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The Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer program became a lot more interesting when it added both American Express Membership Rewards® and Capital One® Rewards as transfer partners. That, along with regular earn and burn promotions and its Star
Alliance membership, help to boost the potential value of this airline loyalty program.
See our best credit card bonuses here.
We recommend you give Avianca LifeMiles a worthy consideration. Find out why below.
| Hubs | Bogota, Lima, San Salvador |
| U.S. Destinations | Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Washington D.C. |
| Alliance | Star Alliance |
| Credit Cards | Avianca Vuela Visa® Card Avianca Vida Visa® Card |
| Redemption Options | Avianca and partner award flights, seat upgrades, VIP lounge access, hotel stays, car rentals, extra baggage, experiences, donations, miles transfers |
| Average Mile Value | $0.017 |
LifeMiles Elite Program
The LifeMiles Elite program rewards your loyalty to Avianca. Earn elite status, and you’ll unlock a world of benefits designed to make your air travel more enjoyable.
In order to gain Silver, Gold or Diamond elite status, you must meet status requirements within a calendar year (January 1 to December 31). All members who met the airline’s Elite status requirements in 2019 and received it on March 1, 2020 will have their status extended until January 31, 2022. The status will be automatically extended on March 1, 2021 without the need for customers to contact the airline.
| Requirements | Red More | Silver | Gold | Diamond | |
| Qualifying Miles (lowered in 2021) | 8,250 | 11,200 | 18,850 | 28,800 | |
| Qualifying Miles (during normal years) | 11,000 | 16,000 | 29,000 | 48,000 | |
| Minimum qualifying miles flown with Avianca (lowered in 2021) | 6,600 | 8,960 | 15,080 | 23,040 | |
| Minimum qualifying miles flown with Aviana (during normal years) | 8,800 | 12,800 | 23,200 | 38,400 |
As you move up in elite status, you’ll unlock additional exclusive benefits:
| Benefits | Red More | Silver | Gold | Diamond |
| Bonus LifeMiles | 20% | 25% | 75% | 100% |
| Unlimited upgrades to Business class | – | x | x | x |
| Upgrade confirmation | – | At the airport | 48 hrs prior | 48 hrs prior |
| Annual LifeMiles upgrade certficates | – | – | – | 2 |
| Priority check-in | x | x | x | x |
| Priority boarding | – | x | x | x |
| Priority baggage handling | – | x | x | x |
| Avianca VIP lounge access | – | Yes | Yes + 1 | Yes + 1 |
| Diamond VIP lounge access | – | No | No | Yes + 1 |
| Partner VIP lounge access | – | No | Yes + 1 | Yes + 1 |
| Free same-day flight advancement | – | x | x | x |
| LifeMiles redemption fee waiver | – | – | – | x |
| LifeMiles promotions advance notice | x | x | x | x |
| Elite call center assistance | x | x | x | x |
Elite status members also get extra baggage perks:
| Status | Economy | Business |
| Silver | 2 pieces of 50 lbs each | 2 pieces of 70 lbs each |
| Gold | 2 pieces of 50 lbs each + 1 piece of 44 lbs | 2 pieces of 70 lbs each + 1 piece of 44 lbs |
| Diamond | 2 pieces of 50 lbs each + 1 piece of 44 lbs | 2 pieces of 70 lbs each + 1 piece of 44 lbs |
The following Star Alliance benefits apply with your LifeMiles elite status:
| Benefits | Silver | Gold | Diamond |
| Priority check-in | – | x | x |
| Additional baggage | – | x | x |
| Priority security clearance | – | x | x |
| Star Alliance airport lounge access | No | Yes + 1 | Yes + 1 |
| Priority boarding | – | x | x |
| Priority baggage handling | – | x | x |
| Priority on waitlists | x | x | x |
| Priority airport standby | x | x | x |
Avianca lets their elite members take maternity leaves from the LifeMiles program. If you recently gave birth, you can extend your elite status for another full year. For example, if your Silver status is valid until February 2020, and your baby was born on October 1, 2019, you can enjoy Silver status until February 2021.
To qualify, you must:
- Be a LifeMiles Elite member at the time of your baby’s birth.
- Request the extension through the Avianca Call Center.
- Submit a scanned copy of your child’s birth certificate.
Earn status benefits for life with Cenit acknowledgment:
| Acknowledgement | Requirement | Permanant Benefits |
| Cenit 1M | 1 million qualifying miles | LifeMiles Gold Elite |
| Cenit 2M | 2 million qualifying miles | LifeMiles Diamond Elite |
To qualify for Cenit, you need to be at least 60 years old and a member of LifeMiles (or predecessor programs) for 15+ years.
Earning Avianca LifeMiles
Because Avianca is a member of Star Alliance, you can earn LifeMiles on both Avianca and member airline flights to 1,250+ destinations worldwide. The miles you earn on most Star Alliance partner flights also count towards LifeMiles Elite status.
