Aug 17, 2013, 12:43 am
Last edit by: Tokyoite
Please do your homework before buying Lifemiles. It is what it is... for some that's useful, for others it's not.
Biggest complaints are about
- mixed class bookings are available but now many of the suitable connections dont show
- not being able to book anything that isn't available online (there are work-arounds, see screenshot method below)
- the quality of the call center (English speaking agents are scarce, you might get thrown in a loop with call transfers within their call center)
- no stopovers (>24H) or open jaws, but you can book one way awards
- no reservations on Certain subsidiaries of Star Alliance carriers (Lufthansa Cityline, Germanwings)
Problems with ticketing / lack of confirmation screen or email
- write down the confirmation number shown on the screen after confirming your purchase.
check here: http://serviciosenlinea.avianca.com/...doReserva.aspx
Sometimes, even if you cannot see the PNR, the record may have been created, so better to call them and give them flight details you were trying to book. They can find the PNR from those details.
- ticketing usually takes place within 10-15 min of booking
- but it may also take up to 2 days
- if miles have been deducted from your account and a temporary authorization has been placed on your CC, you're probably fine even if you did not see a confirmation screen
- if no e-ticket number is visible on checkmytrip.com after two days, you should contact LifeMiles. You can expedite the ticketing by emailing with your booking reference to: [email protected] after you have booked, especially if you have booked last minute flights, and need ticketing straight away
Screenshot method.
So, on a date you are looking for in the future, there is availability for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK. But not LAX-NRT-BKK.
It may be a case of the LM system not offering the through connection.
Take three screen shots - two 'available' screen shots for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK and the 'not available' screen for LAX-BKK.
Send them all off with a scan of your passport page (PDF) and LM will make the booking manually for you.
Send to these two email addresses, and CC yourself (just for your records)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sample email:
====
Email topic: Urgent request for booking Lifemiles Award
====
Dear Sirs,
I have tried several times, over several days, but the following itinerary does not show on the website.
Please see the three attached screenshots I took just now.
Please do the manual booking First Class/Business class for xx,000 miles. (*Know how many miles the whole award should cost-here, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
The availability is only 1 seat for this date, so please process this request urgently before it is gone.
Los Angeles (LAX) - Bangkok (BKK)
Saturday August 11th 2018
NH 175 connecting to NH 807
(*Provide the specific flight numbers you want, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
My passport copy (Number xxxx, expiry 20xx/xx/xx, Nationality xxx) is attached in this email.
LifeMiles Number: xxx
First Name: xxx
Last name: xxx
Date of Birth: Month, date, year
Gender: Male/Female
Email: xxxx
Phone Number: +1-xxxx
Regards,
XXX
=========
Biggest complaints are about
- mixed class bookings are available but now many of the suitable connections dont show
- not being able to book anything that isn't available online (there are work-arounds, see screenshot method below)
- the quality of the call center (English speaking agents are scarce, you might get thrown in a loop with call transfers within their call center)
- no stopovers (>24H) or open jaws, but you can book one way awards
- no reservations on Certain subsidiaries of Star Alliance carriers (Lufthansa Cityline, Germanwings)
Problems with ticketing / lack of confirmation screen or email
- write down the confirmation number shown on the screen after confirming your purchase.
check here: http://serviciosenlinea.avianca.com/...doReserva.aspx
Sometimes, even if you cannot see the PNR, the record may have been created, so better to call them and give them flight details you were trying to book. They can find the PNR from those details.
- ticketing usually takes place within 10-15 min of booking
- but it may also take up to 2 days
- if miles have been deducted from your account and a temporary authorization has been placed on your CC, you're probably fine even if you did not see a confirmation screen
- if no e-ticket number is visible on checkmytrip.com after two days, you should contact LifeMiles. You can expedite the ticketing by emailing with your booking reference to: [email protected] after you have booked, especially if you have booked last minute flights, and need ticketing straight away
Screenshot method.
So, on a date you are looking for in the future, there is availability for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK. But not LAX-NRT-BKK.
It may be a case of the LM system not offering the through connection.
Take three screen shots - two 'available' screen shots for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK and the 'not available' screen for LAX-BKK.
Send them all off with a scan of your passport page (PDF) and LM will make the booking manually for you.
Send to these two email addresses, and CC yourself (just for your records)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sample email:
====
Email topic: Urgent request for booking Lifemiles Award
====
Dear Sirs,
I have tried several times, over several days, but the following itinerary does not show on the website.
Please see the three attached screenshots I took just now.
Please do the manual booking First Class/Business class for xx,000 miles. (*Know how many miles the whole award should cost-here, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
The availability is only 1 seat for this date, so please process this request urgently before it is gone.
Los Angeles (LAX) - Bangkok (BKK)
Saturday August 11th 2018
NH 175 connecting to NH 807
(*Provide the specific flight numbers you want, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
My passport copy (Number xxxx, expiry 20xx/xx/xx, Nationality xxx) is attached in this email.
