Avianca LifeMiles Guide: How to Book

What are Avianca LifeMiles?

LifeMiles is Avianca's loyalty program. Although the airline is Colombian-based, you should consider signing up for its program even if you’re not going to South America any time soon. 

Here’s why:

• Avianca is a member of the Star Alliance, which means you can redeem its miles to book partner flights on airlines such as United, Air Canada, or Lufthansa.
• Because of its membership in the Star Alliance, you can use LifeMiles to book flights to Europe, Asia, or even domestic destinations.
• LifeMiles uses a distance-based award chart for its Star Alliance seats. Translated to plain English, this means that you can get very appealing redemption rates when using LifeMiles to book.

How to create a LifeMiles account

Joining LifeMiles is free, and it’s easy to create an account. 

1. Visit lifemiles.com and select the blue Join LifeMiles for free button.
2. Enter your email address and create a password that matches the criteria.
3. Enter your name, date of birth, citizenship, and passport number.

You’ll receive an email with your new LifeMiles loyalty number.

To make transferring credit card points to LifeMiles easier, go ahead and login to your credit card account and link your LifeMiles account. Depending on your card issuer, the path will look like:

• Amex: Earn and Redeem > Transfer Points  > Avianca LifeMiles
• Bilt: Travel > Transfer > Avianca LifeMiles
• Capital One: View Rewards > Convert Rewards  > Transfer Miles  > Avianca LifeMiles

How to book with LifeMiles

If you see a Going with Points deal that uses LifeMiles—or find a LifeMiles flight through your own research—here’s how to book with LifeMiles. 

Step 1. Login into LifeMiles

Using the login credentials you set up, login at https://www.lifemiles.com. Select the option “Continue with LifeMiles” number or username.  

Then use your loyalty number and password to log in.

Step 2. Select Travel from the top menu

After you transfer credit card points to LifeMiles, the amount of points will show up in your account as the same amount of LifeMiles. 

Step 3. Under the Flight tab, enter your search criteria

If you’re looking to use Avianca LifeMiles on a Star Alliance flight, you can select Smart Search.

Depending on your itinerary, you may have better luck searching one way. 

Step 4. Browse flight options

As the example below shows, I can use LifeMiles to redeem a seat on a United Airlines-operated flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo (NRT).

Select the flight and if applicable, which class fare you want.

Step 5. Confirm your booking

This is where you book your flights. To get this far, you’ll need to have the required LifeMiles in your account. 

You’ll still need to pay taxes and fees in cash when you book with miles. 

Transfer partners with LifeMiles

The following credit card points transfer 1:1 to Avianca LifeMiles. 

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Bilt Rewards
• Capital One Miles
• Citi ThankYou Points

This means that 1,000 credit card points will become 1,000 LifeMiles. 

Note: Avianca LifeMiles is not a transfer partner with Chase. This means Chase Ultimate Rewards® points do not transfer to Avianca.

Credit cards that earn LifeMiles

In addition, Cardless recently launched two Avianca-branded credit cards for US travelers.

• Avianca LifeMiles Elite American Express Credit Card: Earn up to 100,000 miles, with minimum spending required.
• Avianca LifeMiles American Express Credit Card: Earn 40,000 miles after spending a total of $3,000 in the first 90 days

The information on these cards has been collected independently by Going.