The Avianca Vida Visa® Card is an airline card associated with Avianca, the second largest airline in Latin America. While Avianca filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2020 due to the financial impact of the pandemic, it continues to operate and is currently restructuring to become a stronger airline.

Geared toward loyal Avianca frequent flyers, the Avianca Vida Visa® Card offers a generous rewards rate for spending with the airline, plus Avianca miles can be redeemed through a vast array of airlines that belong to the Star Alliance network. International travelers who fly between Central America or Colombia and the U.S. will benefit the most from this card.

Like many airline rewards cards, there is an annual fee, but it’s much lower than many competing airline cards.

If you’re nervous about the future of the Avianca LifeMiles loyalty program due to its restructuring, you may want to consider a more generic travel rewards card, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, where you can redeem miles for flights on multiple airlines.

• Sign-up bonus

  New cardholders can earn 20,000 Bonus LifeMiles after first card use. There is no minimum spend requirement beyond just making a purchase with the card within the first 90 days of opening the card.

• 0% balance transfer offer

  While unusual for an airline card to have a balance transfer offer, the Avianca Vida Visa® Card has a 0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within the first 90 days of account opening. After that, your APR will be 14.74% to 27.74%.

• Star Alliance member

  Avianca is a member of the Star Alliance network of airlines, allowing Avianca Vida Visa® Card cardmembers to redeem miles on partner airlines, such as United, Air Portugal, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, and more.

• Annual fee

  While very reasonable for an airlines card, the Avianca Vida Visa® Card does assess an annual fee of $59.

• Low sign-up bonus

  The sign-up bonus for the Avianca Vida Visa® Card is quite low: 20,000 Bonus LifeMiles after first card use.

• Low rewards rate on non-airline purchases

  While the miles you earn when using the card for Avianca purchases, the earnings rate on non-airline purchases is low: Earn 2 LifeMiles per $1 spent on Avianca purchases and 1 LifeMile per $1 spent on all other purchases

Compare it to the Avianca Vuela Visa® Card

If you’re looking for a Avianca LifeMiles airline card, but want a little more bang for your buck, then you may want to consider the Avianca Vuela Visa® Card.

The Avianca Vuela Visa® Card has a higher annual fee of $149, but in exchange, cardholders can reap a larger sign-up bonus of 40,000 Bonus LifeMiles after first card use.

In addition, there is a more generous rewards program: Earn 3 LifeMiles per $1 spent on Avianca purchases, 2 LifeMiles per $1 spent at gas stations and grocery stores and 1 LifeMile per $1 spent on all other purchases.

The Avianca Vuela Visa® Card has $0 foreign transaction fees, tacks on a free additional bag benefit, as well as a 50% discount on an award ticket for a flight from the U.S. to Central America or Colombia after spending $12,000 on the card annually. If you spend $24,000 on the card each year, cardholders will also receive an additional 50% discount on an award ticket for the same travel parameters.

The value of the current sign-up bonus on the Avianca Vida Visa® Card is worth about $400 when redeemed for Avianca flights (based on a value of about 2 cents a mile). If you subtract the $59 annual fee, that reduces the value of the sign-up bonus to around $340.

However, if you choose to apply for the more expensive Avianca Vuela Visa® Card, the value of your sign-up bonus minus the annual fee is around $650, plus the Avianca Vuela Visa® Card allows more opportunities to earn more miles on a wider variety of purchases.

If you’re just wanting to get your feet wet with your first airline card without a big investment and expect to fly on Avianca routes, then the Avianca Vida Visa® Card could be a good choice. But if you’re a loyal Avianca flyer, you’d be much better served by the generous sign-up bonus and extra benefits offered by the Avianca Vuela Visa® Card.

The information related to the Avianca Vuela Visa® Card has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.