MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Avianca LifeMiles is offering a bonus of up to 145% on purchased miles through November 27, 2017 (this Monday). You’ll need to sign into your Avianca account to view the sale. You can buy up to 200,000 LifeMiles during the sale and get up to 290,000 bonus miles (for a max total of 490,000 miles). This is nearly as cheap as it gets. The cheapest I’ve ever seen LifeMiles was 1.32 cents each. But what sets this sale apart and makes it better than past sales is that bonus is not tiered. No matter what amount you buy (minimum 1k, max 200k) you’ll get the bonus.
LifeMiles cost 3.3 cents each, so with a 145% bonus, you get the miles for 1.35 cents each. For instance, 245,000 total miles would be $3,330 or 1.4735 cents each.
When to Buy (Math)
I value LifeMiles at 1.6 cents per mile. Buying them for 1.35 cents per mile is not enough of an inducement for me because I don’t have an immediate use for them, and miles get devalued all the time. I don’t want to shell out a bunch of money on such an uncertain investment.
Many people should have a similar view of this sale and buy zero miles. As with most mile sales, the main way it make sense to buy miles at these prices is if you have an immediate high value use for them.
Possible Immediate High Value Uses
There are a ton of deals on the LifeMiles award chart, which allows one way redemptions with no fuel surcharges on all 27 Star Alliance partners, so an immediate high value use is very possible.
Do not just use the award chart, though. Make sure you can book what you want to book on lifemiles.com. You can do an award search with zero miles in your account. The reason for this extra step is that if you can’t book your award online, LifeMiles call centers are nearly useless.
My stock example of a possible good deal during this buy miles sale is to buy miles to book a Business Class award to Europe.
Europe in Business Class
The United States to Europe is 63,000 LifeMiles each way in Business Class. The Star Alliance has great award space.
You could buy 26,000 miles (+37,700 bonus) for $858. That would get you a one way in Business Class for under $900 total after taxes.
See How to Consistently Buy Business Class Tickets to Europe for about $1,000 and Anatomy of an Award: Using LifeMiles to Buy Business Class Ticket Between Europe and USA for $1,040 for full details on these awards.
There are similar deals all over the world and in all cabins through this sale, too many to list here. Investigate where you want to go on the award chart and then make sure you can book the award you want. If the math works out, buy LifeMiles.
Buy LifeMiles with These Credit Cards
LifeMiles purchases are processed directly by Avianca. That’s great news!
It means you buy them with Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the purchase will code as travel and earn 3X.
Already met your travel credit limit or don’t have one of those cards? Check out the best credit card to buy airfare.
Bottom Line
Through Monday, you can buy up to 490,000 Avianca LifeMiles for $6,600 at 1,35 cents each. That’s too high to buy speculatively, but there are a lot of immediate awards you can book where that price offers great value.
The LifeMiles sales are now processed by Avianca itself, so you can get category bonuses on cards that bonus airline or travel purchases.
Hat tip View from the Wing
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
Scott,
I bought some but I have an issue, I tried booking an Air Canada flight today, got all the way to the CC page and after clicking submit I received a website server error and my miles weren’t deducted. I went back to redo the search and that flight award availability is gone. Is it held for X hrs before being rereleased?
No idea. You could try calling LifeMiles, but beware that the call center is notorious for not being very helpful (long wait times,etc). I would just keep searching for the award space yourself and if/when you see it pop up again, book.