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As a member of the Star Alliance — the largest airline alliance — and with plenty of point transfer options, award travelers should learn how to make the most of Avianca LifeMiles. You can get incredible value out of the currency if you know how to use it. We'll cover what you need to know about Avianca LifeMiles transfer partners and Avianca partner airlines — helping you get the most out of your miles even if you never fly on Avianca itself.
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Avianca LifeMiles Partner Airlines
LifeMiles has an excellent array of worldwide partners for both earning and redeeming LifeMiles. These include 24 Star Alliance partners:
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- SWISS
- TAP Air Portugal
- THAI
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
Avianca also has three non-Star Alliance airline partners:
- Gol
- Iberia
- Clic
Clic is a codeshare partner, where you must purchase your ticket through Avianca and add your LifeMiles number for mileage credit. Note that flights on Iberia do not count toward earning or maintaining LifeMiles elite status.
Earning LifeMiles with partner airlines
One simple way to earn LifeMiles is to fly with any of the Avianca partner airlines. This could also be a good strategy to earn Star Alliance Gold status. You'll earn both redeemable LifeMiles and elite credit based on the carrier flown, cabin class, and flight distance.
The exact details for how many LifeMiles you'll earn depend on the partner. You'll need to consult the page for each partner and know your fare class to determine mileage earnings. Alternatively, use a tool like wheretocredit.com (a resource worth bookmarking). All LifeMiles partners listed above are eligible to earn miles. Just know that earning on non-Star Alliance partners is restricted to specific routes, so make sure the route you're flying is eligible before you credit the flight to LifeMiles.
Avianca LifeMiles Transfer Partners
Beyond flying with Avianca or any of its partners, you can earn LifeMiles by transferring points from other programs. Good news: There are plenty of options. This makes LifeMiles much easier to accrue than many other award currencies. The currencies that transfer to LifeMiles include the following.
Bank point programs
Note that Bilt Rewards members without Bilt elite status must transfer a minimum of 2,000 points, but this drops to 1,000 points for Silver and higher members.
Hotel point programs
While you can transfer Marriott points to Avianca LifeMiles, the transfer is excluded from earning the 5,000 bonus miles for transferring in increments of 60,000 Bonvoy points.
Credit cards that earn transferable points
Since there are so many transfer options for converting points to LifeMiles, we have a few different card recommendations. But know that other cards that earn any of these currencies are also an option. Here are three personal cards we recommend for helping you accrue LifeMiles:
(Terms apply)
- 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel booked on amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 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
- 10X points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, and other hotel purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent at gas and EV charging stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
If you have a small business and need a business credit card, here are a few options that will earn you points you can convert to LifeMiles.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on other eligible purchases
(Terms Apply)
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
LifeMiles credit cards
In addition to the credit cards that earn transferable points, you can earn LifeMiles directly by spending on the program's co-branded credit cards. Avianca Airlines issues two American Express credit cards to U.S. residents that allow you to earn LifeMiles. Both are personal cards. The Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card has a higher annual fee but comes with more perks, including discounts on LifeMiles redemptions for award travel and a discount on a monthly LifeMiles+ subscription.
The Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card has a lower annual fee and sign-up bonus, but still has some key benefits, such as LifeMiles Silver elite status and no foreign transaction fees. Both cards are issued by Cardless.
Other Ways To Earn LifeMiles
If flying and transferring points from Avianca LifeMiles transfer partners aren't enough, there are a few other ways you can earn LifeMiles.
Shopping, hotel, and car rental partners
LifeMiles has several shopping partners you can use to earn miles. However, this isn't the same as other airline shopping portals. For transactions to earn miles, you often need to make them in person and enter your LifeMiles number at the point of sale. Not an easy thing to do, in general. The majority of the merchants are in Latin America.
You can also earn LifeMiles by booking hotels through LifeMiles Hotels, which regularly offers promotions. LifeMiles partners with IHG, Marriott, Wyndham, and more. You can also book using a site like Rocketmiles to earn LifeMiles.
Finally, car rentals can also earn you miles when booked through LifeMiles Cars. LifeMiles advertises that you can earn up to 14,000 miles per day. However, typical earnings are more likely 300–500 miles per day. A quick search showed that rental rates are often comparable to booking through other Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).
Buying LifeMiles
While buying miles isn't usually a cost-effective option, it can be a reasonable choice at times when it comes to generating cheap LifeMiles. This is because LifeMiles often runs sales, through which you can earn anywhere from 140% to 170% more miles per dollar spent. We've seen bonuses even higher than this (over 200% bonus miles), but these are the most recently observed promotions. The standard cost is $33 per 1,000 miles — not great at 3.3 cents per mile.
