Whereas navigating a international airline’s frequent flyer program could seem daunting, your savings on award travel could be important. That is notably true for Colombian airline Avianca and its distinctive LifeMiles frequent flyer program.
LifeMiles affords interesting redemption charges for Star Alliance awards and extra distinctive options that make this program price your consideration, although a sequence of current devaluations has made this system much less useful than it as soon as was.
Let’s delve into every thing you want to learn about Avianca LifeMiles.
Easy methods to earn Avianca LifeMiles
You may earn LifeMiles by crediting flights on Avianca or its Star Alliance partners, comparable to United Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Air China and Air New Zealand. This system additionally companions with Gol Airways, Iberia and Clic Air.
Cardless has launched two LifeMiles-branded credit cards within the U.S.:
- Avianca LifeMiles Elite American Categorical Card: Earn as much as 100,000 bonus miles — 60,000 miles are awarded after spending $4,500 within the first 90 days, and a further 40,000 miles are awarded after spending $25,000 within the first 12 months. Earn 3 LifeMiles per greenback spent on Avianca purchases, 2 LifeMiles per greenback spent on eating and non-Avianca journey and 1 LifeMile per greenback spent on all different purchases. Different advantages embrace a ten% award redemption low cost on Star Alliance flights, 500 bonus LifeMiles every month, a 25%-off award redemption low cost on Avianca flights and Star Alliance Silver standing for so long as you will have the cardboard. This card has an annual price of $249.
- Avianca LifeMiles American Categorical Card: Earn a bonus of as much as 40,000 LifeMiles after spending $3,000 with the cardboard within the first 90 days. Earn 2 LifeMiles per greenback spent on Avianca purchases, groceries and eating places, and 1 LifeMile per greenback spent on all different purchases. Different advantages embrace Star Alliance Silver standing for so long as you will have the cardboard. This card has an annual price of $99.
The knowledge for the Avianca LifeMiles Elite and Avianca LifeMiles playing cards has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
It’s also possible to switch your American Express Membership Rewards factors, Capital One miles, Bilt Rewards Factors, Wells Fargo Rewards factors and Citi ThankYou Rewards factors to your LifeMiles account at a 1:1 ratio. These transferable rewards applications generally supply transfer bonuses.
Moreover, you possibly can switch Marriott Bonvoy factors at a 3:1 ratio. Not like with most main applications, you won’t receive the 5,000 bonus miles for each 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors you switch; LifeMiles was one of the programs that misplaced this characteristic in 2022.
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Past bank cards, Avianca typically affords common discounts on LifeMiles purchases. Previously, we’ve seen costs drop as little as 1.2 cents per mile, though the everyday sale worth ranges from 1.3 to 1.35 cents per mile. These charges are considerably decrease than TPG’s February 2025 valuation of LifeMiles at 1.6 cents every. Whereas shopping for factors speculatively is usually not really helpful, these gross sales could be a good choice when you have a selected redemption in thoughts.
For those who often journey on paid tickets with Star Alliance carriers, it is perhaps price contemplating crediting your miles to Avianca. This may be advisable if you happen to discover extra worth within the LifeMiles program than in different choices like United MileagePlus or Air Canada Aeroplan. Crediting your miles to Avianca can also be helpful if you happen to do not journey sufficient to earn elite status however nonetheless need to maximize your redemption alternatives.
LifeMiles+ World subscription program
LifeMiles affords a paid subscription program known as LifeMiles+ World.
This program is optionally available for members and affords 4 membership ranges: Lite, Primary, Professional and Max. Lite is free for Avianca LifeMiles Elite American Categorical Card members, and cardmembers can obtain a reduction on Primary, Professional and Max memberships.
Members obtain numerous advantages based mostly on their membership tier, together with month-to-month bonus miles and extra miles per greenback spent on Avianca-branded American Categorical playing cards. A minimal six-month membership is required, so for non-Amex cardmembers, this might be no less than a $120 funding.
Most significantly, it affords 10% off the mileage value of many redemptions, so in case you are a greater than 200,000-mile redemption, maybe for your loved ones, this could possibly be a smart funding.
LifeMiles+ World subscriptions should be paid by bank card.
Easy methods to redeem Avianca LifeMiles
As a member of Star Alliance, Avianca lets you use your LifeMiles for flights on the service or any of its companions. Moreover, Avianca has partnerships with Gol Airways, Clic Air and Iberia, offering alternatives to earn and redeem LifeMiles on choose flights operated by these airways.
LifeMiles follows an ordinary zone-based award chart for many flights, divided by partner. Nonetheless, flights throughout the U.S. generally deviate from the usual award chart and may often be a number of thousand miles cheaper than the award chart exhibits.
Redeeming LifeMiles is often simple. You log in to the LifeMiles web site and seek for your required award flight.
Nonetheless, you will need to notice that whereas Avianca ought to technically have entry to the identical Star Alliance award availability as United MileagePlus and Air Canada Aeroplan, LifeMiles would not appear to point out as many seats as different applications, and the service’s info know-how can also be identified to have limitations. This can lead to phantom award space, the place seats seem on-line however will not be bookable.
Conversely, Avianca could not all the time show out there award area in United and Air Canada’s loyalty applications. Subsequently, it’s advisable to double-check your search utilizing one other Star Alliance search engine or instruments like ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s father or mother firm, Purple Ventures) earlier than transferring factors to Avianca. This ensures you will have correct and up-to-date info earlier than continuing along with your redemption.
