Earlier today, I published a glowing review of Asiana first class onboard the A380 from Seoul to Los Angeles. Now is a GREAT time to experience what I did for cheap.
And when I mean cheap, I don’t just mean relatively cheap, but objectively cheap. We’re talking economy class prices.
This week, Avianca LifeMiles is running a dual promo. First Class awards are discounted AND you can save big on purchased miles.
Avianca is offering a 145% bonus on purchased miles, no matter how many you buy. That means miles cost about 1.35 each, which is simply incredible. Register here for the promo. (H/T: One Mile at a Time)
But wait, there’s more!
LifeMiles is also offering a Star Alliance award sale, discounting flights including the Seoul to Los Angeles flight I just reviewed. For example, a one-way flight between Seoul and Los Angeles (or New York) is:
- Economy Class – 31,000 miles
- Business Class – 60,000 miles
- First Class – 71,000 miles
That represents a good value for business class, but an amazing value for first class. Put another way, purchase the entire 71,000 miles and a one-way first class ticket on Asiana is under $1,000. Now that’s a Black Friday sale!
The sale is only to select destinations. You can see all eligible city pairs here. The sale is also limited: you need to book by December 12, 2018 (though travel can be beyond that date).
Warning!
The great news about this offer is that prices are truly cheap. Furthermore, Avianca charges NO FUEL SURCHARGES. But I do want to warn you about one potential problem. While it is rarely a problem with Asiana or other Star Alliance Asian partners, LifeMiles has been known to filter or block Lufthansa First Class space. Just be warned that if you don’t see the space on the LifeMiles website, you likely won’t be able to book it. This is true even if the space shows available on other award search engines like Aeroplan or United MileagePlus.
CONCLUSION
Even with the potential pitfall, this represents such an incredible deal. Remember that LifeMiles is also an AMEX transfer partner, so you can top up your account that way as well, though I would not waste AMEX points when you can buy them so cheap directly from the source.
Will you be buying and redeeming LifeMiles under these promotions?
I tried to book Asiana Airline’s first class from LAX to ICH for June 1,2019 , but for all dates near, it says not available, even for business an economy. Does it really mean every tickets are sold out, or is it just a problem for me? If it is sold out for now, are there any chances for availabilities to be restored?
Are you seeing the space on other award search engines, like united.com or Aeroplan?
Have you heard any reports of AV blocking OZ first class space? I started searching with United, just for kicks, and found a first class award from ICN to LAX. However, space doesn’t show at lifemiles.com. Yet it shows at Aeroplan, which is usually accurate.
Hi Ian, sorry for my delayed reply. I have not heard about any OZ blocking, but your post provides a helpful data point.