2x1 is back!, But now with more miles!

Old May 10, 2015, 10:25 am
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by TheBOSman
Which one? ANA flies NRT-JFK, OZ flies F suites ICN-JFK on 777-200ER and will start flying A380 to JFK next month. TG doesn't fly at all though with F to USA, just a 777 with mediocre angled flats in J to LAX.
Oh, I was referring to the specific routing from Europe to the US

Last edited by AirCanada881; May 10, 2015 at 10:32 am
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Old May 10, 2015, 10:30 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Wilko Pali Sedef
Oh
Sadly not .
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Old May 10, 2015, 10:55 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by mlqsko
ANA, Asiana, Thai first class.
None of these have very high fuel surcharge at the moment. For a long-haul ANA flight, we are talking about $86 USD vs. $450 on a long-haul LH First flight segment. If the fuel surcharge savings from using Lifemiles is low, then the justification for paying for more miles per flight segment/trip on it goes away. Even if we just limit the universe of potential mile purchase opportunities to *A although that is clearly a false assumption (as one can also buy AA miles in lieu and etc.) If you are asking well, maybe fuel surcharge will go back up in the future. That future is unknown when and if it will happen and buying miles emphasizes on the fact you must have foreseeable need or else your miles risk being devalued suddenly by the airline - purchasing miles to just bank them is almost always a terrible proposition.

Here is a concrete example to counter your listing of ANA, Asiana and etc. LM currently charges 90K miles each way from North America to North Asia (Japan) on ANA First Class with little possibility to connect to elsewhere in Asia given the lack of First Class short-haul flights within Asia. LM also charges 115K miles each way from Europe to North Asia in First Class, which is where an European resident will have to pay to fly ANA First Class. In each case, the savings in fuel surcharge is no more than $86 or less. Alternatively, I could pay 55K miles or 60K miles using another FFP's miles respectively for ANA First Class award between Japan and North America and Japan and Europe. The amount of miles I save per one-way => (90K - 55K) = 35K or (115K - 60K) = 55K. Based on a return trip, say LHR/CDG/FRA to NRT/HND on ANA First, my savings in miles = 55K X 2 = 110K miles in lieu of $172 USD in cash savings. But because LM doesn't allow for mixed cabin connections, by using LM, I will have to pay an extra 22.5K each way for flights to reach my final destination in North Asia (other than Tokyo) as a separate ticket incurring possibly even more taxes as my connection airport thinks I depart there even though I will be merely connecting. The extra cost of = 22.5K X 2 = 45K Lifemiles + an unspecified amount of extra airport fees and government taxes. Assuming the connection point in Tokyo, we are talking about an extra tax/fee outlay of another $20 USD.

Here is a summary of actual costs and let's use a non-NA departure to placate those who claim my considerations is biased towards NA departures, which, I am obviously not.

Sample itinerary: FRA-NRT-TAO-NRT-FRA (Europe - North Asia award)

FRA-NRT-FRA in ANA First Class
NRT-TAO-NRT in ANA Business Class

Fuel surcharges: (€67+€14) X 2 = €162
Current ANA Fuel Surcharges until July 31, 2015

USD/Euro Exchange Rate: Currently, 1.12 USD/€

Total Fuel Surcharges payable: €162 X 1.12 = $181.50

Additional Japan International Passenger Facility Charge payable if using LM redemption to connect to North Asia other than Tokyo: (Ą2,090 - Ą1,050) X 2 = Ą2,080 = $17.50

Total cash savings using LM redemptions: $181.50 - $17.50 = $164 USD

Total mileage required with LM: (115K + 22.5K) X 2 = 275,000 miles

Total mileage required on an alternative FFP: 120,000 miles

Extra mileage required using LM redmeptions = 275K - 120K = 155,000 miles

Given that the current 2.2X LM promotion is targeted so only the 2X promo is publicly available. Therefore, using the latter, the best value per mile is exactly $0.0165 / LM mile. Otherwise, the value per mile of the 2.2X promo is $0.015 / LM mile.

Extra mileage cost: 155,000 miles X $0.0165 = $2,557.50 disregarding the constraint for now that one cannot buy more than 150,000 LM per year.

Adding everything up: Extra Mileage Cost - Fuel Surcharge Savings + Additional Tax/Fee Payable = $2,557.50 - $181.50 + $17.50 = $2,393.50

I hate to break it to you but using LM to fly ANA First by paying so much more in mileage cost is just downright illogical. The fuel surcharges will have to rise to the stratosphere in order to make economic sense of using LM redemption on ANA given the major constraint of LM not being able to do mixed cabin award.

Originally Posted by mlqsko
*A business awards with no surcharges. What is your alternative?
Same as above, the savings on fuel surcharge do not justify for the much higher mileage cost. Plus, if we are getting into Business Class awards, as opposed to First Class awards, then the number of alternative options increase significantly. For example, one of the more popular *A Business award redemption is with Eva Airways (BR), which doesn't have First Class. However, programs such as Aeroplan and a few others do not levy fuel surcharge for flying on BR, therefore, LM loses its key advantage here. Not to mention, these alternative programs often offer free stopovers which LM does not do. So if you are keen on using *A Business awards, even if you can get all your segments on one award unlike the First Class award, you will still have to pay more by breaking up your itinerary if you want stopover(s) and/or do open jaws but paying for the "ground sector" instead as an extra redemption or cash cost.

