're seeing — and why this devaluation might not be the five-alarm fire it's been portrayed as.
Avianca LifeMiles Hikes Award Rates by up to 77%
Avianca LifeMiles doesn't publish an award chart, so it's impossible to determine the full scope of its most recent devaluation. However, we do have a pretty good idea about what's higher and what's been preserved.
The most relevant changes pertain to Avianca's Star Alliance partner airlines. Traditionally, partner redemptions are some of the best uses of LifeMiles — in terms of value and in-flight experience. Avianca redemptions, on the other hand, are relatively uninspiring.
Also filed under “uninspiring” are some of the new partner award prices. For example, Avianca's best budget sweet spot — domestic United economy awards for as few as 6,500 LifeMiles — increased by 54% or 3,500 miles.
Similarly, LifeMiles' best business class sweet spot from the U.S. East Coast to Northwestern-ish Europe jumped from 45,000 miles to 80,000 miles. Avianca gifted award travelers the 45,000-mile price after devaluing last August, but obviously, nothing gold can stay. It just gets 77% more expensive.
The other most notable stinger (also on United) are flights between North and deep South America. Formerly, you'd redeem around 30,000 miles in economy or 60,000 miles for business class on a route like Newark to São Paulo. Now, the rates are…well…much higher. Economy awards have jumped 50% to 45,000 miles while business-class awards jumped 67% to 100k miles each way.
And this is only a small snapshot of what's changed. Here are some other pricing updates we've noticed to former sweet spots:
- Washington, D.C. to Honolulu in United Airlines economy now costs 25k LifeMiles per way — up from 22.5k.
- Detroit to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines business class now costs 69k LifeMiles per way — up from 63k.
- New York to Cairo in Egyptair business class now costs 80k LifeMiles per way — up from 70k.
- Chicago to Tokyo Haneda in ANA first class now costs 160k LifeMiles per way — up from 120k.
Related: How To Use Points and Miles to Book the World’s Best First Class Award Flights
Avianca LifeMiles Preserves Partner Pricing on Select Routes
Amidst all the higher prices, we've noticed that the pricing for select partner-operated flights hasn't changed at all. For example, you can still fly SWISS between New York and Zurich (via Geneva or nonstop) for 55k LifeMiles in business class.
The nearly seven-hour hop between New York and Lisbon is still bookable in TAP Air Portugal economy for 32,500 Avianca LifeMiles.
Or, if you want to travel from the U.S. to Africa (excluding the northern part of the continent), you can still do so for 78,000 LifeMiles in business class. An example itinerary could involve flying Turkish Airlines from Chicago to Addis Ababa via Istanbul.
Related: How To Find Partner Airline Award Availability
Final Thoughts
Devaluations are an unfortunate consequence of collecting points and miles. They're made worse when unannounced — as is too often the case with frequent flyer programs. And Avianca LifeMiles is a repeat offender.
However, there are two ways you can look at this devaluation. First, you can write off LifeMiles for jumping prices yet again with no warning and turn to programs that still offer competitive pricing. That could mean leveraging Air Canada Aeroplan (until it switches to dynamic partner award pricing later this year) or possibly even Singapore KrisFlyer while it still publishes award charts.
Alternatively, you can evaluate how a program like Avianca LifeMiles could still help you meet your travel goals and participate where it makes sense. For instance, LifeMiles are incredibly easy to earn and often available for purchase at attractive rates. While this ease is possibly what led to the devaluation, the reality is that they're still easy to earn and almost always on sale.
To put this into perspective, say you want to fly ANA first class between the U.S. and Japan. This award may now cost 160,000 LifeMiles, but a one-way cash ticket could run you over $16,000. Timing a buy LifeMiles purchase right could mean snagging this ticket for an eighth of the sticker price — or less if you can combine a purchase with transfers from the program's bank partners.
That may sound like coping, but the value of the LifeMiles program hasn't completely disappeared, even if the award prices are higher. It all depends on how you travel and what you value.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.