Jan 11, 2014, 10:36 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: TEDisgone

WARNING - The cancellation fee has been increased up to $200 for long haul premium awards as of Feb 2017 .

T&Cs here:
How to cancel a Lifemiles ticket:

Lifemiles tickets cannot be canceled or changed online, you need to call the Avianca/TACA call center ~~(+1 800 284 2622)~~ (number updated to +1 866 919 0081 as of February 2024). #2 for English, then enter your Lifemiles number, enter #3 for Lifemiles then #3 again for transactions.
The cancellation fee is variable, $50-200. The change-fee is $150. This is per passenger/ticket. If you cancel, you will not get back the $25 booking fee paid when the ticket was issued.
The cancellation fee for Awards booked after 20th/2/2017: Award Tickets are reimbursable by paying a fee that varies depending on the redeemed route, the redemption channel and other circumstances, Accurate information of the reimbursement cost shall be informed at the time of redeeming the Award Ticket. If you cancel, you will not get back the $25 booking fee paid when the ticket was issued.
You need to set-up a phone PIN to do any changes to tickets on lifemiles.com before or during the call. Do this before you call as doing this while calling can add a couple of minutes to the call
Make sure your address and phone number are up to date in your lifemiles account. This will help immensely as spelling out everything letter-by-letter to the phone agent.
Your credit card information is collected via an automated system on the phone and not by the agent. The system first asks you for your card number (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express), followed by the expiration month/year in MMYY format, then followed by the Security Code. Press * to correct mistakes in entering numbers.
You need to enter/confirm credit card information for every ticket seperately. The process is simpler for remaining tickets as you only need to: first confirm the last 4 digits of the card (1 - Yes; 2 - No); followed by the expiration Month; followed by the expiration Year; followed by the Security code. For AMEX,(and sometimes for visa too ) the whole cared number has to be entered again
Similarly if you have used credit cards before, the system keeps information about your credit cards, so even for the first ticket, the process is simpler as you only need to confirm the last four digits of credit card, then expiration month, then expiration year last two digits only followed by the security code
Be prepared to spend between 20 minutes and 3 hours on the phone to get your changes / cancellation done, depending on the agent you get, or if you're really unlucky, you may spend days getting it sorted out.
Avianca transactions may trigger fraud alerts on your credit card, you may need to contact your bank about this.
Miles should be back in your account instantaneously, tax refund can take longer (2-3 weeks)
Money paid for miles purchased as part of "more money/less miles" choice will NOT be refunded in cash but as miles.
As soon as your flight is ticketed, the refund for a cash & miles booking will be only in miles
BE PATIENT: some agents are very knowledgeable and fast, others take hours to get a simple cancellation done
TAXES ARE REFUNDABLE: if an agent claims that taxes are non-refundable you may need to write an email to [email protected] to follow-up
You should be able to see your cancellation receipts under "Your Lifemiles" - "Print receipts" (Only works with Internet Explorer!)
NEW RULE - Ticket cannot be cancelled in the T-48 to T+24 window. Ticket can be cancelled after T+24 as long as ticket is valid, which is up to 365 days after issuance date (not travel date!)

Some agents have stated that the ticket can be cancelled even AFTER the flight dates, as long as the ticket is "open". Confirmed by FTers @ #334, 336, 371 and 445.

Cancellation of Lifemiles ticket

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Nov 8, 2013, 4:37 pm

#76

SilverChris

Join Date: Apr 2012

Location: YVR, KUL

Programs: AC, MH, BA, AF-KL

Posts: 2,904

Welcome to the world of LM, where something as simple as canceling a ticket can take anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 hours

Seriously though, the problem lies with their poorly trained agents. Some don't even know how to access the system to cancel the ticket and claim the system is down!

Nov 8, 2013, 5:51 pm

#77

AMRivlin

Join Date: Mar 2006

Location: (SJC)

Posts: 2,198

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverChris

Welcome to the world of LM, where something as simple as canceling a ticket can take anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 hours

Seriously though, the problem lies with their poorly trained agents. Some don't even know how to access the system to cancel the ticket and claim the system is down!

Cancelling on amtrak.com to united.com was never an issue, why does this require a call center action at all?

Nov 9, 2013, 6:57 am

#78

SilverChris

Join Date: Apr 2012

Location: YVR, KUL

Programs: AC, MH, BA, AF-KL

Posts: 2,904

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMRivlin

Cancelling on amtrak.com to united.com was never an issue, why does this require a call center action at all?

To be fair they're not alone. Many carries still require one to pick up the phone for changes/cancellations.

I had to call SQ to cancel a partner award ticket just a few weeks ago. The difference is, for most of the other airlines it's a painless process that shouldn't take over 10 or 15 minutes.

