Credit Card Transfer Bonuses for September 2026 (Plus Our Famous Alerts)

Avianca has really been messing with its program lately. They’ve devalued twice in the last 9 months, although in the most recent devaluation all sorts of quirks emerged with pricing. For instance a business class ticket from the US to/from Europe could be 69,000 miles or it could be 80,000 miles.

All of the same issues I’ve always had around Lifemiles customer service remain. I don’t want to ever have to deal with a schedule change than needs a ticket reissued with them again, and sometimes the website shows phantom availability and phone agents are often unable to help after incredibly long hold times.

It’s worth knowing that miles transferred do count towards elite status with Avianca, however it’s not as easy as you’d think. At 20 miles per elite qualifying mile, to get to the Star Alliance Gold equivalent level, you’d need to transfer 480,000 miles and earn 12,000 qualifying miles on Avianca metal flights. So, it’s not easy at all. I guess this would cut.the first part by 15%…

Avianca is a Star Alliance partner that does not pass along fuel surcharges, however:

Keep in mind that Avianca recently devalued their program. Also see: Downsides of the LifeMiles program.

With frequent website issues, terrible customer support, and change/cancel fees of up to $200 a ticket, it’s just not for me. By comparison, Aeroplan also does not pass along surcharges (nor does United) and both are much easier to deal with.

At a mere 15%, I cannot see a case for the transfer unless you were literally about to make a Lifemiles booking anyway.

One exception might be *possibly* be if you only have Capital One miles and no other transferable points – although the last transfer bonus from Capital One miles to Avianca Lifemiles was just 6 months ago in mid-2025.

See all historical transfer bonuses.

Avianca is a Star Alliance partner that does not pass along fuel surcharges, however:

Keep in mind that Avianca recently devalued their program. Also see: Downsides of the LifeMiles program.

With frequent website issues, terrible customer support, and change/cancel fees of up to $200 a ticket, it’s just not for me. Aeroplan also does not pass along surcharges (nor does United) and both are much easier to deal with.

At a mere 15%, I cannot see a case for the transfer unless you were literally about to make a Lifemiles booking anyway.

One exception might be *possibly* be if you only have Capital One miles and no other transferable points – as the last transfer bonus from Capital One miles to Avianca Lifemiles was in mid-2023.

See all historical transfer bonuses.