going out of business sale?
Mar 16, 2020, 11:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: DL PM - IC RA - HHonors Gold - Hertz Gold - AA - US - CO - Choice Privileges
Posts: 1,661
going out of business sale?
Been here, done that. Not that LifeMiles has anything to sell other than miles, but the prospect does exist for LifeMiles and Avianca to cease to exist in the not so distant future. Sitting here with hundreds of thousands of miles without a clue how to leverage the situation. Might consider speculative buying of a ticket to somewhere in a date well into the future but no clue if the airlines will continue to exists. Here and there I hear United Airlines would love to have Avianca but United isn't doing well either. The LifeMiles web site is working now so that is a good thing.
Mar 16, 2020, 10:52 pm
#3
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: SYD
Programs: QF PS and spouse of QP Senior Lifer PS, UA, AA, DL, AS, AV
Posts: 762
Been here, done that. Not that LifeMiles has anything to sell other than miles, but the prospect does exist for LifeMiles and Avianca to cease to exist in the not so distant future. Sitting here with hundreds of thousands of miles without a clue how to leverage the situation. Might consider speculative buying of a ticket to somewhere in a date well into the future but no clue if the airlines will continue to exists. Here and there I hear United Airlines would love to have Avianca but United isn't doing well either. The LifeMiles web site is working now so that is a good thing.
Just now I tried to book a hotel in SYD using LM. I was taken to booking.com where I can earn LM but can't burn them. Maybe in the Americas it's possible to burn on hotels or rental cars.
Mar 17, 2020, 1:03 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Been here, done that. Not that LifeMiles has anything to sell other than miles, but the prospect does exist for LifeMiles and Avianca to cease to exist in the not so distant future. Sitting here with hundreds of thousands of miles without a clue how to leverage the situation. Might consider speculative buying of a ticket to somewhere in a date well into the future but no clue if the airlines will continue to exists. Here and there I hear United Airlines would love to have Avianca but United isn't doing well either. The LifeMiles web site is working now so that is a good thing.
dont sit on a big pile of miles (earn and burn at sustainable rates).
Best is to binge on some luxurious F class flights in the late summer or winter 2020. book them now.
Mar 17, 2020, 4:03 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: SYD
Programs: QF PS and spouse of QP Senior Lifer PS, UA, AA, DL, AS, AV
Posts: 762
IMO that assumption is wrong.
Mar 17, 2020, 10:21 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
because the airline providing the flight only gets paid once the passenger has flown and if, at that point, the airline issuing the ticket no longer exists or has no/insufficient money left, the carrier won't be paid and, since they know they won't be paid, they will therefore refuse to carry the passenger for free.
Mar 17, 2020, 4:05 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: SYD
Programs: QF PS and spouse of QP Senior Lifer PS, UA, AA, DL, AS, AV
Posts: 762
because the airline providing the flight only gets paid once the passenger has flown and if, at that point, the airline issuing the ticket no longer exists or has no/insufficient money left, the carrier won't be paid and, since they know they won't be paid, they will therefore refuse to carry the passenger for free.
Now that's sorted, can I repeat my question.
Has anyone burned LM on hotels anywhere, e.g. in the Americas?
That might be a way of burning miles quickly even if you don't want to fly soon..
Mar 18, 2020, 11:40 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: DL PM - IC RA - HHonors Gold - Hertz Gold - AA - US - CO - Choice Privileges
Posts: 1,661
Mar 25, 2020, 4:48 am
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I had already gotten my exposure to LifeMiles down to less than 10k miles a few months back on anticipation of there being problems ahead for this sector and the likelihood of US airline program balances being relatively safer than various non-US airline programs where I had (or sort of still have) substantial balances.
My biggest exposure to airline program balances are in the US, but the main US programs are relatively better positioned to make it out of this period than a lot of smaller carriers’ programs outside of the US.
My biggest exposure to airline program balances are in the US, but the main US programs are relatively better positioned to make it out of this period than a lot of smaller carriers’ programs outside of the US.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:35 am
#13
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Gringolandia y LatinoAmerica a veces EU y Asia
Programs: AV, AA, BA, CM, UA, Hertz, Marriott, Hilton
Posts: 153
Si senor you are correct. I believe the US major balances are safer for many reasons including the unwillingness of the Federales to allow majors to go down and the mutual dependency of both the majors and their FFP on the big credit card providers. I do have some LM, a useful amount several hundred Ks plus some pending redeposits for cancelled flights LOL! Yes I do not know if these will be viable in the longer term as you say. I did not take strong risk reduction measures you did but still I have not been accumulating hard on LM for a year.
I used LM for my last flight, a short notice Asia-US redemption last month when I was in SIN... NH F. Who knows maybe the last time, at the least it was a good moment to use these LM in this way.
I used LM for my last flight, a short notice Asia-US redemption last month when I was in SIN... NH F. Who knows maybe the last time, at the least it was a good moment to use these LM in this way.
Apr 20, 2020, 5:59 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,389
I had already gotten my exposure to LifeMiles down to less than 10k miles a few months back on anticipation of there being problems ahead for this sector and the likelihood of US airline program balances being relatively safer than various non-US airline programs where I had (or sort of still have) substantial balances.
My biggest exposure to airline program balances are in the US, but the main US programs are relatively better positioned to make it out of this period than a lot of smaller carriers’ programs outside of the US.
My biggest exposure to airline program balances are in the US, but the main US programs are relatively better positioned to make it out of this period than a lot of smaller carriers’ programs outside of the US.
Apr 23, 2020, 6:06 am
#15
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, VS Silver, Hilton Gold, IHG Gold, Wyndham Gold
Posts: 85