Star Alliance members include:
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SAS
You can also earn LifeMiles on Aeromexico and Iberia flights.
Avianca offers two co-branded credit cards, issued by Banco Popular based in Puerto Rico. Below are both LifeMiles-earning cards, along with a quick rundown of their features:
| VUELA CARD | VIDA CARD | |
| Welcome Bonus | 40,000 miles | 20,000 miles |
| Bonus Spend | 1 purchase | 1 purchase |
| Bonus Value | $680 | $340 |
| Ongoing Rewards | 3x miles on Avianca 2x miles on gas 2x miles on groceries 1x miles on everything else | 2x miles on Avianca 1x miles on everything else |
| Multiply Your Miles | 15% discount | 15% discount |
| Foreign Transaction Fees | None | 1% |
| Annual Fee | $149 | $59 |
Additionally, Avianca Vuela cardholders get:
- One free additional baggage for travel between the United States and Central America.
- A 50% discount on an award ticket redeemed for travel from the United States to Central America or Colombia when you spend at least $12,000 each year.
- An additional 50% discount on an award ticket redeemed for travel from the United States to Central America or Columbia when you spend at least $24,000 each year.
LifeMiles has a large network of shopping and dining partners. Although most are South American, there are a number of American companies on the list, like American Eagle, Armani, Golds Gym, Harley Davidson, L’Occitane, P.F. Chang’s, Steve Madden, Tumi and Vans.
For a list of all partners along with earning rates, visit the LifeMiles shopping portal.
To maximize your earning potential, read our complete guide to online shopping portals.
Earn LifeMiles for hotel stays, car rentals and experiences. Partners include Avis, Booking.com, Hilton, Marriott, Rocket Travel and more.
We don’t normally recommend purchasing miles, because they’ll likely lose much of their value at redemption. However, LifeMiles offers regular bonuses on purchases. We’ve seen promotions for up to 200% bonus miles.
The regular purchase price is $33 for 1,000 LifeMiles, which comes out to $0.033 per mile. But with a LifeMiles purchase promotion you could be paying less than $0.0143 per mile. That’s far below what we average each mile to be worth, $0.017.
Keep in mind, you are limited to purchasing a maximum of 200,000 LifeMiles each calendar year (bonus miles excluded).
Earning Miles With Travel Partners
Avianca wasn’t a very popular frequent flyer program until it partnered with American Express Membership Rewards® and Capital One® Rewards in 2018. You can now transfer points to LifeMiles from four major rewards programs:
| Rewards Program | Transfer Ratio |
| American Express Membership Rewards® | 1:1 |
| Capital One® Rewards | 2:1.5 |
| Citi ThankYou Rewards | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 3:1 |
The ability to transfer points from other rewards program makes it extremely easy to have enough LifeMiles to book Star Alliance award flights.
Here are several recommended credit cards from those transfer partners that will help you earn points for the transfer.
THE PLATINUM CARD® FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Platinum Card® from American Express has a special offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 in purchases within your first 6 months.
Membership Rewards® points are some of the most valuable in the market. Redeeming these points by booking travel through American Express or by redeeming for gift cards will give you a standard 1 cent per point value. The 100k bonus points are worth $1,000 going this route.
You can potentially get more value by transferring your points to Membership Rewards travel partners. Using this strategy can get you up to an average value of 2 cents per point. Get around $2,000 in value with 100,000 points this way. Read more on this here.
With this card, earn 10X Membership Rewards Points for eligible purchases on the Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S. (up to $25,000 in combined purchases) during your first 6 months of Card Membership
5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
The biggest drawback to this card is the $695 annual fee (see Rates & Fees, Terms Apply), which puts it in the premium class of credit cards. The card has a market because it offers premium travel benefits, such as 5X points for flights (up to $500,000 on these purchases) and eligible hotels, access to 40+ Centurion Loung and Studio locations worldwide, up to $200 airline fee credit annually, and an annual Walmart+ membership. These benefits are given as statement credits.
For frequent travelers, the added benefits make sense in terms of value and added luxury.
AMERICAN EXPRESS® GOLD CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The American Express® Gold Card has a welcome bonus for 60,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $4,000 within 6 months.
Membership Rewards Points have great flexibility. We value each point to be worth up to an average 2 cents per point. At this value, 60k Membership Rewards Points can be worth up to $1,200.
The Amex Gold Card has plentiful perks. You’ll get:
- Choice between Gold or Rose Gold.
- 4X points at restaurants, including takeouts and deliveries.
- 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year in purchases (1X thereafter)
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- Up to $120 in annual dining credits (get up to $10 monthly statement credits)
- No foreign transaction fees
The annual fee is $250. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
CAPITAL ONE® VENTURE® REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card currently earns 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening. Or if are unable to meet the $20k spending requirement, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. These bonus miles are equal to $1000 or $500, respectively, in travel and are easy to redeem as a statement credit towards the cost of your travel purchases. Take advantage of Capital One’s travel partners and these up to 100k miles can be worth around $1400 in value.
