We’ve just seen a new transfer bonus introduced when moving Amex Membership Rewards points, and it could represent a good deal.
In this post:
Transfer Amex points to Lifemiles with 15% bonus
Between February 18 and March 28, 2026, it’s possible to receive a 15% bonus when moving points from Amex Membership Rewards to Avianca Lifemiles. Note that this isn’t being offered on Amex’s end, but instead, is being offered directly by Lifemiles.
Ordinarily points transfer at a 1:1 ratio (in increments of 1,000 points), while through this promotion you’d get 1,150 Lifemiles for every 1,000 Amex Membership Rewards points transferred. The bonus miles may post in a separate transaction, but within 24 hours of the initial transfer (though usually faster than that).
We see transferable points currencies frequently offer bonuses on transfers to Lifemiles, and we’ve seen such promotions from most major transferable points currencies in the past year.
Should you transfer Amex points to Lifemiles?
Avianca is in the Star Alliance, which means you can redeem Lifemiles on all Star Alliance airlines without any fuel surcharges. Really this is the core value proposition of the program, since this is a great way to book Star Alliance premium cabin seats at a huge discount. Check out my guide on how to redeem Lifemiles for ideas on how to use these miles.
With a specific use in mind, this could represent a great value, whether you’re looking at traveling first class on All Nippon Airways or Lufthansa, or are looking at traveling in business class on a countless number of airlines. Everyone has to crunch the numbers for themselves and decide whether this makes sense or not.
Let me emphasize that in some cases, Lifemiles doesn’t have access to the same award availability as Star Alliance partners, for better or worse. Sometimes Lifemiles doesn’t have access to partner awards that other programs do have access to, and other times the inverse is true.
That’s why I always recommend doing some “dummy” award searches before buying miles, so you can get a sense of how award availability lines up with your needs. 
Bottom line
Through March 28, 2026, the Amex Membership Rewards program is offering a 15% bonus on points transfers to Avianca Lifemiles. If you’re looking to redeem on Star Alliance partners, there’s definitely some value to be had here.
With the 15% bonus, you can potentially get a very reasonably priced award on Avianca or one of its Star Alliance partners. As always, the challenge is actually finding award availability.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this Amex transfer bonus to Avianca Lifemiles?
Waste of transferable points. Have been monitoring LM for several years and they have zero premium availability and no way of getting alerts that premium availability is released. If you only plan to fly economy, then go for it
Good advice to check Lifemiles availability before you aquire. I have seen a dramatic decrease in the value of Lifemiles as they just don't have access to many of the Lufthansa business and first class awards. There has been a drastic decrease in awards since November and I believe LH is not releasing to partners the same award space. I am only speculating but I check space daily and on several of the routes I...
Good advice to check Lifemiles availability before you aquire. I have seen a dramatic decrease in the value of Lifemiles as they just don't have access to many of the Lufthansa business and first class awards. There has been a drastic decrease in awards since November and I believe LH is not releasing to partners the same award space. I am only speculating but I check space daily and on several of the routes I follow within 2 weeks availability used to often appear on Mon and Wed (and sometimes other days) departing North America to Europe. And return flights back departing on Tue,Wed back. However I am rarely seeing availability and this is during low season. I believe that the trend for airlines to NOT release J awards to partners is increasing and probably its only going to get worse. I don't hunt for ANA F space but heard that is next to impossible with Lifemiles points. So buyer beware and do your searches before acquiring the points as Ben says.