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Now through July 15, 2026, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles with a 15% transfer bonus. Considering LifeMiles already offers solid redemption rates for Star Alliance award bookings, this is a solid opportunity to stretch your Membership Rewards points even further.

But unlike most transfer bonuses, this one is a bit unique. You won’t find it in your Amex account. Instead, it’s being offered directly by Avianca.

Here’s a closer look at the deal and some great ways to use your LifeMiles.

Transfer Amex Points to Avianca, Get 15% Bonus LifeMiles

As mentioned above, this transfer bonus is being offered directly by Avianca LifeMiles, not American Express. That means you won’t see any mention of the bonus when you log in to your Amex account. Instead, Avianca will deposit the 15% bonus LifeMiles into your account within 24 hours of initiating a transfer from American Express.

LifeMiles Amex transfer bonus details
Screenshot of LifeMiles

Beyond that, here are the key terms and conditions to note:

  • Transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Avianca LifeMiles and receive a 15% bonus miles. Here's how to transfer Amex points.
  • This offer does not require registration.
  • This bonus is available for point conversions initiated by July 15, 2026 (11:59 PM GMT-6).
  • Points conversions are non-reversible and non-refundable.
  • The transfer bonus is offered by Avianca directly, so you’ll receive the bonus miles from Avianca within 24 hours (though the terms say to allow up to 72 hours).
  • The minimum transfer from Amex to Avianca is 1,000 points.
  • Amex caps transfers at 750,000 points per transaction, and Avianca does not mention a cap on the number of bonus miles you can earn through this promotion.

To take advantage of this LifeMiles transfer bonus, you'll need to have an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express® Gold Card
American Express® Gold Card
Welcome Offer Find Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee

$325Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

  • 4X Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
  • 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
  • 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
  • 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
  • 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through amextravel.com
  • 2X Membership Rewards® points on cruises booked and paid through amextravel.com
  • 1X on other eligible purchases
American Express Platinum Card®
American Express Platinum Card®
Welcome Offer As High As 175,000 points. Find Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $12,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee

$895Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

  • Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
  • Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
  • Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Find Out Your Offer You may be eligible for as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $20,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee

$895Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

  • Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com.
  • Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
  • Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
  • Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
  • Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
  • 2X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.

Avianca LifeMiles: The Good and the Bad

While transfer bonuses to Avianca LifeMiles aren’t uncommon, they’re still exciting because they open the door to some outstanding redemption value. That is, of course, if you’re willing to deal with LifeMiles in the first place.

To put it bluntly, many have a love/hate relationship with LifeMiles. On the one hand, as a part of Star Alliance, it enables award bookings with a diverse set of LifeMiles partners, including ANA, United, and Lufthansa. Even better, LifeMiles offers some of the best redemption rates available.

On the other hand, the program can be frustrating to deal with — from award availability outages to inconsistent award search results. As a result, many award travelers are reluctant to book with LifeMiles unless they’ve found a particularly fantastic redemption.

But the bottom line is this: If you need to make a Star Alliance award booking, you should absolutely check availability with LifeMiles to see if it's showing award availability and a competitive redemption rate.

Bottom Line

Through July 15, 2026, LifeMiles is offering a 15% transfer bonus on transfers from Amex Membership Rewards. If you’re looking to book a Star Alliance award ticket, this bonus is a great opportunity to save thousands of points.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees), and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees)

Tip of The Day
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