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LifeMiles made a name for itself in the points and miles community as one of the best ways to book Star Alliance award redemptions. And its associated airline, Avianca, offers strong connectivity across Latin America. Whether you want to book an Avianca flight to Medellin, Colombia, a short-haul United award, or a ticket to Dubai in Turkish Airlines business class, LifeMiles has you covered.
So, it makes sense to consider applying for a co-branded LifeMiles credit card that gives you elite status, discounts on award redemptions, and bonus miles every month. Here's what you need to know about the avianca lifemiles American Express® Elite Card, including why it has a place in my wallet.
Page Contents
- avianca American Express Elite Card Pros
- avianca American Express Elite Card Cons
- avianca American Express Elite Card Welcome Bonus
- avianca American Express Elite Card Benefits
- avianca American Express Elite Card Earning Rates
- Redeeming Points With the avianca American Express Elite Card
- Application Restrictions
- Cards That Compete With the avianca American Express Elite Card
- Final Thoughts
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
- Receive complimentary lifemiles+ lite membership
- Receive avianca lifemiles Silver Elite status
- No foreign transaction fees (See Rates & Fees)
- *See Offer Terms
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
avianca American Express Elite Card Pros
- LifeMiles Silver Elite status
- Complimentary LifeMiles+ membership
- Double miles earned per month (up to 1,000 bonus miles)
- Discounts on award redemptions
avianca American Express Elite Card Cons
- $249 annual fee
- Mediocre earning potential on card spending
avianca American Express Elite Card Welcome Bonus
The welcome bonus is actually split into two parts. You can earn 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. This makes it more difficult to track, so you'll want to do the math carefully to avoid leaving money on the table.
This was the same welcome offer that I got when I applied for the avianca American Express Elite Card. Toward the end of my first year as a cardholder, I was working on a welcome offer for a different card and completely forgot about part two of this offer. It happens, but considering that AwardWallet users typically redeem LifeMiles for 2.85¢ apiece, 40,000 bonus miles are worth around $1,100. That's a lot of lost value.
Related: Credit Card Welcome Bonuses of 100,000 Points or More
avianca American Express Elite Card Benefits
Unlike other premium airline cards, the avianca American Express Elite Card doesn't come packed with benefits. However, some travelers might find this appealing — there aren't any use-it-or-lose-it statement credits to maximize or niche benefits to remember. It gives you everything you need and nothing you don't.
Silver elite status
There are four tiers of Avianca LifeMiles elite status: Red Plus, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. As a avianca American Express Elite Card cardholder, you get automatic Silver elite status, which comes with the following benefits:
- 2 Avianca VIP lounge entries per year
- 1 Avianca VIP lounge entry for a travel companion per year
- 6 upgrades to business class in the Americas per year*
- 2 upgrades to business class on domestic flights per year*
- Free economy seat selection*
- 10% discount on carry-on baggage when you purchase a basic fare
- One additional checked bag of up to 23 kg*
- 20% bonus miles
- Same-day flight change for flights within Colombia*
- Priority call center service
- Priority airport check-in and baggage handling
- Group B priority boarding
- 5% discount on award redemptions
*Not valid on basic or light fares
Avianca LifeMiles Silver elite status offers many benefits, especially for infrequent flyers. It's not common for a credit card to grant automatic airline elite status, so it's a nice perk to have.
Plus, Silver status translates to Star Alliance Silver status, which gets you some basic benefits, like access to the priority reservations waitlist and priority standby on Star Alliance flights. Unfortunately, you don't get valuable benefits like lounge access until you reach Star Alliance Gold.
Related: Best Airline for Star Alliance Gold Status
Complimentary Lifemiles+ Lite membership
Silver elite status is nice, but the benefits of a complimentary LifeMiles+ Lite membership are where the real value of the avianca American Express Elite Card card lies.
Here's what you get with a LifeMiles+ membership:
- 500 bonus miles every month
- 10% miles back on Star Alliance flight redemptions
- Up to 25% redemption discount on Avianca Airlines flights
- Up to 40% more miles on lifemiles hotels and lifemiles cars
- Up to 10% discount on lifemiles cars
The 25% off Avianca award redemptions is phenomenal. This benefit alone has saved me thousands of miles, and it's great to know I'm always getting the best price possible. It's even better than Delta's TakeOff 15 benefit, which allows cardholders of select SkyMiles credit cards to get 15% off Delta award redemptions.
Plus, the 500 bonus miles every month translates to 6,000 bonus miles per year. Considering that the quick flight from Medellin (MDE) to Bogota (BOG) costs just 2,170 LifeMiles each way, those bonus miles can easily be used for a free trip.
avianca American Express Elite Card Earning Rates
As a cardholder, you can earn:
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
The earning potential isn't anything special. Odds are, you have cards that earn more than 2X points or miles on dining and other travel purchases. You might even have a card in your wallet that earns more than 3X miles on flights booked directly with the airline. However, the value of the avianca American Express Elite Card isn't in its earning potential. It's the additional benefits you receive as a cardholder and the ability to earn LifeMiles that can be redeemed at high value.
