Avianca/Taca Lifemiles may be Best Program in Star
Apr 8, 2013, 8:36 am
#2011
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,405
Advice needed - to buy or not to buy
I have been following this thread for a couple of months since joining LM. I have 0 miles at present and planned to make a decision on buying when the next 2 for 1 promo came up.
So I guess I have a few concerns which others may wish to comment on:-
- I and my SO have about 300,000 DM miles each and with the upcoming merger with AA we know the days of *A redemptions under this program are numbered. So LM seems like a backup so to say.
- We also have AA miles - but this is not really part of the decision process here - these are kept as a "fallback" for when a *A redemption is not feasible/available.
- We have a stash of SQ KF miles - currently held in as AmEx reward points - sufficient for several return C/J flights on SQ ex-SYD to Europe. These are sort of held for a "rainy" day as AmEX reward points don't expire.
- So I would go for the current LM promo in an instant but here are my concerns:-
(1) *A availability in C or F overall currently seems to be at an all time low, particularly ex-Australia (e.g. nothing on NZ, nothing on UA TPAC all year, almost nothing on AC TPAC all year, SQ pretty good as far as SIN only, nothing on LH, LX, OS ex-Asia except for close in, .... and the list goes on). So if it weren't for OZ and TG we Aussies would be in big trouble.
(2) there seem to be lots of issues/restrictions booking with LM online and the call center is a nightmare.
So what am I missing - lots of the regular posters on this forum are also active on the US Air forum so I guess you see/use benefits which I don't quite get. (I have read the "trick it" stuff on another thread and while I really don't get it - I suspect these sort of loopholes probably don't apply to my sort of travel - i.e. my objective to get to where I want to go in the shortest possible way not find some convoluted routing which maximises travel time).
TIA.
I have been following this thread for a couple of months since joining LM. I have 0 miles at present and planned to make a decision on buying when the next 2 for 1 promo came up.
So I guess I have a few concerns which others may wish to comment on:-
- I and my SO have about 300,000 DM miles each and with the upcoming merger with AA we know the days of *A redemptions under this program are numbered. So LM seems like a backup so to say.
- We also have AA miles - but this is not really part of the decision process here - these are kept as a "fallback" for when a *A redemption is not feasible/available.
- We have a stash of SQ KF miles - currently held in as AmEx reward points - sufficient for several return C/J flights on SQ ex-SYD to Europe. These are sort of held for a "rainy" day as AmEX reward points don't expire.
- So I would go for the current LM promo in an instant but here are my concerns:-
(1) *A availability in C or F overall currently seems to be at an all time low, particularly ex-Australia (e.g. nothing on NZ, nothing on UA TPAC all year, almost nothing on AC TPAC all year, SQ pretty good as far as SIN only, nothing on LH, LX, OS ex-Asia except for close in, .... and the list goes on). So if it weren't for OZ and TG we Aussies would be in big trouble.
(2) there seem to be lots of issues/restrictions booking with LM online and the call center is a nightmare.
So what am I missing - lots of the regular posters on this forum are also active on the US Air forum so I guess you see/use benefits which I don't quite get. (I have read the "trick it" stuff on another thread and while I really don't get it - I suspect these sort of loopholes probably don't apply to my sort of travel - i.e. my objective to get to where I want to go in the shortest possible way not find some convoluted routing which maximises travel time).
TIA.
For 'shortest possible route' then USDM and LM have the same problems for AU-USA - almost impossible to find non-stops unless you book 365 days out, or within a week or two of departure (last week UA opened wide up in F and J from MEL/SYD to either LAX or SFO within a week of departure, so I could change for a fee). USDM has the advantage that if you want to lock in USA from AU you can do that via Asia (but it really does add on the hours)
Apr 8, 2013, 10:42 am
#2013
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Apr 8, 2013, 10:52 am
#2014
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
I purchased 75k 8 hours ago, posted immediately, CC charged $1 (probably authorization) + $2250 sharp.
Apr 8, 2013, 11:03 am
#2015
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Apr 8, 2013, 11:15 am
#2017
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Apr 8, 2013, 11:22 am
#2018
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
I like LM's IT. When purchasing miles the list of countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and then Germany. Hilarious.
Apr 8, 2013, 11:44 am
#2019
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: EWR, SLC, SGN
Posts: 1,113
Germany = Alemania. USA is in Estados Unidos spot too or was at one point.
Apr 8, 2013, 12:48 pm
#2020
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,050
Since this early morning I have tried several times to price out a North America-North Asia biz award after I select the searched itinerary and clicked "continue" after the "more than one connecting flight" message showed up, but then I got the following message "Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Apr 8, 2013, 1:57 pm
#2021
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,465
Since this early morning I have tried several times to price out a North America-North Asia biz award after I select the searched itinerary and clicked "continue" after the "more than one connecting flight" message showed up, but then I got the following message "Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Apr 8, 2013, 3:11 pm
#2022
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
Since this early morning I have tried several times to price out a North America-North Asia biz award after I select the searched itinerary and clicked "continue" after the "more than one connecting flight" message showed up, but then I got the following message "Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support."
Oh colombo seems to be searchable now. I just hope they don't take an atlas and check everything over...
Apr 9, 2013, 4:29 am
#2023
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: BZG
Programs: LH FTL, PC Plat,Hilton Gold
Posts: 128
Apr 9, 2013, 4:53 am
#2024
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
Apr 9, 2013, 6:24 am
#2025
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
Trying to make a booking but can't get past the travelers names page, can't get to the payment. Any ideas?
Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support.
Edit: Just checked with EF, no I space available on both flights, but Lifemiles site showing availability.
Sorry, There was problem while processing your transaction.
Please try again.If the problem persists or you need additional information please contact LifeMiles Support.
Edit: Just checked with EF, no I space available on both flights, but Lifemiles site showing availability.
Last edited by mlqsko; Apr 9, 2013 at 7:03 am