AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
ITA Airways is Star Alliance's newest member. As part of the transition, ITA has begun releasing award space to partners. Now, it appears that you can use your Avianca LifeMiles for ITA Airways flights, although no formal announcement has been made by either airline.
Here's an example of some ITA routes bookable with LifeMiles.
ITA Airways Routes Bookable With Avianca LifeMiles
We don't know exactly how long ITA Airways flights have been bookable with LifeMiles, but it's likely relatively new, since ITA didn't officially join the Star Alliance until April 1, 2026.
As a refresher, the airline announced it would leave the SkyTeam alliance in early 2025. In September 2025, United and ITA announced an earn-and-redeem partnership, followed by Aeroplan's addition of redemptions on ITA Airways in February 2026. It was only a matter of time until award seats were released to LifeMiles.
ITA Airways operates a fairly extensive network from its hub in Rome (FCO), especially considering it was only founded in late 2020 to replace Alitalia. Unfortunately, Avianca LifeMiles doesn't publish an award chart, and many partner awards just underwent a no-notice devaluation.
You can fly nonstop between Rome and eight U.S. gateways on ITA Airways:
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Houston (IAH)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Miami (MIA)
- Washington D.C. (IAD)
- New York (JFK)
- Boston (BOS)
After a few quick searches, the only transatlantic route we found bookable with LifeMiles is New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO). Several other routes are served by fellow Star Alliance members United Airlines and Lufthansa, but some routes, like Boston to Rome, don't appear on LifeMiles at all. We also only saw availability in economy.
Luckily, it appears that the recent LifeMiles devaluation hasn't reached ITA Airways. You can book the nonstop from New York to Rome for just 35,000 LifeMiles in basic economy. After the devaluation, other partners are charging 48,000 LifeMiles for transatlantic flights, so this is a cost-effective option for anyone planning a trip to Europe.
If you're already in Italy, there's plenty of ITA Airways availability for intra-European flights. Fly from Milan (LIN) to Amsterdam (AMS) for 12,500 LifeMiles in economy.
Or, fly from Rome (FCO) to Madrid (MAD) for 12,500 LifeMiles in economy or 20,000 LifeMiles in business (or just 18,000 LifeMiles with a LifeMiles+ membership).
Although there's plenty of availability, these rates leave a lot to be desired. The Oneworld Alliance has a great presence in Europe with Iberia and British Airways. If you earn Avios, you can likely get around Europe for much cheaper. For instance, even during peak travel times, Iberia charges just 8,000 Avios for an economy flight from Rome to Madrid. During non-peak travel, that goes down to 6,500 Avios in economy or 16,500 Avios in business. Avianca doesn't offer peak and off-peak pricing, so the rates above are standard for this route.
If you book an economy ticket, choosing Iberia over ITA booked through LifeMiles can save you up to 6,000 points. It might not seem like much, but that can certainly add up over time.
How to Top up Your LifeMiles Balance
If you want to book ITA Airways flights using Avianca LifeMiles, you have plenty of options to boost your balance. Avianca offers two credit cards for U.S.-based travelers: the avianca lifemiles American Express® Card and the avianca lifemiles American Express® Elite Card. You can apply for these cards to earn a welcome bonus:
- avianca lifemiles American Express® Card: Get 40,000 Welcome bonus miles* after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days
- avianca lifemiles American Express® Elite Card: Get up to 100,000 Welcome bonus miles* — 60,000 miles after spending $4,500 in the first 90 days plus an additional 40,000 miles after spending $25,000 in the first 365 days.
If you don't want a new credit card, odds are, you earn points that can be transferred to LifeMiles. Avianca partners with most transferable point currencies, including American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Points, Bilt Rewards, and Wells Fargo Rewards at a 1:1 ratio:
That means it can be worthwhile to hold a card that earns one of these rewards.
$595Rates & Fees
- 12X – Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time.
- 1.5X – Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
$395
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
$249Rates & Fees
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
Bottom Line
It's always great to have more ways to use your points and miles. Even after the recent devaluation, Avianca LifeMiles are highly valuable, especially for those booking flights on Star Alliance partners. Now that ITA Airways is a member of Star Alliance, you can book both short- and long-haul flights on the airline. Hopefully, more routes at competitive rates will appear on LifeMiles soon.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and avianca lifemiles American Express® Elite Card (Rates & Fees)