But if there's a buy LifeMiles promotion offering prices under 1.5 cents, purchasing can make sense in some situations. There are still some excellent redemption opportunities on both Avianca itself and on its partner airline flights.
Redeeming Avianca LifeMiles on Partner Airlines
As a member of the Star Alliance, there are plenty of options for redeeming LifeMiles. You can book tickets online for any of the partner airlines listed above except Clic and Iberia. For the handful of non-alliance partners, the routes for which you can redeem miles are somewhat restricted. So, you'll want to focus on the Star Alliance options. Fortunately, there are plenty.
One of the best aspects of the LifeMiles program is that it does not pass along carrier surcharges. This makes LifeMiles ideal for booking carriers with high surcharges, such as Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines. These carriers often have surcharges of hundreds of dollars for their award flights, with some round-trip award itineraries requiring more than $1,000 in charges. LifeMiles doesn't pass these along.
However, you will have to pay an award redemption fee. This is usually $25, and it's both unavoidable and nonrefundable. For some short-haul tickets within the U.S., LifeMiles sometimes charges less. But don’t be surprised if you’re hit with the full $25.
You'll also have to pay award change and cancellation fees. The LifeMiles change fee is $150 for any ticket. If you need to cancel, the fee is between $50 and $200 per ticket. You’ll pay $50 for domestic itineraries, which increases on international fares and caps out at $200 for international premium cabin fares. When you cancel a ticket, the award redemption fee will not be refunded.
LifeMiles award charts
LifeMiles has a region-based award chart with standard prices for tickets in economy, business, and first class. There are also a few quirky oddities to be aware of. The program also has one award chart for Avianca flights and a separate one for partner flights. For Avianca’s own flights, there is no officially published chart. There isn't a published partner award chart anymore, but you can expect to pay the following for partner flights from the continental U.S. to other regions of the world:
| From U.S. Lower 48 to | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada, Mexico & Caribbean | 6,500-18,000 | 15,000-30,000 | N/A |
| Hawaii | 22,500 (except LAX-Hawaii for 15k and Hawaii-LAX for 16k) | 40,000 | N/A |
| Central America | 12,500-20,000 | 30,000-40,400 | N/A |
| Colombia, Ecuador, Peru | 16,000-30,030 | 35,000-39,200 | N/A |
| Rest of South America | 30,000 | 60,000 | N/A |
| Newark (EWR) - London (LHR) | 22,500 | 45,000 | --- |
| New York (JFK) - Zurich (ZRH) | 27,500 | 55,000 | --- |
| New York (JFK) - Geneva (GVA) | 30,000 | 60,000 | --- |
| New York (JFK) - Lisbon (LIS) | 32,500 | 65,000 | --- |
| Rest of Europe | 35,000-44,000 | 69,000-75,000 | 120,000 |
| Middle East, Caucasus countries, and Northern Africa | 42,500 | 78,000 (except JFK-CAI for 70k) | ~100,000 |
| Rest of Africa | 40,000 | 78,000 | --- |
| North Asia | 45,000-47,000 (except LAX/SFO/SEA for 40k) | 90,000 (except LAX/SFO for 85k) | 120,000 |
| Central Asia | 47,000 | 90,000 | 120,000 |
| South Asia | 47,000 | 90,000 | --- |
| Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania | 40,000 (except LAX-AKL for 35k and AKL-LAX for 36k) | 80,000 | --- |
Avianca can be handy option for booking domestic United flights. You used to be able to find many United routes for just 6,500 miles, but after yet another award rate hike, LifeMiles now charges between 7,500 and 15,000 each way on the vast majority of routes. Still, those award rates can be a good value for expensive regional flights, depending on what other airlines are charging.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, it's useful to know the list of Avianca LifeMiles transfer partners and airline partners. Even if you rarely — or never — fly with Avianca, you can still maximize the value of LifeMiles. You can get great use of their miles for tickets where you'd normally have to pay significant surcharges. You can also still get solid value out of LifeMiles on many U.S. domestic United itineraries, although this was reduced by a devaluation in February 2025.
Although we’ve not covered LifeMiles elite status in this post, it could be worth considering this elite program for the Star Alliance benefits it provides. LifeMiles provides a path to Star Alliance Gold status that is easier than many other alliance airlines.
Given that there are plenty of ways to earn LifeMiles plus great uses for them, it's little wonder that LifeMiles is one of my favorite award programs. I even keep a stash of LifeMiles around, as I expect to use them multiple times per year. The cost for some of the routes I use has gone up, but it's still typically better than what United charges.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)
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