MaxVO

I'd love to see at least one ultimate data point in this thread -- somebody getting a valid award ticket out of Avianca. Better yet, having flown on that ticket.

snic

Well, I managed to at least get the miles transferred. Even though the Citi agent insisted the transaction had been processed, when I logged in the next day, the transaction history said the transaction had failed. So I tried it again and the miles transferred instantaneously.

But now the LifeMiles website won't let me book the ticket I want, saying I don't have enough miles (even though I do).

sdsearch

Effective April 15, redeeming will no longer defer (reset) Avianca Lifemiles expiration, only earning (including transfer from Citi TYP) will.

Also effective April 15, those without Avianca status and without an Avianca credit card will have their expiration cut in half from 24 months to just 12 months.

So, combining these two, you may want to plan to periodically (twice a year?) transfer a bit of your TYP points to Avianca, rather than transferring everything at once a letting it sit (if you don't have an immediate redemption).

MaxVO

I'm not yet confident there's travel at the end of those TYP transfers. If I wanted to find a charitable cause to make a donation, it will not be Avianca.

snic

There are plenty of reports of people using LifeMiles to book tickets (and travel on them) - see the Avianca forum. There is no reason to suspect that LifeMiles that accrue from Thank You points transfers are treated any differently from other LifeMiles.

In fact, once I figured out what was causing the website error, I managed to book the ticket I wanted, using points entirely transferred from Citi.

(This is not to say that dealing with LifeMiles' glitchy website and unimpowered, disinterested phone agents is in any way a pleasure. Making these bookings requires persistence, patience, tolerance and an iron will.)

sds1493

Initiated a transfer this morning. Received the LifeMiles email that I had new miles before receiving the Citi email confirming the transfer. Redeemed the miles online painlessly. Only thing that caught me out was the $25 pp award fee.

Happy

Honestly unless you have travel plan in the immediate future i would not "park" the TYPs there - this is an airline constantly sells their miles with 40 to 100% bonus all year long. Just shortly after their last promotion of selling miles, and the TYP adding it as a transfer partner, Avianca making only earning would count to keep the miles alive. And if you are not their elites nor own their credit card, your expiration is only 12 months.

While Aeroplan also only has 12 months life, it is easier to extend the life - Each $3 spent at Esso in Canada would earn 1 Aeroplan mile. Some kind souls in the Air Canada forum would even be willing to do that as one time help should you really need it. Else AMEX transfer would suffice though at 1K a pop. As far as Star Alliance goes, booking Aeroplan probably is still easier to deal with than booking Avianca.

sdsearch

Except you're forgetting that Aeroplan (as Air Canda's program) is not long for this world. And Air Canada has not promised any transferablitiy from Aeroplan (which will stop being an Air Canada partner) to whatever AIr Canada's replacement miles program will be.

So Aeroplan IMHO does not make sense for "parking" unless you're absolutely sure you'll use up the miles before Aeroplan and AirCanada part ways in a couple years (June 2020).

And so in light of that, is Avianca really worse? Yes, you have to figure out how to earn Avianca once a year. But at least you can keep doing that for years. To me, that's still better than Aeroplan which its assisted suicide plans.

Hopefully once Air Canada debuts its new miles program, that will become the perfect "parking" place. But that doesn't help people who need to "park" now.

dval44

I found this thread because I got the error from Citi when transferring. I tried the entire transaction again, and it went through instantly.

I booked a $300 r/t ticket in Peru for 9,000 points + $8, and it was pretty painless.

Unless there are surprises for me in store when I check in at the airport, etc. then it was a very useful and easy use of Citi points. Just wanted to share that data point as I worried when I saw all the negative comments!

Hope it's helpful

mileshusband

Found the unicorn unblocked partner F space but now cast into the TYP transfer blind spot.. Transfer out successful, but not yet arrived into LM

mileshusband

Does anyone know which LifeMiles account number is the "Old" vs the "New".. One number begins with "1" and the other begins with "5". Both numbers are in your LM profile. Am speculating whether the table on Avianca side that links the old and new accounts together may be causing the delay in Citi transfers posting.

kohoutc

This just happened to me yesterday, error from Citi website, but points deducted from Citi account and received confirmation emails from Citi. No points in my LifeMiles account. Called both Citi and LifeMiles and both told me to call the other...ugh. Hoping that something pops into LifeMiles account before the end of their Partner sale for Asia flights, ending 9/18. Waiting with bated breath.

kohoutc

To close the loop on my issue. I spent a couple of hours making calls to LifeMiles support and Citi ThankYou support. The friendliness and help from LifeMiles was surprising and unexpected based on stories of heard about their call center. Although the overall experience was frustrating, they were great. I called them five times and never experienced a wait time, english speakers were clear and polite and eventually they told me "Citi has not sent the miles to your account." With that, I called Citi back up for the fourth time and spoke to a very competent agent who essentially redeposited my Citi points, tried the transaction again and they posted IMMEDIATELY.

sleuth

rocky_nnc

Waiting past 2-3 days to get my points in lifemiles, crazy ,, have a ticket to book for next month :-(