Over the last two to three years, several airlines have introduced their Miles Subscription Plans. These plans allow you to buy Airline Miles at a lower cost than the regular price. There are multiple options available, with costs decreasing as you go higher. Even though these Miles Subscription Plans can be a good way to earn the miles you need, there are also other things to look at. Let’s look at the Airline Miles Subscription Plans that are available and whether they are worth considering.
Airlines that offer Miles Subscription Plan
Over the last couple of years, several airlines have come up with Miles Subscription Plans, and these airlines offer Miles Subscription Plans as of now:
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca Lifemiles
- British Airways
- Copa Airlines
- Finnair
- Qatar Airways
- United Airlines
Other airlines also offer miles subscription plans, such as GOL Smiles and LATAM Pass. However, these may not be useful across the globe.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue Miles Subscription Plan
Air France-KLM Flying Blue lauched a Subscribe to Miles Plans last year.
You get four plans to choose from. These are monthly plans; however, they come with a three-month minimum commitment. So, a plan will remain active for three months, and you can cancel it after that period, but you can’t pause, upgrade, or downgrade the plan. There are no other quarterly, half-yearly or annual plans. But that is an advantage. However, if you have activated a plan, you have a 14-day cooling period. If you haven’t used your miles during the cooling period, you can withdraw the subscription for a full refund.
| Plan | Monthly Miles | Cost ($) | ¢/Mile | ₹/Mile |
| Starter | 2000 | 34.20 | 1.71 | 1.48 |
| Smart | 5000 | 79 | 1.58 | 1.37 |
| Advanced | 10000 | 146 | 1.46 | 1.26 |
| Complete | 17000 | 227.80 | 1.34 | 1.16 |
Things to Know:
- Minimum Committment is three months.
- 14 Day Cooling-Off Period Applies.
- Plan can only be cancelled not paused, downgraded or upgraded.
- Miles Expiry is reset upon credit of miles every month.
- Currency Depends on the account address. If you are in Europe you can buy in EUR else you can buy in USD.
- No other benefit are available.
- Risk of devaluation exists.
Should you subscribe?
If you are not interested in the Air France-KLM Subscribe to Miles plan, you can purchase their Flying Blue miles during sales promotions; however, the pricing will not be as competitive as 1.34¢ or ₹ 1.16.
Avianca Lifemiles+ Subscription Plan
If one interesting subscription plan is it has to be “Avianca Lifemiles+”. Just have a look at the benefits that you get by subscribing to the Avianca Lifemiles+ Plan. Getting 10% miles back on a Star Alliance flight is a great benefit. Also, having a no-cancellation benefit is good. However, the free cancellation benefit is not available on the Lite plan.
If you are considering the Avianca Lifemiles+ Subscription Plan for purchasing Lifemiles, it’s best to do so during the promotion. It is better to combine them both.
| Plan | Monthly Miles | Cost ($) | ¢/Lifemiles | ₹/Lifemiles |
| Lite | 500 | 20 | 4.00 | 3.46 |
| Basic | 2000 | 50 | 2.50 | 2.16 |
| Pro | 4500 | 100 | 2.22 | 1.92 |
| Max | 10000 | 200 | 2.00 | 1.73 |
If you have avianca Lifemiles AmEx Elite card (available for US residents) you get Lite Plan free and a $20 discount on each plan plus 100% bonus on each plan. That reduces your cost to just 0.90¢.
- Things to Know:
- The minimum subscription time is six months.
- A plan can be upgraded once a month.
- In case the card payment fails twice in 21 days, the plan will be cancelled.
- Free award cancellations are not available on the Lite plan.
- 10% discount on Star Alliance award flights in unlimited..
- The Miles expiry will be increased from 12 months to 24 months.
Should you subscribe?
A Lifemiles+ subscription is worth it if you have a lot of Avianca Lifemiles. It is a good combination to buy Avianca Lifemiles during the promotion and use this subscription plan to get benefits like free cancellation, etc.
British Airways Avios Subscription
British Airways launched the Avios Subscription in October 2022. I like how Avios is one of the easiest miles currencies to earn. One of the ways is through an Avios Subscription, which Finnair and Qatar Airways also offer. You can either subscribe to a monthly plan or a yearly plan. However, the monthly plan comes with a three-month commitment. The currency you buy depends on the address mentioned in your account. Earlier, there used to be a significant cost difference, which has been rationalised.
Things to Know:
- Minimum Subscription time is three months for the monthly plan.
- For the annual plan, you pay at the beginning and receive monthly Avios. The only benefit is that you pay for 10 months’ cost instead of 12 months.
- 14 14-day cooling-off period is available if you haven’t used your Avios.
- You need a minimum of one Avios in your account to subscribe. If you have zero Avios, you must have earned at least one Avios in the last 36 months.
- You can’t subscribe if the account has a negative balance.
Should you subscribe?
The best subscription plan is the adventurer plan, as you get to buy Avios at just 1.29¢. Otherwise, you can buy Avios at a discount during a promotion.
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles Plan
Another Star Alliance member, Copa Airlines, also offers the ConnectMiles Plan. There are five options to choose from. All are monthly plans. There are other benefits too, like you get a welcome bonus and a quarterly bonus. The welcome bonus benefit is given after three months of successful subscription, and a quarterly bonus is given every three months.
Should you subscribe?
Well, Copa Airlines occasionally offers promotions to buy miles with a bonus and discount. And, it is cheaper to buy them during these promotions.
