Amex adds Avianca as a transfer partner

American Express Membership Rewards has just added an awesome new transfer partner: Avianca LifeMiles. I’m particularly enthusiastic about this addition as I’ve redeemed Avianca LifeMiles several times in recent months, though some folks with surely find this to be a yawner since Avianca offers points for sale so cheaply that they may not see enough value in them for transfers from a currency like Membership Rewards. Overall, I’d say that more partners is always good.

The Deal

• Now transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles at a ratio of 1:1 (in increments of 1,000 miles)

Quick Thoughts

Dan’s Deals reports that transfers are instant, as is the case with Citi ThankYou Rewards.

LifeMiles are a currency that has really been growing in popularity in recent years thanks to the fact that Avianca is a Star Alliance carrier, so you can use these miles for Star Alliance redemptions around the world with no fuel surcharges. That’s awesome if you’re looking to do something like fly Lufthansa First Class, which usually comes with high fuel surcharges.

Here’s a look at the LifeMiles award chart for flights within North America and to/from Europe:

Furthermore, the LifeMiles chart has some other awesome values and hack-ability. Here are some posts we’ve written about Avianca LifeMiles:

• Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing. First Class for less.
• My first Avianca LifeMiles redemption: easy as  . . .
• How to keep your Avianca LifeMiles alive

Avianca often sells LifeMiles quite cheaply, sometimes charging as low as around 1.3 cents per mile. That might make LifeMiles seem to be a relatively poor value for transfer since you often have the ability to buy them for less than the Reasonable Redemption Value of Membership Rewards points. However, I think the Joy of Free can negate that and make them a good choice – especially if you’re earning most of your Membership Rewards points from category bonuses, etc.

As a reminder, here are all of the currently available cards that earn Membership Rewards points:

We have added Avianca LifeMiles to our Amex transfer partners page, where you can find a full list of partners. For more on Membership Rewards, see: Amex Membership Rewards. Deep dive.

H/T: Dan’s Deals

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