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American Express not only has a great list of transfer partners, it also frequently incentivizes transfers to those partners with bonuses. Until April 1st, you can enjoy a 15% transfer bonus to Avianca Lifemiles. Let’s check it out.
My experience is that Avianca transfers are instantaneous
Unfamiliar with Avianca’s Lifemiles program…you’re probably not alone
Avianca is a new partner of Amex, joining in 2018, and provides excellent access points to Star Alliance award inventory.
Here’s a look at Avianca’s award chart
Sweet Spots include:
- US to Europe in Business Class for 63k ( 55k )
- US to Europe in First Class for 87k ( 76k)
- US to North Asia in Biz for 75k ( 66k )
- US to North Asia in First for 90k ( 78k )
Mixed Cabin trips are where its at!
As I noted above, one of the sweet spots is booking First Class between Europe and the US for 87k miles. However, Avianca gives its loyalists a break when their entire itinerary isn’t in the same cabin. Here’s a look at an itinerary from Paris via Munich to Los Angeles in Lufthansa First Class. Since the first leg is in economy the price is knocked down to just 83,200. 
This comes out to roughly 73k points with the current transfer bonus, or 3k more than you’d pay with another Amex partner, Aeroplan. However, Aeroplan would 441 CAD in taxes and fees.
I put the taxes and fees on my American Express Platinum card to earn 5x points
It’s a great benefit of the charge card and can quickly accumulate points when booking direct with the airline.
Avianca has also updated and vastly improved their booking website.
Up until recently, Avianca had a clunk booking engine that would crash when used in Chrome. Now…they’ve created a fantastic new search facility that I almost always use in Smart Search.
Analysis
If you’re looking to make an award redemption in the near future…this could be a great time to make use of the program and achieve your travel aspirations at lower prices!
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