American Express Points Now Transfer to Lifemiles

American Express Membership Rewards has added Avianca Lifemiles as an airline transfer partner at a 1:1 transfer ratio. This is very exciting news, as Lifemiles does not charge fuel surcharges and has reasonable or very good rates on certain awards.

Lifemiles is a far cry from what it used to be. You might recall reading here about various “trick” airports that used to be part of the program, but no longer are. Those trick airports are how the program gained popularity, but it has remained relevant by selling miles cheaply (often for around 1.4 cents per mile) and becoming a transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Rewards. Here are some key things to remember about Lifemiles award redemptions.

Basics of Lifemiles Awards

• No fuel surcharges
• There is a fixed $25 fee for all award bookings
• Online searches are not always easy. It’s recommended to search on United or Aeroplan first before booking on Lifemiles
• No close-in fees
• You can book using cash & points
• Stopovers or complicated bookings are impossible (or nearly impossible)

Best Uses of Lifemiles Today

There are several routes that come to mind right off the bat as being good values compared to other programs. These Lifemiles “sweet spots” include:

• 63,000 one way Business or 87,000 one way First from North America to/from Europe (think Lufthansa First Class)
• 25,000 one way Transcon Business Class on United
• 78,000 one way Business from the US to Africa or South Asia
• 7,500 short haul economy within the US (and other discounted domestic flights)

There may also be some tricks left in the Lifemiles program, though nothing like they used to be. I’ll refer you to this article by Frequent Miler, which I consider to be true travel hacking.

List of American Express Transfer Partners

This addition continues American Express’ attempt to match Chase and Citi as those banks add value to their programs. Here is a complete list of American Express transfer partners as of today:

Airline Transfer Partners with Amex

• Aer Lingus Aer Club
• AeroMexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Alitalia MilleMiglia
• ANA Mileage Club
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Delta SkyMiles
• El Al Matmid
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel Transfer Partners with Amex

• Choice Privileges
• Hilton Honors

Summary

In my opinion, the fact that American Express points now transfer to Lifemiles is a big addition. It’s great when you add a Star Alliance award partner. It’s even better when you add one without fuel surcharges. The fact that they also allow cash & points awards is also somewhat unique and will be valuable to many.

Some might argue that it’s better to just buy Lifemiles since they sell them for so cheap. I understand that argument, but I also know there’s a large group of people simply trying to avoid spending any money at all. Amex points are easy to acquire, and even easier with the recent Amex Gold card changes. It’s also great from the standpoint of being able to transfer from both Citi and Amex in order to combine for an award. Less “orphaned” points is always a good thing.