【2019.7 Update】According to View From the Wing, you can now earn 20,000 miles by applying for this card and making just one purchase within three months. In addition, if you enter promo code SB4060 on the application page, you can get an extra 20,000 AV miles by spending $1,000 within three months. There’s no official announcement about this on the LifeMiles website, and previous offers have also been issued through this kind of promo code. If you’re going to apply, I’d still recommend the Avianca Vuela credit card, since the sign-up bonus is 20,000 miles higher; if you don’t plan to keep it long term, just close it in the second year.

When applying, pay special attention: you may see the message, "Unfortunately, you are not able to apply at this time, we were not able to validate the information you provided." This usually means there is some issue with your credit report, such as a freeze or an address that does not exactly match the one you entered on the application. I’d suggest calling customer service and asking to be transferred to a supervisor to try again.

Avianca Vida (AV) Co-branded Avianca Credit Card

Application Link

Key Features

  • Sign-up bonus: 20,000 AV miles (make one purchase within three months)
  • Earn rate: 2x on all AV airline purchases, 1x everywhere else
  • Redemption: Can be redeemed for AV award tickets and Star Alliance partner award tickets
  • $59 annual fee

Highlights

  • 15% discount on buying miles: Use this card to purchase miles through the Multiply Your Miles program and receive a 15% discount

Drawbacks

  • The earn rate is low, so there’s not much reason to keep it long term

Avianca LifeMiles Program Overview

LifeMiles is the mileage program for Avianca (AV), the Colombian airline. Its value is slightly higher than UA miles, around 1.7 cents per mile. Here are the main features:

  • You can search online for award tickets on most Star Alliance airlines, and awards do not include fuel surcharges, although there is a $25 ticketing fee
  • The miles required for an award ticket depend on the origin and destination regions, and one-way awards are available
  • You can book using miles only, or use a points+cash option with a ratio you can choose
  • The lowest domestic U.S. award starts at 7,500 miles; a one-way business-class ticket from China to the U.S. costs 75,000 miles; and a one-way business-class ticket from China to Australia costs only 40,000 miles
  • ThankYou Points and Membership Rewards can both be transferred to AV miles at a 1:1 ratio, which makes topping up very convenient. AV miles are often heavily discounted and can be bought for as low as 1.2c/p

My Take

Other than the 20,000-point sign-up bonus, this card’s $59 annual fee is completely out of proportion to its modest benefits. And if you can only hold one Avianca co-branded credit card, then if you’re applying purely for the sign-up bonus, the higher-bonus Avianca Vuela is the better choice.

Application

  • Difficulty: Medium; approval rules are unclear and it often glitches
  • Important: Before applying, make sure your EQ and TU credit reports are not frozen. If you already have another Avianca co-branded credit card, you will not be able to get this card

Application Link