LifeMiles Number: xxx
First Name: xxx
Last name: xxx
Date of Birth: Month, date, year
Gender: Male/Female
Email: xxxx
Phone Number: +1-xxxx
Regards,
XXX
=========
Lifemiles serious booking problems - Beware (old legacy thread)
May 10, 2015, 2:55 pm
#436
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: UK
Programs: AF Plat. Ba Gold. SPG Plat. HH Diamond. Miles and Smiles Gold. LH Sen
Posts: 142
lufthansa
I send two e-mails to there support email adress about Lufthansa First. I have a lot of miles and want to buy a Lufthansa First award. There is nothing available and I don't receive a response on my emails. What's up? There is nothing about special rules for carriers on there website so it must be available, like 15 days in advance.
May 10, 2015, 10:59 pm
#437
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 5.0; SM-G900F Build/LRX21T) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/42.0.2311.111 Mobile Safari/537.36)
If you'd posted that on their Facebook page as I've been recommending over and over here, you would have gotten an answer quickly. "subject to availability" and there simply is none.
If you'd posted that on their Facebook page as I've been recommending over and over here, you would have gotten an answer quickly. "subject to availability" and there simply is none.
May 11, 2015, 2:33 pm
#438
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 93
I found segment by segment availibility but not on the through route. Mailed LM support, attached screen shots and my payment iption, miles&cash. Booking was done w/in 24hrs and waiting now for the manual payment call.
If i get the ticket numbers (why should I doubt it) that was a real quick and straight forward thing. Europe-SE Asia, incl SQ 78.000 miles in C, ttl 2 travellers
If i get the ticket numbers (why should I doubt it) that was a real quick and straight forward thing. Europe-SE Asia, incl SQ 78.000 miles in C, ttl 2 travellers
May 30, 2015, 9:50 am
#439
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 68
TK Phantom Availability?
I am running into a painfully familiar situation. Booking simple non-stop IST to SFO route. System shows as available, but errors out in the next screen. I've called Customer Service and while they are very nice, they can do nothing for me. They told me to take screen caps of everything and send to LM Support which I did, but they replied that the inventory is not available. I can still see it as available, and ExpertFlyer confirms that it is available. I frantically purchased LM last night to take advantage of the 2x1 offer. Feeling like a schmuck this morning and hoping anyone can offer a glimmer of hope with any success stories they have dealing specifically with TK routings.
Last edited by MillValleyMom; May 30, 2015 at 9:59 am
May 30, 2015, 2:26 pm
#440
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: GIG
Programs: JJ OW Emerald, TK*G, O6*G, Smiles Diamond, IC Amb, Le Club Platinum, former LH SEN (miss it!)
Posts: 291
I am running into a painfully familiar situation. Booking simple non-stop IST to SFO route. System shows as available, but errors out in the next screen. I've called Customer Service and while they are very nice, they can do nothing for me. They told me to take screen caps of everything and send to LM Support which I did, but they replied that the inventory is not available. I can still see it as available, and ExpertFlyer confirms that it is available. I frantically purchased LM last night to take advantage of the 2x1 offer. Feeling like a schmuck this morning and hoping anyone can offer a glimmer of hope with any success stories they have dealing specifically with TK routings.
May 31, 2015, 10:16 am
#441
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 68
Yes, that is how I can find the flights available. I select TK and the dates, and the flight I want pops up as available. It's the next screen where the system errors out.
May 31, 2015, 10:30 am
#442
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Brisbane
Programs: QF gold, HH Diamond, VA plat, Aegean Gold
Posts: 683
I would try the screenshot and email method again ( although don't tell them this is a second attempt) their systems and agents are unreliable so you may get a different result
May 31, 2015, 1:44 pm
#443
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 68
So, I did figure out a hack for this (at least for Turkish Air) and a way to ticket the itinerary online without going through the call center. I don't know if this is one of those closely guarded secrets where I'll be flamed for posting, so DM me and I can share details.
Last edited by MillValleyMom; May 31, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Jul 24, 2015, 11:51 am
#444
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 68
So, I did figure out a hack for this (at least for Turkish Air) and a way to ticket the itinerary online without going through the call center. I don't know if this is one of those closely guarded secrets where I'll be flamed for posting, so DM me and I can share details.
I was trying to book a non-stop flight on TK from IST to either SFO or LAX, and both routes had availability. The flight would come up when I ran the search, but when I actually went to ticket it, I got an error message. Hours on the phone with customer service yielded nothing but an "I'm sorry. There is no availability." I started playing around with other flights leaving out of different airports, and one of those flights connected onto the exact same TK flight I was trying to book. When I went to ticket that reservation (with an additional international segment), it worked! So, we are now flying ATH/IST/SFO vs. just IST/SFO - which turns out to be a better route for us. I tried this with several variations, and they all worked as long as there were two international segments (FRA/IST/SFO as well as SFO/IST/FCO). I guess you could route yourself in a way to take advantage of the long haul, and then just throw away the final leg. Hope this helps!
