Avianca LifeMiles has raised award rates again, marking its third devaluation in a year and change and pushing up the cost of some of the program’s most popular redemptions. Travelers using LifeMiles to book United Airlines flights to Europe, Africa and Asia are now seeing higher mileage prices on many routes.
By the time many travelers went to check recent transatlantic business class awards, some fares that had been available for as low as 55,000 miles each way had climbed to about 70,000 miles each way. The increase lands on a program that has long been prized for low redemption rates on Star Alliance flights, especially in business and first class, and for avoiding the hefty fees and surcharges that have made some rival programs harder to use.
LifeMiles had already increased award rates twice in rapid succession about a year ago, and the latest change has again altered the program’s value for frequent flyers who built balances around those lower prices. That matters now because LifeMiles is easier to earn than it used to be: it is a transfer partner of Amex, Capital One, Citi and, most recently, Wells Fargo, and bank transfer bonuses have made those miles even more attractive.
The shift also comes as other loyalty programs have been making their own changes. Air France/KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic have more recently hiked taxes and fees to egregious levels, leaving LifeMiles one of the few widely used options that still appealed for its relatively cleaner pricing structure. Travelers have tolerated LifeMiles’ customer service problems and website issues for years because the math usually worked in their favor. That bargain is getting harder to find.
The next question is whether these higher prices are a one-off adjustment or the start of a broader reset for Avianca’s award chart. For now, anyone eyeing a United business class trip through LifeMiles is paying more than they did only weeks ago, and the program’s reputation as a cheap way into premium Star Alliance cabins has taken another hit.