What’s the Value of Avianca LifeMiles?

Avianca's LifeMiles are a useful tool for scoring cheap award flights. The Colombia-based airline is a member of the Star Alliance and offers some great redemptions on partners like United Airlines.

The airline is also a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points and Capital One miles, so LifeMiles are easy to earn with the right travel credit card.

How much are Avianca LifeMiles worth?

Based on our analysis, Avianca LifeMiles are worth 1.6 cents each. This is a median value, drawn from real-world data collected for 80 Avianca economy routes.

What does this value mean?

NerdWallet's valuation of 1.6 cents per Avianca LifeMile provides a median value you can use to determine the relative value of your own redemptions. It is effectively what you can expect to get from your LifeMiles if you use them for a random redemption.

This means it's possible to get more value by looking for sweet spots, using more advanced award techniques or booking in business class. However, if you're not careful, it's also possible to redeem your points for less than this value.

» Learn more: How to make the most of flying in Avianca's economy class

Avianca LifeMiles calculator

How much are Avianca LifeMiles worth in dollars? With the LifeMiles-to-dollars calculator below, you can figure out how much your Avianca LifeMiles are worth based on our value.

When is the best time to use Avianca LifeMiles?

Avianca LifeMiles are a bit more valuable when you book in advance. Based on our analysis, the average value of Avianca LifeMiles is 1.8 cents each when booking 180 days before departure.

Here's what we found when looking at Avianca LifeMiles valuations across different booking windows.

• 1.6 cents each when booking 15 days before departure, with a range of 0.7 to 2.5 cents per mile.

• 1.6 cents each when booking 60 days before departure, with a range of 0.6 to 2.6 cents each.

• 1.6 cents each when booking 90 days before departure, with a range of 0.8 to 3.1 cents each.

• 1.8 cents each when booking 180 days before departure, with a range of 1 to 2.8 cents each.

How flexible are Avianca LifeMiles?

As a member of the Star Alliance, Avianca partners with airlines like United, Air Canada and ANA. That means you can use Avianca LifeMiles to book award flights on these airlines, as well as non-alliance partners like Iberia.

» Learn more: The beginner's guide to points and miles

How did we determine the Avianca LifeMiles points value?

We analyzed the cash and points prices of 80 Avianca flights across a range of international routes. A regular economy fare class was used for all pricing data to be able to compare the valuations of similar Main Cabin-type fares that are bookable with points or miles on other airlines.

Departure dates were selected at 15, 60, 90 and 180 days from the day of the analysis. Return dates were chosen eight days after the departure date. This process allowed us to analyze a wide combination of days of the week and not bias the data towards expensive (i.e. weekend) or cheaper (i.e. midweek) flights. We used the median value of the dataset as the average.

This method differs from many others in that it looks at real-world redemptions rather than hypothetical, maximized redemptions. The advantage of this approach is that it provides an actual, real-world indication of how much these points are worth on average. That said, it doesn’t take into account the high-value redemptions that points enthusiasts seek.

Wondering what you can do with those LifeMiles? Check out our point collector's guide to Avianca LifeMiles (including some of the best ways to use Avianca LifeMiles), what to expect when you fly Avianca business class and learn which credit card is best for international award travel.

Featured photo courtesy of Avianca.