US Bank Avianca LifeMiles Visa Cards Soon Being Replaced

If you are like me, then you should’ve received notice already about the US BANK Avianca LifeMiles visa card getting replaced with US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature card.  It looks like the torch will now be carried by BBVA and Scotiabank, and only available in Central and South America for Avianca. I will miss the Avianca card, because it was a great way to rack up LifeMiles, which were redeemable on Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines.  I redeemed 30,000 last year to fly a relative one way from Paris to New York in Singapore Airlines via Frankfurt!  This card will truly be missed.  The shining light is they sometimes offer bonus miles for purchase, and even with the devaluations, it is still a good bargain IMO.  I’m not too familiar with the FlexPerks program, but I had one of their cards some time ago when they had the Olympics promotion.  The replacement card will offer the following:

• 1 FlexPoint for every $1 of net purchases (pretty standard for most cards)
• 2x FlexPoints for gas stations, grocery store purchases, or airlines – whichever you spend most on each monthly billing cycle.
• 2x FlexPoints on most cell phone providers.  I’m assuming they are taking about the majors here, like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. 
• 3X FlexPoints for qualifying charitable organizations.  I wonder if this includes Kiva?

They don’t want to leave a bitter taste in your mouth, so they are offering an incentive for the new card ; spend $500 or more within the first 90 days of the account conversion, and you will receive 20,000 FlexPoints, which is good for an airline award ticket up to $400!  I probably will take the offer, but with a $49 annual fee, I don’t see it as a card I will be keeping.