Nov 12, 2013, 2:20 pm

#79

AMRivlin

Join Date: Mar 2006

Location: (SJC)

Posts: 2,198

I am attempting to get a tax refund on a trip I canceled in september. I just got this email, from LifeMiles.com sounding a lot like a 419 scam.

”Dear Mr. Rivlin.

It is my pleasure to greet you.

We have verified with our refund department and it seems that the refund of your taxes has not been requested yet,.therefore in order to submit the refund request, I will need you to send.me the following information:

-.Scanned image of the.passports of each passenger and the credit cardholder.in full color, clearly visible in JPEG or PDF format.
- Phone number to contact you back.
- Last 4 digits of the credit card you used.

We will be waiting for your response"

Thoughts on why they need all of this for a legit refund?

Nov 12, 2013, 2:28 pm

#80

djjaguar64

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Oct 2001

Location: YYZ

Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond

Posts: 14,132

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMRivlin

Please pick up the phone and call them.

Nov 13, 2013, 1:23 am

#81

mlqsko

Join Date: Oct 2011

Posts: 3,838

I have 3 canceled itineraries and never had to request anything. As a matter of fact, I saw the refunds within a couple of days. Always paid with MC, if that matters.

Nov 13, 2013, 4:10 am

#82

SilverChris

Join Date: Apr 2012

Location: YVR, KUL

Programs: AC, MH, BA, AF-KL

Posts: 2,904

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlqsko

I have 3 canceled itineraries and never had to request anything. As a matter of fact, I saw the refunds within a couple of days. Always paid with MC, if that matters.

How did you pay the cancellation fees? Did you have to key in your card details every time or were they smart enough to save it to your account?

Nov 13, 2013, 4:21 am

#83

RTW1

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: Between AMS and BRU

Posts: 8,852

I've made 2 cancellations so far... First took about 30 minutes and the second was in less than 10. For the second I didn't have to go through the credit card approval process.

Nov 13, 2013, 2:02 pm

#84

mlqsko

Join Date: Oct 2011

Posts: 3,838

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverChris

How did you pay the cancellation fees? Did you have to key in your card details every time or were they smart enough to save it to your account?

Same card. All three times I keyed it in. The first time the damn thing didn't work in english so the operator run the spanish version and translated simultaneously. I thought it was hilarious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTW1

I've made 2 cancellations so far... First took about 30 minutes and the second was in less than 10. For the second I didn't have to go through the credit card approval process.

Did you particularly ask to have it saved?

Nov 14, 2013, 10:22 am

#85

echino

Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: YVR

Posts: 1,465

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMRivlin

I got the same thing. After not getting an automatic refund 8 weeks after cancelling the ticket, I emailed them and got the same response. I will not bother since the refund due is only about $20.

Nov 19, 2013, 6:25 pm

#86

rankourabu

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Jan 2002

Location: Canada

Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL

Posts: 23,305

so just to be clear

a) The cancel fee is $75 - ($50+old booking fee $25)
b) cash and points will refund points only?

Nov 19, 2013, 7:20 pm

#87

AMRivlin

Join Date: Mar 2006

Location: (SJC)

Posts: 2,198

Quote:

Originally Posted by echino

I got the same thing. After not getting an automatic refund 8 weeks after cancelling the ticket, I emailed them and got the same response. I will not bother since the refund due is only about $20.

I ended up following up with all their requests. a week later I got an email my refund will come in 30 days.

Silly.

Not even sure what my taxes were.

Nov 20, 2013, 6:53 am

#88

SingaporeDon

Join Date: Sep 2005

Location: SIN

Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov

Posts: 1,942

Quote:

Originally Posted by rankourabu

so just to be clear

a) The cancel fee is $75 - ($50+old booking fee $25)
b) cash and points will refund points only?

a) You pay $25 booking fee when you book. This is lost if you cancel
In addition, they charge a $50 cancellation fee, for which you have to give them a credit card number when you call to cancel
b) the cash part of your cash and miles redemption is automatically given back to you in miles
c) Taxes, if any are refunded, but see posts above re. how sometimes it takes a while or never comes back

Dec 4, 2013, 12:29 am

#89

sdfamily

Join Date: Aug 2010

Posts: 191

Help! Am trying to cancel a LM ticket for next week. I've spent several (cumulative) hours on hold only to be transferred, transferred and finally get someone to help me. Then, the automated CC system is down and I need to call back.???????

I'm going to be at LAX tomorrow for BA flight. Is it worth going to the check-in area to see if they can help?

Dec 4, 2013, 1:20 am

#90

sdfamily

Join Date: Aug 2010

Posts: 191

Well...it was the act of asking for help.....

They finally picked up and were able to process the two cancellations. The automated system even saved my CC information. Wow! (when it works