Originally Posted by mlqsko
If you don't like the program, move on.
Like I said, I know what I am talking about when I said the loss of LH F class redemption = death sentence. It really is. People who insist on paying more by punishing themselves with illusions of ANA and others being acceptable residual alternatives because they can't do the homework properly on their own is not my problem.

Originally Posted by TheBOSman
Indeed, all three are excellent.

There are people flying F between continents not both named "North America" and "Europe"...
Indeed, by paying an extra $2300+ vs. other alternatives for the exact same trip, same class and same airline in actual total cost.
sunil likes this.

Last edited by Guava; May 10, 2015 at 1:00 pm
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Old May 25, 2015, 7:38 am
  #34  
 
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I just got an extra 25% bonus. Purchased 66,000 miles, received 82,500 bonus miles. Nowhere did it indicate I would get that bonus until I actually did the transaction.
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Old May 25, 2015, 9:41 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by justforfun
I just got an extra 25% bonus. Purchased 66,000 miles, received 82,500 bonus miles. Nowhere did it indicate I would get that bonus until I actually did the transaction.
Just got this email:
Dear xxx:
Enjoy buying miles this 25th and 26th of May. If you buy LM1,000 you´ll receive LM2,250 to enjoy with all the benefits we have for you in more than 1,300 destinations and/or our wide network partners.
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Old May 25, 2015, 10:12 am
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by tusflyer
Just got this email:
Dear xxx:
Enjoy buying miles this 25th and 26th of May. If you buy LM1,000 you´ll receive LM2,250 to enjoy with all the benefits we have for you in more than 1,300 destinations and/or our wide network partners.
Yup. Just got that too. But I bought mine on the 24th. Got lucky!
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Old May 25, 2015, 12:07 pm
  #37  
 
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i think the promotion is not generating enough activity for lifemiles. so they are sweetening up the deal with a 10% extra deal.
but till they fix some issues, i doubt it will drive enough traffic for buying miles.i am not able to use my miles bought about an year ago due to simple issues on lifemiles website and their call center is reluctant to do anything other than what the website shows.
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Old May 25, 2015, 7:06 pm
  #38  
 
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Question

Originally Posted by Guava
Total mileage required on an alternative FFP: 120,000 miles
US dividend miles ?
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Old May 25, 2015, 10:26 pm
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by mrahul
i think the promotion is not generating enough activity for lifemiles. so they are sweetening up the deal with a 10% extra deal.
but till they fix some issues, i doubt it will drive enough traffic for buying miles.i am not able to use my miles bought about an year ago due to simple issues on lifemiles website and their call center is reluctant to do anything other than what the website shows.
My thoughts exactly. I'd love LM to send out a survey to previous "buyers" to determine why the are not still buying. My response would be akin to an essay.
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Old May 26, 2015, 2:19 am
  #40  
 
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I have over 160,000 miles in my account i have no use for, LM has lost all of its value to me, if only I could get rid of them somehow...
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Old May 26, 2015, 10:43 am
  #41  
 
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This promo is tempting, if only SQ flights had better availability on Avianca. Only seeing token CPH-SIN and SIN-HKG routes. Was hoping to try the new 77WNs.
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Old May 26, 2015, 4:56 pm
  #42  
 
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I am sure that is the case. The extra little bits bring the price down to the old prices- but you are still faced with the massive devaluations and impossible routing rules. I got the promo, was a buyer in the past for big blocks of miles, but just can't bring myself to invest anything more in them any more. Too limited in redemption options and I have no faith in how long before the next shoe drops.

But good to see that it can affect their bottom line when companies do things like this. I am sure they had some revenue goals for the miles sale promo and are not meeting them.

Maybe if they have something that brings cost back down around 1 cent a mile I'll give it a whirl again in the future. Otherwise I vote with my feet


Originally Posted by mrahul
i think the promotion is not generating enough activity for lifemiles. so they are sweetening up the deal with a 10% extra deal.
but till they fix some issues, i doubt it will drive enough traffic for buying miles.i am not able to use my miles bought about an year ago due to simple issues on lifemiles website and their call center is reluctant to do anything other than what the website shows.
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Old May 26, 2015, 5:10 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by gil123
I am sure that is the case. The extra little bits bring the price down to the old prices- but you are still faced with the massive devaluations and impossible routing rules. I got the promo, was a buyer in the past for big blocks of miles, but just can't bring myself to invest anything more in them any more. Too limited in redemption options and I have no faith in how long before the next shoe drops.

But good to see that it can affect their bottom line when companies do things like this. I am sure they had some revenue goals for the miles sale promo and are not meeting them.

Maybe if they have something that brings cost back down around 1 cent a mile I'll give it a whirl again in the future. Otherwise I vote with my feet
3x1 or bust in my opinion.
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Old May 27, 2015, 1:14 am
  #44  
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The 125% bonus per mile bought was an improvement, but I wasn't moved to jump on it and will wait for a 150-200% bonus.

Between the mileage price hikes, the routing restrictions and the poor award space availability situations which I face, I'm better off pursuing other options. At 3x for the price of 1 mile, I'd probably be back in.
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Old May 27, 2015, 1:48 am
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by iluvdoco
This promo is tempting, if only SQ flights had better availability on Avianca. Only seeing token CPH-SIN and SIN-HKG routes. Was hoping to try the new 77WNs.
SIN-MUC is also available.
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