Lifemiles Devaluation For Europe Flights
I am not going to sugar coat it, 2025 has had a rough start on the devaluation front. First it was Flying Blue, followed by Marriott and now this lifemiles devaluation for Europe flights. The worst part? All three were no notice devaluations – the worse kind. This one comes less than a year since the last time lifemiles devalued their award chart too. That one came with the new lifemiles+ world program that basically offset the increase in cost. That is if you paid for the service, or grabbed their credit card.
Increased Award Costs
Here are what we are seeing for pricing – hat tip to ToP Facebook Group member Polina
Many US to Europe routes (and vice versa) had the following rates before yesterday:
- 37,000 – 39,000 lifemiles for one way in economy
- This was down around 35,000 before the devaluation last summer
- 69,000 – 70,000 lifemiles for one way in business
- This was down around 60,000 – 63,000 before the devaluation last summer
The new rates people are seeing now on in the following range:
- 40,000 lifemiles for one way in economy
- 80,000 lifemiles for one way in business
This is a big jump on the business class end, but it does seem to be a little bit route dependent. Maybe that is by plan, or maybe they will be rolling this out over time to other partners / routes. Having said all of that, the award price increase may not be the worst of it.
Increased Award Surcharges
The worst part of the lifemiles devaluation for Europe flights may be increased award surcharges. Actually saying they added surcharges may be more accurate, since they never used to be added in before. It was one of the biggest perks of the program. As you can see from the screenshot above, the costs are up over $100 one way.
Lifemiles Devaluation For Europe Flights: ToP Thoughts
This lifemiles devaluation for Europe flights is bad enough on its own, but because of the other recent no notice devaluations it feels worse. Lifemiles may have pushed it too far with these changes, and I expect Aeroplan to become even more popular. These changes may lead people to avoid them as an option, unless there is a large transfer bonus. It is a weird choice from a program that relies so heavily on selling their miles to members and credit card companies. It seems short sighted to try to offset the cost to book partner awards by making your program uncompetitive. Throw in their terrible website, often horrible customer service experiences and we are looking at a lot of people leaving this program in the dust. I think that the surcharges could be the last draw for many.
Let me know your thoughts over in the ToP Facebook Group.
