May 26, 2014, 8:47 am
Last edit by: SingaporeDon
Every forum on Flyertalk has a personality. A forum gains a personality through user input over time, and Lifemiles is a very definitive example of how users have developed a unique community.
While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.
If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.
If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
C1 North America
C1.5 Caribbean, Bermuda
C2 Europe
C2.5 Middle East
C3 Asia
C4 South America
C5 Africa
C6 Oceania
2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
LifeMiles' old Star Alliance Award Chart (before Oct 15 2014) // Table of changes
Cash & Miles redemptions: the price per mile purchased during award booking varies significantly depending on how many miles are purchased. The "sweet spots" are between 38% and 58% of the total mileage required, where miles are purchased for 1.5 cents. See here for some examples.
Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An easily-seen example is travel on Copa from LAX to SJU (via PTY).
Understand Cabotage: Departing country 1, transiting country 2, returning to country 1 (no stopping) *is* cabotage (example: depart JFK, connect in YYZ to return to ORD, or depart Miami, connect in Bogota, return to San Francisco). On the other hand, departing country 1, going to completely unrelated country 2, and ending up in country 3, is not cabotage. So if you fly JFK-JNB-ZRH, for instance, this is completely not cabotage.
Availability: Seeing availability for *A award seats elsewhere is no guarantee they are accessible on Lifemiles. For instance award space shown on ANA often is not accessible on Lifemiles. Similarly, finding award space on single legs doesn't mean you'll get award space on the combined itinerary. And no, there is no way to overcome that.
Screenshot Method
Send email to [email protected] with attached screenshots on Lifemiles website of each individual leg showing availability. Also, screenshot showing no availability as one booking. Include passenger names, gender and DOB and copy of passenger passport. They will either call you for payment or email the itinerary and give you 3 days to call up and make payment by CC.
NOTE: This previous thread has been closed; it can be read here LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it)
LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0
Mar 27, 2017, 10:14 am
#2581
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Mar 28, 2017, 6:54 am
#2582
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Apr 3, 2017, 6:03 pm
#2585
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Toronto (YYZ)
Posts: 6,279
Apr 4, 2017, 8:33 am
#2588
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
LM hasnt lost value, rather, the other FFPs (Alaska, SQ pre-deval, pre-deval AA tickets getting used) have had marginally better value the past year, and the splurge in business class sales from QR and the likes makes it lucrative to just outright buy tix.
IMHO, LM is almost back to being a niche FFP with tremendous value for those positioned to take full advantage of its hidden "features".
Mostly, if you are on a F class *A route, its quite valuable. Not so much for biz class...
(mainly ex-LAX/NYC/SFO/ORD in the US, LHR/CDG/FRA/MUC in Europe, BKK/SIN/TYO/ICN/SYD in AsiaPacific)
IMHO, LM is almost back to being a niche FFP with tremendous value for those positioned to take full advantage of its hidden "features".
Mostly, if you are on a F class *A route, its quite valuable. Not so much for biz class...
(mainly ex-LAX/NYC/SFO/ORD in the US, LHR/CDG/FRA/MUC in Europe, BKK/SIN/TYO/ICN/SYD in AsiaPacific)
Last edited by Tokyoite; Apr 4, 2017 at 8:40 am
Apr 4, 2017, 8:42 am
#2589
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kan@da
Programs: Anything with sweet spots
Posts: 1,790
so the community has been driven underground ?
Apr 4, 2017, 5:01 pm
#2590
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 668
...IMHO, LM is almost back to being a niche FFP with tremendous value for those positioned to take full advantage of its hidden "features".
Mostly, if you are on a F class *A route, its quite valuable. Not so much for biz class...
(mainly ex-LAX/NYC/SFO/ORD in the US, LHR/CDG/FRA/MUC in Europe, BKK/SIN/TYO/ICN/SYD in AsiaPacific)
Mostly, if you are on a F class *A route, its quite valuable. Not so much for biz class...
(mainly ex-LAX/NYC/SFO/ORD in the US, LHR/CDG/FRA/MUC in Europe, BKK/SIN/TYO/ICN/SYD in AsiaPacific)
Apr 5, 2017, 6:01 pm
#2591
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Toronto (YYZ)
Posts: 6,279
What do you mean ? That you didn't find any trick worth buying points for, or the tricks that you exploit let you book awards for such low miles costs that you still didn't have the need yet to top-up your account with miles ?
so the community has been driven underground ?
so the community has been driven underground ?
As for underground... if you call private forums or google access by invite only spreadsheets that details EVERYTHING about LM? ... then yes.
Apr 6, 2017, 4:39 pm
#2593
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Toronto (YYZ)
Posts: 6,279
LOL!!
May I remind you, I was the FIRST one to actually do the GUM trick, The first to do the SAW trick, The FIRST one to complete LH F boomerang C3-C2-C3...
I don't have any use for PM's at this point....
I stopped responding to PM's from this thread 2 years ago because the tricks were being revealed. And I've never hidden the fact there are private forums regarding tricks etc... I've posted that fact many times. I suggest you read the original "Trick It Thread" the receipts are there for all to see.
If I recall, you've sent me more than one PM begging for info... which went unanswered... you want screenshots? I have those receipts too
May I remind you, I was the FIRST one to actually do the GUM trick, The first to do the SAW trick, The FIRST one to complete LH F boomerang C3-C2-C3...
I don't have any use for PM's at this point....
I stopped responding to PM's from this thread 2 years ago because the tricks were being revealed. And I've never hidden the fact there are private forums regarding tricks etc... I've posted that fact many times. I suggest you read the original "Trick It Thread" the receipts are there for all to see.
If I recall, you've sent me more than one PM begging for info... which went unanswered... you want screenshots? I have those receipts too
Last edited by imverge; Apr 6, 2017 at 4:49 pm Reason: spelling
Apr 7, 2017, 2:20 am
#2595
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
PS it's practical to simply not answer any PM. I haven't made it yet to quite that level. And the funny thing is, whenever you posted one of your magic tricks, I got PMs "how does he do it?" - that's why I commented about "flooded inboxes"
Last edited by WolfvanWeen; Apr 7, 2017 at 2:24 am Reason: added the PS