Old Jan 11, 2014, 10:36 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: centrifuge41
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:
  • Lifemiles tickets cannot be canceled or changed online, you need to call the Avianca/TACA call center (+1 800 284 2622). #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.
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Cancellation of Lifemiles ticket

Old Mar 15, 2015, 5:32 am
  #421  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Originally Posted by KezzaKawasaki
Thank you for the very handy Wiki, managed to cancel 2 tickets and the whole call went via the textbook Wiki script. Agent was very polite and competent, the whole call was done via Skype in 20 minutes. Points refunded immediately, will see how long it takes for the tax refund (if at all).
I have never had issues with getting the taxes back.
onlysuites is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2015, 5:36 am
  #422  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Originally Posted by onlysuites
I have never had issues with getting the taxes back.
+1
mlqsko is offline  
Old Apr 2, 2015, 10:29 am
  #423  
 
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I have a reservation booked with myself and a friend. Due to work schedule she may not be able to make it - hence we may need to cancel her ticket.

This should be fairly simple - split the PNRs, pay $50 cancellation fee and cancel 1 pax out.

Am I right or does AV do it differently or charge more than $50 for this?

Thanks!
lsed is offline  
Old Apr 2, 2015, 1:53 pm
  #424  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Originally Posted by lsed
I have a reservation booked with myself and a friend. Due to work schedule she may not be able to make it - hence we may need to cancel her ticket.

This should be fairly simple - split the PNRs, pay $50 cancellation fee and cancel 1 pax out.

Am I right or does AV do it differently or charge more than $50 for this?

Thanks!
Youre right.
Just call LM and let them know, that your friend can not fly and you want to cancel her flight.
Dont confuse them with splitting the PNR (they will do it, anyway).
Dennis is offline  
Old Apr 2, 2015, 3:40 pm
  #425  
 
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Originally Posted by lsed
I have a reservation booked with myself and a friend. Due to work schedule she may not be able to make it - hence we may need to cancel her ticket.

This should be fairly simple - split the PNRs, pay $50 cancellation fee and cancel 1 pax out.

Am I right or does AV do it differently or charge more than $50 for this?

Thanks!
Since you say that she MAY not make it, I suggest you cancel after the flight. If she makes it, fine, if not, call and pay the fee
zagy is offline  
Old Apr 2, 2015, 11:13 pm
  #426  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,835
Originally Posted by zagy
Since you say that she MAY not make it, I suggest you cancel after the flight. If she makes it, fine, if not, call and pay the fee
+1

There are reports of agents cancelling the entire PNR (both tix). Don't risk it.
mlqsko is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2015, 3:22 am
  #427  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
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For those of you unhappy with LM customer service, let me just say that British Airways takes bad customer service to a whole new level. Been waiting for a refund on a cancelled Avios ticket for 3 months now, I cannot believe that such a popular airline can treat their customers this badly.
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Old Apr 5, 2015, 4:17 pm
  #428  
 
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Originally Posted by Wilko Pali Sedef
For those of you unhappy with LM customer service, let me just say that British Airways takes bad customer service to a whole new level. Been waiting for a refund on a cancelled Avios ticket for 3 months now, I cannot believe that such a popular airline can treat their customers this badly.
At least Lifemiles refunds quickly.
chocobill is offline  
Old Apr 26, 2015, 7:03 am
  #429  
 
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Originally Posted by mlqsko
+1

There are reports of agents cancelling the entire PNR (both tix). Don't risk it.


Thanks guys, sadly I need the miles back so I can book another ticket for my return.
Trying to cancel is such a pain. Call in, press 2 for English, 3 for LM...

Somehow you never end up at the correct department. And they just keep transferring you all over the place.

Sometimes they even ask you to verify all the details, and then transfer you to the wrong department who then asks for all the details again.


Managed to get it done in the end - the agent confirmed 3 times the name of the person I wanted to cancel, and then she split the PNR first before doing anything. Hence I knew she was doing the right thing.

Took 50 mins in the end!
lsed is offline  
Old Apr 27, 2015, 11:19 am
  #430  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAF, VIE
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Originally Posted by lsed
Thanks guys, sadly I need the miles back so I can book another ticket for my return.
Trying to cancel is such a pain. Call in, press 2 for English, 3 for LM...

Somehow you never end up at the correct department. And they just keep transferring you all over the place.

Sometimes they even ask you to verify all the details, and then transfer you to the wrong department who then asks for all the details again.


Managed to get it done in the end - the agent confirmed 3 times the name of the person I wanted to cancel, and then she split the PNR first before doing anything. Hence I knew she was doing the right thing.

Took 50 mins in the end!
I think there was something wrong with the call center yesterday. The lady wanted to transfer me to the Lifemiles department and she basically transferred me back to herself THREE TIMES ... was kind of funny.
LukasVIE is offline  
Old May 19, 2015, 3:54 pm
  #431  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Quick call, less than 10 minutes

PIN was already set before I called.
countingmiles is offline  
Old May 31, 2015, 10:13 am
  #432  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 559
Do they ever refund the $25 online/partner/award booking fee?

...Or are only taxes refunded when an award ticket is cancelled?
gq_dq is offline  
Old Jun 21, 2015, 8:48 pm
  #433  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 95
BEWARE: Now apparently theres a new rule you have to cancel until 48hour before departure or after 24h after departure if you haven't flown. What a ........! The rep said this changed two weeks ago.
BenSDQ is offline  
Old Jun 22, 2015, 10:18 am
  #434  
 
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Originally Posted by BenSDQ
BEWARE: Now apparently theres a new rule you have to cancel until 48hour before departure or after 24h after departure if you haven't flown. What a ........! The rep said this changed two weeks ago.
maybe this is because the flying carrier takes control of the ticket at t-24 to t+24?
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Jun 22, 2015, 12:36 pm
  #435  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,835
This post finally made me call them. Just cancelled 2 reservations, 4 pax for travel back in April. At the end of the call, I could play my credit card number like a piano on the keyboard

Agent confirmed the T-48 and T+24 deadlines but also confirmed that you can cancel after the T+24 as long as the ticket is valid. I asked if I book travel in August, can I cancel in October. She said yes, but not T-48 and T+24. I guess this is the new part.
mlqsko is offline  

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