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Citi launched a 25% transfer bonus today to Avianca LifeMiles through 11/4/23. Given the many Avianca LifeMiles sweet spots for award travel, this could be a great offer.
The Deal
- Through 11/4/23, Citi ThankYou rewards is offering a 25% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles. With the bonus, 1,000 Citi Thank You points transfer to 1,250 Avianca LifeMiles
Key Terms
- Valid for transfers completed by 11:59pm ET November 4, 2023
Quick Thoughts
I’m a big fan of Avianca LifeMiles, so I love to see a LifeMiles transfer bonus. Given the fact that Avianca LifeMiles does not add surcharges on award tickets, you can get some great deals on Star Alliance business and first class awards. For instance, regular price for a Star Alliance business class award to most of Europe is 63,000 miles one-way. With the transfer bonus, just 51,000 Citi ThankYou points would give you enough LifeMiles for a one-way Star Alliance business class award to Europe without surcharges.
The story of course gets a bit better yet if you’re able to book a mixed-cabin award since Avianca will price that award roughly prorated based on how much is business vs how much is in economy class. Fly across the pond in business class and connect within Europe in economy class and you’ll pay even less.
And it gets better yet: certain routes price lower than expected for no explicable reason. I have a trip coming up soon where I’ll fly from New York JFK to Lisbon, Portugal for 35,000 LifeMiles one-way in business class. That route prices that way even on a connecting itinerary on Brussels Airlines and a member of Frequent Miler Insiders pointed out yesterday that mixed-cabin awards where you fly Swiss from JFK to Switzerland and connect in economy class to Lisbon are also pricing out around 36K miles one-way. You’d only need 28,000 Citi ThankYou points to end up with 35,000 Avianca LifeMiles.
I’ve found some other European routes recently with lower-than-expected pricing as well. Flights to Asia and even Oceania can also be a deal via Avianca LifeMiles. And of course regional flights within the United States can also be a great value with LifeMiles. With the 25% transfer bonus, you might even fly United for fewer miles than you’d use via Turkish Miles & Smiles.
Again, I love to see a transfer bonus to LifeMiles. Keep in mind that Avianca sometimes sells miles for around 1.3c per mile, though getting the best rate often requires buying a lot of miles, whereas the bonus here is good for any size transfer.
It’s also worth noting that mileage transfers to Avianca LifeMiles count toward elite status with Avianca. Unfortunately, you still need to fly a minimum number of miles with Avianca. However, it’s worth keeping in mind if you do also fly Avianca.
We’ve added this to our list of current point transfer bonuses.
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I know the rule is not to preemptively transfer but I transferred 100K to lifemiles with the 25% bonus to also maximize the 10% back for having the rewards+ (max 10K) for a total of 90K:125K. Almost a 40% transfer bonus!
If someone wants to fly avianca itself there is another 10% on award travel on their own metal making it even better.