Associated: The best websites to search for Star Alliance award availability
Avianca LifeMiles candy spots
Typically, you’re confronted with a trade-off between low award charges and excessive gasoline surcharges or spending extra miles to keep away from further prices. Nonetheless, LifeMiles is without doubt one of the few applications that excels in each points. It affords aggressive charges for Star Alliance awards and doesn’t cross on fuel surcharges to LifeMiles members.
Because of this, you possibly can count on to pay minimal taxes and charges when redeeming an award ticket.
Whereas LifeMiles beforehand supplied among the lowest award charges of any program, particularly in enterprise and firstclass, devaluations in 2024 and 2025 have meant that charges are nonetheless acceptable, although Air Canada’s Aeroplan is now barely cheaper on many routes.
Enterprise class from the US to Europe
Given the numerous carriers that fly between the U.S. and Europe, it is easy to search out business-class availability utilizing LifeMiles, particularly in case you are versatile in your departure and arrival cities and dates.
The LifeMiles award chart lists fastened charges no matter distance, so this could possibly be a very whole lot if you could find availability from the West Coast to Central and Jap Europe. This system prices 80,000 miles every method in enterprise class between the U.S. and anyplace in Europe, and no gasoline surcharges are added.
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Longer home coach flights throughout the US
The LifeMiles award chart for domestic flights operated by United Airways is advanced. The nation is split into three zones, so there are probably three completely different costs relying on which states you’re flying between or inside.
The shortest flights, comparable to inside California, are priced at an OK however not superb 10,000 miles one-way in economic system. Nonetheless, longer flights, like these from Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) to San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO), are solely 15,000 miles in economic system every method per individual, which is a good worth for a flight of round six hours.
Enterprise class from the US to Asia
As anticipated, award charges from the mainland U.S. to Asia are larger, with one-way flights from Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD) to Taiwan Taoyuan Worldwide Airport (TPE) on EVA Airways costing 55,000 miles and 100,000 miles in economic system and enterprise class, respectively.
Nonetheless, this could nonetheless be a good approach to attain the continent for fewer miles than you’d see by means of different applications.
Associated: Is EVA Airways business class worth it on the Boeing 787-10?
Enterprise class from the US to Australia
Premium cabin award area to fly Down Below is among the many hardest to search out of any vacation spot worldwide. The place you possibly can rating availability, LifeMiles prices solely 100,000 miles in enterprise class, an incredible deal in contrast with Delta Air Lines’ over 350,000-mile rates.
As Aeroplan sells these awards for 75,000 points, you may take into account reserving by means of Air Canada — although if you happen to’re shopping for LifeMiles, it is nonetheless a candy spot price realizing about.
Economic system class from the US to Colombia
Flights operated by Avianca could be astonishingly low cost with LifeMiles. We discovered flights below 7,000 miles every method from Dulles Worldwide Airport (IAD) close to Washington, D.C., to Bogota’s El Dorado Worldwide Airport (BOG), which is an unimaginable worth for a flight of 5 1/2 hours.
Combined-cabin awards
When touring in long-haul enterprise or firstclass, it’s normal to come across mixed-cabin awards by means of LifeMiles. This occurs within the following conditions:
- When airways do not supply firstclass on shorter routes, requiring passengers to attach in enterprise or economic system class
- When there is not award area in your required cabin
Most loyalty applications decide the award price based mostly on the best cabin class of service used. Nonetheless, LifeMiles takes a unique strategy. It costs every leg of the journey individually based mostly on the category of service booked, typically resulting in a reduced price for mixed-cabin tickets.
Within the above instance, whereas enterprise class is unavailable on the longer leg from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) to Hong Kong Worldwide Airport (HKG), it’s out there on the shorter HKG-TPE leg.
Another applications may try and cost the complete business-class price though many of the journey is in economic system, however LifeMiles provides you the choice to decide on to improve to enterprise class on the second leg for under 6,000 miles (a superb deal in and of itself) or save your miles and fly economic system for the entire journey.
This flexibility and optionality is nice to see from a loyalty program.
Issues with Avianca LifeMiles
Regardless of LifeMiles providing interesting award charges, it may not be your program. This system has a status for error-prone info know-how and inconsistent customer support.
LifeMiles members typically encounter web site glitches when redeeming their miles. Moreover, if you happen to reserve an economic system award ticket and enterprise class turns into out there, LifeMiles requires you to pay a cancellation price to redeposit your miles. You may then rebook your flight in enterprise class.
Whereas reserving with Avianca could prevent 1000’s of miles, canceling your ticket could possibly be tedious and expensive. You sometimes cannot cancel award bookings on-line, and Avianca is sluggish to concern refunds. The service’s name middle could be tough to resolve points with, particularly if you happen to can’t communicate Spanish.
Backside line
Avianca LifeMiles is a frequent flyer program that has confirmed its price within the award journey world. With its respectable redemption charges, lack of gasoline surcharges and partnerships with main transferable points and miles programs, LifeMiles affords worth and adaptability to its members. Whereas there could also be some customer support challenges and quirks to navigate, the advantages outweigh the drawbacks for a lot of vacationers, although Aeroplan is now proving to be a extra useful program following a sequence of LifeMiles devaluations.
So, take the time to discover Avianca LifeMiles, delve into its candy spots and unlock the chances it presents on your future travels. With a little analysis and planning, you possibly can profit from this program as you take into account the place to switch your bank card factors and miles.
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