One Cheap Mileage Award to Europe Is Gone. Do This Instead.

Changes in the points and miles world tend to be usually negative, rarely positive and sometimes a mixed bag. The latest changes to Avianca’s LifeMiles award chart definitely have mixed effects.

On Aug. 13, the cost of certain awards — particularly a business class sweet spot to Europe — went up by 86%, but others got a 25% decrease or were left untouched.

It’s disappointing when good deals go the way of the dodo, particularly when there’s no notice, but there’s plenty left for future European sojourns.

Avianca LifeMiles award price changes

Avianca LifeMiles has long been a mainstay for cheaply booking Star Alliance award flights. One huge reason is because LifeMiles is a 1:1 transfer partner of several credit card rewards programs, including:

• American Express Membership Rewards.

• Capital One miles. 

• Citi ThankYou points.

• Bilt Rewards. 

That means LifeMiles are easy to earn with several popular travel credit cards, and previously, many award flights had attainable prices before the no-notice changes.

A popular LifeMiles redemption was award flights between the U.S. and Europe for 30,000 LifeMiles one-way in coach or 63,000 LifeMiles one-way in business class. Those transatlantic routes now price at around 35,000 to 39,000 LifeMiles each way for economy tickets and 65,000 to 70,000 LifeMiles each way for business class tickets.

Another change is that business class award seats from New York-JFK to Lisbon, Portugal (LIS) in a lie-flat seat now cost 65,000 LifeMiles, whereas before you could fly on some itineraries for just 35,000 LifeMiles — an 86% increase.

Other routes affected are first class flights on Avianca partners ANA and Lufthansa. Before the changes, you could fly between the U.S. and Europe in a Lufthansa first class seat for 87,000 LifeMiles. That same award now costs 130,000 LifeMiles — a notable hike.

But it isn’t all bad. A handful of short business class flights to Europe, such as the U.S. East Coast to the U.K., Ireland and a few Scandinavian destinations, actually went down in price from 60,000 LifeMiles to 45,000 LifeMiles each way.

Avianca doesn’t publish an official award chart. This means that there is no published range of how much Avianca could charge for a certain route, so if you find an excellent deal, grab it before it disappears. Given there are so many ways to earn Avianca LifeMiles, it’s easy to top off your mileage balance.

Alternative sweet spots for flying to Europe

There are still plenty of cheap award flights to Europe using your flexible bank points.

For starters, keep an eye on Air France-KLM's monthly Promo Rewards, which are monthly discounts on selected Air France or KLM award flights. Right now, you can fly to Europe from Boston, Houston or Toronto for only 15,000 Flying Blue miles each way, which is an incredible bargain.

Flying Blue has many transfer partners, including American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Citi ThankYou points.

It’s also possible to fly one-way to London-Heathrow (LHR) with only 10,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points in economy from several U.S. cities.

The taxes and fees can be high, but it could be worthwhile if you find a cheap connecting flight to other parts of Europe (or, of course, if you want to visit London). Even better, Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of several credit card programs like American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

You might also get lucky. I found a nonstop one-way coach flight from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Madrid, Spain (MAD), for 22,500 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. If your dates are flexible, there are plenty of business class seats starting at 57,500 miles each way on Oneworld partner Iberia.

Considering business class seats can cost thousands of dollars, that could potentially be a high-value way to redeem your miles.

Here are more of the cheapest ways to fly to Europe using points and miles for additional ideas. The deals are definitely still out there — even with Avianca Lifemiles — if your plans have some wiggle room.

Flexible points hedge against future devaluations

It’s no fun to have a goal in mind and then find out the bar has been raised — especially without notice. That’s the number one reason we recommend earning flexible transferable points. If there’s ever a devaluation within a certain program, your hard-earned points or miles aren’t locked in. Instead, you can keep them until you’re ready to make an award booking and then make the transfer, thereby preserving their value. A couple of the best travel cards that earn flexible points which transfer to Avianca and other partners include the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express. With a little digging, those points can get you to Europe and beyond. Terms apply.