Avianca’s LifeMiles program is introducing ‘subscriptions’ to buy miles.

Plans start at $11 per month. That’s buying 8000 miles for $131.88 or 1.65 cents apiece. However the price per mile quickly falls. The $32.99 plan is buying miles at 1.41 cents per mile.

Spend $130 per month and you’ll buy 112,000 miles at 1.39 cents per mile.

Now when I want to buy miles I generally want to buy them right away and use them right away rather than saving them for later. The idea of pre-committing, having the miles to use later, is less desirable to me. And I’m not looking for a monthly payment plan.

However this appears to be an ongoing offer — one that allows you to lock in a price of 1.4 cents per mile or slightly less whenever you wish provided you’re willing to wait a year to capture all the miles (you only get the full bonus by completing the subscription, the bonus is split up and paid out in pieces — there is reference to ‘trimester’ but also ‘quarterly’).

Note as well that this offer auto-renews, so you may want to cancel — or at least ensure the price hasn’t gone up at the end of a year.

LifeMiles is a fantastic Star Alliance program.

• No fuel surcharges
  
• Reasonable award chart

Not all connections are bookable, you’re pretty much limited to the options you see on their redemption website (which is serviceable) and telephone customer service is challenging (e-mail is better). I’m a fan of the program and have a few hundred thousand miles there myself.

Avianca LifeMiles is a Citibank transfer partner as well.

Terms and conditions:

The term of the subscription is 12 months from the date of subscription and will be automatically renewed for successive 12 months periods. If the member does not want to renew his subscription he must cancel it at here before the next charge is made.

The bonus will be granted as follows: First bonus (3rd months of subscription): LM 1600, Second Bonus (6th months of subscription): LM 2400, Third Bonus (9th months of subscription): LM 4000, Fourth Bonus (12th months of subscription): LM 8000.

The amount of the miles purchase will be charged monthly to your international credit or debit card selected by the member. The charge will be made each month on the day of the month the member started the subscription.

The member may cancel his subscription at any time. In there is a cancellation before the full term of the subscription, the member will keep the miles already earned, but he will not be entitled to the following quarterly bonuses.

Changes of plans are not permitted. If the member whishes to change plans, he must cancel his current plan and subscribe to a new plan, which will start from zero. If LifeMiles is unable to make the monthly charge, 3 emails will be sent to the member and LifeMiles will attempt to make the charge 3 times. If LifeMiles is still unable to make the charge, the subscription will be canceled and will not be reactivated.

The miles purchased are not eligible for obtaining or maintaining the LifeMiles elite status- Each month you will be making an individual miles purchase transaction.

The purchase of Miles is non reversible and non refundable. The purchase of miles is an immediate execution contract. Once the payment is made, the miles will be accrued immediately on the members account. As of that moment the miles can be used according to the terms and conditions of the LifeMiles Program. For these reasons the purchase of miles is a contract that cannot be resolved and retraction or similar rights according to applicable law are not applicable.

Miles are not endorsable. Miles purchased, once accrued, can be redeemed in accordance with the conditions specified in the LifeMiles Program Terms and Conditions and the portfolio of products and services available for redemption. LifeMiles Terms and Conditions apply. LifeMiles is a trademark of LifeMiles Ltd. For residents in Colombia: the values are settled based on Colombia’s exchange rate on the date of the transaction.

For residents in Peru the amount of the subscription is USD 129.99or S/ 421.69 without including taxes. Prices in Nuevos Soles reflect the reference exchange rate to November 13th, 2017: S/ 3.224. Final prices in Nuevos Soles will be determined bases on the exchange rate of the date of the transaction. For residents in Costa Rica the values are settled based on the exchange rate issued by IATA. For the rest of the countries the values are settled based on the exchange rate of the date of the transaction.