In 2024, we saw the launch of the avianca lifemiles credit cards in the United States, issued in partnership with Cardless. To go along with that, a paid lifemiles+ subscription was also introduced, and it’s potentially a great deal. In this post, I want to cover the details of how it works, for anyone who may be crunching the numbers, and considering signing up.
Details of the lifemiles+ subscription service
The avianca lifemiles program offers a lifemiles+ subscription service. This can be useful even if you’re not a frequent avianca flyer. The lifemiles program is valuable for Star Alliance redemptions, so this offers useful perks even if you just want to use lifemiles to redeem on partners.
The lifemiles+ subscription has four pricing tiers, offering a bundle of benefits. Before we look at the benefits of each tier, let me mention a few points:
- When you sign-up for a subscription, you pay monthly, it’s valid for 12 months, and it auto-renews; however, you can cancel at any time, after the initial six months
- Those with the avianca lifemiles American Express Elite Card receive a complimentary lifemiles+ lite subscription for as long as they’re a cardmember, or alternatively, can receive a $20 monthly discount on any of the other bundles
Below is a chart showing the four tiers of subscriptions, and then I’ll cover the most significant perks of each tier, as I view it.
lifemiles+ lite subscription
A lifemiles+ lite subscription costs $20 per month (or is free if you have the premium lifemiles credit card), and offers the following perks:
- 500 bonus lifemiles each month
- 10% of miles back on Star Alliance redemptions; the 10% refund will post within 15 days of a redemption
- Up to a 25% discount on avianca redemptions; this discount will immediately show when making an award booking
- Double miles on purchases on a lifemiles credit card, up to 1,000 bonus miles per month
lifemiles+ basic subscription
A lifemiles+ basic subscription costs $50 per month (or $30 per month if you have the premium lifemiles credit card), and offers the following perks:
- 2,000 bonus lifemiles each month
- 10% of miles back on Star Alliance redemptions; the 10% refund will post within 15 days of a redemption
- Up to a 25% discount on avianca redemptions; this discount will immediately show when making an award booking
- Double miles on purchases on a lifemiles credit card, up to 2,000 bonus miles per month
- No change or cancelation fees on lifemiles award tickets
lifemiles+ pro subscription
A lifemiles+ pro subscription costs $100 per month (or $80 per month if you have the premium lifemiles credit card), and offers the following perks:
- 4,500 bonus lifemiles each month
- 10% of miles back on Star Alliance redemptions; the 10% refund will post within 15 days of a redemption
- Up to a 25% discount on avianca redemptions; this discount will immediately show when making an award booking
- Double miles on purchases on a lifemiles credit card, up to 4,500 bonus miles per month
- No change or cancelation fees on lifemiles award tickets
lifemiles+ max subscription
A lifemiles+ max subscription costs $200 per month (or $180 per month if you have the premium lifemiles credit card), and offers the following perks:
- 10,000 bonus lifemiles each month
- 10% of miles back on Star Alliance redemptions; the 10% refund will post within 15 days of a redemption
- Up to a 25% discount on avianca redemptions; this discount will immediately show when making an award booking
- Double miles on purchases on a lifemiles credit card, up to 10,000 bonus miles per month
- No change or cancelation fees on lifemiles award tickets
I’m impressed by the value of lifemiles+ subscriptions
The lifemiles+ subscription is well thought out, and if you like to redeem miles for premium cabin redemptions on Star Alliance carriers, you should seriously consider this. The way I view it, there are three key perks, which I’ll focus on:
- A certain number of monthly bonus miles (500-10,000)
- An unlimited 10% discount on Star Alliance awards
- Waived change and cancelation fees on lifemiles awards (except the lite tier), when that would normally cost $150-200 per ticket
Let’s do some number crunching. Let me note that I value lifemiles at around 1.4 cents each, and the program frequently has offers letting you buy miles around that cost, if not a bit cheaper.
The lifemiles+ basic subscription is the lowest tier that offers waived change and cancelation fees, which I consider to be really valuable, so let’s do the math on that. You’d pay $30-50 per month, and would receive 2,000 monthly bonus miles, a 10% rebate on Star Alliance awards, and waived fees. In other words:
- I value the 2,000 monthly miles at ~$28, so you’re paying ~$2-22 per month (by my valuation) for a 10% rebate on awards, and waived change and cancelation fees
- Let’s say you redeem 200,000 miles per year through the program for travel on partner airlines; you’d get 20,000 miles refunded, which I value at $280, meaning you come out way ahead
- That math doesn’t even factor in the waived fees, which can get you even more value
So, is it worth springing for one of the premium memberships? Looking at the lifemiles+ max tier, you’d pay an extra $150 per month, and the main perk you’d get is an incremental 8,000 bonus miles. That’s like buying lifemiles for just under two cents each — the program often sells miles for considerably less than that, so personally I think the sweet spot is the basic tier.
The one exception is if you plan on spending money on a lifemiles credit card, in which case the higher cap on earning double miles would add up.
For example, I’ve signed up for a lifemiles+ basic subscription. That’s because I redeem through the program often, so I consider this to be a good investment to take advantage of the 10% rebate and the waived fees, which add up.
Bottom line
The avianca lifemiles program offers a lifemiles+ subscription, and it represents a solid value. For a monthly fee, you can receive a certain number of bonus miles, a 10% rebate on Star Alliance redemptions, and waived award change and redeposit fees. This is a valuable service for those of us who frequently make Star Alliance redemptions through lifemiles.
What do you make of the lifemiles+ subscription?
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