According to recent taxonomic treatments, Bromeliaceae subfamily Pitcairnioideae comprise the genera Deuterocohnia, Dyckia, Encholirium, Fosterella and Pitcairnia. We present a dated molecular phylogenetic analysis of a comprehensive taxon set to enable inferences of evolution in the subfamily. Phylogenetic relationships in Pitcairnioideae were reconstructed based on three plastid loci (rpl32-trnL, rps16-trnK, 5′ end of matK) and the nuclear single-copy gene PHYC exon 1, using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The plastid phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of the subfamily, whereas the nuclear DNA data suggest a nested position of Puyoideae in Pitcairnioideae. Fosterella and Dyckia (including Encholirium) are monophyletic in both analyses, whereas Deuterocohnia is paraphyletic and Pitcairnia remains unresolved in the plastid tree. A Bayesian relaxed clock model applied to the plastid data indicates a diversification of Fosterella and Pitcairnia at c. 6–8 Mya, whereas Deuterocohnia and Dyckia might have diversified at about 2–4 Mya. Our data support the concept that Pitcairnioideae originated in the Andes, followed by numerous dispersal events to South and Central America. Plastid capture events might explain the contrasting topologies of plastid and nuclear trees in Deuterocohnia, whereas the position of Puya needs to be re-evaluated with additional nuclear markers.