This will likely be of limited use at the moment given all the restrictions on international travel, but it’s still worth being aware of…
LifeMiles is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs out there, in my opinion, given that they frequently sell miles at a discount, and have great award redemption rates. So they’re often my go-to program for booking premium cabin Star Alliance awards.
At the moment LifeMiles is offering a discount on award redemptions in select markets when traveling on Star Alliance partners. This is noteworthy because LifeMiles is one of the few programs to offer discounted award redemptions on partner airlines, as that’s otherwise quite rare.
LifeMiles Star Alliance Award Sale
At the moment LifeMiles is running a sale on award redemptions, where they’re offering up to 49% off select redemptions.
This promotion is only valid for redemptions on June 24 and June 25, 2020, though you can plan travel for any dates in the future (all that matters is that you book by tomorrow).
The discount is valid for travel between specific city pairs, and you can find all the eligible markets at this link. There are all kinds of city pairs, in economy, business class, and first class.
I think it’s important to note that many of these discounts are for travel to & from Asia. Obviously travel between countries isn’t particularly practical right now for many, but this could be a good opportunity if you have an optimistic outlook for the future.
Just to give some examples, here are some long haul routes that are on sale:
- Los Angeles to Shanghai in business class for 49,000 miles
- San Francisco to Taipei in business class for 52,500 miles
- New York to Beijing in first class for 63,000 miles
Redeem for EVA Air business class at a discount
Then there are also some potentially valuable redemptions within North America, like:
- Detroit to Newark in economy class for 4,500 miles
- San Francisco to Toronto in business class for 19,000 miles
Redeem for Air Canada business class at a discount
Those are just some of the city pairs that are available, though there are plenty of others.
Buy LifeMiles With 155% Bonus
Not only can you get a discount when redeeming LifeMiles, but you can also get a great discount when buying LifeMiles.
At the moment LifeMiles is offering a 155% bonus on purchased miles through OMAAT, which is a great deal. With this you could purchase miles for as little as 1.29 cents each (and potentially even less, factoring in credit card rewards).
To take advantage of it you need to register for the 155% bonus promotion, and then you should immediately see the increased bonus when you try to buy LifeMiles. Make sure you see the correct bonus when you go to buy miles.
LifeMiles processes mileage purchases directly, meaning that buying miles with them qualifies as airfare spending, which I almost view as a further discount on purchased LifeMiles. Therefore you’ll want to consider using one of the following cards for your purchase, since they offer the following bonus miles for airfare spending:
| Card | Points earned on airfare spend |
|---|---|
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | 5x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent |
| Citi Prestige Card | 5x ThankYou points per dollar spent |
| American Express® Gold Card | 3x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent |
| American Express® Green Card | 3x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent |
| Citi Premier℠ Card | 3x ThankYou points per dollar spent |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | 2x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent |
If you pay with The Platinum Card® from American Express then you earn 5x points. I value those points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s the equivalent of a further 8.5% return.
That means that the real cost of each mile goes down from 1.29 cents to 1.18 cents, which is an even better value (this isn’t cash in your pocket, but rather points in your “pocket” based on my valuation).
Keep in mind there are numerous ways to earn LifeMiles through credit cards as well, both by transferring points from flexible rewards programs, or via the Avianca LifeMiles credit cards.
While LifeMiles is a spun off frequent flyer program, see this post for a bit more on Avianca’s overall financial situation, so you can decide whether this deal makes sense for you.
Star Alliance Award Sale Summary
Not only is LifeMiles offering a 155% bonus on purchased miles, but you can also receive discounts on select redemptions.
LifeMiles offers these discounted redemptions every couple of months, and there is a heavy focus on Asia flights. Given borders being closed this isn’t as useful as in the past, though for some people it could make sense to speculatively book a flight for the future with this deal.
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