Citi Bolsters Its ThankYou Points Partner List With Avianca LifeMiles

November 16, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

Travel is normally a fairly big part of people’s lives, but at this time of year, it takes on a whole new importance. Between those making the trip home for Thanksgiving and those planning to do likewise a month later when Christmas comes around—not to mention any travel for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa—travel is a huge part of the holidays. Citi, meanwhile, seems to have recognized this, and is bolstering its ThankYou Points reward system by adding Avianca LifeMiles to the roster.

Under the terms of the arrangement, those with Citi ThankYou Points can transfer these—at a one-to-one ratio—to Avianca LifeMiles without incident. For those not familiar with Avianca, it’s actually one of the biggest airlines in Latin America, an airline with the goal of being the preferred choice of Latin Americans everywhere. It’s actually also 2017’s “Best Airline in Latin America” as measured by TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards and Skytrax’s “Best Airline in South America.”

LifeMiles’ CEO Matt Vincent noted “LifeMiles is a great currency to hold, even for those who live outside of Latin America. Bloggers such as The Points Guy, who compare programs based on the value of their miles, regularly rank LifeMiles well above most other programs. In addition, LifeMiles is a perennial winner of industry awards, and has been named the program with Best Redemption Ability in the world by Global Traveler magazine for four successive years running!”

Perhaps more importantly, this measure gives Citi ThankYou Points users one more choice when determining what to do with said points. That makes the program that much more valuable, even if it’s not actually being used by a large portion of the market. However, it’s a safe bet that Citi saw at least some demographic overlap; otherwise why would Citi have even bothered to incorporate Avianca LifeMiles into the plan at all?

For those who travel to Latin America, or within it, it’s a safe bet they’ll welcome Citi’s new program. That could allow Citi to better hold onto its market base, or even bring in a few new users besides who want in. Only time will tell just how well it works, but Citi might be onto something here.