Jan 11, 2014, 10:36 am
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:
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.
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
Dec 16, 2014, 4:33 am
#376
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
Data point
10 minutes 57 seconds exactly to cancel the ticket, including being transferred from one agent to a "lifemiles" agent in between. Also, new credit card, which added a bit of time to enter card details in the system.
Miles back in account in another minute, including miles 'bought' at 1.5 cents
Not too bad
but yes... a cool feature ^10 minutes 57 seconds exactly to cancel the ticket, including being transferred from one agent to a "lifemiles" agent in between. Also, new credit card, which added a bit of time to enter card details in the system.
Miles back in account in another minute, including miles 'bought' at 1.5 cents
Not too bad
Dec 23, 2014, 5:03 pm
#377
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 4,648
I cancelled 3 tickets on 15 Dec. Took about 5 minutes on my IP phone to the US number (In English) Got the miles back immediately and the taxes were back in my account the next day. Well done Avianca ^
Dec 30, 2014, 10:24 am
#379
Join Date: Sep 2010
Programs: AZ FA+, A3 G, AB G | IHG RA, HGP D, FPC P, Accor P, BW D, HH D, Eleva, GHA P, 1862 Voyager
Posts: 1,852
Would the agents waive cancellation fee and the $25 booking fee if I have to cancel a flight due to schedule change? It's 30 mins but will cause me to misconnect on a flight on a separate ticket.
Dec 30, 2014, 2:34 pm
#380
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: ZRH/SFO
Programs: A3*G - AZ CFP- HH DIA
Posts: 3,666
Cancellation fee... Well, if 30 Min time difference cause a misconnection - with separate tickets - then you clearly made a mistake when you booked both tickets... And LM does not (and does not have to) care if you have a connecting flight on a separate ticket. They have to transport you to the final destination of the LM ticket and they will fulfill the contract...
But you can try it, if you're lucky, they cancel it for free... YMMV
Jan 20, 2015, 9:42 am
#382
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
Just cancelled 2 tickets, I had to call twice, the first agent hung up on me after I told him I was going to get my wife (the account is under her name), the second agent cancelled both tickets without needing to speak to her. The miles are already posted and taxes 15-20 days as usual. The whole process took about 30 minutes taking into account both calls.
Shame the euro has gone down, the cancellation fee hurts more than in October!
Shame the euro has gone down, the cancellation fee hurts more than in October!
Jan 20, 2015, 11:15 am
#383
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: YYZ
Posts: 1,666
I've cancelled 4 tickets so far - each one took about 15 minutes and were relatively painless. The call centre agents were just as competent as ones I've gotten with UA/AA (though that's not saying much.) Too bad they were all pre-deval awards too. 
Jan 21, 2015, 7:12 am
#384
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
Cancellation time and difficulties still depend on the agent and the data he/she has to enter (only payment data or full information set).
New: They cancel the reservation (in addition to the eticket) immediate after calling or direct at the end of the call.
That should help to get award seats available again.
Feb 9, 2015, 3:47 pm
#387
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 163
Ok - finally got through after I called internationally the Colombia Number.
Quick Question - I was told in case I wanted to change my booking but was not sure about my date, I can be NO SHOW and my ticket will still be valid until 1 year from the issuance date. I can call to change whenever I am sure about the date.
Is this true, doesn't being a NO SHOW already cancel my ticket ?
Quick Question - I was told in case I wanted to change my booking but was not sure about my date, I can be NO SHOW and my ticket will still be valid until 1 year from the issuance date. I can call to change whenever I am sure about the date.
Is this true, doesn't being a NO SHOW already cancel my ticket ?
Feb 13, 2015, 7:16 am
#389
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: CGK SIN PER ORD
Programs: UA 1K MM, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 2,813
It is so frustrating having called 8-10 times to try and cancel my ticket and having them tell me my credit card was declined even though I know it is not, and I used a few different cards.
Should I just give up on the 60k miles? Spent over 8 hours so far for a value of $900
Should I just give up on the 60k miles? Spent over 8 hours so far for a value of $900
Feb 13, 2015, 7:22 am
#390
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
It is so frustrating having called 8-10 times to try and cancel my ticket and having them tell me my credit card was declined even though I know it is not, and I used a few different cards.
Should I just give up on the 60k miles? Spent over 8 hours so far for a value of $900
Should I just give up on the 60k miles? Spent over 8 hours so far for a value of $900