This card will earn an ongoing 2 miles for every dollar you spend on all purchases. 100 miles is equal to $1 in travel rewards. If you don’t redeem towards travel purchases, your miles will have less value.
The annual fee is $95.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BRILLIANT™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has an offer for 75,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. We value these 75k points at around $675. Also, earn up to $200 in Statement Credits for eligible purchases at U.S. Restaurants within the first 6 months.
This card earns 6 points per $1 at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program and 3 points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (redemption level up to 50,000 points) every account anniversary year, and up to $300 in statement credits each year for eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program. Resort fees may apply. Other benefits include unlimited airport lounge visits with the Priority Pass Select membership and no foreign transaction fees.
This premium card comes with an Annual Fee of $450. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
Redeeming Avianca LifeMiles
Before we go through all the ways you can use your LifeMiles, keep in mind that they do expire. Be sure to make at least one accrual transaction at least once every 12 months to avoid losing any LifeMiles.
Use your LifeMiles for Avianca or partner-operated flights. There is no published Avianca award chart, but there is an online calculator that gives you mileage estimates for specific routes.
Star Alliance has region-based award charts for each member airline. To view, go to the LifeMiles partner page and click on a carrier. Scroll down to the “How to redeem your LifeMiles” section. Then, click on “Review here” after “Find out how many LifeMiles you need for a ticket on…”
When it comes time to redeem your LifeMiles for an award flight, keep the following points in mind:
- LifeMiles does not pass on any fuel surcharges – no matter which carrier you fly with. However, there is a $25 booking fee for all award tickets.
- LifeMiles does not offer the same Lufthansa first class availability as other Star Alliance programs.
- You can redeem in miles and cash, but you need at least 40% of the required miles.
- There are no stopovers allowed.
- There is no online award booking for non-alliance partners. You must call to redeem.
Use your LifeMiles to upgrade your seat on Avianca-operated flights.
You can also redeem your LifeMiles to upgrade on Star Alliance-operated flights, but restrictions do apply.
Use your LifeMiles to access hundreds of VIP lounges around the world. Entry to most lounges are priced between 4,500 to 8,000 miles.
Use your LifeMiles for a variety of other redemption options, like hotel stays, car rentals, extra baggage, experiences and donations. None of these will get you the best value for your miles, so we recommend avoiding them.
You can also transfer your miles to a friend or family member. Pay $15 for every 1,000 LifeMiles you want to transfer. So the cost to transfer is $0.015 per mile.
Like purchasing miles, LifeMiles will run limited-time transfer bonuses. For example, pay $15 for every 2,000 miles you transfer. That ends up being just $0.0075 per mile.
LifeMiles Tips & Tricks
Let’s look at some LifeMiles sweet spots to get the most out of your miles.
For travel from North America (the United States and Canada):
| Miles | Destination | Class |
| 25,000 | Transcontinental (United) | Business |
| 30,000 | South of South America | Economy |
| 63,000 | Europe | Business |
| 87,000 | Europe (Lufthansa) | First |
| 78,000 | Middle East | Business |
| 40,000 | New Zealand or Australia | Economy |
| 39,000 | South Asia | Economy |
For travel departing elsewhere:
| Miles | Depart | Arrive | Class |
| 45,000 | Europe | Central Asia | Business |
| 36,000 | South Asia | North Asia | Business |
| 40,000 | South Asia | New Zealand or Australia | Business |
| 50,000 | New Zealand or Australia | North Asia | Business |
| 48,000 | Hawaii | North Asia | Business |
| 22,500 | North Asia | North Asia | Business |
LifeMiles will also run limited-time promo awards for different destinations. Past offers include:
- New York City (JFK) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN): roundtrip on Asiana Airlines first class for 144,000 miles. Regularly priced at 180,000 miles.
- Los Angeles (LAX) to Beijing (PEK): roundtrip on Air China first class for 144,000 miles. Regularly priced at 180,000 miles.
- Seattle (SEA) to Taipei (TPE): roundtrip on EVA Air business class for 120,000 miles. Regularly priced at 150,000 miles.
- San Francisco (SFO) to Taipei (TPE): roundtrip on EVA Air business class for 120,000 miles. Regularly priced at 150,000 miles.
Keep in mind, most promo awards are only valid if you book within a short time period, usually two to three weeks.
Service via the Avianca call center is a notoriously painful experience. The call center staff lack sufficient English skills, they’re not well-trained in partner bookings, and the hold times are long. We recommend you always try and book your award flights online first.
*We independently gathered the information above from public sources. It is subject to change so please log into your account and do your own search for updated information.
Bottom Line
You don’t have to be a regular Avianca flyer to get value from the LifeMiles program. If you frequently travel with Star Alliance, you’ll be able to maximize LifeMiles rewards. Overall, the Avianca program offers the holy trinity when it comes to rewards: great earning potential, incredible flexibility and exceptional value.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.