Avianca LifeMiles American Express Elite Card
- Best for: Frequent Avianca flyers who earn at least 500 miles a month on the card
- What Sets It Apart: Free LifeMiles+ Lite plan with 6,000 miles a year and double miles on your first 1,000 card miles each month; 10% to 25% off Avianca flights booked with miles
- Cost: $249 annual fee; 19.49% to 29.49% variable APR; $0 foreign transaction fee; late fee up to $8
- Features: 3 miles per dollar with Avianca and LifeMiles; 2 at restaurants and on other travel; 1 on everything else; up to 100,000 bonus miles; LifeMiles Silver status
- Pros: Lite plan miles worth about $78 a year; up to 12,000 more miles a year from doubling; Silver status renews while the card stays open
- Cons: $150 a year more than the $99 standard card, which has the same Silver status; two lounge visits a year; 1 mile per dollar on groceries; extra bag excludes Basic and Light fares; no companion fare
Get the Avianca LifeMiles American Express Elite Card if you fly Avianca and earn 500-plus miles a month on it. The $99 standard card has the same LifeMiles Silver status, so the Elite’s extra $150 mostly gets you a LifeMiles+ plan that adds 6,000 miles a year and doubles your first 1,000 card miles each month.
Cardless offers the card on the American Express network, and it replaced the Avianca Vuela Visa that Banco Popular closed in 2022. It suits frequent Avianca flyers who also want their everyday spending to earn LifeMiles.
Key Features
- $249 annual fee, a 19.49% to 29.49% variable interest rate (APR), and no foreign transaction fee
- 60,000 bonus miles after $4,500 in purchases in 90 days, plus 40,000 more after $25,000 in the first year
- 3 miles per dollar with Avianca and LifeMiles, 2 at restaurants and on other travel, and 1 on everything else
- Free LifeMiles+ Lite plan, normally $20 a month, which adds 500 miles a month, doubles your first 1,000 card miles each month, and takes 10% to 25% off Avianca flights booked with miles
- LifeMiles Silver status with two Avianca lounge visits a year, an extra checked bag, and priority boarding
Pros
- 6,000 Lite plan miles a year, worth about $78 at NerdWallet’s 1.3 cents a mile
- Up to 12,000 extra miles a year from the doubling, once you earn 1,000 miles a month on the card
- Silver status that renews every year the card stays open
- Credit toward higher elite tiers for half the miles you earn on purchases, within LifeMiles’ limits, though those tiers also require flying Avianca
Cons
- $150 a year more than the $99 standard card, which carries the same Silver status
- Only two lounge visits a year, at Avianca lounges in Colombia, El Salvador, and Miami, and no Star Alliance lounge access
- 1 mile per dollar on groceries, where the standard card earns 2
- No extra checked bag on Basic and Light fares
- No companion fare
At NerdWallet’s 1.3 cents a mile, the Lite plan’s 6,000 miles plus 6,000 more from doubling 500 card miles a month come to about $156 a year, $6 more than the $150 extra the Elite costs over the standard card. So the Elite suits Avianca flyers who earn at least that much on it, while lighter or grocery-heavy spenders get the same Silver status from the $99 card.
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