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 just 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 an immediate redemption in mind, and are sure you can get outsized value.
In this post:
Citi to lifemiles 25% transfer bonus details
Between Sunday, March 16, and Saturday, April 12, 2025, it’s possible to get a 25% bonus when you transfer points from the Citi ThankYou program to the avianca lifemiles program. This promotion is being offered on Citi’s end, so you should see this offer at the time that you make the transfer.
The transfer ratio is usually 1:1, so through this promotion you can transfer points at a 1,000:1,250 ratio. The 25% bonus should post at the same time as the standard number of miles. There’s no registration required, and no limit to how many bonus miles you can earn. Transfers from Citi to lifemiles are generally instant.
We see bonuses from various transferable points currencies to lifemiles every so often. The 25% bonus is among the better offers we see, as sometimes bonuses are in the 15-20% range.
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
Through April 12, 2025, you can receive a 25% bonus when you transfer points from Citi ThankYou to avianca lifemiles. This bonus is being offered on Citi’s end, so you should see the bonus at the time that you make the transfer.
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 Citi points into lifemiles with this bonus?
Citi thank you points earned through the double cash card don't qualify
Domestic short hauls are decent and good value with this promotion. 6000 miles for a shirt haul on united or air Canada is good value
Nobody should ever do this. Lifemiles are a disaster and their IT systems make them almost unusable (you will never find the award you want, and then it'll be impossible to book).
Also, they expire pretty quickly.
never trasnfer to lifemiles, it is a disaster!! lifemiles is destroyed.
Citi points are the most valuable in the ecosystem. Much better uses than a crapshoot transfer to LifeMiles hoping that rare advertised availability is actually bookable. This program is a pass for me.
Not sure which ecosystem you refer to. If it's the global ecosystem I would argue that both Amex MR points and Chase Ultimate Reward Points are more valuable. But it's just my opinion.
It's all subjective. I find Citi points valuable because they have the best transfer rate to Eva (C1 somehow missed the boat on the 1:1 thing), and you can earn way more if you're deep in their credit card system with a bunch of $0 AF cards.
Amex and Chase have some good partners, but those partners are working to erode value faster than you can say "annual Hyatt depreciation."
@Lucky. Thank you for always letting us know such promos. I have always found availabilities using LifeMiles when needed. Much better value than using UA miles.