Avianca LifeMiles award sale: Fly business to Europe from 48,000 miles and other great discounts
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Avianca Lifemiles is one of the better award programs available for Star Alliance redemptions. It has a solid award chart and doesn’t pass on the sometimes outrageous fuel surcharges that other award programs do – you’ll only ever have to pay taxes and a reasonable $25 booking fee.
On top of their solid award chart, Avianca runs monthly sales where it discounts award flights on certain routes, and this month they’re back with some great deals. That includes discounts on all Star Alliance partners like United, Lufthansa and Air China. You can check here for the full list of routes, but some highlights include:
- Newark to Boston in economy for 4,500 miles
- San Francisco to Las Vegas in economy for 4,500 miles
- Newark to London in business for 48,000 miles one-way (20% discount)
- New York JFK to Frankfurt in business for 50,500 miles one-way (20% discount)
- Newark to Tel Aviv in business for 55,000 miles one-way (29% discount)
- San Francisco to Seoul in business for 56,500 miles one-way (25% discount)
- Los Angeles to Hong Kong in business for 64,000 miles one-way (15% discount)
- Los Angeles to Seoul in first for 72,000 miles one-way (20% discount)
That’s right, you can fly in United’s amazing Polaris business class to London for just 48,000 miles or to Israel for 55,000 miles. United normally charges a whopping 75,000 miles (or more if you’re flying a partner) for the same flight to Tel Aviv.
You’ll need to book your flight by December 9, 2019 to take advantage of the discount, but the discounts should apply to flights booked anytime throughout this year and next. Note that it’s only certain routes on sale, and not entire region-to-region. Since that’s the case, you may have to book a cheap positioning flight to get to the origin so you can fly on a discounted ticket. And there aren’t any tricks needed to get the discounts to appear, they’ll pop up in the search results when browsing eligible routes on Lifemiles’ website.
Avianca Lifemiles is a transfer partner of American Express, Citi and Capital One. Right now, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Avianca and receive a 25% bonus. That means you’d only need to move over 39,000 ThankYou points to Avianca to book that Newark to London flight — that’s a pretty incredible deal.
If you’re interested in earning Lifemiles, you can sign up for one of the airline’s credit cards. The Avianca Vuela Visa® Card is currently offering a 40,000 mile bonus after your first purchase on the card in the first 90 days of account opening — for more about the card and its bonus read our Avianca Vuela credit card review. Or you can earn points with a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and transfer them over to Avianca. After applying for the Amex Platinum and spending $6,000 in the first six months, you’d earn 100,000 bonus points. Although you likely wouldn’t earn the bonus before the end of the sale, you can use the points the next time a deal comes around.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
$200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card®.
$240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
$155 Walmart+ Credit: Walmart+ members enjoy shopping perks – both online and in-store – at Walmart. Use your Platinum Card® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) and receive a statement credit that covers the full cost each month. $12.95 plus applicable taxes. Plus Up Benefits not eligible.
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Card.
$200 Uber Cash: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Benefit renews annually.
$300 Equinox Credit: Get up to $300 back per calendar year on an Equinox+ subscription, or any Equinox club memberships when you pay with your Platinum Card®. Enrollment required. Learn more.
$189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card®.
$100 Global Entry Credit: Receive either a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue on your Platinum Card®. Enrollment required.
$300 SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit: Get a $300 statement credit for the purchase of a SoulCycle at-home bike with your Platinum Card®. Must charge full price of bike in one transaction, and an Equinox+ subscription is required.
Add your Platinum Card® to your Resy profile on the Resy app or website and unlock Global Dining Access by Resy to exclusive tables and events.
$695 annual fee.
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