Jul 24, 2015, 8:00 pm
#445
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
You will find it on the trick-it thread mentioned as RMS or LifeMiles' Reverse Married Segments phenomenon. It happens similarly where you add an extra leg at the end, as seen in this old example where one couldn't book to FRA or MUC alone but could book to points in Europe that connected in FRA/MUC.
Very strange and annoying for sure. Nice that you found an alternative origin that worked for you!
Very strange and annoying for sure. Nice that you found an alternative origin that worked for you!
Aug 1, 2015, 6:11 pm
#446
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Lifetime *G (MP), Lifetime PE (Bonvoy)
Posts: 1,465
I did my first LifeMiles booking this week - one-way Business Class between Melbourne and Bangkok. Very straightforward, was a bit surprised at the minimal extra charges I had to pay but guessed they're probably a Passenger Movement Charge in Australia and possibly Thailand. Booked, no glitches with my Australian credit card, got the booking email confirmation, went online to the TG site, chose my seat and a few hours later got my ticket receipt for Avianca
Aug 2, 2015, 9:54 am
#447
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 31
LifeMiles Total SCAM
LifeMiles is only good around Colombia
other destinations cost 4 times more than with LifeMiles
there are hardly any choices even from Colombia there are no flights to aisa
and European flights are much cheaper through kayak or other search engines
Email replies from LifeMiles are useless
I will never ever buy LifeMiles again
you better chose Emirate QatarAirways and many other top operators
all your Emails will be answered correctly
other destinations cost 4 times more than with LifeMiles
there are hardly any choices even from Colombia there are no flights to aisa
and European flights are much cheaper through kayak or other search engines
Email replies from LifeMiles are useless
I will never ever buy LifeMiles again
you better chose Emirate QatarAirways and many other top operators
all your Emails will be answered correctly
2x miles or any miles purchase program is a scam! 
Lifemiles lures people with lucrative miles purchase promotion but the system fails when actually trying to purchase tickets. I tried to buy CCU->SJC route via BKK/NRT on Thai and ANA multiple times with no luck. The system shows error after entering passenger details. I even called and tried to book through an agent and even he wasn't successful (calls keep dropping is another horror story). After investigating he found that ANA will not confirm the tickets, even after calling ANA directly (holding for about an hour). The agent even tried other dates and got the same error. I know this route is available from United MileagePlus and Aeroplan. In general, lifemiles system shows available route but does not allow to complete the ticket purchase. They have problem with other star alliance also like Lufthansa and Singapore. So now I am stuck with my purchased miles as they are useless.
Lifemiles lures people with lucrative miles purchase promotion but the system fails when actually trying to purchase tickets. I tried to buy CCU->SJC route via BKK/NRT on Thai and ANA multiple times with no luck. The system shows error after entering passenger details. I even called and tried to book through an agent and even he wasn't successful (calls keep dropping is another horror story). After investigating he found that ANA will not confirm the tickets, even after calling ANA directly (holding for about an hour). The agent even tried other dates and got the same error. I know this route is available from United MileagePlus and Aeroplan. In general, lifemiles system shows available route but does not allow to complete the ticket purchase. They have problem with other star alliance also like Lufthansa and Singapore. So now I am stuck with my purchased miles as they are useless.Last edited by macssam; Aug 2, 2015 at 10:04 am
Aug 2, 2015, 10:07 am
#448
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 31
LifeMiiles Europe-SE Asia sucks
you can fly for U$500 round trip with many good airlines
and select the dates you want
and select the dates you want
I found segment by segment availibility but not on the through route. Mailed LM support, attached screen shots and my payment iption, miles&cash. Booking was done w/in 24hrs and waiting now for the manual payment call.
If i get the ticket numbers (why should I doubt it) that was a real quick and straight forward thing. Europe-SE Asia, incl SQ 78.000 miles in C, ttl 2 travellers
If i get the ticket numbers (why should I doubt it) that was a real quick and straight forward thing. Europe-SE Asia, incl SQ 78.000 miles in C, ttl 2 travellers
Aug 2, 2015, 3:38 pm
#449
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Aug 3, 2015, 2:01 am
#450
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: Alaska. AA, Kris, QFF, Lifemiles, BA+
Posts: 50
It is not Lifemiles that doesn't work, it is their website!!!!
I know how to use Reverse Married Segments,
-filtering mixed cabins,
-finding <8 hr transits,
-emailing screenshots,
-and being patient waiting for that phone call
but when the online booking system stuffs up it all becomes too much for most people.
Unless they employ some good IT people they are destined to become a niche scheme for masochists only.
UA have a smooth booking experience and I guarantee it is not expensive to run a competent online booking setup.
Copa could pull the rug out under Lifemiles except their website seems destined to be a repeat of LM.