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
#61
I booked SQ J from SIN-FRA on the A380.
After inputting my credit card details I got the credit card error.
I called lifemiles, held for about 5 minutes whilst they checked and was told that I'd receive the e-ticket in the next 24 hours.
2 hours later, the e-ticket arrived.
caveat: I am Spanish and had no problems communicating. Experiences in English may vary.
#62
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: TXL
Programs: A3 Silver
Posts: 1,116
In my experience your statement is incorrect.
I booked SQ J from SIN-FRA on the A380.
After inputting my credit card details I got the credit card error.
I called lifemiles, held for about 5 minutes whilst they checked and was told that I'd receive the e-ticket in the next 24 hours.
2 hours later, the e-ticket arrived.
caveat: I am Spanish and had no problems communicating. Experiences in English may vary.
I booked SQ J from SIN-FRA on the A380.
After inputting my credit card details I got the credit card error.
I called lifemiles, held for about 5 minutes whilst they checked and was told that I'd receive the e-ticket in the next 24 hours.
2 hours later, the e-ticket arrived.
caveat: I am Spanish and had no problems communicating. Experiences in English may vary.
#63
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Melbourne/Bangkok
Programs: A3*G, QF PLATINUM, BA GOLD, VA GOLD, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 2,245
#64
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: TXL
Programs: A3 Silver
Posts: 1,116
#65
#67
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: TXL
Programs: A3 Silver
Posts: 1,116
Originally Posted by KiFly
Ok, this is new to me.
Booked a well known tricked route and got the message "could not process credit card payment ...bla bla... please call our call center".
PNR created, miles are still there.
Obviously I don't want to call. Anyone had this before ? Will the reservation just be canceled if I don't call and thus no payment will go through ?
Any help appreciated
Booked a well known tricked route and got the message "could not process credit card payment ...bla bla... please call our call center".
PNR created, miles are still there.
Obviously I don't want to call. Anyone had this before ? Will the reservation just be canceled if I don't call and thus no payment will go through ?
Any help appreciated
#68
Join Date: May 2012
Location: BSL/FRA
Programs: UA 1K, TK*G (not matched)
Posts: 160
IMHO the now unavailable boomerangs have nothing to do with a change of LM's internal award space search algorithm.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
To verify my hypothesis, I did just a random search for "forced carrier" boomerangs within the Amadeus timetable and did found for example a C3-C2-C2.5...
... and: This boomerang still shows up in LM.
Final conclusion:
LM did not change anything within their algorithm...
BUT...
Amadeus changed it's timetable search algorithm.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
To verify my hypothesis, I did just a random search for "forced carrier" boomerangs within the Amadeus timetable and did found for example a C3-C2-C2.5...
... and: This boomerang still shows up in LM.
Final conclusion:
LM did not change anything within their algorithm...
BUT...
Amadeus changed it's timetable search algorithm.
#69
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Melbourne/Bangkok
Programs: A3*G, QF PLATINUM, BA GOLD, VA GOLD, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 2,245
#70
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,607
You're smart enough to recognize code, good for you Now I'd advise using the same intellect in making sure your youtube videos aren't more shaky than an earthquake
#71
Sorry, missed that
For the sake of clarity:
The credit card error appears on both tricked an non-tricked itineraries.
In my experience, a phone call quickly clears things up and ensures that you are ticketed.
However, if your itinerary is tricked, it is best not to call. You should wait 2 days and if you still see no e-ticket. If no ticket, move on.
For the sake of clarity:
The credit card error appears on both tricked an non-tricked itineraries.
In my experience, a phone call quickly clears things up and ensures that you are ticketed.
However, if your itinerary is tricked, it is best not to call. You should wait 2 days and if you still see no e-ticket. If no ticket, move on.
#72
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,896
IMHO the now unavailable boomerangs have nothing to do with a change of LM's internal award space search algorithm.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
To verify my hypothesis, I did just a random search for "forced carrier" boomerangs within the Amadeus timetable and did found for example a C3-C2-C2.5...
... and: This boomerang still shows up in LM.
Final conclusion:
LM did not change anything within their algorithm...
BUT...
Amadeus changed it's timetable search algorithm.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
To verify my hypothesis, I did just a random search for "forced carrier" boomerangs within the Amadeus timetable and did found for example a C3-C2-C2.5...
... and: This boomerang still shows up in LM.
Final conclusion:
LM did not change anything within their algorithm...
BUT...
Amadeus changed it's timetable search algorithm.
#74
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 14
IMHO the now unavailable boomerangs have nothing to do with a change of LM's internal award space search algorithm.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
Every (!) boomerang that used to been available on LM could be found in the Amadeus timetable so it was my conclusion that LM uses the Amadeus timetable for route search and then checks class availability on the segments found within that timetable.
When you now search for the same boomerangs in the Amadeus timetable, they are gone.
#75
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
This change may be a result of the investigations of DOT...