LifeMiles are now available for purchase through the Mileslife app

Full points to you if the headline didn’t sound confusing, but yes, Mileslife (where, full disclosure, I currently work) will be adding LifeMiles as an earning partner very soon. I imagine this will be useful to those of us who need to top off our LifeMiles accounts or want to keep them from expiring (simple solution: use the daily check-in function and select LifeMiles as your default FFP- the miles credited will count as “activity” that keeps your balance valid for 12-24 months, depending on when they were accrued).

The earning side is in the process of being finalized and is only expected to launch next month. In the meantime, however, Mileslife is running a sale on LifeMiles, which can be accessed so long as you don’t mind wading through a bit of Chinese.

Accessing the sale is fairly straightforward. The first thing you want to do is add a LifeMiles FFP to your Mileslife account. Just tap on Account–> Airline Programs and you should see LifeMiles listed.

Enter your details and tap Submit. Remember: LifeMiles cannot be accrued through day-to-day transactions in Singapore yet, so if you try to set LifeMiles as your default FFP and then go out to spend at a restaurant, you’ll get an error message at check-out.

Now go to Account–> Settings (the gear icon on the top right)–> Language. Only English and Simplified Chinese are available. Switch to Simplified Chinese.

Return to the home page and you’ll see this banner pop up. Tap on the banner and you’ll be sent to the landing page.

You’ll see two fields of interest. The first one is simply for you to select your LifeMiles FFP.

The second lets you choose how many miles to buy.

I know we’re more used to seeing LifeMiles pricing in USD, so I’ve taken the liberty of converting the amounts here to USD on a per mile basis:

• 50,000 LifeMiles: 1.611 US cents
• 100,000 LifeMiles: 1.540 US cents
• 200,000 LifeMiles: 1.467 US cents
• 250,000 LifeMiles: 1.376 US cents
• 300,000 LifeMiles: 1.377 US cents
• 350,000 LifeMiles: 1.377  US cents
• 400,000 LifeMiles: 1.376 US cents
• 480,000 LifeMiles: 1.376 US cents

In other words:

• 50,000 LifeMiles: 105% bonus
• 100,000 LifeMiles: 115% bonus
• 200,000 LifeMiles: 125% bonus
• 250,000 LifeMiles or more: 140% bonus

During the best available LifeMiles sales we see bonuses of 140%, although those are usually triggered by buying 101,000 miles or more. Nonetheless, if you’re in the market for miles and don’t want to wait for the next LifeMiles sale, this is a way of picking them up for less. Do note that LifeMiles purchased through Mileslife will not post instantly- transactions need one working day to process.

You can’t use Mileslife credit to purchase LifeMiles, and the final transaction will be billed in SGD (so no 5 mpd with the BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard, sadly). That said, you’ll have the option to earn 4 mpd through the usual cards like the UOB PPV and the Citibank Rewards.

This sale is available until 26 August. In case you need some ideas of what to do with your LifeMiles, you can check out the award chart here.

Here are a few data points and how much each flight would cost, one-way, at 1.376 US cents per mile.

• Singapore to North America
  • First- 99,000 (US$1362)
  • Business-78,000 (US$1,073)

• Singapore to Hawaii
  • First- 75,000 (US$1,032)
  • Business- 51,000 (US$702)
• Singapore to Australia
  • First- 60,000 (US$826)
  • Business- 40,000 (US$550)
• Singapore to Europe
  • First- 102,000 (US$1,404)
  • Business-  78,000 (US$1,073)
• Singapore to Japan
  • First-50,000 (US$688)
  • Business- 36,000 (US$495)

Conclusion

The usual caveats about LifeMiles apply- you can’t use them to book SQ premium cabin space except on short haul flights (that’s the general rule, for a more specific guide please refer to this article), you will need to call up the call centre to do any modifications or cancellations, and Lufthansa may or may not still be blocking First Class space from LifeMiles.

And no, you can’t transfer them to KrisFlyer.