Air Canada Aeroplan vs Avianca LifeMiles: Star Alliance Showdown
Introduction
If you want to fly Star Alliance airlines (United, Lufthansa, ANA, EVA Air) using transferable points, Air Canada Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles are your two best friends. Both have access to the same alliance availability, but their pricing rules and fees differ wildly.
Star Alliance Redemptions & Award Charts
Avianca LifeMiles: Uses a zone-based award chart. Pricing between regions is generally fixed (e.g., US to Europe in Business Class is often 63,000 miles). They also frequently offer "mixed cabin" discounts where the price drops if a portion of your itinerary is in economy.
Air Canada Aeroplan: Uses a hybrid zone- and distance-based chart. Prices depend on the regions you are flying between and the total distance flown. This makes short-haul flights very cheap, but ultra-long-haul flights more expensive.
Surcharges and Fees
This is a critical differentiator.
Avianca LifeMiles:No fuel surcharges. Ever. You only pay standard taxes and a modest $25 award booking fee. This is a massive advantage when booking premium cabins on carriers like Lufthansa or ANA, which normally levy high surcharges.
Air Canada Aeroplan:No fuel surcharges. Aeroplan eliminated carrier-imposed surcharges in 2020. However, they do charge a flat C$39 (around $30 USD) partner booking fee per ticket.
Advantage: Tie. Both are excellent for avoiding junk fees.
Stopovers and Routing Rules
Air Canada Aeroplan: The undisputed king of routing rules. You can add a stopover anywhere in the world (even on one-way tickets) for just 5,000 extra points. Their routing engine is incredibly flexible, allowing you to string together complex itineraries across multiple partners.
Avianca LifeMiles: Extremely rigid. No stopovers are allowed. Furthermore, their IT is notoriously glitchy, and valid routes often fail to show up in search results. What you see on the screen is what you get; phone agents rarely can piece together complex itineraries.
Verdict
Choose Avianca LifeMiles if: You want simple point-A-to-point-B travel, you want to capitalize on mixed-cabin pricing hacks, and you value a slightly lower mileage cost for specific long-haul routes (like US to Europe or Asia).
Choose Air Canada Aeroplan if: You want to build complex itineraries, add stopovers to see two cities on one trip, or you are booking family travel (Aeroplan allows family pooling of points). The superior IT and customer service also make Aeroplan much less frustrating to use.