Avianca LifeMiles Launches Two Amex Cards

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Exciting news for travelers and points and miles enthusiasts! Avianca, Colombia’s leading airline, has teamed up with fintech innovator Cardless to launch two new credit cards: the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card and the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card. Launched on May 21, these two cards promise to enhance your travel experience with a host of exclusive benefits. Time will tell if one of these cards can make it onto our list of the best travel cards.

Why are LifeMiles so popular?

LifeMiles, Avianca’s rewards currency, is consistently ranked as one of the top rewards currencies for Star Alliance rewards. While I have yet to use Avianca miles, I have friends who redeem LifeMiles for great trips and sing its praises. Our senior credit card editor Dia Adams recently redeemed LifeMiles for a nonstop flight from Washington, D.C. to London on United for just 20,000 LifeMiles and minimal taxes.

In addition to flying Avianca flights and earning credit card credit, you can earn LifeMiles by purchasing miles directly from Avianca or transferring points from a variety of programs (Capital One, Citi Thank You, and American Express). You can often find mileage deals for around 1.3 cents per LifeMile. LifeMiles, through its many partners, can help you travel to Colombia, England, New Zealand and hundreds of other places around the world – the Star Alliance network is vast. Having cards that earn them directly can be a huge benefit to the right points portfolio.

Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card

The Elite card has an annual fee of $249, but it offers several benefits that may justify the annual fee. The sign-up bonus can be up to 100,000 LifeMiles after you spend $25,000 on the card in the first 365 days (60,000 LifeMiles are earned after you spend $4,500 in the first 90 days).

The level of earnings on this card is high; For every dollar spent, cardholders will earn 3 miles on Avianca or LifeMiles purchases, 2 miles on dining, 2 miles on all other travel such as hotels, taxis and other airlines, and 1 mile on all purchases.

Elite cardholders will be able to earn double the LifeMiles earned on the card each statement cycle, up to an additional 1,000 LifeMiles. So you can earn 2X the first 1,000 points you earn each month, meaning if you spend $500 at restaurants, you’ll earn 2,000 LifeMiles plus 1,000 bonuses.

Cardholders will also receive a free monthly subscription to LifeMiles+, LifeMiles’ new monthly subscription product in the US. This service costs $20 per month without a card, so if you’re going to get one anyway, the cost of storing the card will be significantly reduced. With this new subscription, Elite cardholders are eligible to receive:

• Cardholders’ subscription to Lifemiles+ will include a “Lite” tier at no additional cost and will include an additional 500 miles per month or 6,000 miles per year automatically added to the cardholder’s Lifemiles account.
• 10% discount on Star Alliance tickets.
• Up to 25% discount on Avianca flights.
• Cancellations and changes with discount or no fee
• When booking through LifeMiles.com, cardholders will earn up to 40% more miles on LifeMiles Hotels tickets and up to 10% off LifeMiles Cars tickets.

To view rates and fees for the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card, visitthis page.

Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card

The standard Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card has an annual fee of $99, and cardholders can earn a sign-up bonus of 40,000 LifeMiles after spending a total of $3,000 in the first 90 days. In addition to the sign-up bonus, cardholders will earn 2 miles on Avianca Airlines or LifeMiles purchases, 2 miles on dining, 2 miles on groceries and 1 mile on all purchases for every dollar spent with the credit card.

To view rates and fees for the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card, visitthis page.

LifeMiles Silver Elite Status

LifeMiles has four levels of status (Red Plus, Silver, Gold and Diamond), and each of the new credit cards offers Silver status. Silver status provides benefits such as:

• 30% bonus miles are awarded on Avianca flights for elite Silver members. Applies to tickets purchased at classic, flexible and business fares.
• Priority check-in, boarding, call center service and baggage handling
• 5 free lounge passes and 2 companion passes to 12 Avianca VIP lounges.
• 1 additional Economy checked baggage up to +1 weighing up to 23 kg (50 lbs)
• 10% discount when purchasing premium seats on Avianca.com
• LifeMiles Silver members will also be able to enjoy the benefits of Star Alliance Silver status, including a priority booking waiting list and priority waiting on Star Alliance eligible flights.
• To learn more about all the benefits available to LifeMiles Silver Elite members, Click here.

Avianca LifeMiles Silver status is equivalent to Star Alliance Silver status and provides additional benefits when flying with Star Alliance airlines:

• Priority Waiting List
• Priority waiting at the airport

My Take on the Avianca LifeMiles American Express Card and the Avianca LifeMiles American Express Elite Card

I’m most excited about the Elite card with its 60,000 LifeMiles after spending $4,500 in the first 90 days and getting a 10% discount on Star Alliance card redemptions. Star Alliance member airlines serve more than 1,300 destinations, virtually giving you access to most of the world, and 60,000 LifeMiles can take you anywhere in the world.

I’d like to go to Colombia and visit Cartagena and Cali – both have direct flights to/from New York JFK with Avianca. I visited Bogota and Medellin and found those cities to be great places to visit and was eager to experience Colombian culture.

Silver status on Avianca can easily provide benefits beyond the annual fee, especially if upgrades to business class are allowed (even entry-level status has been known to do this). While my immediate travel plans don’t include Colombia, given the right scenario, I could very well grab this card and take a trip to Colombia on Avianca.

For those of you not based in New York, Avianca offers flights from the following US destinations: Miami, Ontario (CA), Orlando, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Oakland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston , Fort Lauderdale, Dallas. and Boston, providing U.S. travelers with ample access to Central and South America.

Are Avianca cards right for you?

But before you apply, it’s important to know a couple of things about LifeMiles. First, they expire. With a card, they won’t expire as long as you hold the card, but if you cancel the card, the clock will start ticking.

Another thing to know is that LifeMiles is not a 101-level product and should not be your first foray into miles and points. Avianca’s customer service, although much improved, is still not considered first class, and if you need to change or cancel a flight, the process can be frustrating. If you want to earn Star Alliance miles with minimal effort, an easier-to-use card like the Aeroplan® Credit Card may be a better option.

Aeroplan® Credit Card

Welcome Bonus

Earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of your account opening.

Annual fee	US$95
Regular annual interest rate	21.74–28.74% variable

Which card is better?

For Star Alliance travelers looking for status, the Avianca LifeMiles American Express Card may be right for you, as it gives you miles and status benefits for a low annual fee. The earning rates on the standard card are decent, but not amazing. On the other hand, travelers looking to visit Colombia or the rest of Central and South America on Star Alliance airlines, or those travelers who are closely tied to Star Alliance payouts, should consider the Elite card and its high earning rates and benefits. The ability to earn up to 100,000 LifeMiles combined with the benefits of Silver status could easily change the tide of this card being a great travel rewards card.

An interesting note about the Avianca LifeMiles American Express Elite Card is that the card is made of metal to the standards set by other premium travel cards, but it also features tabs featuring North America, demonstrating Avianca’s commitment to travelers based in North America. .

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