However, the double miles on up to 1,000 miles earned each month is a nice perk. Try to spend enough on your card every month to maximize this bonus. This should be easy to do, considering the card doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, and you can use it immediately upon approval.
Related: Credit Cards With Instant Card Number on Approval
Redeeming Points With the avianca American Express Elite Card
You can redeem the miles you earn with your card by booking flights through LifeMiles. Frequent award sales allow you to book international flights for just a few thousand miles, but these are only for Avianca-operated flights. Still, you can often get fantastic deals on Star Alliance flights when booking through LifeMiles.
Redeem for Avianca flights
Avianca serves the following cities in the U.S. from its hubs in Bogota (BOG) and San Salvador (SAL):
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Ontario (ONT)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
- Dallas (DFW)
- Houston (IAH)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Boston (BOS)
- New York (JFK)
- Washington (IAD)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Tampa (TPA)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
- Miami (MIA)
Avianca uses a dynamic pricing system, so it's not as simple as consulting an award chart to know how many miles you'll need for a flight. However, here's some inspiration for places you can go in Latin America using your miles.
Fly from Miami (MIA) to Medellin (MDE) for just 5,580 LifeMiles, plus $49.00 in taxes and fees.
Or, fly from San Francisco (SFO) to San Salvador (SAL) for just 12,710 LifeMiles, plus $35.50 in taxes and fees.
You don't have to stick around Latin America. Fly to Europe for 51,200 LifeMiles, plus $91.10 in taxes and fees, on this route from Bogota (BOG) to Paris (CDG).
At these rates, you could book a round-trip flight from Miami to Medellin, plus a one-way from Bogota to Paris, and still have LifeMiles leftover from your welcome bonus.
Redeem for Star Alliance flights
Although there are so many places in Latin America worth exploring, LifeMiles are worth earning, regardless of the destination. You can book Star Alliance partners like United or All Nippon Airways for flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (HND) for less than 50,000 LifeMiles each way.
For an even better deal, you can fly from Munich (MUC) to New Delhi (DEL) in Lufthansa business class for just 46,570 LifeMiles. This route retails at around $3,500 each way, giving you a valuation of more than 7 cents per point.
There are dozens of examples of phenomenal partner award availability through LifeMiles, but these are just a few.
Related: Avianca LifeMiles: Transfer Partners and Partner Airlines
Application Restrictions
For a long time, Cardless, the credit card issuer of the avianca American Express Elite Card, had a “one card per lifetime” rule. Obviously, this was incredibly restrictive, especially considering the growing portfolio of cards, which now includes the Bilt lineup.
In 2025, Cardless loosened the application restrictions to state the following:
- Each application must be submitted 60 days after your most recent Cardless card approval.
- Each application must be submitted 45 days after a recent Cardless card decline.
- Only one Cardless card per brand.
- You cannot already have the same card.
In other words, you cannot have both the avianca American Express Elite Card and the avianca American Express Card. But you could have the avianca American Express Elite Card and the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card. However, if you've recently been denied for the Bilt Obsidian Card, you might need to wait at least 45 days before you apply for the avianca American Express Elite Card.
Related: Understanding Rewards Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Cards That Compete With the avianca American Express Elite Card
The avianca American Express Elite Card is a great choice for anyone who wants to travel throughout Latin America or book a Star Alliance partner flight. However, if you don't think you'll maximize the benefits, here are a few options to consider:
- If you want an Avianca card without a high annual fee, consider the avianca lifemiles American Express® Card. It also offers Silver elite status, but not the LifeMiles+ membership. However, it comes with a much lower $99 annual fee.
- If you want a card that earns a transferable point currency, go for the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card. Citi offers 15 airline transfer partners, including Star Alliance members like Avianca, Turkish Airlines, and Singapore Airlines. It comes packed with a variety of travel benefits, ranging from a $300 annual hotel benefit to Admirals Club lounge passes.
- If you want Star Alliance lounge access, apply for the United Club℠ Card. Once you spend $50,000 on your card in a calendar year, you'll earn unlimited access to Star Alliance lounges. Plus, you receive complimentary access to United Club locations. United MileagePlus miles are great for booking Star Alliance redemptions, including Avianca-operated flights.
$99Rates & Fees
- 2x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- 2x miles on groceries and restaurant purchases
- 1x on all other eligible purchases
$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.
$695Rates & Fees
- Earn 4 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on dining
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
Final Thoughts
I'm a digital nomad and spend most of the year living in Latin America. Holding the avianca American Express Elite Card is a no-brainer for the discounts on award redemptions and ease of earning miles. Even if you don't travel to Latin America frequently, the ability to get 10% back on Star Alliance flight redemptions can help you stretch your miles a little farther.
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
- Receive complimentary lifemiles+ lite membership
- Receive avianca lifemiles Silver Elite status
- No foreign transaction fees (See Rates & Fees)
- *See Offer Terms
- Earn 3x miles on avianca or lifemiles purchases
- Earn 2x miles on restaurant and other travel purchases
- Earn 1x on all other eligible purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: avianca lifemiles American Express® Elite Card (Rates & Fees), avianca lifemiles American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and United Club℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
