New Amex Transfer Bonus to Avianca LifeMiles: Get 15% More Miles!

Avianca LifeMiles is the quirky – but highly useful – mileage program run by the Colombian airline. Its website isn't the easiest to use and you'll pay dearly if your plans change, but it can be worth it for rock-bottom award rates. And if you've got Amex points, you'll need even fewer of them to book your next flight.

To kick off a new month, American Express just rolled out 15% bonus when transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to LifeMiles. You'll get these extra miles immediately when transferring points from cards like the *amex gold* or *amex platinum*.

This new transfer bonus is available through Nov. 30. There's also a 20% transfer bonus from Amex to Air France/KLM Flying Blue ending much sooner … and a brand-new 35% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy, though we rarely recommend transferring points to hotel chains.

Not sure how (or why) to transfer your miles? Read our full guide to Amex transfer partners!

Sadly, LifeMiles don't go quite as far as they used to after a nasty devaluation this summer – the program raised many award rates to Europe, Asia, and beyond by 30% or more. Yet it remains an excellent way to book flights on many Star Alliance airlines for fewer points – including some unbelievable sweet spots like flying to London-Heathrow (LHR) in business class for just 45,000 miles!

Using transfer partners is one of the best ways to put your Amex points to use for even more value. These transfer bonuses make it even better – think of it as a way to get some free airline miles. 

Just keep in mind: These transfers are a one-way street – once you send points to Avianca, you can't get them back to your Amex account. That's why we typically urge travelers to scope out award availability to ensure the flights they want are bookable before transferring any points.

Fortunately, you've got plenty of options to put this transfer bonus to use.

Read more: Save Your Points When Booking Flights, Transfer Them to an Airline Partner

The Best Ways to Use This Transfer Bonus

Even if you'll never fly Avianca and have no plans to visit Colombia, you should know about LifeMiles.

It's far from perfect, but LifeMiles can be one of the best mileage programs in the world for booking Star Alliance airlines like Lufthansa or SWISS to Europe, EVA Air to Asia, or United and Turkish Airlines all over the world. It combines low mileage rates with just $50 to $100 in award taxes and fees. That makes it a go-to for travelers looking to book business or first class seats with their points and miles.

Heading to Europe? After that recent increase, you'll now generally pay 70,000 miles one-way for a business class award to Europe with Avianca LifeMiles. That's true whether you're hopping on a short overseas flight from the East Coast … or a much longer journey, like this Turkish Airlines business class fight from Los Angeles (LAX) all the way to Istanbul. 

With a 15% bonus, you'd only need to transfer 61,000 Amex points to make it a reality. 

But LifeMiles is full of oddities … in a good way: There are a handful of routes that price out even cheaper. For example, you can head to Switzerland on this SWISS business class route from New York City (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) for just 55,000 miles. Factor in that transfer bonus, and you need just 48,000 Amex points to book!

I'll do you one better: How about a nonstop to London-Heathrow (LHR) in United Polaris business class for just 45,000 miles? Or, with this transfer bonus, 40,000 Amex points?!

The beauty of these LifeMiles isn't just the cheap rates – made even cheaper for Amex cardholders with this transfer bonus. No, they're also outstanding because LifeMiles doesn't pass on a mountain of surcharges and fees. You'll generally pay no more than $50 each way for departures from the U.S. 

Sadly, flights to Japan and the rest of Asia got clobbered by LifeMiles' recent devaluation, so you won't find a great deal flying ANA business class or ANA First Class via LifeMiles these days. Yet some other great redemptions remain unchanged.

For example, you can still book Air New Zealand business class for 80,000 LifeMiles each way between Houston-Intercontinental (IAH) and Auckland (AKL). With a 15% transfer bonus, you can book the ultra-long flight to New Zealand for just 70,000 Amex points.

Maybe Africa is more your style. While it may not win awards for the fanciest business class seats, Ethiopian Airlines is often the quickest way to fly to almost anywhere in Africa.

For instance, you could fly from Toronto (YYZ) to Cape Town (CPT) with a stop in Addis Ababa (ADD) for 78,000 miles one-way in lie-flat business class. With a 15% bonus, your cost drops to just 68,000 points for flights all the way from North America to South Africa!

If you're not concerned with flying at the front of the plane and just want to get to your destination for even less, LifeMiles has plenty of solid deals flying economy too:

• LifeMiles generally charges 7,500 miles each way for most routes flying United Airlines within the U.S. – or sometimes less!
• Routes to Europe typically cost 30,000 miles each way, though you'll find some still price out closer to 20,000 miles.
• Down to South America, you can book for 20,000 to 30,000 miles each way 

Need more guidance on putting your LifeMiles to use? Read our complete guide to booking the best LifeMiles Sweet Spots!

How to Transfer Your Amex Points

Now that we've covered the “where” and “why,” let's cover the “how” – as in, how you can transfer Amex points to Avianca LifeMiles and get this bonus? It's easy, and it works just like every other Amex transfer partner.

First, you’ll need to log in to your Amex account and navigate to the “Rewards & Benefits” page. Once you’ve done that, select the “Transfer Points” option highlighted below.

From there, scroll down and select Avianca LifeMiles from the list of more than 20 options. You'll need to enter your LifeMiles account information if you haven't done so already. Once that's done, you can enter how many Amex points you'd like to transfer to Avianca.

A Word of Caution on LifeMiles

The LifeMiles program is full of sweet spots … but that comes at a cost. Have I mentioned the quirky nature of this mileage program?

With LifeMiles, you need to know what you're getting into. And there are plenty of pitfalls to be aware of when using this otherwise valuable mileage program.

• A buggy website & IT issues: You may encounter several errors while searching for flights. The website will often “time out,” forcing you to reload or sign out completely and sign back in. You'll need to pack your patience when booking with LifeMiles.
• LifeMiles may not see all award availability: It can be the best program for booking Star Alliance flights … but only if those awards are available. Avianca LifeMiles doesn't always get access to the same award space as other Star Alliance programs, so be sure to confirm the flights you want are bookable through LifeMiles itself before transferring any points.
• Poor customer service: If things go wrong or you want to make any changes to your trip, there is no way to do this online … and trying to work with an Avianca agent over the phone can be a painful experience.
• Hefty change and cancellation fees: All the big U.S. airlines and many foreign airlines have waived cancellation fees to scrap a ticket and get your miles back, but not Avianca. The airline charges as much as $150 for a date change on award tickets and $200 to cancel.
• Miles expire: One of the most important things to keep in mind is that your Avianca LifeMiles do expire. You'll need to accrue some miles at least once every 12 months to keep those miles active.

Bottom Line

Got a trip in mind where LifeMiles could come in handy? Use this 15% bonus when moving Membership Rewards to Avianca LifeMiles to book flights for even fewer points.

Just remember: These transfers are a one-way street, so it's probably not worth taking advantage of this transfer bonus unless you've got a specific redemption in mind. But if you can make use of it, it can be a great way to stretch your points even further.

Don't wait too long, though. This Amex LifeMiles transfer bonus is available through Nov. 30!