Update: The offers mentioned below have expired and are no longer available.
If you aren’t familiar with Avianca LifeMiles, you should be.
Although the airline can be difficult to deal with — and its customer service leaves much to be desired — redeeming LifeMiles for reward redemptions can offer some really excellent value.
Even better, Avianca has launched another one of its award sales, further discounting its already solid rates. Let’s take a look at the details.
Offer Details
This is a limited-time sale, so if you’re wanting to take advantage, you should book quickly.
- Valid for redemptions from now through October 11, 2021
- Tickets can be for future dates; they only need to be booked on or before October 11, 2021
- 10 flights in economy class are on sale
- 20 flights in business class are on sale
- Discounts range between 15% and 30%
Economy Class Routes
| Regular Cost in Miles | Discounted Price in Miles | % Off |
Miami (MIA) – Houston (IAH) | 10,000 | 7,000 | 30% |
Houston (IAH) – Miami (MIA) | 10,000 | 7,000 | 30% |
Cleveland (CLE) – Newark (EWR) | 6,500 | 5,000 | 15% |
Newark (EWR) – Cleveland (CLE) | 6,500 | 5,000 | 15% |
Newark (EWR) – Detroit (DTW) | 6,500 | 5,000 | 15% |
Detroit (DTW) – Newark (EWR) | 6,500 | 5,000 | 15% |
San Francisco (SFO) – Los Angeles (LAX) | 6,500 | 5,500 | 15% |
Los Angeles (LAX) – San Francisco (SFO) | 6,500 | 5,500 | 15% |
Tokyo (HND) – San Francisco (SFO) | 35,000 | 29,000 | 17% |
San Francisco (SFO) – Tokyo (HND) | 35,000 | 29,000 | 17% |
Business Class Routes
| Regular Cost in Miles | Discounted Price in Miles | % Off |
Miami (MIA) – Houston (IAH) | 15,000 | 11,500 | 23% |
Houston (IAH) – Miami (MIA) | 15,000 | 11,500 | 23% |
San Francisco (SFO) – Toronto (YYZ) | 25,000 | 20,000 | 20% |
Toronto (YYZ) – San Francisco (SFO) | 25,000 | 20,000 | 20% |
Tokyo (HND) – Los Angeles (LAX) | 75,000 | 60,000 | 20% |
Los Angeles (LAX) – Tokyo (HND) | 75,000 | 60,000 | 20% |
Tokyo (HND, NRT) – San Francisco (SFO) | 75,000 | 60,000 | 20% |
San Francisco (SFO) – Tokyo (HND, NRT) | 75,000 | 60,000 | 20% |
Toyko (HND, NRT) – New York (JFK) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
New York (JFK) – Tokyo (HND, NRT) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Seoul (ICN) – Los Angeles (LAX) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Los Angeles (LAX) – Seoul (ICN) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Tokyo (NRT) – Los Angeles (LAX) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Los Angeles (LAX) – Tokyo (NRT) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Taipei (TPE) – Vancouver (YVR) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Vancouver (YVR) – Taipei (TPE) | 75,000 | 64,000 | 15% |
Earning LifeMiles
If any of these flights appeal to you, there are plenty of ways for you to boost your stash of LifeMiles. Avianca partners with multiple flexible points currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Miles. Each of these programs transfers over to LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio, which means 1 point will become 1 mile.
You can also opt to purchase LifeMiles — Avianca is currently running a promotion through October 15, 2021, that’ll offer you anywhere between a 140% to 150% bonus when purchasing LifeMiles. This will drop your per-cent price down to 1.32 cents each, which is below our valuation of 1.4 cents each.
Is It Worth It?
Are you already planning on traveling to any of these locations? If so, transferring over (or buying) LifeMiles and using them for a reward redemption can be a great deal. Let’s check out an example.
As a member of Star Alliance, Avianca has access to award availability from airlines such as United, Lufthansa, SWISS Air, ANA, and Air Canada. Most of these discounts will apply for either United or ANA, which brings up 1 very intriguing prospect.
ANA 777-300ER The Room business class. Image Credit: All Nippon AirwaysIn 2019, ANA launched — with little notice — its newest business class product dubbed “The Room,” which is often lauded as the world’s best business class. Since ANA is also a part of Star Alliance, this means you can conceivably snag yourself a seat in The Room for a mere 60,000 miles one-way from San Francisco to Tokyo.
Now, as we mentioned above, you’ll need to book this sale by October 11, 2021. Your travel dates, however, can be at any point in the future. Although Asia isn’t fully open to U.S. tourists, 2022 may very well be the year Japan reopens.
If you do decide to hop onto this deal, you’ll be getting an astronomical redemption value for your points.
Image Credit: Google FlightsHow good is it? The cash cost for this ticket often runs $5,000 to $6,000. In the example above, you’ve got a one-way ticket on ANA’s Boeing 777, which features The Room. Redeeming 60,000 miles for this $5,728 ticket gives you a redemption value of 9.5 cents per point!
Hot Tip: You can also purchase points for your flights — with a good purchase bonus, the total cost to buy your points can cost less than the flight itself, saving you thousands of dollars.
Final Thoughts
This is a decent sale with some excellent options if you’ve got upcoming travel. As a transfer partner of several different currencies, LifeMiles are easy to earn. You can also opt to purchase points for as little as 1.32 cents each, making some of these redemptions highly lucrative. If you’re looking to take advantage of this, book quickly — the sale ends October 11, 2021.
Featured Image Credit:
ANA