Avianca LifeMiles Raises Awards Again in Third Devaluation
Avianca LifeMiles has posted its third devaluation in a year and change, with higher award rates now showing up on many popular routes worldwide. For travelers using miles to book United Airlines and other awards, the change lifts the cost of seats that had long been priced well below competing programs.
Many transatlantic business class redemptions have moved from as low as 55,000 miles each way to 70,000 miles or so, a jump that hits the routes people most often used for long-haul premium cabins. Jackson Newman, senior editor at Thrifty Traveler, said the pattern fits a familiar warning: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice [or in this case, three times], you can't get fooled again."
United Awards Face Higher Rates
Travelers redeeming LifeMiles to fly United Airlines to Europe, Africa, and Asia are seeing higher rates, with the increases appearing across many popular routes. That change narrows the gap between LifeMiles and other mileage currencies that have not repeatedly reset award charts in the same span.
The latest increase follows two rapid award hikes about 12 months ago, when the second increase was rolled back slightly. This time, the broader move points to a program that has been easy to earn but harder to trust for stable pricing.
LifeMiles Becomes Easier To Earn
LifeMiles is now a transfer partner of Amex, Capital One, Citi, and Wells Fargo, which has made the currency easier to accumulate. Transfer bonuses from those banks have also increased the value of LifeMiles, even as the redemption side has become more expensive.
That split leaves travelers with more ways to earn miles and fewer attractive ways to spend them. LifeMiles has long been valued for low redemption rates and no hefty fees and surcharges, but the program's shoddy customer service and wonky website now sit beside higher award pricing.
What Travelers Face Now
70,000 miles is the new level many travelers are seeing for transatlantic business class awards that had been available at 55,000 miles each way. For anyone holding a balance for Europe, Africa, or Asia, the practical move is to check award space before transferring bank points, since the latest pricing is already showing up on popular routes.
Nick Serati, co-founder of Thrifty Traveler, has been tracking the repeated resets as another step in a pattern of devaluations. With this third increase in a little over a year, the value proposition for LifeMiles now depends less on its historic discounts and more on whether a specific route still offers a lower rate than the new floor.
