If there is one thing that Bilt Rewards does well, it’s innovate.
While adding Avianca’s Lifemiles on its own isn’t innovative, the fact that they are constantly adding new partners (Bilt recently also added Marriott Bonvoy) is.
But let’s focus on today which is the announcement that Avianca Lifemiles has become Bilt’s 13th airline transfer partner. Transfers are 1:1.
Here are the rest of their transfer partners:
| Bilt Transfer Partners | All transfer at a 1:1 ratio. Transfer times below: |
|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines MileagePlan | TBD |
| American Airlines AAdvantage® | Within 1 day |
| Aer Lingus Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Avianca Lifemiles | Within 10 minutes |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Within 10 minutes |
| Air France Flying Blue | Within 10 minutes |
| British Airways Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Within 10 minutes |
| Emirates Skywards | Within 10 minutes |
| Hawaiian Airlines | Within 10 minutes |
| Iberia Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| IHG Rewards | Within 10 minutes |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Up to 48 hours; generally within minutes. (5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000). |
| United Airlines MileagePlus | Within 10 minutes |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | Within 10 minutes |
| Virgin Points | Within 10 minutes |
| World of Hyatt | Within 10 minutes |
If we consult our master list of what transferable points transfer to what airlines and hotels, we see that Avianca Lifemiles is already a transfer partner of Amex, Capital One, and Citi. Of the majors, now only Chase isn’t a partner.
So, is Lifemiles a game changer transfer partner?
In a word, no. They absolutely have there place, but there are pros and cons.
They are a Star Alliance carrier so that’s where you’ll be looking to book with Lifemiles.
The main pro is reasonable award charts that don’t pass on any surcharges (other than their own booking fee).
For instance, you can book a First Class Lufthansa flight (US-EU) without any of Lufthansa’s own surcharges which can top $500 one way and for just 87,000 Lifemiles (versus, for example, 113,000 United miles for the same flight). Or pay 63,000 miles for Business class on any Star Alliance airline with no surcharges.
Cons include how hard it is to make any changes at all once ticketed and that the site sometimes shows phantom award availability. It’s also nearly impossible to speak to anyone there when you have a problem and they still charge $200
I’d suggest you read this article on Avianca LifeMiles before transferring:
Notably you will pay $150 to change or $200 to cancel and redeposit miles if your plans change. That is possibly the worst penalty of any program post-COVID.
However, with the reasonable award rates and no surcharges, Lifemiles certainly has many fans.
Bottom line? It’s a good program but with several flaws that you need to know so you go into a booking with your eyes wide open.
Apply for the Bilt Mastercard and pay your rent fee-free while earning transferable points!
Thoughts?
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