Citi ThankYou Rewards program keeps adding international airline partners. Earlier this year, the program added Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles loyalty program as a transfer partner, and now Citi has announced a new one—Avianca LifeMiles.
Avianca is a Colombian airline that has hubs in many Central and South American cities and is a Star Alliance member. Citi ThankYou Points transfer 1-1 in increments of 1,000 points. Of the three big point currencies—American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points—ThankYou Points are the first that can be transferred to the LifeMiles program. Starwood Preferred Guest’s Startpoints can be transferred to Avianca as well, but Starpoints generally hold a higher value.
You might be wondering how useful LifeMiles are when it comes to redeeming them. For starters, Avianca doesn’t impose high fuel charges on its awards, but there is a $25 Star Alliance booking fee. This can come in handy for those looking to avoid United’s $75 close-in booking fee for flights booked within 21 days of departure. Additionally, Avianca’s award chart has some interesting sweet spots.
For example, Avianca offers certain short-haul economy redemptions within the United States for just 7,500 LifeMiles on its Star Alliance partner United Airlines. These awards are broken up into regions by state. For example, you can book a round-trip flight between Los Angeles and Steamboat Springs, Colo., for a ski trip in February for 15,000 miles. The same United flight hovers around $400 in cash. Partner awards can be booked directly on LifeMiles.com and there’s no need to call.
Another lucrative redemption is for intra-Asia awards in business class. The program charges just 36,000 LifeMiles for such an award. For example, I was able to find availability on a non-stop flight from Tokyo to Bangkok on Thai Airways in January. In comparison, United MileagePlus charges 45,000 miles for the same award.
When it comes to redeeming miles for flights between North America and Europe, the redemption rate for economy class is standard at 30,000 miles. However, business-class redemption is slightly better. For example, a one-way flight in business class from Los Angeles to Frankfurt on Lufthansa can be booked for 63,000 LifeMiles, whereas United charges 70,000 miles for the same award.
Citi is losing Hilton Honors as a transfer partner, so the program needed to add another partner to remain competitive, and the addition of LifeMiles is a positive change. However, Avianca is yet another airline partner. After losing Hilton on Dec. 13, ThankYou Rewards will not have any hotel transfer partners, and the program needs at least one to remain lucrative.
What do you think of the ability to transfer ThankYou Points to Avianca LifeMiles?
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