If you’re a frequent traveler or a points / miles enthusiast, you’ve likely heard of LifeMiles, Avianca’s loyalty program. As a member of the Star Alliance, LifeMiles opens up opportunities to redeem miles for flights on Avianca and other Star Alliance partners. With recent updates to the LifeMiles Plus (LM+) subscription program, it’s worth diving into how these changes can enhance your travel strategy.
👉 Further reading: 3 Top Reasons Why Avianca LifeMiles Is One Of The Best Award Travel Programs You’re Overlooking
What Is LifeMiles?
LifeMiles is known for its flexibility and accessibility, making it a favorite among savvy travelers. Its frequent mileage sale promotion and partnerships with major U.S. credit card issuers, such as American Express, Capital One, and Citi, make it easy to accumulate miles. These credit card flexible point systems allow you to transfer points to LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio, giving you plenty of ways to build your balance.
However, LifeMiles isn’t without its downsides, such as high change and cancellation fees:
- Change Fee: $150 per ticket per change
- Cancellation Fee: $200 per ticket per cancellation
Comparing to competitors like United Airlines, which often waives these fees, LifeMiles’ fees can be steep. In addition, LifeMiles has higher award tickets redemption requirement. For example, a one-way business class award ticket from Los Angeles to Singapore costs:
- EVA Air: 75,000 miles
- Air Canada: 87,500 miles
- LifeMiles: 90,000 miles
Introducing LifeMiles Plus (LM+)
To address these pain points, Avianca has launched the LifeMiles Plus (LM+) subscription service. With LM+, members can enjoy perks like waived fees and redemption discounts, making it a game-changer for frequent LifeMiles users.
Subscription Details:
- Plan Basic: $50 / month, earning 2,000 miles per month.
- Minimum subscription period: 6 months.
Cost Breakdown For Plan Basic:
- Total Cost: $50 x 6 = $300
- Miles Earned: 2,000 x 6 = 12,000 miles (valued at approximately $160, based on the 1.35 cents-per-mile sale promotion price).
- Net Cost: $300 – $160 = $140
Key Benefits Of LM+:
- Waived Change and Cancellation Fees: LM+ subscribers can make changes or cancellations of award tickets during their subscription period without paying fees. If you make even one change or cancellation, the subscription cost is essentially covered. Note: This benefit is only available for Plan Basic and above, not for Plan Lite.
- Redemption Discounts: LM+ subscribers get a 10% discount on award tickets redemptions for all partner airlines and fare classes. Previously offered as a rebate, this discount is now applied upfront, streamlining the redemption process.
Real-Life Experience With LM+:
Recently, I had to change a ticket booked with LifeMiles. Despite the usual hassle of handling changes over the phone, my LM+ subscription made the process seamless. The customer service rep immediately recognized my LM+ membership and waived the $150 change fee. My updated e-ticket arrived within 15 minutes of the call – a great experience overall.
Maximizing LM+ Without Ticket Changes
Besides waiving change and cancellation fees, subscribing to LifeMiles+ offers another great perk: a 10% discount on redemptions across all partner airlines – even if you’re not a frequent Avianca flyer! What’s even better is that this discount isn’t limited to economy class (from 17,500 miles to 15,750 miles, as shown below), it also applies to business class (from 36,000 miles to 32,400 miles, as shown below).
Even if you don’t plan to change or cancel tickets, LM+ can still deliver excellent value. For instance:
- Miles Redeemed: 200,000 miles during the subscription period
- Subscription Cost: $300
- Miles Earned From Subscription: 12,000 miles (approximately $160 value)
- 10% Discount Savings: 20,000 miles (approximately $270 value)
- Net Cost: $300 – $160 – $270 = -$130
In this scenario, the savings from the redemption discount alone make the subscription worthwhile, even without ticket changes.
How To Earn LifeMiles
There are so many exciting ways to collect LifeMiles! Whether it’s through credit card sign-up bonuses, transferring credit card flexible points, or taking advantage of LifeMiles’ sale promotions, the opportunities to boost your balance are endless.
LifeMiles is great at offering special mileage sale promotions! In 2024, the lowest purchasing cost is around 1.1 cents per mile (cpm). Just recently, LifeMiles wrapped up a 180% bonus sale promotion, so keep an eye out during the following holiday season for even more amazing promotions!
Pro Tips: why bother with these sale promotions? The answer is simple: most credit card points are typically worth 1.4 ~ 1.8 cpm. During the sale promotion, you can grab LifeMiles for as low as 1.1 ~ 1.2 cpm. So, that’s something to seriously consider! It is a better strategy to buy LifeMiles directly during a sale and save your credit card points for other redemptions that offer better value. At the end of the day, whether it’s worth it depends on how many American Express Membership Rewards (Amex MR) points you have and how you plan to use, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer!
- Credit Cards
LifeMiles is partnered with major U.S. credit card rewards programs – American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Miles, allowing you to transfer these credit card points to LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio. Here are the credit cards with best sign-up bonus right now:
- Capital One Venture Rewards: Annual Fee: $95. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture X Business: Annual Fee: $395. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 150,000 Miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- The Business Platinum from American Express: Annual Fee: $695. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of card membership.
- American Express Business Gold: Annual Fee: $375. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of card membership.
- American Express Platinum: Annual Fee: $695. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership.
- American Express Gold: Annual Fee: $325. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership.
- Citi Strata Premier: Annual Fee: $95. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 75,000 ThankYou Rewards points once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
Final Thoughts
LifeMiles Plus (LM+) has elevated Avianca’s loyalty program, especially for frequent travelers. With benefits like waived fees, mileage discounts, and subscription-earned miles, it’s a great way to maximize the value of your redemptions. Whether you’re planning to redeem a large number of miles or want the flexibility to adjust bookings without penalties, LM+ is a solid addition to your travel toolkit.