Finnair Avios Subscription
Finnair, another airline that has Avios as miles currency, also offer Avios Subscription. The best part, if you are interested in Avios, is that you can subscribe to every airline that offers an Avios Subscription. However, do it only if you know what you are doing.
The pricing of annual plans looks decent, but it’s slightly more expensive than British Airways. However, you also get to buy 240K Avios in a year, as opposed to the 200K offered by British Airways.
| Monthly Avios | Monthly Cost (€) | ¢/Avios (€) | ¢/Avios ($) | ₹/Avios |
| 2000 | 36 | 1.80 | 2.11 | 1.83 |
| 4000 | 63.2 | 1.58 | 1.86 | 1.60 |
| 10000 | 147 | 1.47 | 1.73 | 1.49 |
| 20000 | 282 | 1.41 | 1.66 | 1.43 |
| Monthly Avios | Annual Avios | Annual Cost (€) | ¢/Avios (€) | ¢/Avios ($) | ₹/Avios |
| 2000 | 24000 | 360 | 1.50 | 1.76 | 1.52 |
| 4000 | 48000 | 629 | 1.31 | 1.54 | 1.33 |
| 10000 | 120000 | 1476 | 1.23 | 1.44 | 1.25 |
| 20000 | 240000 | 2808 | 1.17 | 1.37 | 1.19 |
Things to Know:
- Minimum Subscription time is three months, and for annual it is 12 months.
- 14 14-day cooling period applies.
- In case of an annual plan, Avios are credited monthly, whereas you pay the annual subscription fee upfront.
Should you subscribe?
If you regularly need Avios and are always short of them, subscribing can be a good option. Another advantage is that you can easily transfer Avios between Avios airlines, such as British Airways & Qatar Airways. Else, buy them during promotion.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Pro Avios Subscription
Qatar Airways recently launched the Privilege Club Pro Avios Subscription Plan—the third airline to offer Avios miles currency. You can choose from four plans, with the highest plan offering 5 Qpoints every month; however, it is the most expensive option. If you’re looking to subscribe to a plan, the Exclusive Plan is a good option.
| Plan | Monthly Avios | Monthly Cost ($) | ¢/Avios | ₹/Avios |
| Access | 2500 | 50 | 2 | 1.73 |
| Select | 7500 | 130 | 1.73 | 1.50 |
| Exclusive | 15000 | 240 | 1.60 | 1.38 |
| Ultimate+QPoints* | 20000 | 350 | 1.75 | 1.51 |
| Plan | Annual Avios | Monthly Avios | Annual Cost ($) | ¢/Avios | ₹/Avios |
| Access | 30000 | 2500 | 500 | 1.67 | 1.73 |
| Select | 90000 | 7500 | 1300 | 1.44 | 1.50 |
| Exclusive | 180000 | 15000 | 2400 | 1.33 | 1.15 |
| Ultimate+QPoint* | 240000 | 20000 | 3500 | 1.46 | 1.26 |
Things to Know:
- Minimum Subscription time is three months, and for annual it is 12 months.
- 14 14-day cooling period applies.
- In case of an annual plan, Avios are credited monthly, whereas you pay the annual subscription fee upfront.
Should you subscribe?
It doesn’t make sense to subscribe to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club as less costly options are available.
United Airlines Miles Subscription
Another Star Alliance member and one of the popular miles programs. United Airlines also offers a monthly subscription plan. Although United Excursion’s perk is ending on 21st August 2025, it remains a decent program. But, United is known for devaluations overnight. Additionally, it’s more cost-effective to purchase United Miles during a promotion, as the cost is lower than through a subscription.
Here is the Comparison of the complicated options you can choose from:
Things to know:
- All plans are monthly plans.
- Bonus Miles are awarded every three months.
- You can subscribe to one plan at a time.
- If you cancel a plan before 12 months, you can’t subscribe again for 90 days.
- No option of upgrade or downgrade is available.
Should you subscribe?
A straight no. It doesn’t make sense to subscribe to it. You can buy United Miles at a discount/bonus during a promotion, and you can also transfer Marriott Points at a 2:1 ratio if you ever need to top up.
Comparison
Here is the Comparison of each available subscription:
| Airline | Alliance | Annual Miles | ¢/Mile | ₹/Mile |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue Miles | SkyTeam | 204000 | 1.34 | 1.16 |
| Avianca Lifemiles | Star Alliance | 120000 | 2.00 | 1.73 |
| British Airway Avios | OneWorld | 200000 | 1.29 | 1.11 |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | Star Alliance | 124000 | 1.73 | 1.50 |
| Finnair | OneWorld | 240000 | 1.37 | 1.19 |
| Qatar Airways Avios | OneWorld | 180000 | 1.33 | 1.15 |
| United Miles | Star Alliance | 120000 | 2.26 | 1.95 |
Alternatives to Miles Subscription Plan
Here are Alternatives to Miles Subscription Plan:
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: Buy them during a promotion or use subscription plan as cost is less.
- Avianca Lifemiles: It is better to combine Lifemiles+ and buy them or transfer them through credit cards.
- British Airways, Finnair & Qatar Airways: Avios are one of the easiest miles to earn in the world and can be easily transferred between these airlines. Instead of using the subscription option, you can either buy it or use Avios Balance Booster to buy it cheaper.
- Copa ConnectMiles: It is better to buy them during a promotion.
- United Miles: It is better to buy them during a promotion or transfer via Marriott.
Bottomline
Airline Miles Subscription Plan is a good option for accumulating miles, but it may not be a long-term strategy unless you struggle to earn miles on your own. But the Risk of devaluation is always there.
