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Some Partner Awards Currently Unavailable Through Avianca LifeMiles Website

May 29, 2019
2 min read
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Some Partner Awards Currently Unavailable Through Avianca LifeMiles Website
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This may not come as a surprise to some, but Avianca LifeMiles is having some issues with its website. Earlier this month, we noticed that many partner awards are pricing lower than they should — as low as 3,500 LifeMiles each way for domestic United awards in economy. Now, it appears that some partner awards don't show on the LifeMiles website at all.

Based on our searches, it looks like all domestic United award space and at least some Air Canada award space is missing from LifeMiles' site. Take Los Angeles (LAX) to Denver (DEN) for example. There's nearly wide-open availability on United's site, but absolutely no availability on LifeMiles'.

International awards, on the other hand, such as between Newark (EWR) and Frankfurt (FRA), do appear.

Fortunately, it appears that this glitch is only with LifeMiles' website as we were able to search for and book partner awards without problem over the phone. Although hold times have improved, calling Avianca for anything can be painful, as the call center employees' English isn't always great and they're not all trained well in partner bookings. So, your best bet would be to find availability on United or Aeroplan's website before calling.

It's possible the IT issue has to do with the transition to the new pricing for some domestic United awards, which takes effect on July 15. Once those changes kick in, the prices of economy awards will range between 6,500 to 13,500 miles each way, instead of 7,500 to 12,500 miles, and the $25 booking fee will drop to $10 for some flights. Even with the changes, LifeMiles will continue to be one of the best programs for booking Star Alliance awards due to its low redemption rates, lack of fuel surcharges on all awards and ability to easily earn miles through many of the major transferable points programs, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

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  • Intro Offer

    LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles
  • Annual Fee

    $395
  • Recommended Credit

    740-850
    Excellent

Why We Chose It

The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)

Pros

  • The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
  • In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
  • Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.

Cons

  • The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
  • Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
  • LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
  • Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
  • Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
  • With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
  • Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
  • Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
  • Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
  • Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
  • Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
  • This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
  • Top rated mobile app