The avianca lifemiles program is one of my favorite frequent flyer programs, thanks to the solid redemption rates on Star Alliance partners, plus all the ways there are to earn miles with the program. Not only does lifemiles often have promotions on purchased miles, but the program also partners with major transferable points currencies.
We’ve seen a new transfer bonus introduced for lifemiles, and it has the potential to be a good deal. Let me emphasize that we recently saw lifemiles devalue its mileage currency, so I’d only recommend taking advantage of this if you’ve done your research, have a short term redemption in mind, and are sure you can get outsized value.
In this post:
Amex to lifemiles 15% transfer bonus details
Between July 1 and July 31, 2025, it’s possible to get a 15% bonus when you transfer points from the Amex Membership Rewards program to the avianca lifemiles program. This promotion is being offered on lifemiles’ end, meaning that you’ll only see the bonus after you transfer the points, and not directly on Amex’s website.
The transfer ratio is usually 1:1, so through this promotion you can transfer points at a 1,000:1,150 ratio. The 15% bonus should post at the same time as the standard number of miles, but it can take up to 24 hours, in some cases. There’s no registration required, and no limit to how many bonus miles you can earn. Transfers from Amex to lifemiles are generally instant.
We see bonuses from various transferable points currencies to lifemiles every so often, in the range of 15-25%. So if you’re in the market for earning some lifemiles, this is a good opportunity.
Is earning lifemiles worth it?
Latin American mega carrier avianca is in the Star Alliance, which means you can redeem lifemiles on all Star Alliance airlines (which is what makes the program valuable). Premium cabin redemptions are often quite attractively priced, offering among the better values of any program, given the cheap acquisition cost with lifemiles.
However, let me emphasize that we’ve seen some devaluations to the lifemiles program. So I’m covering this transfer bonus like I cover all credit card transfer bonuses, though I always recommend doing your own research, prior to making any transfers.
Personally, I wouldn’t speculatively transfer points, but with a specific use in mind, this could be a great value, whether you’re looking at traveling in first class on All Nippon Airways or Lufthansa, or are looking at traveling in business class on a countless number of airlines.
The lifemiles program doesn’t always have access to the same award availability as Star Alliance partners, for better or worse. In some cases the program doesn’t have access to partner awards that other airlines do have access to, and in other cases the inverse is true.
That’s why I always recommend doing some “dummy” award searches before acquiring miles in a program, so you can get a sense of how award availability lines up with your needs.
Bottom line
Between July 1 and July 31, 2025, you can receive a 15% bonus when you transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards to avianca lifemiles. This bonus is being offered on lifemiles’ end, so you’ll only see the bonus after moving over the points.
This has the potential to be a good deal for Star Alliance redemptions, given all of the airline partners that lifemiles has. Personally, I use lifemiles all the time for premium cabin Star Alliance redemptions, and find the program often provides great value. Just remember that lifemiles also sells miles directly, often at a reasonable cost, so I know some prefer to save their points for other uses, and just buy miles directly.
Do you plan on converting Amex points into lifemiles with this bonus?
Usually, I can find a landing page for this on the Lifemiles site, but this time, there is absolutely nothing. Is there no link to Lifemiles as a clear reference?
Lifemiles star alliance search suck balls. Many newer airports aren’t even available eg TFU. So so bad.
Is it true that lifemiles don't have access to Thai business and first class?
PSA, be very very carful to manage your mileage balance. Lifemiles "expire" after only 12 months and the only way to extend the expiration is by acquiring/adding more miles. They make good money on this "breakage" and offer no flexibility on the policy.
I recently lost a ton of miles and am working several channels to get them back (cause I'm a stubborn retiree with time to burn) - don't let it happen to you!
Lifemiles really needs to have its site and search results in order, if they are serious about selling their points on the US market. Search results are still too unpredictable.
Plus, many valuable AC flights within USA/Canda can't be booked via LifeMiles even when they can be booked via United and are visible on other *A sites. I use LifeMiles for AC regional hops. Those can be expensive, but many have great availability to partners, and can be had for 6-8K points.
"This promotion is being offered on Amex’s end, meaning that you’ll only see the bonus after you transfer the points, and not directly on Amex’s website."
I think you mean being offered on Lifemiles' end. If it were from Amex we'd see it before the transfer typically. I don't see anything listed on Lifemiles' website about this xfer promo though.
@ JJ -- That's correct, thanks. Fixed.