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Avianca recently revamped its Club LifeMiles program, which allows LifeMiles members to subscribe to a plan to purchase miles monthly. The mileage subscription plan isn't new, but Avianca did overhaul its terms and conditions, change each plan name, amend monthly earning rates, and slash the targeted bonus.
Here's all you need to know about the state of the Club LifeMiles program and whether it's worth subscribing after these changes.
How the Club LifeMiles Program Works
Club LifeMiles is a monthly subscription program to buy Avianca LifeMiles. There are four monthly plans, ranging between $12 and $99, and awarding between 7,200 and 84,000 LifeMiles annually. Each requires that the subscription is active for a minimum of six months.
Each plan also offers equivalent perks, such as 10% off all redemptions made on Avianca flights, double miles on the plan purchase if made with a LifeMiles credit card, and increased earning rates and discounts on LifeMiles Hotels and LifeMiles Cars.
Unfortunately, you can't use the 10% off all redemptions perk for other Star Alliance carrier awards booked through LifeMiles.
How to subscribe to Club LifeMiles
To subscribe, you'll first want to log in to your Avianca LifeMiles account. You can either navigate to the Club LifeMiles tile on the “Buy Miles” page or access the page using this link. Finally, you will enter your credit card information after clicking on the plan right for you… should there be one.
Does Club LifeMiles Make Sense?
The Club LifeMiles subscription program is interesting, but it doesn't provide outsized value compared to buying LifeMiles outright with a bonus. Let's walk through the math.
To maximize a Club LifeMiles subscription, you will want to hold a LifeMiles credit card due to their double-mile perks on subscription purchases. You can only apply for an Avianca co-branded credit card if you live in one of the following countries:
- Colombia
- El Salvador
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Ecuador
- Bolivia
Looking at the Familiar plan, for example, using a co-branded credit card to subscribe would net you 7,000 LifeMiles monthly compared to 3,500 LifeMiles without one. The cents per mile values are shown in the table below:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Monthly Miles | Cents per Mile | Monthly Miles with Avianca credit card | Cents per Mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $12 | 600 | 2.000 | 1,200 | 1.000 |
| Individual + | $20 | 1,300 | 1.538 | 2,600 | 0.769 |
| Familiar | $50 | 3,500 | 1.429 | 7,000 | 0.714 |
| Familiar + | $99 | 7,000 | 1.414 | 14,000 | 0.707 |
Those who do not hold an Avianca co-branded credit card would be better off buying miles with a bonus instead of subscribing to Club LifeMiles. There are regular deals to buy LifeMiles with a bonus or discount. Check this link to see what's currently available; it might provide better value.
If you did not hold an Avianca credit card and chose to buy 42,000 LifeMiles outright instead of subscribing to the Familar Club LifeMiles plan for 12 months, you would spend $594 — and net an extra 300 miles to boot.
Going this route would save $6, a negligible amount. But, the value proposition here is slightly different.
Buying miles outright deposits the miles into your account immediately. You could use the miles as soon as you receive them. Comparably, you would have to wait 12 months to receive a sum of 42,000 LifeMiles if you subscribed to the Club LifeMiles Familiar plan.
Avianca credit card holders, through the subscription program, would effectively be buying miles for anywhere between 0.70 and 1.00¢ per mile. That's a much better rate than buying LifeMiles with a bonus. However, it's still wise to consider the time element involved with all subscriptions, as miles are received monthly — not all at once.
Avianca award discount perk of Club LifeMiles
Another puzzle piece is the 10% discount on Avianca-operated award flights. If you regularly redeem LifeMiles for flights on Avianca, this perk could provide decent value as savings add up over time. Whether it's worth subscribing to Club LifeMiles just for the perk depends on how often you redeem LifeMiles for Avianca-operated flights. If this doesn't happen often, the perk isn't extremely valuable.
This value assignment goes double for those who don't or can't take advantage of the LifeMiles Hotels or LifeMiles Cars increased earning benefit. Value only comes if you can use the perk.
Bottom Line
Avianca LifeMiles is offering subscription plans for LifeMiles. While receiving miles in your LifeMiles account every month is intriguing, the program only provides substantial value for those who hold Avianca co-branded credit cards.
If you need LifeMiles and don't have an Avianca credit card in your wallet, you'd be better off purchasing miles with a discount or bonus. If you have an Avianca credit card and a need for LifeMiles, it's worth considering the program if you don't need a sum of miles all at once.
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